HISTORY Of Lii ENGLISH LANGUAGE LITERATURE. BY ROBERT>CIT4MBERS. TO WHICH IS ADDED A HISTORY OF AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. BY REV. ROYAL ROBBINS. UXTI7BRSIT7 HARTFORD. UBLISHED BY EDWARD HOPKINS. 1 837. of?/ Entered according to Act oT Congress, in the year 1837, by EDWARD HOPKINS. in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Connecticut. CASE, TIFFANY AND CO., PRINTERS. MR. CHAMBERS, in his History of the English Language and Litera- ture, has made a slight reference to American contributions to the lan- guage and its literature; yet he seems to have had no design of informing his readers, on the general subject of authorship, in the United States. With the exception of a notice of three American writers, he has con- fined himself to an account of authors in the British Isles. This exclu- sion of the productions of American genius from his book, was doubtless in conformity with his original pran of bringing into view the English language and literature, as these are exhibited at home. It is not, per- haps, a matter of surprise, that with this intention, he has nevertheless, embodied in his ' History,' an account of the writings of the eminent indi- viduals in the United States, whose names appear in his book : but it is justly a matter of surprise that having introduced these, probably by way of exception, he did not enrich his book with a notice of others. The dis- cernment or the candor which admitted that we have so great a philosopher as Franklin, so fine a prose- writer as Irving, and so ingenious a novelist as Cooper, might be supposed also to allow the metaphysical acumen of Edwards, the theological knowledge of Dwight, the poetic fancy of Bry- ant, or the philological skill of Noah Webster. Perhaps, too, Dr. Chan- ning might have stood some chance of being acknowledged in the ranks of literary, philosophical criticism; Prof. Stuart as holding an able pen in sacred exegesis ; and the authors of the ' Federalist ' as having writ- ten a political classic. In a work otherwise excellent, and adapted, according to the intention of Mr. Chambers, to the purposes of education, it has been thought that such a deficiency should be supplied. Or if the omission above men- tioned cannot be charged on the author as a deficiency, considering the nature of his undertaking; yet it must appear, that such a work might properly admit the notice of American productions of genius and taste, since these are truly ornaments of the English language, and constitute a valuable portion of the literature which that language contains. With such a view of the subject, the American editor of the present volume, IV PREFACE. has attempted to supply the deficiency of Chambers ; or on the plan of that gentleman's work, and as a part of it, to introduce an account of American literature. He accordingly presents the work of Chambers, slightly modified by a few verbal alterations, so as to give unity to the undertaking, together with additions embracing a history of literary efforts in the United States. The additions, in their successive parts, are incorpo- rated with the English work, and observe the proper chronological order. It was thought advisable to follow the general method of Mr. Cham- bers, and to observe, so far as it could be ascertained, the due proportion, which, in quantity at least, American literature bears to that of the parent Isles. On this scale, the additional matter was graduated, and it is believed to constitute not far from a just proportion. As, however, great brevity was aimed at in the English work, this circumstance allowed the American editor to say much less, respecting the literary labours of his countrymen, than he could have otherwise wished to say. Many names are omitted from necessity some, perhaps, that might have been intro- duced with as much propriety, as several that have found a place in the volume. The difficulty of making a selection out of more than two thousand living writers, for such is the conjectured number in the United States, and out of, we know not how many writers that are deceased, was obvious to the editor from the first, and has pressed upon him from step to step, in his labours. But he has done the best that he could, in the space to which his judgment has restricted the undertaking. He is not, however, assured, that even on this limited scale, some names are not omitted which ought to have been introduced. Should such be ascertained to be the fact, the omission will be cheerfully supplied in a future edition of the work, if that should be ever called for. As no personal preju- dices have been knowingly indulged, and no political, sectional, or secta- rian purposes have been sought to be answered in the preparation of the book; the possibility of mistakes in the matter just alluded to, may be safely acknowledged, and the intention of rectifying them sincerely pledged. The single object of the American portion of the work has been, to give a just and proportionate history of the English language and the literature of the language, so far as these have been affected by the intellectual efforts of the Anglo- A merican people. Mr. Chambers, in his Notice to his work, observes, that ' it belongs to that department of Chambers' Educational Course which is designed to communicate to young persons the rudiments of useful knowledge' that ' it will be suitable to the more advanced classes in English academies, and serve as a text-book for lectures on English literature, which are now given in so many institutions for mechanics and others ' and that it ' cannot fail to be useful to many besides young persons at school; to all in short whose minds have been awakened to a degree of knowledge; guiding them to the stores of English literature, and distinguishing for them those works which are most worthy of their attention.' The above, it is hoped, may be justly said of the whole volume as now presented to PREFACE. V the American public, with such an application of the remarks, as our different circumstances demand. It may properly be a text-book, for most descriptions of seminaries of learning in the United States, and would probably be a new study in most of them, so far as the history of the English language and literature is concerned certainly in the con- nection of American literature with that of the parent country. To- gether with the charm of novelty, its importance also must be allowed to be great. The English language and the literature which it embodies, and especially our own literature as modified by our peculiar institutions, and by the spirit of Christianity with which it is, in a large measure, imbued* are of more importance to us, than those of all other nations combined, whether of ancient or modern date. And though we would by no means dispense with the study of the Greek and Roman classics, as a discipline of the intellectual powers ; we should be still less willing to dispense with the study of the models of the English tongue, viewed in their influence, whether on the understanding or the heart. The work, in its present form, may be useful, according to the observation already quoted, ' to many besides young persons at school.' It is believed that it will be interesting to the general reader; and even to the scholar, as asort of remembrancer of what he already knows, in the separate parts, if not in the whole, as a history. A knowledge of the origin, occasion, design, relations, and other circumstances of literary works, together with a delineation of their character, will not only enhance the pleasure of perus- ing them ; but enable the reader to derive a profit from the exercise, which he would not otherwise experience. Mr. Chambers has ventured to say, also, that his volume, 'however humble in object, or limited in extent, is the only History of English Literature which has as yet been given to the world,' and was therefore ' necessarily the result of considerable labour.' In the American addition, the editor is constrained to remark, that he found little to assist him in respect to a history of the literature of this country that though he de- rived aid in part from one or two succinct accounts of the general sub- ject; yet for all the rest, aside from his recollections of the course and character of literary effort in the United States, he was obliged to consult a widely-scattered mass of miscellaneous criticism and biography. The originality of the design of the work, as that design was con- ceived by the English author, will be obvious from the above statement, as well as from an inspection of the book itself. How far this feature of the work will serve to recommend it, especially as offering the means of instruction in an important branch of education, must be decided by the results that may be produced. As Mr. Chambers, with few exceptions, was silent on works of science, and on professional works, save such as relate to theology, so the same course was pursued in the new portion of the book. The reasons of this silence he has not seen fit to assign. They may, perhaps, be implied in the title of his book, although he seems occasionally to have departed from the strict method, which 1* VI PREFACE. was probably contemplated. The American editor has adverted in one instance, (page 314,) to what he conceived to be the proper prin- ciple, by which to determine upon the class of works, that have a more or less strict relation to the object in view. It has been thought proper to add to the account of the British authors, in a very few instances, with a view to render the history more complete, and to increase, if possible, its interest. The additions of this kind, as well as those pertaining to American writers, are indicated by an asterisk at the termination of each paragraph. The notice which Mr. Chambers took of Franklin, Irving, and Cooper, has been superseded by the descrip- tion which the American editor has given of these authors, in common with others, whose names appear in the records of our country's lit- erature. CONTENTS. FIRST PERIOD. Page From the earliest time till the year 1400, 9 SECOND PERIOD. From HOO to 1558, . . 18 THIRD PERIOD. The reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. 1558 to 1649. . 28 Poets, ... 31 Dramatists, . . .44 Prose Writers, . . 64 FOURTH PERIOD. The Commonwealth, and Reigns of Charles II. and James II. 1649 to 1689 76 Poets, ... 76 Dramatists, . . .88 Prose Writers, . . 90 FIFTH PERIOD. Reigns of William IH., Anne, and George I. 1689 to 1727. . 104 Poets, . . . .106 Dramatists, . . .116 Essayists, . . .123 Miscellaneous Writers, . 128 Metaphysicians, . .. 132 Page Historical, Critical, and Theolo- gical Writers. . . 134 SIXTH PERIOD. 1727 to 1780. . . . .139 Poets, . . . .139 Tragic Dramatists, . 153 Comic Dramatists, . . 154 Periodical Essayists, . . 155 Novelists, . .158 Historians, . . . 167 Metaphysical Writers, . 174 Writers in Divinity, . 176 Miscellaneous Writers, . . 184 SEVENTH PERIOD. Subsequent, to 1780. . . 194 Poets, ... 196 Dramatists, . . .234 Novelists and Romancers, . 241 Historians, . . .258 Biographers, . . . 267 Metaphysical Writers, . 373 Writers in Divinity, . 277 Travellers and Voyagers, . 285 Miscellaneous Writers, . 295 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. FIRST PERIOD. FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TILL THE YEAR 1400. THE first language known to have been spoken in the British Islands, was one which is now totally unknown in England, but still exists, in various slightly altered shapes, in Wales, in the Highlands of Scotland, and in many parts of Ireland. This language is usually called, in reference to England, the British tongue ; in reference to Scotland, the Gaelic ; and in reference to Ireland, the Irish. It was originally the language of a large body of people called the Celts, who, several centuries before the Christian era, occupied all the western parts of Europe, but are now to be traced only in the Welsh, the Scot- tish Highlanders, the Irish, and a few tribes scattered along the western shores of France and Spain. A great number of names of places, both in England and in the Lowlands of Scotland, and many of the designations of natural objects, such as hills and rivers, are borrowed from this language, but we do not derive from it many of the words in our common speech. In the fifth century, a people called Saxons, from Lower Germany, landed in the country now named England, and soon drove the original inhabitants into the western and northern parts of the island, where their descendants and language have ever since been found. In the course of time, nearly the whole island south of the Firths of Forth and Solway was overspread by Saxons, whose posterity to this day forms the bulk of the people of that part of the country. From a leading 10 PERIOD BEFORE 1400. branch of the Saxons, called Angles, the country took the name of England, while the new language was de- nominated from them, the Anglo-Saxon. This language was a branch of the Teutonic, that is, the language of the Teutones, a nation which occupied a large portion of central Europe at the same time that the Celts overspread the west. The Danes, the Dutch, the Germans, and the English, are all considered as na- tions chiefly of Teutonic origin ; and their various lan- guages bear, accordingly, a strong general resemblance. From the sixth till the eleventh century, the Anglo- Saxon continued with little change to be the language of England. It only received accessions, during that time, from the Latin, which was brought in by Christian mis- sionaries, and from the Danish, a kindred dialect of the Teutonic, which was introduced by the large hosts from Denmark, who endeavoured to effect settlements in England. At this period, literature was not neglected by the Anglo-Saxons. Their first known w r riter was Gildas, a historian who flourished about the year 560. Another called Bede, a priest, who lived in the eighth century, was celebrated over all Europe for his learning and his literary productions. But the majority of the writers of that age thought it necessary to compose their works in Latin, as it was only by that means they could make themselves intelligible to the learned of other coun- tries, who were almost their only readers. The earliest existing specimen of composition in the Saxon tongue is a fragment by Ccedmon, a monk of Whitby, who wrote religious poetry in a very sublime strain, in the eighth century, and who, for want of learning, was obliged to employ his own language. King Alfred, in the ninth century, employed himself in translating various works into Saxon, for the use of the people ; and some pro- gress seems soon after to have been made in the art of composing poetry in the common language. *Indeed, Alfred himself was, in a degree, acquainted with this art, as he conveyed his instructions to his subjects, in parables and stories, couched in verse. This form of writing he considered best adapted to their capacities in that rude age. This prince may therefore be viewed as one of the earliest versifiers in the Anglo-Saxon tongue. ANGLO-SAXON AND NORMAN LANGUAGES. 1 1 The productions which he made known to his people, in their vernacular language, were, the Fables of ^Esop, the histories of Orosius, and Beda, and Boethius on the Consolations of Philosophy.* Yet these branches of literature were generally held in contempt in those days ; and even for purposes of ordinary intercourse, the An- glo-Saxons became in time unfashionable. About the tenth century, the English gentry used to send their children to be educated in France, in order that they might acquire what was thought a more polite kind of speech. In the year 1066,William,Duke of Normandy, (a part of France,) invaded and conqu^-'ed Saxon England ; and as the country was immediately parcelled out amongst the officers of the victorious army, Norman- French thenceforward became the language of the up- per ranks, while Saxon remained only as the speech of the peasantry. In the course of time, these two langua- ges melted into each other, and became the basis of the present English language, though it may be remarked that the Saxon is still chiefly employed to express our homelier and more familiar ideas. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, while this process was going on, several writers used the popular language in the composition of rhyming chronicles, which, however, possessed very little merit, either as poems or as histories. * Among these were Layamon, who trans- lated Wace, his predecessor, in the language of the time, Wace having written in French prose ; and also Robert of Gloucester, whose English rhymes are quo- ted by Camden. Robert, however, is better known by his history of Merlin, and Arthur. These writers, who were rather pioneers of verse than poets, flourished in the reign of Henry II.* About the end of that period, when the French' had become nearly identified with the Saxon, there arose a series of poets, who composed long romantic tales, in a manner which had been first prac- tised by the bards of Provence,(the south of France,) who are otherwise known by the appellation of Troubadours ; and the singing of these stories, to the melody of the harp, in the presence of persons of rank, became at the same time the employment of a famous set of men cal- *AM. ED. I 12 PERIOD BEFORE 1400. led MINSTRELS, some of whom were also poets. But the best part of the intellect of the country, was still em- ployed in learned compositions in Latin.* The minstrel-poems, though in many respects absurd, were improvements upon the dull chronicles of the pre- ceding age. While they gave a picture of past events scarcely less true, they were more graceful in composi- tion, and possessed something like the spirit of modern poetry. They were generally founded upon the adven- tures of some real hero, such as Charlemagne or Roland, whose example was held up to imitation as the perfec- tion of human conduct. Nor were the great men of antiquity neglected by these bards. Alexander of Ma- cedonia was a great favourite with them ; and they would even resort to Grecian mythology for the subject of their lays. Theirs was a style of poetry highly suita- ble to the age in which they flourished an age in which * In order to convey at least, to the eye of the reader, a notion of the language employed by the people of England soon after the Norman conquest, the following extract from a poem of that age may be given, with a translation into modern English : Tha the masse wes isungen, Of chirccken heo thrungen. The king mid his folke To his mete verde, And mucle his dugethe: Drem wes on hirede. Tha quene, an other halve, Hire hereberewe isohte: Heo hafde of wif-monne Wunder ane moni en. That is: 'When the mass was sung, out of the church they thronged The king, amid his folk, to his meat fared, and many of his nobility Joy was in the household. The queen on the other side, sought her harbour, (or apartment ;) she had wonderfully many women.' The language which prevailed at the time when the Saxon and French were becoming one, may be exemplified by a verse from a poem on the death of Edward I.; an event which took place in the year 1307 : Jerusalem, thou hast iloret The flour of all chivalerie, Nou Kyng Edward liveth na more, Alas ! that he yet shulde deye ! He wolde ha rered up ful heyget Our baners that bueth broht to grounde ; Wei longe we mowe clefe and crie, Er we such a kyng hav yfounde! t Lost. Edward had intended to go on a crusade to the Holy land. tHigh. THE MINSTRELS. CHAUCER. 13 the spirit of military enterprise, fomented by religious enthusiasm, and a fantastic devotion to the fair sex, pro- duced the system called Chivalry, and led to those gal- lant but unfortunate expeditions, the Crusades, which had for their object the rescue of the Holy Land from the dominion of the Saracens. A considerable number of the productions of the minstrels have been handed down in manuscript to modern times ; and their manner of writing has been in some measure revived by Sir Wal- ter Scott, and several other authors of the present age. The Provencal poetry produced a greater or less effect in almost all civilized countries. In Italy, during the early part of the fourteenth century, it awakened the genius of Dante and Petrarch, who were the first to pro- duce the sentimental and systematic poetry which has ever since been so considerable a department of Euro- pean literature. Dante wrote chiefly in an allegorical style ; that is to say, he described all kinds of abstract ideas under the semblance of things real and tangible. Petrarch, on the other hand, wrote amatory poetry with wonderful delicacy. There was another Italian writer, Boccaccio, who nourished a little later, and composed a series of entertaining stories in prose, which bears the general title of the Decameron. It is necessary to observe these things carefully, for English poetry was, in its origin, greatly affected by them. The impulse that was felt in England manifested itself in the poetic effusions of LawTence Minot, Lang- lande, and Gower. The works of Minot were first dis- covered in the Cottonian library in 1795. They consisted of battle songs. Langlande wrote the Visions of Pierce Plowman, a poem in twenty parts, reflecting severely on the various professions of life, and particularly hostile to the clergy. Gower made some advances in English poe- try on alfwho went before him, but still, like his predeces- sors, rather prepared the way for song, than exhibited genuine examples of it. His principal piece was Con- fessio Amantis. He inveighed against the vices and follies of the age.* Contemporary with Petrarch, and not long after the time of Dante, arose GEOFFRY CHAUCER, who is allowed to be the father of genuine English poetry. He flour- 2 * AM. ED. 14 . PERIOD BEFORE 1400. ished at the courts of Edward III. and Richard II., be- tween the years 1360 and 1400, and not only possessed an original genius of the first order, but had improved himself by travel, and by all the learning of the times. Despising alike the dull old rhyming chroniclers, and the more lively minstrels, he aimed at writing after the regular manner of the three illustrious Italians just mentioned, taking allegory from Dante, tenderness from Petrarch, and humorous anecdote from Boccaccio. He was himself a shrewd observer of character and manners, and seems to have been well acquainted with the world, such as it was in his own time. His chief work is that called the Canterbury Tales, which consists of a series of sportive and pathetic narratives, related by a miscellaneous compa- ny in the course of a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury. The work opens with a description of the company setting out from the Tabard Inn in Southwark, and a minute ac- count of the persons and the characters of the various pil- grims, who are nearly thirty in number. These character- istic sketches are in themselves allowed to display uncom- mon talent, so distinct is everyone from the other, and so vividly are all presented to the mind of the reader. The Knight, the Yeoman, the Prioress, the Monk, the Merch- ant, the Lawyer, the Miller all are exact and recogniza- ble portraits.* The tales told by the Canterbury pilgrims, * As a specimen of the verse of Chaucer, in its original appearance, his description of the Miller may be here presented: The Miller was a stout carl for the nones, Ful big he was of braun and eke of bones : That proved wel, for over all ther he came, At wrestling he wolde bere away the ram. He was short-shoulder'd, brode, a thikke gnarre, Ther n'as no dore that he n'olde heve of barre, Or breke it at a renning with his hede. His berd as any sowe or fox was rede, And thereto brode as though it were a spade : Upon the cop right of his nose he hade A wert, and thereon stude a tuft of heres Rede as the bristles of a sowes eres. His nose-thirles blacke wer and wide: A swerd and bokeler bare he by his side : His mouth as wide was as a forneis: Wel coulde he stelen corne and tollen thries; And yet he hade a thoom of golde parde, A white cote and a blew hode wared he: A baggepipe wel coulde he blow and soune, And therewithal he brought us out of toune. CHAUCER. MANDEVILLE. WICLIFFE. 1 5 are partly humorous stories of humble life, partly ro- mantic tales of chivalry, and only a few of them are supposed to have been altogether the invention of the poet. The general idea of the work was undoubtedly taken from the Decameron of Boccaccio, which consists of a hundred tales, narrated like those of Chaucer, by a company assembled by accident. Chaucer wrote many other poems, some of which were narrative and descrip- tive, while others were allegorical. He is held, notwith- standing the obscurity which time has brought over his works, to rank with Spenser, Shakspeare, Milton, and the other English poets of the first class. The age of Chaucer produced the two first writers of English prose, SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE, a celebrated tra- veller, and JOHN WICLIFFE, who distinguished himself by his attempts to reform religion. Mandeville travelled for thirty-four years preceding 1356, in Eastern countries, and on his return wrote in English, French, and Latin, an account of all he had seen, mixed up with innumera- ble fables, derived from preceding writers and from hearsay. Wicliffe, who was a learned ecclesiastic, and professor of divinity in Baliol College, Oxford, began It is unfortunate for the fame of Chaucer, and still more so for his countrymen, that his obsolete words, and old mode of spelling, render his poems very difficult to be understood. Several attempts have been made, with greater or less success, to modernize them in such a manner as to re- new their popularity ; the latest was by Mr. Charles Cowden Clarke, in a work entitled the Riches of Chaucer, (2 vols. London, 1835,) which presents all that is truly excellent of this old poet, in the spelling of the present day, excepting where the original orthography is necessary to help out the measure. As a specimen of the pathos of Chaucer, in Mr. Clarke's edition, may be given the dying words of Arcite, in which the very structure of the verse may be said to aid in the effect ; its breaks and changes seeming to represent, as a critic has remarked, the sighs and sobbings of a broken and ebbing spirit : Alas the woe ! alas the paines strong, That I for you have suffered, and so long ! Alas the death ! alas mine Emily ! Alas departing of our company! Alas mine hearte's queen! alas my wife! Mine hearte's lady, ender of my life ! What is this world 7 what asken men to have 7 Now with his love, now in his colde grave Alone, withouten any company. Farewell my sweet, Farewell mine Emily ! And softe take me in your armes tway For love of God, and hearkeneth what I say. 16 PERIOD BEFORE 1400. about the year 1377 to write both in Latin and English against the power of the Pope, and the various observ- ances of the Catholic church; from his doing this long before general attention was directed to the subject, he has been called ' the Morning Star of the Reformation/ Among his voluminous writings, was a translation of the Bible into English, which, however, was not the first that had been executed. As a specimen of the prose of this period, a passage from his New Testament is quoted be- low.* Chaucer must also be considered as one of the prose writers of this age ; he wrote, in that manner, a philoso- phical and meditative work called the Testament of Love, and two of the Canterbury Tales are in prose. The English language was now beginning to be considered as sufficiently polite for literary purposes, and w r as eve- ry where rising in estimation. From the Conquest till this time, French had been the language of education, and when Latin was translated in the schools, it was not translated into English, but into French. But now the schoolmasters began to acknowledge the existence of English, and to construe Latin into it. The King (Ed- ward III.) also abolished the use of French in the public acts and judicial proceedings, and substituted English in its stead. This English, however, as already mentioned, contained many French words, which had been gradu- ally adopted from the Norman gentry. The language at this time used in the Lowland districts of Scotland was chiefly of Teutonic origin, partly through the Saxons who had spread northward, and partly through Danish settlers and others from the north of Europe, who had taken possession of the eastern coasts. Except in its having a slighter mixture of Norman, the Scotch at this time very much resembled the English, and continued to do so till a comparatively recent peri- od. As literary ideas and modes usually rose in the * This Moisis ledde hem out, and dide woundris and signes in the lond of Egipte, and in the Reed See, and in Desert, fourti gheeris. This is Moisis that seide to the sones of Israel, God schal reise to ghou a pro- phete of ghoure britheren ; as me ghe schulen heere him. This it is that was in the chirche in wildirnesse with the aungel that spak to him in the Mount Syna, and with oure fadris, which took wordis of lyf to ghyue to us. B ARBOUR. 17 South of Europe, and went northward, England natur- ally became the medium through which these were communicated to Scotland, and the latter country was of course a little later in exhibiting native writers of all the various orders. Thus the time of Chaucer and of ge- nuine Poetry in England, was that in which Scotland first produced rhyming chroniclers ; while the minstrels were a little later still. The first of the Scottish chroniclers was JOHN BARBOUR, archdeacon in the cathedral of Aberdeen, and a man of considerable learning. He, about the year 1371, composed a long poem in eight- syllabled measure, commemorating the adventures of King Robert Bruce. Though this work must for gene- ral reasons be classed with the chronicles, it is allowed to possess no small share of the spirit of contemporary English poetry ; it describes incidents with a graphic force far above the character of a chronicle, and abounds in beautiful episodes and fine sentimental passages. Hence we may assume that, though Barbour bestowed his attention upon a torm of composition now beginning to be antiquated in England, he partook nevertheless of the improved style which Chaucer had adopted, and was capable of producing poems of the same general nature. His apostrophe to freedom, which occurs at the close of a description of the miserable slavery to which Scotland had been reduced by Edward of Eng- land, has always been admired for its spirit and tender- ness ;* and many other passages .equally worthy of notice, could be pointed out. * A! fredome is a nobill thing! Fredome makes man to have liking! Fredome all solace to man gives, He lives at ese that frely lives ! A nobill heart may have nane ese, Na ellys nocht that may him plese, Giff fredom faileth; for fre liking Is yearnyt our all other thing. Na he, that ay has levit free, May nocht knaw weil the propyrte, The angyr, na the wretchyt dome. That is couplyt to foule thirldome. But giff he had assayit it, Than all perquer he suld it wyt ; And sulde think fredome mair to pryse, Than all the gold in warld that is. *2 18 FROM 1400 TO 1558. About the year 1420, ANDREW WYNTOWN, prior of St. Serf's Monastery, in Lochleven, wrote a chronicle of universal history, particularly detailing that of Scotland, but with a very small infusion of poetical spirit. This work may be considered as closing the list of the rhyming chronicles. A little before the time of Wyntown, we find Scottish poets devoting their attention *to the min- strel class of compositions, which had also for some time gone out of fashion in the southern part of the island. Among their productions of this kind may be mentioned the Gest of Arthur, by HUCHEON, a poem now lost and SirGawain, by CLERK of Tranent, which has been preserved and printed, but appears as a very uncouth composition. The last poem of this kind seems to have been that entitled the Adventures of Sir William Wallace, composed about the year 1460, by a wandering minstrel named BLIND HARRY, and which presented the general outlines of the history of that hero, mixed up with traditionary anecdotes, and aided in part by imagi- nation. This poem, like that of Barbour, contains some passages of great poetical effect, and no small portion of patriotic and heroical sentiment. It differs from the ge- nerality of minstrel poems, in its bearing the appearance of an unaffected narration, and in its metre, which is of the kind called epic that is, a series of rhymed couplets, in lines of ten syllables each. The work of Blind Harry was reduced into modern popular verse, about a century ago, by Mr. Hamilton of Gilbertfield, and in that shape has ever since been a favourite book with the country people of Scotland, SECOND PERIOD. FROM 1400 TO 1558. WHILE such minds as Chaucer's take shape, in some measure, from the state of learning and civilization which may prevail in their time, it is very clear that they are never altogether created or brought into exercise by such circumstances. The rise of such men is acciden- JAMES I. OF SCOTLAND. OCCLEVE. 19 tal, and whole ages may pass without producing them. From the death of Chaucer in 1400, nearly two hun- dred years elapsed in England, before any poet compar- able to him arose, and yet those two centuries were more enlightened than the times of Chaucer. He has on this account been likened to ' a genial day in an En- glish spring,' which is frequently followed by very gloomy weather. This long period, however, produced several poets not destitute of merit. The first of these was JAMES I. King of Scotland, whose mind and its produc- tions, notwithstanding his being a native of that country, must be considered as of English growth. James had been taken prisoner in his boyhood by Henry IV. of England, and spent the nineteen years preceding 1424 in that country, where he was instructed in all the learn- ing and polite accomplishments of the age, and appears, in particular to have carefully studied the writings of Chaucer. The only certain production of this ingenious young sovereign, is a long poem called The King's Q,uhair,or Book, in which he describes the circumstances of an affection which he formed while a prisoner in Wind- sor Castle, for a young English princess whom he saw walking in the adjacent garden.* This lady, a daughter of the Earl of Somerset, and, as it happened, a niece of Chaucer, was afterwards married to the young king, whom she accompanied to Scotland. While in pos- session of his kingdom, he is said to have written seve- ral poems descriptive of humorous rustic scenes ; but these cannot be certainly traced to him. He was as- sassinated at Perth in the year 1437. About the year 1420, flourished THOMAS OCCLEVE, a lawyer, w T ho wrote several poems of considerable merit, * His first thoughts, when this lovely vision was presented to a mind so long immured in prison, are in the highest style of poetry. * * * t Ah, swete! are ye a warldly creature, Or hevingly thing in likenesse of nature'? Or ar ye Cupidis owne princesse, And coming are to loose me out of band 1 Or are ye very Nature the Goddesse, That have depainted with your hevinly hand, This gardyn full of flour is, as they stand? What shall I think, alace ! what reverence Shall I mester unto your excellence'? 20 FROM 1400 TO 1558. though now very little read. About the same time, or a little later, JOHN LYDGATE, a monk of Bury, was well known for his poetical compositions, which ranged over a great variety of styles. ' His muse,' says Warton in his History of English Poetry, ' was of universal access ; and he was not only the poet of the monastery, but of the world in general. If a disguising was intended by the company of goldsmiths, a mask before his Majes- ty at Eltham, a Maygame for the sheriffs and aldermen of London, a mumming before the lord mayor, a pro- cession of pageants from the Creation for the festival of Corpus Christi, or a carol for the Coronation, Lydgate was consulted, and gave the poetry.' The principal works of this versatile writer are entitled, The History of Thebes, The Fall of Princes, and The Siege of Troy. He had travelled in France and Italy, and studied the poetry cf those countries ; and though his own writings contain only a few good passages, he is allowed to have improved the poetical language of the country. He at one time kept a school in his monastery, for the instruc- tion of young persons of the upper ranks in the art of versification ; a fact which proves that poetry had be- come a favourite study among the few who acquired any tincture of letters in that age. Not long after the time of Lydgate, our attention is called to another prose writer of eminence, SIR JOHN FORTESCUE, Chief Justice of the King's Bench under Henry VI., and a constant adherent of the fortunes of that monarch. Besides several Latin tracts, Chief Jus- tice Fortescue wrote one in the common language, en- titled, The Difference between an Absolute and Limited Monarchy, as it more particularly regards the English Constitution. In this work he draws a striking, though perhaps exaggerated contrast between the condition of the French under an arbitrary monarch, and that of his own countrymen, who even then possessed considerable privileges as subjects. The next writer of note was WIL- LIAM CAXTON, the celebrated printer ; a man of plain understanding, but great enthusiasm in the cause of lite- rature. While acting as an agent for English merchants in Holland, he made himself master of the art of print- ing, then recently introduced on the Continent, and hav- CAXTON. 21 ing translated a French book styled, The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye,he printed it at Ghent, in 1471, being the first book in the English Language ever put to the press. Afterwards he established a printing-office at Westminster, and in 1474, produced The Game of Chess, which was the first work printed in Britain. Caxton translated or wrote about sixty different books, all of which went through his own press before his death in 1491. As a specimen of his manner of writing, and of the literary language of this age, a passage is extracted below, in modern spelling, from the conclusion of his Book of the Order of Chivalri/.'f The reigns of Edward IV., Richard III., and Henry VII., extending between the years 1461 and 1509, were barren of true poetry, though there was no want of ob- scure versifiers. *We may name John Skelton, howe- ver, who, though but little remarkable for his rhymes, had a genius which was suited to satire and burlesque, arid a spirit which ventured to attack not obscure indi- viduals only, but men of eminence. His poems consist of satires and sonnets, and similar productions, which are unhappily characterized by licentiousness. He flou- rished partly in the reign of Henry VIII.* It is remark- able that this period produced in Scotland a race of genuine poets, who, in the words of Mr. Warton, * dis- played a degree of sentiment and spirit, a command of phraseology, and a fertility of imagination, not to be found in any English poet since Chaucer and Lydgate.' Perhaps the explanation of this seeming mystery is, that the influences which operated upon Chaucer a century t Alas ! what do ye but sleep and take ease, and are all disordered from chivalry. How many knights beri there now in England that have the vise and exercise of a knight. That is to wit, that he knoweth his horse, and his horse him 1 That is to say, that he being ready at a point, to have all thing that longeth to a knight ; an horse that is according and broken after his hand ; his armours and harness meet and fitting and so forth 1 I suppose, an a due search should be made, there should be many found that lack. The more the pity is. I would it pleased our sove- reign lord, that twice or thrice in a year, or at least once, he would do cry Justes of Pees, to the end that every knight should have horse and har- ness, and also the use and craft of a knight, and also to tourney one against one, or two against two, and the best to have a prize, a diamond or jewel, such as should please the prince. This should cause gentlemen to resort to the ancient customs of chivalry, to great fame and re- nown, &c. * AM. ED. 22 PROM 1400 TO 1558. before, were only now coming with their full force upon the less favourably situated nation which dwelt north of the Tweed. Overlooking some obscurer names, those of Henry son, D unbar, and Douglas, are to be mentioned with peculiar respect. ROBERT HENRYSON, school-mas- ter of Dunfermline, wrote a series of fables in verse, and a few miscellaneous poems, chiefly of a moral na- ture.* WILLIAM DUNBAR, a man of higher and more varied genius, was a clergyman, and flourished at the Scottish court from about the year 1500 to 1530. Some of his poems are humorous, and refer to humble life ; others are allegorical, and full of beautiful natural im- agery ; a third kind are moral and instructive ; and he is equally happy in all. His principal allegorical poems are styled The Golden Terge, The Dance, and The Thistle and Rose. The last was written in 1503, in honour of the nuptials of King James IV. with the Princess Margaret of England. The Dance describes a procession of the Seven Deadly Sins, two of which are described in the striking verses quoted below.f * One of his fables is the common story of the Town Mouse and Country Mouse ; and in the moral with which he concludes it, occurs the following verse, which will convey an idea of his didactic style: Blissit be simple life, withouten dreid; Blissit be sober feist in quiete; Wha has eneuch of no more has he neid, Though it be littill into quantite, Grit habowndance, and blind prosperiti, Oft tymis make ane evil conclusioun ; The sweitest lyfe, theirfor, in this countre, Is of sickerness, with small possession. t Then IRE came in with sturt* and strife ; His hand was ay upon his knife, He brandeist like a heir;^ Boasters, braggarts, and bargainers, After him passit in pairs, All boden in feir of u'eirfi In jacks, stir'ps, and bonnets of steel, Thair legs were chenyed\\ to the heel ; Frawart was their effeir; Some upon other with brandis beft^ Some jaggit others to the heft With knives that sharp could shear. Next in the dance followed ENV^, Fill'd full of feid and fellony, * Bloody fighting. t Bear; {Arrayed i n warlike manner. || Covered with chains. Forward was their manner. IT Struck with swords. DUNBAR. DOUGLAS. The moral and didactic style of Dunbar is con superior even to his allegorical manner. Altogefh was certainly a man of the first order of geniusv is evidently his antiquated language alone wtfich pre- vents his works from being more generally known than they are. The third eminent Scottish poet of this era was GAVIN DOUGLAS, bishop of Dunkeld, who flourished between the years 1496 and 1522; he shines as an allegorical S&nd descriptive poet. His principal original composi- tions are entitled the Palace of Honour, and King Hart, the former being an allegory designed to show to his sovereign, JameMV., that nothing but virtue could lead to happiness, while the latter is a metaphorical view of the progress of human life. It is worthy of notice, that there is a remarkable resemblance between the former of these allegories and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Pro- gress, which was written about a century and a half later. Douglas also wrote a translation of the jiEneid of Vir- gil in metre, with an original introductory poem to each of the twelve books. This was the first translation of a Roman classic into English verse, and it is considered one of considerable merit, notwithstanding tfie writer takes some liberties with the original. The language employed in it is nearly the same as that used by Eng- lish writers of the same period, and affords a striking example ofgthe rage which had begun to prevail for brtoging Lafp words with English terminations into the stomk of our current speech.* >rjngir tdkkf. Hid Malice and despite. For privy hatred that traitor trembled, Him followed mony freik^ dissembled With fcnyit wordis white : And flatterers unto men's faces, And back-biters in secret places, To lie that had delight, th rowmaris of false leasings;* Alas that courts of noble kings Of them can ne'er be quite ! The spelling is here modernized, except in the words given in italic. * For instance, in a beautiful description of sunrise in ihe introduction to the twelfth book, the following passage occurs : The auriate vanes of his throne- so verane With glittering glance o'erspread the oceane ; t Forward youths. {Circulators of false reports. 24 FROM 1400 TO 1558. SIR DAVID LINDSAY was another eminent poet of this class, though he flourished a little later than the others. He was the personal attendant and friend of James V., and latterly enjoyed the dignified heraldic office of Lyon King-at-Arms. He began to write about the year 1524, and died some time after 1567. He chiefly shines as a humorous and satirical- writer. Besides several miscel- laneous pieces, which display much talent, he composed a rude species of play called the Satire of the Three Estates, which was performed at Edinburgh and Cupar- in-Fife, and was supposed to have some effect in causing the overthrow of the Catholic church in Scotland. The reign of Henry VIII., extending from 1509 to 1548, produced some writers, both in prose and poetry, considerably superior to those who had flourished in the three or four preceding reigns. Of the former, SIR THOMAS MORE, Lord Chancellor, is particularly worthy of notice. Being a devoted adherent of the Catholic faith, he published several pamphlets in defence of it, some of which were in English. He wrote, in 1516, his celebrated scheme of a moral republic, called Utopia ; first published in Latin, and afterwards translated into English, though not by himself. Another of More's works was a History of Edward V., and of his Brother, and of Richard III., which appeared first in English and then in Latin, and has been the chief source of in- formation respecting those reigns to later writers, though it has recently been proved to give a very incorrect view of various important transactions. More was a man of most amiable character, and of great learning and natu- ral talent, and was put to death by Henry VIII., in 1535, on account of his refusing to acknowledge the supremacy of that monarch over the church. Another great prose-writer of the reign of Jlenry VIII. was JOHN LELAND, a Protestant clergyman, who, The large fludis learning all of licht, With but ane blink of his supernal sicht. For to behold it was ane glo-re to see The stabled windis and the coloured sea, The soft season, the firmament serene, The lowne illuminate air, and firth amene, &c. The words here given in italic are Latin, and would not have been employed in an earlier age. LELAND. BERNERS. BELLENDEN. SURREY. 25 having devoted many years to the study of the antiquities of his native country, wrote a large and valuable work on that subject, entitled an Itinerary, which was not printed till the year 1710. Leland published, in his own lifetime, several books of less importance, in one of which he gave an account of all the English authors before his own time. There also flourished at this pe- riod several prose chroniclers of English history, whose writings, though destitute of judgment, and aiming at no literary excellence, are yet valuable for the facts which they contain. In 1523, LORD BERNERS published an English translation of Froissart's celebrated work, which commemorates the history of England, France, and other countries, during the chivalrous period of the four- teenth century. A few years later, JOHN BELLENDEN, Arch-dean of Moray, was employed by James V. to translate Hector Boece's History of Scotland, and the works of Livy ; the former was published in 1536, and is the earliest existing specimen of Scottish literary prose. The first original prose work in that language w r as one entitled the Complaynt of Scotland, which was published at St. Andrew's in 1548, by an unknown au- thor, and consists of a meditation on the distracted state of the kingdom. The difference between the language of these works, and that employed by More and other English contemporary writers, is very little. The EARL OF SURREY and Sir Thomas Wyatt are the only poets of the reign of Henry VIII. whose writings now bear any considerable value. The former was the eldest son of the Duke of Norfolk, and was born in 1516. He was educated at Windsor, in company with a natural son of the king, and in early life became ac- complished, not only in the learning of the time, but in all kinds of courtly and chivalrous exercises. Having travelled into Italy, he became a devoted student of the poets of that country, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Ariosto, and formed his own poetical style upon theirs. His poetry is chiefly amorous, and, notwithstanding his having married in early life, much of it consists of the praises of a lady whom he names Geraldine, supposed to have been a daughter of the Earl of Kildare. Surrey was a gallant soldier as well as a poet, and conducted an 3 26 FROM 1400 TO 1558. important expedition, in 1542, for the devastation of the Scottish borders. He finally fell under the displeasure of Henry VIIL, and was beheaded on Tower Hill in 1547. For justness of thought, correctness of style, and purity of expression, Surrey may be pronounced the first English classical poet ; and it is worthy of notice that, in some translations from Virgil, he gave the earliest known spe- cimen of 'blank verse. SIR THOMAS WYATT was another distinguished character at the court of Henry VIIL, and wrote many poems in much the same style with Surrey. He was the first polished satirist in English literature. *Although Surrey and Wyatt surpassed their cotem- poraries, yet there were other poets during the reign of Henry VIII. that, in a history of the English language and literature, deserve our notice. Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, was author of Ferrex Porrex, the first regular English play ; and also the Legend of the Duke of Buckingham, which the Edinburgh Review considers incomparably the best part of the Mirrour for Magis- trates, and a production of great value. The Mirrour for Magistrates was a series of poems published at that period. To Sackville succeeded Churchyard and Ed- wards, the last of whom was a large contributor to the Paradise of Dainty Devices, a collection of poems pub- lished after his death. One or two of the pieces have been liked. These four lines describing a mother and her child, are tender and graceful. " She was full weaiy of her watch and grieved with her child, She rock-ed it, and rat-ed it, until on her it smiled: Then did she say, Now have I found the proverb true to prove, That falling out of faithful friends is the renuyng (renewing) of love." *To this period may be referred the names of Lord Vaux, and Lord Rocheford. The former was a writer of sonnets, and " his commendation," as an antiquarian says, " lay chiefly in the facilitie of his meetre, and the aptnesse of his descriptions, such as he taketh upon him to make, namely in sundry of his songs, wherein he showeth the counterfait action very lively and pleas- antly." Lord Rocheford is spoken of by the Earl of Orford, in his Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, as * AM. ED. ROCHEFORD. TYNDALE. COVERDALE. 27 having written one piece with simplicity, harmony, and elegance. The title of the poem is, A Lover complaineth of the Unkindness of his Love, a stanza of which is " The rooks do not so cruelly, Repulse the waves continually, As she my suit and affection, So that I am past remedy, Whereby my lute and 1 have done."* The religious reformation which took place during his reign, caused severa-1 English versions of the Bible to be placed before the public ; and these were perhaps the most important of all the literary efforts of the time. The first part of the Scriptures published in an English form, was the New Testament in 1526, a translation being executed by WILLIAM TYNDALE, a young scho- lar of Oxford university. The Old Testament, transla- ted by the same individual, appeared in 1530, and both were eagerly received and read by the people. Tyn- dale, five years after, was burnt to death in Flanders for these services to the Protestant cause. In 1535, a new translation of the whole Bible was published by MILES COVERDALE, of the university of Cambridge ; and other versions soon after appeared. The dissemination of so many copies of the Scriptures, where neither the Bible nor any considerable number of other books had for- merly been in use, produced very remarkable effects. The versions first used, having been formed in some measure from the Latin translation called the Vulgate, contained many words from that language, which had hardly before been considered as English ; such as per- dition, consolation, reconciliation, sanctification, immor- tality, frustrate, inexcusable, transfigure, and many others requisite for the expression of compound and abstract ideas, which had never occurred to our Saxon ancestors, and therefore were not represented by any terms in that language. These words, in the course of time, became part of ordinary discourse, and thus the language was enriched. In the Book of Common Pray- er, compiled in the subsequent reign of Edward VI., and which affords many beautiful specimens of the English of that time, the efforts of the learned to make such words familiar, are perceptible in many places ; where * A*. ED. 28 FROM 1400 TO 1558. a Latin term is often given with a Saxon word of the same, or nearly the same meaning following it, as ' hum- ble and lowly,' ' assemble and meet together.' Another effect proceeded from the freedom with which the peo- ple were allowed to judge of the doctrines, and canvass the texts of the sacred writings. The keen interest with which they now perused the Bible, hitherto a closed book to most of them, is allowed to have given the first impulse to the practice of reading in both parts of the island, and to have been one of the causes of the flour- ishing literary era which followed. Among the great men of this age, it would be impro- per to overlook SIR JOHN CHEKE, professor of Greek at Cambridge, who first induced the learned of England to study that language, and the valuable literature embo- died in it, with any considerable degree of care ; he was also one of the first who attempted to hold out precepts and models for the improvement of English composition. The earliest theoretical book on the lat- ter subject, was published in 1553, by THOMAS WILSON of Cambridge, under the title of The Art of Rhetoric ; it was a work of some merit. Another distinguished instructive w T riter of this age, was ROGER ASCHAM, pre- ceptor to Queen Elizabeth. He \vrote an essay enti- tled Toxophilus, to inculcate the propriety of mixing recreation with study, and a treatise called The School- master, containing directions for the most approved methods of studying languages. Much of the intel- lect and learning of the latter years of Henry VIIT., and the whole reigns of Edward and Mary, was spent upon religious controversies, which, though interesting at the time, soon ceased to be remembered. THIRD PERIOD. THE REIGNS OF ELIZABETH, JAMES I., AND CHARLES I. 1558 TO 1649. IN the preceding sections, the history of English liter- ature is brought to a period when its infancy may be said CHARACTER OF THE ELIZABETHAN LITERATURE. 29 to cease, and its manhood to commence. In the earlier half of the sixteenth century, it was sensibly affected by a variety of influences, which, for an age before, had operated most powerfully in expanding the intellect of European nations. The study of classical literature, the invention of printing, the freedom with which religion was discussed, together with the substitution of the phi- losophy of Plato, for that of Aristotle, had every where given activity and strength to the minds of men. The immediate effects of these novelties upon English litera- ture, were the enrichment of the language, as already mentioned, by a great variety of words from the classic tongues, the establishment of better models of thought and style, and the allowance of greater freedom to the fancy and powers of observation in the exercise of the literary calling. Not only the Greek and Roman wri- ters, but those of modern Italy and France, where let- ters experienced an earlier revival, were now trans- lated into English, and, being liberally diffused by the press, served to excite a taste for elegant reading in lower branches of society, than had ever before felt the genial influence of letters. The dissemination of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, while it greatly affected the language and ideas of the people, was also of no small avail in giving new directions to the thoughts of literary men, to whom these antique Oriental compositions, pre- sented numberless incidents, images, and sentiments, unknown before, and of the richest and most interesting kind. Among other circumstances favourable to literature at this period, must be reckoned the encouragement given to it by Queen Elizabeth, w r ho was herself very learned and addicted to poetical composition, and had the art of filling her court with men qualified to shine in almost every department of intellectual exertion. Her successors, James and Charles, resembled her in some of these respects, and during their reigns, the impulse which she had given to literature, experienced rather an increase than a decline. There was, indeed, some- thing in the policy as well as in the personal character of all these sovereigns, which proved favourable to liter- ature. The study of the belles lettres was in some 30 FROM 1558 TO 1649. measure identified with the courtly and arbitrary princi- ples of the time, not perhaps so much from any enlight- ened spirit in those who supported such principles, as from a desire of opposing the puritans and other male- contents, whose religious doctrines taught them to despise some departments of elegant literature, and utterly to condemn others. There can be no doubt that the drama, for instance, chiefly owed that encourage- ment which it received under Elizabeth and her succes- sors, to a spirit of hostility to the puritans, who, not un- justly, repudiated it for its immorality. We must at the same time allow much to the influence which such a court as that of England, during these three reigns, was calculated to have among men of literary tenden- cies. Almost all the poets, and many of the other wri- ters, were either courtiers themselves, or under the im- mediate protection of courtiers, and were constantly experiencing the smiles, and occasionally the solid bene- factions of royalty. Whatever, then, was refined, or gay, or sentimental, in this country and at this time, came with its full influence upon literature. The works brought forth under these circumstances, have been very aptly compared to the productions of a soil for the first time broken up, when ' all indigenous plants spring up at once witii a rank and irrepressible fertility, and display whatever is peculiar and excellent in their nature, on a scale the most conspicuous and magnificent.' The ability to write having been, as it were, suddenly created, the whole world of character, imagery, and sentiment, as well as of information and of philosophy, lay ready for the use of those who posses- sed the gift, and was appropriated accordingly. As might be expected, where there was less rule of art than opulence of materials, the productions of these writers are often deficient in taste, and contain much that is totally aside from the purpose. To pursue the simile above quoted, the crops are not so clean as if they had been reared under systematic cultivation. On this ac- count, the refined taste of the eighteenth century con- demned most of the productions of the sixteenth and seventeenth to oblivion, and it is only of late that they have once more obtained their deserved reputation. SPENSER. 31 After every proper deduction has been made, enough remains to fix this era as * by far the mightiest in the history of English literature, or indeed of human intel- lect and capacity. There never was anything,' says the writer above quoted, ' like the sixty or seventy years that elapsed from the middle of Elizabeth's reign to the period of the Restoration. In point of real force and originality of genius, neither the age of Pericles, nor the age of Augustus, nor the times of Leo X., nor of Louis XIV., can come at all into comparison ; for in that short period, we shall find the names of almost all the very great men that this nation has ever produced, the names of Shakspeare, and Bacon, and Spenser, and Sydney, and Hooker, and Taylor, and Barrow, and Raleigh, and Napier, and Hobbes, and many others ; men, all of them, not merely of great talents and accomplishments, but of vast compass and reach of understanding, and of minds truly creative and original ; not perfecting art by the delicacy of their taste, or digesting knowledge by the justness of their reasonings, but making vast and substantial additions to the materials upon which taste and reason must hereafter be employed, and enlarging to an incredible and unparalleled extent, both the stores and the resources of the human faculties.'* POETS. First amonw the poets of this age, in point of time, and also in point of genius, must be reckoned EDMUND SPENSER (1553 1598,f) the author of the Faery Queen. Spenser, whose parentage was humble, received his ed- ucation at Cambridge, and entered life under the protec- tion of the Earl of Leicester, to whom he had been intro- duced by Sir Philip Sydney. Having been appointed secretary to Lord Grey, the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, he emigrated to that country, where he spent a consid- erable portion of his life upon the estate of Kilcolman, near Cork, which was granted to him by Queen Eliza- beth. Here he wrote his Faery Queen, which is an * Edinburgh Review, XVIII. 275. t Dates given in this form, and in connexion with names, throughout the present volume, refer to the birth and death of the individuals to whose names they are attached. 32 FROM 1558 TO 1649. elaborate allegorical poem, designed to celebrate the principle virtues. Only six of the original twelve books now remain, the rest naving been lost by a servant on the passage from Ireland to England. Each of these is divided into twelve cantos, and the versification of the whole is in a peculiar stanza of nine lines, now com- monly called the Spenserian, and remarkable for its ele- gance and harmony. Each book is devoted to the ad- ventures of a particular knight, who personifies a cer- tain virtue, as Holiness, Temperance, Courtesy, &c., and who moves in the midst of a whole host of senti- ments and ideas, personified in the same way, the whole bearing the appearance of a chivalrous tale. The work, though upon the whole too tedious for the generality of modern readers, is justly regarded as one of the greatest compositions in English poetry. Spenser formed his manner, in some degree, upon the model of the Italian poets ; and yet he is not only unlike them in many respects, but he is like no other English writer. ' The Faery Queen, 9 says a modern critic, * is a peculiar world of itself, formed out of the extraordinary fancy of the author. His invention was without limit. Giants and dwarfs, fairies, and knights, and queens, rose up at his call. He drew shape after shape, scene after scene, castle and lake, woods and lawns, monstrous anomalies and beautiful impossibilities, from the unfathomable depths of his mind ; yet all of them intended to repre- sent some shade or kind of emotion, passion, or faculty, or the things upon which these are continually opera- ting.' Some critics, while allowing the beauty of these creations, are of opinion that their very profusion, and the minuteness with which they are described, lessen their value, and give a tediousness to the whole poem. Perhaps it is fortunate for the FaeryQueen, that one half of it was lost ; and it might have even been improved in value by the want of a half of that which remains ; for it is allowed that the strength of the work lies in the first three books. As a specimen of the allegorical manner of Spenser, maybe given his description of that chamber of the brain which he supposes to be the residence of memory : SPENSER. SYDNEY. 33 That chamber seemed ruinous and old, And therefore was removed far behind ;* Yet were the walls that did the same uphold Right nch. Thou art not mad ! Dost know me 1 Eos. Yes! Duck. Who am H Bos. Thou art a box of worm seed, &c. Duck. Am not I thy Duchess 1 Bos. That makes thy sleep so broken : Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright, But look'd to near, have neither heat nor light. Duch. Thou art very plain. Bos. My trade is to flatter the dead, not the living. I am a tomb-maker. Duch. And thou comest to make my tomb 1 Bos. Yes! Duch. Let me be a little merry : Of what stuff wilt thou make it? Bos. Nay, resolve me first : Of what fashion 1 Duch. Why do we grow phantasdeal in our death-bed 1 Do we affect fashion in the grave 1 Bos. Most ambitiously. Princes' images on the tombs Do not lie as they were wont, seeming to pray Up to heaven ; but with their hands under their cheek, As if they died of the tooth-ache ! They are not carved With their eyes fixed upon the stars; but as Their minds were wholly bent upon the world, The self-same way they seem to turn their faces. Duch. Let me know fully, therefore, the effect Of this thy dismal preparation ! This talk fit for a enamel. . Bos. Now I shall. (Avoj/in, cords, and a bell.'] Here is a present from your princely brothers. And may it arrive welcome, for it brings Last benefit, last sorrow. Duch. Let me see it. Bos. This is your last presence-chamber. Duch. Peace ! it affrights not me. Bos. I am the common Bellman, That usually is sent to condemned persons The night before they suffer. Duch. Even how thou saidst Thou was a tomb-maker. Bos. 'T was to bring you By degrees to mortification. Listen Dirge. Hark ! now every thing is still ! The scritch owl, and the whistler shrill Call upon our Dame aloud, And bid her quickly don her shroud. Much you had of Land and Rent, Your length in clay 's now competent. A long war disturb'd your mind, Here your perfect peace is sign'd. Of what is 't fools make such vain keeping 1 Sin their conception, their birth weeping ! Their life, a general mist of error, Their death, a hideous storm of terror ! 56 PROM 1558 TO 1649. Strew your hair with powders sweet, Don clean linen, bathe your feet, And (the foul fiend more to check) A crucifix let bless your neck. 'Tis now full tide, 'tween night and day, End your groan, and come away. Cariola. Hence, villains, tyrants, murderers, alas! What will ye do with my Lady 1 Cry for help ! Duch. To whom "? to our next neighbours 1 these are mad-folks. 1 pray thee, look thou givest my little boy Some syrup for his cold, and let the girl Say her prayers ere she sleep. Now what you please 1 What death 7 Bos. Strangling here are your executioners. Executioners. We are ready. Duch. Dispose my breath how please you ; but my body Bestow upon my women. Will you 1 Exe. Yes! Duch. Pull, and pull strongly, for your able strength Must pull down Heaven upon me. Yet stay ! Heaven's gates are not so highly arch'd As Princes' palaces ! They that enter there Must go upon their knees. Come violent death, Serve for mandragora to make me sleep ! Go, tell my brothers, when I urn laid out, They then may sleep in quiet. [ They strangle her. BEN JONSON (born 1574), the posthumous son of a clergyman in Westminster, worked in early life as a bricklayer with his stepfather, and afterwards served as a soldier in Flanders. After some unsuccessful attempts on the stage, he produced the comedy of Every Man in his Humour, which was brought out in 1598, at the Globe Theatre in Southwark, by the interest of Shaks- peare, who acted a part in it : the success of this play established his reputation. Jonson wrote many other comedies, two tragedies, and several masques, in which last kind of composition he is allowed to have been un- rivalled. He also wrote a variety of short miscellane- ous poems. His tragedies, which bear the titles of Ca- taline, and The Fall of Sejanus, display a great deal of learning, but are cold and declamatory. His comedies, of which, besides that above-mentioned, Volpone, The Silent Woman, and The Alchemy st, are the most cele- brated, are full of humour, though of a somewhat coars- er kind than that which prevails in the plays of his con- temporaries. His characters, moreover, have the dis- advantage of being rather the representatives of classes, or of particular passions and humours, than individual JONSON. 57 natural beings, as Shakspeare's invariably are. All his dramatic writings are deficient in passion and sentiment, and his genius seems to have been upon the whole best fitted for the production of those classic idealities which constituted the masque. For these reasons, though the great reputation attained by Ben Jonson in his own time still affects our consideration of him, he is not now much read, and Every Man in his Humour is the only- one of his plays that continues to be occasionally per- formed. The character given of him by Drummond is worth copying, if not for its justice, at least for its force : he was ' a great lover and praiser of himself; a con- temner and scoffer of others ; rather given to lose a friend than a jest ; jealous of every word and action of those about him, especially after drink, which was one of the elements in which he lived ; a dissembler of the parts which reign in him ; a bragger of some others that he wanted thinking nothing well done but what he himself, or some of his friends, had said or done.' In 1619, he became poet-laureate, a situation which he held till his death in 1637. In his miscellaneous poems, Jon- son is harsh and tedious, but he occasionally hits upon a very pleasing and fanciful strain, and does it full justice m expression. In his masque of Cynthia's Revels, the moon is addressed in a hymn, referring to her fine my- thological character, and which has always been admired for its elegance and melody. HYMN TO DIANA. Glueen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep ; Seated in thy silver car, State in wonted manner keep. Hesperus entreats thy light, Goddess excellently bright! Earth, let not thy envious shade Dare itself to interpose; Cynthia's shining orb was made Heaven to clear when day did close; Bless us then with wished sight, Goddess excellently bright ; Lay thy bow of pearl apart, And thy chrystal shining quiver ; Give unto the flying hart, Space to breathe, how 'short soever, 58 FROM 1558 TO 1649, Thou that mak'st a day of night, Goddess excellently bright! The compositions called Masques were carried to their greatest perfection in the time of Jonson, though, perhaps, none of them rivals the Comus of Milton, pro- duced in the ensuing age. They were generally found- ed on some story from the Greek or Roman mythology ; and, though therefore possessing little human interest were so well set off by fine poetry, dresses, and ma- chinery, that, during the reigns of James I. and Charles I., they formed a favourite amusement of the gay per- sons of the court, who were themselves the chief per- formers* FRANCIS BEAUMONT (1586-1615) and JOHN FLETCH- ER (1576-1625) were two men of good birth and edu- cation, who agreed to write plays in company. Fifty- two dramatic compositions, tragic and comic, appear under their joint names; and only one or two out of that number are ascertained to have been written by either without assistance from his coadjutor. It is understood, however, that Fletcher, notwithstanding his being the older man, was chiefly employed in the business of im- agining and writing the plays, while Beaumont had the task of chastening down and regulating the exuberant fancy of his senior. That a man who did not live thirty years, as was the case with Beaumont, should have helped to produce so many plays, will always be con- sidered a remarkable circumstance in our literary histo- ry ; nor will it ever cease to excite surprise, that an intellectual business of this kind should have been man- aged with so much apparent facility by a copartnery. In reference to this subject, it is related by one of their contemporaries, that, being at a tavern together for the purpose of sketching the outline of a tragedy, Fletcher was overheard by a waiter to undertake the killing of the king ; which had nearly brought them into trouble as conspirators against the life of King James, before it was discovered that only a dramatic sovereign was meant. Hardly one of the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher has retained possession of the stage, though many of them were popular for nearly a century after their own time. They are generally imperfect in their BEAUMONT. FLETCHER. 50 structure, the plots incongruous, and the characters im- perfectly delineated. It is also a charge against these associated writers, that they were the first to depart from the general character of the dramatic writing of the age, which may be said to have consisted in an abandonment, on the part of the author, of all design except that of representing natural characters and their workings. Beaumont and Fletcher allow themselves to be seen in their plays, and betray a perpetual desire to introduce fine writing the prevailing fault of almost all dramatic authors since their time. The rapidity with which they produced their plays, no doubt shows great fertility of genius ; but it has also given their produc- tions an appearance of premature luxuriance. Mr. Campbell says of them ' There are such extremes of grossness and magnificence in their drama, so much sweetness and beauty, interspersed with views of nature, either falsely romantic, or vulgar beyond reality ; there is so much to animate and amuse us, and yet so much that we would willingly overlook, that I cannot help comparing the contrasted impressions which they make, to those which we receive from visiting some great and ancient city, picturesquely but irregularly built, glittering with spires, and surrounded with gardens, but exhibit- ing in many quarters the lanes and hovels of wretched- ness. The most celebrated of the comedies of Beau- mont and Fletcher are, Rule a Wife and Have a Wife, The Chances, The Wild-Goose Chase, and The Night- Walker ; their best tragedies are The False One, The Bloody Brother, The Maid's Tragedy, and Boadicea. Tlie Faithful Shepherdess, by Fletcher alone, is a pas^ toral drama of very high merit in point of composition ' an exquisite union of dramatic and pastoral poetry,' according to Mr. Hazlitt. As a favourable specimen of the tragic style of Beau- mont and Fletcher, we may give Caesar's address to the head of Pompey, from The False One : - PITV FOR A SIXAIN ENEMY, Oh thou conqueror, Thou glory of the world once, now the pity; Thou awe of nations, wherefore didst thou fall thus 1 What poor fate follow'd thee and pluck'd thee on 60 FROM 1558 TO 1649. To trust thy sacred life to an Egyptian "? The life and light of Rome to a blind stranger, That honourable war ne'er taught a nobleness, Nor worthy circumstance show'd what man was 7 That never heard thy name suns; but in banquets, And loose lascivious pleasures 1 to a boy, That had no faith to comprehend thy greatness, No study of thy life to know thy goodness 7 Egyptians, do you think your highest pyramids, Built to outdure the sun, as you suppose, Where your, unworthy kings lie ranked in ashes, Are monuments fit for him 1 No; brood of Nilus, Nothing can cover his high fame but heaven, No pyramids set off his memories, But the eternal substance of his greatness, To which I leave him. PHIUP MASSINGER, born in 1584, and educated at Oxford, employed himself in early life in assisting other writers, particularly Fletcher. About the year 1620, he began to write on his own account : the plays partly or entirely composed by him are thirty-eight in number, and of these only seventeen are printed in the fullest edition of his works, which is that published in 1805, in four volumes, with notes by Mr. William Gifford. Though a tolerably successful dramatist, so precarious were the gains of literary labour in those days, that Massinger was generally in distressed circumstances. He was one of three play-writers who united in an ap- plication to the manager of a theatre, beseeching him for five pounds to relieve them from jail. He died in 1640, and was buried in St. Saviour's Church, Southwark, by the side of his brother-poet Fletcher. Massinger's most successful play was the comedy of the New Way to Pay Old Debts, which continues still to be acted with applause. His tragedies are of even superior merit, but are mostly unfit for representation, on account of the nature of their plots. Of these The Virgin Martyr, The Bondman, and The Duke of Milan, are the most distinguished. Mr. Campbell allows great praise to the dignity and harmony of his tragic verse, but says that he excels more in description and declamation, than in the forcible utterance of the heart, or in giving charac- ter the warm colouring of passion. JOHN FORD (15861640) occupies an inferior place among the dramatists of this age. He was designed SHIRLEY. 61 for the legal profession, but, while a student in the Mid- dle Temple, began to write plays and poems, of the former of which nine have been preserved. His chief play is the tragedy of The Brother and Sister, which, though in the highest degree objectionable on account of its subject, contains some scenes of striking excellence. The passion which Ford most successfully delineates is that of love : he excels in representing the pride and gallantry, and high-toned honour of youth, and the en- chanting softness, or mild and graceful magnanimity of the female character.* The last of these dramatists that merits particular notice, is JAMES SHIRLEY (1594-1666), who was atone time a divine of the English Church, latterly a school- master, and is said to have died of a fright into which he was thrown by the great fire of London. Between the year 1629 and his death, Shirley published thirty- nine tragedies, comedies, and tragi-comedies, and was successful in all of these styles, but particularly in the second. Indeed, the comic scenes of Shirley display a refinement which completely distances the productions of his contemporaries, and reminds the reader of the genteel comedy, as it was called, of the succeeding cen- tury. On this account, we shall select from one of his plays the only specimen of the comic drama of the peri- od, for which room can be afforded in the present vol- ume. It relates to the extravagance of a lady who takes pleasure in nothing but the profligate gaieties of the city, and thinks herself entitled, in consideration of her high birth, to waste the fortune of her husband : it may be here presented under the title of THE PRODIGAL LADY. Arelina and the Steward. Slew. Be patient, madam, you may have your pleasure. Aret. 'Tis that I came to town for; I would not Endure again the country conversation To be the lady of six shires ! the men, So near the primitive making, they retain A sense of nothing but the earth; their brains And barren heads standing as much in want Of ploughing as their ground: to hear a fellow Make himself merry and his horse with whistling * Edinburgh Review, XVIII. 289. 6 62 FROM 1558 TO 1649. Bellinger's round; t' observe with what solemnity They keep their wakes, and throw for pewter candlesticks ; How they become the morris, with whose bells They ring all into Whitsun ales, and swear Through twenty scarfs and napkins, till the hobby horse Tire, and the maid-marian, dissolved to a jelly, Be kept for spoon meat. Stew. These, with your pardon, are no argument To make the country life appear so hateful, At least to your particular, who enjoy'd A blessing in that calm, would you be pleas'd To think so, and the pleasure of a kingdom : W^ile your own will commanded what should move Delights, your husband's love and power joined To give your life more harmony. You liv'd there Secure and innocent, beloved of all ; Prais'd for your hospitality, and pray'd for : You might be envied, but malice knew Not where you dwelt. I would not prophesy, But leave to your own apprehension What may succeed your change. Aret. You do imagine, No doubt, you have talk'd wisely, and confuted London past all defence. Your master should Do well to send you back into the country With title of superintendent baillie. Enter Sir Thomas Bornwell. Born. How now, what's the matter 7 Angiy, sweetheart 7 Aret. 1 am angry with myself, To be so miserably restrained in things Wherein it doth concern your love and honour To see me satisfied. Born. In what, Aretina, Dost thou accuse me 1 Have I not obeyed All thy desires against mine own opinion 7 Gluitted the country, and removed the hope Of our return by sale of that fair lordship We liv'd in ; chang'd a calm and retire life For this wild town, compos'd of noise and charge 1 'Aret. What charge more than is necessary For a lady of my birth and education 1 Born. 1 am not ignorant how much nobility Flows in your blood ; your kinsmen, great and powerful I' th' state, but with this lose not your memory Of being my wife. I shall be studious, Madam, to give the dignity of your birth All the best ornaments which become my fortune, But would not flatter it to ruin both, And be the fable of the town, to teach Other men loss of wit by mine, employed To serve your vast expenses. Aret. Am I then Brought in the balance so, sir 7 Born. Though you weigh SHIRLEY. Me in a partial scale, my heart is honest, Arid must take liberty to think you have Obeyed no modest counsel to affect, Nay study, ways of pride and costly ceremony. Your change of gaudy furniture, and pictures Of this Italian master and that Dutchman's; Your mighty looking-glasses, like artillery, Brought home on engines ; the superfluous plate, Antique and novel; vanities of tiers ; Fourscore pound suppers for my lord, your kinsman; Banquets for t' other lady, aunt and cousins ; And perfumes that exceed all : train of servants, To stifle us at home and shew abroad, More motley than the French or the Venetian, About your coach, whose rude postilion Must pester every narrow lane, till passengers And tradesmen curse your choking up their stalls, And common cries pursue your ladyship For hind'ring o' the market. Aret. Have you done, sir 7 Born. I could accuse the gaiety of your wardrobe And prodigal embroideries, under which Rich satins, plushes, cloth of silver, dare Not shew their own complexions. Your jewels, Able to burn out the spectator's eyes, And shew like bonfires on you by the tapers. Something might here be spared, with safety of Your birth and hoaour, since the truest wealth Shines form the soul, and draws up just admirers. I could urge something more. Aret. Pray do ; I like Your homily of thrift. Born. I could wish, madam, You would not game so much. Aret. A gamester too 1 Born. But you are not to that repentance yet Should teach you skill enough to raise your profit ; You look not through the subtlety of cards And mysteries of dice, nor can you save Charge with the box, buy petticoats and pearls, Nor do I wish you should. My poorest servant Shall not upbraid my tables, nor his hire, Purchas'd beneath my honour. You may play, Not a pastime but a tyranny, and vex Yourself and my estate by 't. Aret. Good, proceed. Born. Another game you have, which consumes more Your fame than purse ; your revels in the night, Your meetings called the ball, to which appear, As to the court of pleasure, all your gallants And ladies, thither bound by a subpoena Of Venus and small Cupid's high displeasure; 'Tis but the family of love translated Into a more costly sin. There was a play on 't, And had the poet not been brib'd to a modest Expression of your antic gambols in 't, 64 FROM 1558 TO 1649. Some deeds had been discover'd, and the deeds too In time he may make some repent and blush To see the second part danc'd on the stage. My thoughts acquit you for dishonouring me By any foul act, but the virtuous know 'Tis not enough to clear ourselves, but the Suspicions of our shame. Aret. Have you concluded Your lecture 1 Born. I have done ; and howsoever My language may appear to you, it carries No other than my fair and just intent To your delights, without curb to their fair And modest freedom, Among the inferior dramatists of the age may be mentioned, George Wiikins, author of The Miseries of Enforced Marriage ; Robert Tailor, author of The Hog- hath Lost his Pearl ; Thomas Heywood, a player, and very voluminous play-writer, having assisted in the com- position of no fewer than two hundred and twenty different pieces ; Dr. Jasper Fisher, author of The Two Trojans ; Thomas May, author of The Heir, a comedy, The Tragedy of Cleopatra, and other dramas ; Brome, Nabbes, Randolph, Mayne, Habington, Marmion, Cart- wright, Davenport, and Barry. Of all these writers specimens may be found in Dodslei/s Collection of Old Plays, of which a third enlarged edition appeared in 1825, in twelve volumes. At the close of the reign of Charles I., the drama sank with the party which chiefly supported it, and did not revive till the restoration of monarchy in 1660. As it arose in a form considerably different, the class of dramatists whom we have been describing stand almost entirely by themselves in Eng- lish literature, being only connected with their successors by SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT, who wrote plays both before and after the civil war and the Commonwealth, and partook of the merits of the one period, with the faults (hereafter to be pointed out) of the other, PROSE WRITERS. The prose writers of this age rank chiefly in the de- partments of theology, philosophy, and historical and antiquarian information. There was as yet hardly any vestige of prose employed with taste in fiction, or even HOOKER. CAMDEN. 65 in observations upon manners ; though it must be ob- served, that one of the first prose works of the time was the pastoral romance of Arcadia by Sir Philip Sydney, which was written in the year 1580, and has been already alluded to. One of the earliest, and also one of the greatest of the prose writers of the period, was RICHARD HOOKER (1554-1600), a man of obscure birth, educated by the charity of individuals, and who spent the better part of his days in an obscure situation in the Church. He wrote a work of immense learning, reflection, and elo- quence, which was published in 1594, under the title Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, being a defence of the Church to which he belonged, against the sect called Puritans. This work is not to be regarded simply as a theological treatise ; it is still referred to as a great au- thority upon the whole range of moral and political principles. It also bears a value as the first treatise in the English language which observed a strict methodical arrangement, and clear logical reasoning. The style perspicuous, forcible, and manly, evidently flows from the pure source of an ingenuous and upright mind. WILLIAM CAMDEN (15511623) was also of humble birth, and owed his education to charity. Like Leland, he travelled over the greater part of England, with a view to the composition of a topographical work, which appeared in 1586, under the title of Britannia, and was soon after translated from the original Latin into Eng- lish. The Britannia is a description of England, Ire- land, and Scotland, such as they were in the time of the writer, and is a compilation of great value. It occu- pied the author ten years, and he had to study the Bri- tish and Saxon tongues before commencing it. Camden also wrote a Greek Grammar, and some works of inferior importance. In the latter part of his life he at- tained the dignity of a prebend of Sarum, and was one of the kings-at-arms. He was much respected for his learning and industry, both in England and in foreign countries. Next to Sir Philip Sydney, the most favourite person- age of this period of English history is SIR WALTER RALEIGH, (born of an honourable family in Devonshire, *6 66 FROM 1558 TO 1649. 1552 ; beheaded 1618,) who is distinguished as a soldier, as a courtier, as an adventurous colonizer of barbarous countries, and as a poet and historian. Raleigh spent many of his early years in foreign wars, and, in 1580, was very serviceable to Queen Elizabeth, in quelling a rebellion in Ireland. Between 1584 and 1595, he con- ducted several nautical expeditions of importance, some of which were designed for the colonization of Virginia an object upon which he spent forty thousand pounds. On the accession of King James in 1603, he was, with apparent injustice, condemned for high treason, and committed to the tower, where he remained for fourteen years. Part of this time he spent in the composition of his principal work, entitled The History oftheWorlcL the first part of which appeared in 1614, bringing down the narrative nearly to the birth of Christ : the portions which refer to the history of Greece and Rome are much admired. Sir Walter wrote several political treatises, which were not published till after his death. His poetry was the production of his earlier years, and possesses great merits. After his long imprisonment, he was allowed by the king to proceed upon an expedi- tion to South America, in which he failed ; and he was then executed upon his former sentence. FRANCIS BACON (1561-1626), Lord Chancellor of England, and latterly created Viscount of St. Alban's, was one of the greatest men of this, or of any other age. He wrote upon history and law, the advancement of learning, and nearly all matters relating to the cultiva- tion of the mind. Of his works, which extend to ten vol- umes, the most remarkable are, The Proficience and Advancement of Learning, published in 1605, and after- wards enlarged, and his Novum Organum, published in 1620; which, with the former book in its extended shape, forms one grand work, under the title of The Instauration of the Sciences. In this magnificent pro- duction, he first answers the objections made to the progress of knowledge, and then proceeds to divide human learning into three parts, history, poesy, and phi- losophy, respectively referring to memory, imagination, and reason, which he conceived to be the proper distri- bution of the intellectual faculties. He next explains BACON. 67 his new method (novum organwri) of employing these faculties for the increase of real knowledge ; namely, the ascertainment, in the first place, of facts, and then reasoning upon these towards conclusions a mode of arriving at truth which may appear very obvious, but which was nevertheless unknown to the predecessors of this illustrious person. Formerly, men reasoned in a quibbling manner, without regard to facts, according to a plan laid down by Aristotle, the ancient Greek philo- sopher. It was Bacon who first showed that nothing pretending to the character of human knowledge could be considered as ascertained, unless it had been sub- jected to the test of experiment, or drawn from observa- tions patent to the senses. A subsequent portion of the Imtauration contained a history of Nature, intended as a pattern of the method of employing his novum orga- num ; and in a still farther section, he showed the steps, as he called them, by which the human intellect might regularly ascend in its philosophical inquiries. He had intended to write something more, which should com- plete his design, but was prevented by want of time. This splendid work, which has given a new turn to the mind of man, and been of incomprehensible utility in promoting knowledge, was planned by its author at twenty-six years of age, when he was a student of law in Gray's Inn ; and it was prosecuted under the pressure of many heavy duties. It can never be told without shame, that its author, notwithstanding the skill with which he surveyed past knowledge, and pointed the way to much more important acquisitions, was inferior in practical virtue to many humbler men, being found guilty by Parliament of receiving bribes as Lord Chan- cellor, for the infamous purpose of perverting justice. His style of writing is almost as much ornamented by figures of rhetoric as the contemporary poetry, yet it is never on that account found wanting in precision. As a specimen, may be given a few passages from his chap- ter on the USES OF KNOWLEDGE. Learning taketh away the wildness, barbarism, and fierceness of men's minds ; though a little of it doth rather work a contrary effect. It 68 FROM 1558 TO 1649. taketh away all levity, temerity, and insolency, by copious suggestion of all doubts and difficulties, and acquainting the mind to balance rea- sons on both sides, and to turn back the first offers and conceits of the kind, and to accept of nothing but [what is] examined and tried. It taketh away all vain admiration of any thing, which is the root of all weakness : for all things are admired, either because they are new or because they are great. * * * If a man meditate upon the uni- versal frame of nature, the earth with the men upon it (the divineness of souls excepted) will not seem more than an ant-hill, where some ants Carry corn, and some carry their young, and some go empty, and all to and fro a little heap of dust. It taketh away or mi'tigateth fear of death, or adverse fortune: which is one of the greatest impediments of virtue, and imperfection of manners. * * * Virgil did excellently and profoundly couple the knowledge of causes and the conquest of all fears together. It were too long to go over the particular remedies which learning doth minister to all the diseases of the mind, sometimes purging the ill humours, sometimes opening the obstructions, sometimes helping the digestion, sometimes increasing the appetite, sometimes healing the wounds and ulcerations thereof, and the like; and I will therefore con- clude with the chief reason of all, which is, that it disposeth the consti- tution of the mind not to be fixed or settled in the defects thereof, but still to be capable and susceptible of reformation. For the unlearned man knoweth not what it is to descend into himself, and call himself to ac- count : nor the pleasure of that most pleasant life, which consists in our daily feeling ourselves become better.* The good parts he hath, he will learn to show to the full, and use them dexterously, but not much to in- crease them: the faults he hath he will learn how to hide and colour them, but not much to amend them; like an ill mower, that mows on still and never whets his scythe. Whsreas with the learned man it fares otherwise, that he doth ever intermix the correction and amendment of his mind with the use and employment thereof. It was the opinion of Bacon, that knowledge was the same as power. His own life unfortunately showed that there might be great knowledge without power. Subsequent philosophers have agreed that knowledge is what Bacon described it, only when combined with moral excellence, which, though apt to be favoured and improved by knowledge, is not always found in its com- pany. One of the most entertaining prose writers of this age, was ROBERT BURTON (1576-1640), rector of Sa- grave in Leicestershire, and a member of the college of Christ Church in Oxford. This individual led a studi- ous and solitary life in his college, till he at length be- came oppressed with melancholy, and resolved to write a book upon that subject, with the view of curing him- self. This work, which appeared in 1621, is entitled The Anatomy of Melancholy, and presents, in quaint * This expression is given in the original in Latin. BURTON. DEKKAR, 69 language, and with shrewd and amusing observations, a full view of all the kinds of that disease. It was so suc- cessful at first, that the publisher realized a fortune by it $ and Warton says, that * the author's variety of learning, his quotations from scarce and curious books, his pedan- try, sparkling with rude wit and shapeless elegance, mis- cellaneous matter, intermixture of agreeable tales and illustrations, and perhaps, above all, the singularities of his feelings, clothed in an uncommon quaintness of style, have contributed to render it, even to modern readers, a valuable repertory of amusement and information/ The author, it is said, from a calculation of his nativity, foretold the time of his own death, which occurred at the period predicted, but not without some suspicion of its having been occasioned by his own hand. In his epi- taph, in the cathedral of Oxford, he is described as having lived and died by melancholy. It may be observed, that there was no absolute want of the lighter kind of prose during this age. Several of the dramatists and others amused themselves by throwing off small works of a satirical and humorous cast, but all of them in a style so far from pure or ele- gant, and so immediately referring to passing manners, that they have, with hardly an exception, sunk into oblivion. THOMAS DEKKAR, who has already been spoken of as a writer of plays, produced no fewer than fourteen works of this kind ; in one, entitled The Gull's Hornbook, published in 1609, he assumes the character of a guide to the fashionable follies of the town, but only with the design of exposing them to ridicule. What he says here respecting fine clothes and luxurious eating, may serve as a specimen of the light writing of the period, DEKKAR AGAINST FINE CLOTHES. Good clothes are the embroidered trappings of pride, and good cheer the very root of gluttony. Did man, think you, come wrangling into the world about no better matters, than all his lifetime to make privy searches in Birchin-Lane for whale bone doublets, or for pies of nightin- gale's tongues in Heliogabalus his kitchen 1 No, no ; the first suit of apparel that ever mortal man put on, came neither from the mercer's shop, nor the merchant's warehouse ; Adam's bill would have been taken then, sooner than a knight's bond now ; yet was he great in nobody's books for satin and velvets. The silk-worms had something else to do 70 FROM 1558 TO 1619. in those days than to set up looms, and be free of the weavers. His breeches were not so much worth as King Steven's, that cost but a poor noble; for Adam's holiday hose and doublet were of no better stuff than plain fig-leaves, and Eve's best gown of the same piece ; there went but a pair of shears between them. An antiquary of this town has yet some of the powder of those leaves to show. Tailors then were none of the twelve companies ; their hall, that now is larger than some dorfes among the Netherlanders, was then no bigger than a Dutch butcher's shop : they durst not strike down their customers with large bills: Adam cared not an apple-paring for their lousy hems. There was then neither the Spanish slop, nor the skipper's galligaskin, nor the Danish sleeve, nor the French standing collar: your treble-quadruple ruffs, nor your stiff- necked rubatos, that have more arches for pride, than can stand under five London bridges, durst not then set themselves out in point; for the patent for starch could by no means be signed. Fashion was then counted a disease, and horses died of it: but now, thanks to folly, it is held the only rare physic ; and the purest golden asses live upon it. One of the greatest writers and most conspicuous political characters of the time, was JOHN SELDEN (1584 -1654), a lawyer of active and vigorous character. Selden figured as a friend of liberal government, in the Parliaments of Charles I., and had a distinguished share in the framing of the Petition of Rights, by which that sovereign was induced to make a large concession of his monarchical privileges. He published a great vari- ety of legal, political, and antiquarian tracts, replete with learning, and displaying in many parts no small share of good sense, but none of which, except his Ta- ble Talk, are now very popular. HALL, bishop of Nor- wich, whose poetical satires have already been alluded to, wrote Occasional Meditations, which still retain pop- ularity as a devotional work, besides many controversial pamphlets, which made a strong impression in their own day. His prose composition is admired for its sen- tentious firmness, and brevity. LORD HERBERT OF CHERBURY (1581-1648), is remarkable as the first infi- del writer in the English language ; he was a man of lively and eccentric genius, and wrote also the first au- tobiography in the language. The work for which he is now chiefly valued, is his history of the Reign of Henry VIII. THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679), of Malmesbury, is celebrated as the first great English writer on political philosophy. Being a zealous friend of monarchy, he began in 1628 to publish a long series of works, design- ed to warn the people as to the consequences of their HOBBES. TAYLOR. 71 efforts for the reduction of the royal power. The most remarkable of these, was one published in 1651, to which he gave the singular title of the Leviathan ; this was designed to prove philosophically, that the only source of security, which is the grand end of govern- ment, is in a monarchical form, which the people have no right to challenge. His peculiar sentiments on this point, which have never been popular in England, are excused by the admirers of his writings, on account of his naturally timid character, which had been violently shocked by the events of the civil war. It is very curi- ous that, while Hobbes maintained the necessity of an established church under the supremacy of a temporal monarch, he expressed doubts of the existence of that deity, whose worship it is the business of a church to encourage. He is said to have read very little of the works of preceding philosophers, yet he was able to pursue his arguments with great logical dexterity ; he trusted almost entirely to his own reflection, and used to say, ' If I had read as much as other people, I should have been as ignorant as they.' JEREMY TAYLOR, born of mean parents at Cambridge, between the years 1600 and 1610, is one of the most admired English writers, especially in the department of theology. He was equally devoted, with Hobbes, to the monarchy and the church, and on that account was obliged to live in obscurity during the time of the Com- monwealth ; after which, he was raised by Charles II. to the bishopric of Downe and Connor. His principal works are, The Liberty of Prophecying, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, and The Rule and Exerci- ses of Holy Dying. The Liberty of Prophecy ing is remarkable as the first treatise published in England, in which it was assumed, and attempted to be proved, that no man has a right to prescribe the religious faith of another, or to persecute him for difference of opinion. The Holy Dying is considered the best of the other two works, and is still a favourite book with serious people. He also published many sermons, which contain some strikingly fine passages. An eminent critic says of Bishop Taylor, that, ' in any one of .his prose folios, there is more fine fancy and original imagery more brilliant 72 FROM 1558 TO 1649. conceptions and glowing expressions more new figures and new applications of old figures more, in short, of the body and soul of poetry, than in all the odes and epics that have since been produced in Europe.' This excellent divine died in 1667. SIR THOMAS BROWNE is another of the eloquent and poetical, though somewhat quaint writers, of this great literary era. He was born in London in 1605, educa- ted at Oxford, and spent the greater part of his life as a physician in Norwich. His first work, entitled Reli- gio Medici, [The Religion of a Physician,] published in 1635, contains innumerable odd opinions on things spir- itual and temporal. Another work, published in 1646, under a learned title, which has been exchanged for the familiar one of Browne's Vulgar Errors, displays great eloquence, learning, and shrewdness, in exposing the erroneous sources of many commonly received opinions. His most celebrated work is Hydriotaphia, a discourse upon some sepulchral urns dug up in Norfolk. Sir Thomas here takes occasion to speculate upon the vain hopes of immortality cherished by men respecting their worldly names and deeds, since all that remains of those buried in the Norfolk urns is a little dust, to which no name, nor the remotest idea as to individual character, can be attached. Many of his thoughts on this subject are truly sublime, and the whole are conveyed in the most impressive language. One of the most important literary undertakings of this era, was the present authorized translation of the Bible. At the great conference held in 1604 at Hamp- ton Court, between the established and puritan clergy, the version of Scripture then existing was generally dis- approved of, and the King, consequently, appointed fifty-four men, many of whom were eminent as Hebrew and Greek scholars, to commence a new translation. In 1607, forty-seven of the number met, in six parties, at Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster, and proceed- ed to their task, a certain portion of Scripture being as- signed to each. Every individual of each division, in the first place, translated the portion assigned to the division, all of which translations were collected ; and when each party had determined on the construction of WINTHROP. COTTON. 73 its part, it was proposed to the other divisions for gen- eral approbation. When they met together, one read the new version, whilst all the rest held in their hands either copies of the original, or some valuable version ; and on any one objecting to a passage, the reader stop- ped till it was agreed upon. The result was published in 1611, and has ever since been reputed as a translation generally faithful, and an excellent specimen of the lan- guage of the time. JOHN WINTHROP (1587-1649,) who embarked for America in the 43d year of his age, as the leader of those colonists who settled Massachusetts, produced one of the earliest original works, that have adorned Amer- can literature. That was a minute diary which he kept, respecting the occurrences and transactions in the colo- ny, down to the year 1644. A writer has lately spoken of this " Journal" as " an imperishable monument of the worth of the author." " Had it been found," he adds, " in the library of the Earl of Oxford, or belonged to the French school, we hazard nothing in saying, that it would have been ushered into the world in all the pomp of bibliography, to take its place beside Pepys, or Wai- pole, Dangeau, or St. Simon." It has been lately pub- lished, and constitutes one of the curiosities of American literature. Mather, in his Magnalia, has placed Win- throp as a law-giver, on the same roll with Lycurgus and Numa. It may be remarked, that as yet, the New World was a place by no means favorable for the cul- tivation of letters to advantage. It was European learn- ing transplanted to a wilderness. Yet the stream though small, was " bright, limpid and refreshing."* JOHN COTTON (1584-1652), the first minister of Bos- ton, was distinguished in England by his parts and learn- ing, before he emigrated to Massachusetts. He was one of the greatest scholars of the age, and became head lecturer of Trinity College, Cambridge. His opin- ions, as expressed in the pulpit and by the press, had great influence on the colonists of New England. His writings, which are numerous, are almost all on subjects connected with religion, and the Christian church. New views of the application of religion to Government and * AM. ED. 7 74 FROM 1558 TO 1649. society, were connected with many of the religious dis- cussions, in which the patriarchs of New England were engaged. Cotton and Hooker led the way in this field of Christian enterprise. THOMAS HOOKER (1586-1647,) the first minister of Hartford, emigrated to America in the maturity of his powers and reputation. By his ex- ample and writings he greatly aided the cause of reli- gion and learning, in his adopted country. After his death, several valuable volumes were selected from his manuscript sermons, and published in England. His principal work however was A Survey of Church Dis- cipline. Cotton Mather has recorded the conclusion of an epigram on this book, written by Hooker's colleague, Mr. Stone. " If any to this platform can reply With better reason, let this volume die ; But better arguments, if none can give, Then Thomas Hooker's Policy shall live."* Among the less important prose writers of the reigns of James and Charles, may be mentioned, John Speed, a tailor of the city of London, who compiled large works on the geography and history of Great Britain, in a style superior to his predecessors ; Sir Henry Spelman, an eminent writer on legal antiquities ; Sir Robert Cotton, a historical and antiquarian writer, whom posterity has to thank for the valuable collection of historical manu- scripts now preserved in the British Museum ; Samuel Purchas, the compiler of a great collection of voyages, and of an account of all the religions in the world ; Thomas May, author of a History of the Long Parlia- ment ; James Usher, Archbishop of Armagh (1581- 1656), who wrote many able and learned works in con- troversial theology and ecclesiastical history; James Howell (1596-1668), a Welshman, who had travelled in many countries, and in 1645 published a series of let- ters, referring to historical and political subjects, which are considered the first good specimens of epistolary literature in the language ; Dr. Peter Heylin, a noted writer of ecclesiastical history, but full of prejudices ; and lastly, the sovereigns themselves, whose works, * AM. ED. PETER HEYLIN. 75 however, are now only estimated in the light of curi- osities. During the reigns of Elizabeth, James, and Charles, literary language received large accessions of Greek and Latin, and also of the modern French and Italian, and made a great advance in flexibility, grace, and ease. The prevalence of Greek and Roman learning was the chief cause of the introduction of so many words from those languages. Vain of their new scholarship, the learned writers delighted in parading Greek and Latin words, and even whole sentences ; so that some speci- mens of the composition of that time seem to be a mix- ture of various tongues. Bacon, Burton, and Browne, were among those who most frequently adopted long passages from Latin authors ; and of Ben Jonson it is remarked by Dryden, that he ' did a little too much to Romanize our tongue, leaving the words which he trans- lated almost as much Latin as he found them.' It would appear that the rage, as it may be called, for originality, which marked this period, was one of the causes of this change in our language. ' Many think,' says Dr. Heylin in 1658, 'that they can never speak elegantly, nor write significantly, except they do it in a language of their own devising; as if they were ashamed of their mother tongue, and thought it not sufficiently curious to express their fancies. By means whereof, more French and Latin words have gained ground upon us since the mid- dle of Queen Elizabeth's reign, than were admitted by our ancestors (whether we look upon them as the Brit- ish or Saxon race), not only since the Norman, but the Roman conquest.' To so great an extent was Latin thus naturalized among English authors, that Milton at length, in his prose works, and also partly in his poetry, introduced the idiom, or peculiar construction of that language ; which, however, was not destined to take a permanent hold of English literature ; for we find im- mediately after, that the writings of Clarendon, Dryden, and Barrow, were not affected by it. 76 FROM 1649 TO 1689, FOURTH PERIOD. THE COMMONWEALTH, AND REIGNS OF CHARLES II. AND JAMES n. 1649 TO 1689. THE forty years comprehended in this period, produ- ced, in the department of poetry, the great names of Milton and Dryden in divinity, those of Barrow and Tillotson and in philosophy, those of Temple and Locke. This was also the era of Bunyan. who was the first successful instance of the unlettered class of wri- ters, since become so numerous. It may be called a period of transition ; that is to say, the ease, originality, and force of the Elizabethan era, were now in the pro- cess of being exchanged for the artificial stiffness and cold accuracy which marked our literature during the eighteenth century. POETS. Among the poets, EDMUND WALLER (1605-1687), ranks first in point of time. He was by birth a gentle- man, and figured on the popular side in the Long Par- liament, though he afterwards became a royalist. His poetry partakes of the gay and conceited manner of the reign* of Charles L, and chiefly consists in complimen- tary verses, of an amatory character, many of which are addressed to a lady whom he calls Sacharissa, and whose proper name was Lady Dorothy Sydney, after- wards Countess of Sunderland. In his latter years ? he wrote in the new and more formal manner which had by that time been introduced. ABRAHAM COWLEY (1618-1667), retains a higher reputation than Waller. He wrote poetry of considerable merit at ten years old, and had greatly improved in the art at twelve. His works consist of Anacreontics, (light gay trifles in the manner of the Greek poet Anacreon ;) elegiac poems ; an epic named The Davideis ; a long poem descriptive of plants ; and a few epistles and miscellanies. These compositions possess great shrewdness, ingenuity, and learning; yet, though they frequently excite admiration, COWLEY. MILTON. 77 they seldom convey pleasure. The false taste of the age, and a fatal propensity to treat every thing abstract- ly or metaphysically, deform in his case the productions of a verv able intellect. His Anacreontics alone are now relished ; and of these one of the best is the ODE TO THE GRASSHOPPER. Happy insect ! what can be In happiness compared to thee 1 Fed with nourishment divine, The dewy Morning's gentle wine! Hature waits upon thee still, And thy verdant cup does fill; "Pis fill'd wherever thou dost tread, Nature's self's thy Ganymede ! Thou dost drink, and dance, and sing, Happier than the happiest king ! All the fields which thou dost see, All the plants, belong to thee; All that summer hours produce, Fertile made with early juice: Man for thee does sow and plow; Farmer he, and landlord thoul Thou dost innocently joy, Nor does thy luxury destroy. The shepherd gladly heareth thee, More harmonious than he. Thee country hinds with gladness hear, Prophet of the ripen'd year ! Thee Phoebus loves, and does inspire; Phoebus is himself thy sire. To thee, of all things on the earth, Life is no longer than thy mirth. Happy insect! happy thou Dost neither age nor winter know: But when thou'st drunk, and danc'd, and sung Thy fill, the flow'ry leaves among, (Voluptuous and wise withal, Epicurean animal!) Sated with thy summer feast, Thou retir'st to endless rest. The greatest poet of this age, if not in the whole range of the English poets, was JOHN MILTON (1608-1674), the son of a London scrivener, and born in that city. This illustrious person, who had the rare fortune to be educated as a man of letters, wrote, in his early years, some short poems, in the manner of the reign of Charles I., already described, but with more taste. Of these, L' Allegro and // Penseroso continue in the highest de- gree popular, and will probably ever be so. In middle 7* 78 FROM 1649 TO 1680 life, being of republican principles, he employed himself in writing pamphlets in favour of the Commonwealth, and afterwards acted as Latin secretary to CromwelL At the Restoration he went into retirement, and, though struck with blindness, devoted himself to the composi- tion of an epic poem, which he had long contemplated, upon the subject of the Fall of Man. This memorable work was published in 1667, under the title of Paradise Lost, but did not for several years attract much atten- tion, being in a style too elevated and pious for the taste of the age. The bargain which the bookseller made with the author on this occasion, has excited the sur- prise of posterity. The publisher allowed only five pounds at first, a similar sum when thirteen hundred copies had been sold, and as much for every subsequent edition which should be published. Milton received only ten pounds in all, and his widow sold the remainder of the copy right for eight. Yet it must not be inferred from this that the poet was poor, for at his death he left fifteen hundred pounds to his family. The Paradise Lost is in blank verse, and the first considerable specimen of that kind of poetry, apart from the drama. It is divided into twelve books, and relates, with the greatest dignity of thought and language, the circumstances of the fall of man, not only as far as these can be gathered from the Scriptures, but with the ad- vantage of many fictitious incidents* which in the course of time had sprung up, or which the imagination of the poet supplied. Elevated partly by the nature of his subject, and partly by the piety of his own mind, Milton has in this work reached a degree of poetical excellence which seems to throw all preceding and subsequent writers into the shade. The Paradise Lost resembles nothing else in literature ; it stands on a height by itself, and, as there are no other themes of equal sublimity, it will never probably be matched. A critic, analysing the poetical character of Milton, says, he has * sublimity in the highest degree ; beauty in an equal degree ; pathos next to the highest ; perfect character in the conception of Satan, of Adam, and Eve ; fancy, learning, vividness of description, stateliness, decorum. His style is elabo- rate and powerful, and his versification, with occasional MILTON. 79 harshness and affectation, superior in variety and har- mony to all other blank verse ; it has the effect of a piece of fine music.' Considerable portions of the Paradise Lost are de- scriptive of scenes and events above this world ; and, as man can form no ideas of which the objects around him have not supplied at least the elements, the poet may be said to have there fallen short of his design. Sublime as his images are, and lofty the strain of his sentiments, still his heaven is only a more magnificent kind of earth, and his most exalted supernatural beings only a nobler order of men. This is, however, what was to have been expected ; and when we judge the poet by the ordinary reach of the human faculties, we shall perhaps find these passages the finest in the book. The description of the battle, for instance, between the angelic host of God and the followers of the rebel Satan, though only a grander sort of earthly fight, and even affected by the military costume of the seventeenth century, can never fail to be admired as something above the powers of ordinary poets. As a specimen of the milder and more familiar de- scriptions in the Paradise Lost, we present ADAM'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. As new wak'd from soundest sleep Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid In balmy sweat, which with his beams the sun Soon dry'd, and on the reeking moisture fed, Straight toward Heav'n my wond'ring eyes I turned, And gaz'd awhile the ample sky, till rais'd By quick instinctive motion up I sprung, As thitherward endeavouring, and upright Stood on my feet. About me round I saw Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains, And liquid lapse of murm'ring streams; by these, Creatures that liv'd and mov'd, and walk'd, or flew, Birds on the branches warbling; all things smil'd, With fragrance and with joy my heart o'erflow'd. Myself I then perus'd, and limb by limb Survey'd, and sometimes went, and sometimes ran With supple joints, as lively vigour led: But who I was, or where, or from what cause, Knew not; to speak I tiy'd, and forthwith spake; My tongue obey'd, and readily could name Whate'er I saw. Thou Sun, said 1, fair light, And thou enlighten'd Earth, so fresh and gay, Ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods, and plains^ 80 FROM 1649 TO 1689,' And ye that live and move, fair creatures tell, Tell if ye saw, how I came thus, how here; Not of myself, by some great Maker then, In goodness and in power pre-eminent; Tell me how I may know him, how adore From whom I have that thus I move and live, And feel that I am happier than I know. While thus I call'd, and stray'd, I knew not whither. From where I first drew air, and first beheld This happy light, when answer none return'd, On a green shady bank, profuse of flowers, Pensive I sat me down ; there gentle sleep First found me, and with soft oppression seiz'd My d roused sense, untroubled, though I thought I then was passing to my former state Insensible, and forthwith to dissolve : When suddenly stood at my head a Dream, Whose inward apparition gently mov'd My fancy to believe I yet had being, And liv'd ; One came, methought of shape divine, And sai-j, Thy mansion waits thee, Adam, rise, First man, of men innumerable ordain'd First father, call'd by thee 1 come thy guide To the garden of bliss, thy seat prepar'd. So saying, by the hand he took me rais'd, And over fields and waters, as in air Smooth sliding without step, last led me up A woody mountain, whose high top was plain, A circuit wide, inclosed, with goodliest trees Planted, with walks, and bowers, that what I saw Of earth before scarce pleasant seem'd, each tree Loaden with fairest fruit that hung to th' eye Tempting, stirr'd in me sudden appetite To pluck and eat; whereat I wak'd and found Before mine eyes all real, as the dream Had lively shadow'd : here had now begun My wand'ring, had not he who was my guide Up hither, from among the trees appear'd Presence divine. Rejoicing, but with awe, In adoration at his feet I fell Submiss: he rear'd me, and whom thou sought'st I am. Said mildly, author of all this thou see'st Above, or round about thee, or beneath. This paradise I give thee, count it thine To till and keep, and of the fruit to eat Of every tree that in the garden grows, Eat freely with glad heart ; for here no dearth : But of the tree whose operation brings Knowledge of good and ill, which I have set, The pledge of thy obedience and thy faith, Amid the garden by the tree of life, Remember what I warn thee, shun to taste, And shun the bitter consequence: for know The day thou eat'st thereof, my sole command Transgress'd, inevitably thou shall die, From that day mortal, and this happy state BUTLER. 81 Shalt lose, expell : d from hence into a world Of woe and sorrow. Milton afterwards wrote a sequel to his Paradise Lost, under the title of Paradise Regained, in which he rep- resented the circumstances of the redemption of man. This poem is in four books, and is considered much in- ferior to the other, but only in consequence, perhaps, of the less poetical nature of the subject. He also wrote a dramatic poem on the story of Sampson, and a beautiful masque entitled Comus. Strongly contrasted to Milton in every respect was his contemporary, SAMUEL BUTLER, (1612-1680), the son of a farmer in Worcestershire, and at all times a poor man, but possessed of a rich fancy, and a singular power of witty and pointed expression. His chief work was Hudibras, published in 1663 and subsequent years ; a comic poem in short-rhymed couplets, designed to burlesque the characters of the zealously religious and republican party, which had recently held sway. Not- withstanding the service which he thus performed to the royalist cause and to Charles II., he was suffered to die in such poverty, that the expense of his funeral was de- frayed by a friend. In Hudibras, a republican officer of the most grotesque figure and accoutrements, is rep- resented as sallying out, like a knight-errant, for the reformation of the state ; and his character is thus, in the first place, described : CHARACTER OF SIR HUDIBHAS. He was in logic a great critic, Profoundly skill'd in analytic : He could distinguish, and divide A hair 'twixt south and south-west side; On either which he would dispute, Confute, change hands, and still confute ; He'd run in debt by disputation, And pay with ratiocination: All this by syllogism true, In mood and figure he would do. For rhetoric, he could not ope His mouth, but out there flew a trope: And when he happen'd to break off 1' th' middle of his speech, or cough, H' had hard words ready to show why, And tell what rules he did it by; Else when with greatest art he spoke, 82 FROM 1649 TO 1689. You'd think he talk'd like other folk ; For all a rhetorician's rules Teach nothing but to name his tools. But, when he pleas'd to show 't, his speech In loftiness of sound was rich; A Babylonish dialect, Which learned pedants much affect; It was a party-colour 'd dress Of patch'd and py-bald languages; 'Twas English cut on Greek and Latin, Like fustian heretofore on satin ; It had an old promiscuous tone, As if h' had talk'd three parts in one; Which made some think, when he did gabble, Th' had heard three labourers of Babel, Or Cerberus himself pronounce A leash of languages at once. This he as volubly would vent As if his stock would ne'er be spent : And truly to support that charge, He had supplies as vast and large; For he could coin or counterfeit New words, with little or no wit; Words so debas'd and hard, no stone Was hard enough to touch them on : And when with hasty noise he spoke 'em, The ignorant for current took 'em ; That had the orator, who once Did fill his mouth with pebble stones When he harangu'd, but known his phrase, He would have used no other ways. In mathematics he was greater Than Tycho Brahe or Erra Pater; For he, by geometric scale, Could take the size of pots of ale ; Resolve by signs and tangents straight, If bread or butter wanted weight ; And wisely tell what hour o' th' day The clock does strike by algebra. Beside, he was a shrewd philosopher, And had read ev'ry text and gloss over; Whate'er the crabbed'st author hath, He understood b' implicit faith; Whatever sceptic could inquire for, For ev'ry why he had a wherefore ; Knew more than forty of them do, As far as words and terms could go; All which he understood by wrote, And, as occasion serv'd, would quote; No matter whether right or wrong; They might be either said or sung. After having for upwards of a century been excluded from the ranks of the English poets, ANDREW MARVELL (1620-1678) has recently begun once more to attract attention. He was the friend of Milton, and, like him, MARVELt. 83 zealously devoted to the popular cause in politics. It is related of him, that, while he represented the town of Hull in Parlaiment, and was without any other resour- ces than a small allowance, which he received for that duty, a courtier was sent with a thousand pounds in gold to buy him over to the opposite side ; he placidly refused the bribe, pointing to a blade-bone of mutton which was to serve for his dinner on the ensuing day, as a proof that he was above necessity. The works of Marvell, amidst much sorry writing, contain a few passages of exquisite beauty ; one of which is here presented under the title of THE NYMPH'S DESCRIPTION OP HER FAWN. With sweetest milk, and sugar, first I it at my own fingers nurs'd ; And as it grew so every day It wax'd more white and sweet than they. It had so sweet a breath ! and oft I blush'd to see its foot more soft, And white, shall I say 1 than my hand Than any lady's of the land ! It was a wondrous thing how fleet 'Twas on those little silver feet. With what a pretty skipping grace It oft would challenge me the race; And when 't had left me far away, 'Twould stay, and run again, aed stay. For it was nimbler much than hinds, And trod as if on the four winds. I have a little garden of my own, But so with roses overgrown, And lilies, that you would it guess To be a little wilderness ; And all the spring time of the year It loved only to be there. Among the beds of lilies I Have sought it oft, where it should lie; Yet could not, till itself would rise, Find it although before mine eyes; For in the flaxen lilies' shade, It like a bank of lilies laid. Upon the roses it would feed, Until its lips ev'n seem'd to bleed ; And then to me 't would boldly trip, And print those roses on my lip. But all its chief delight was still On roses thus itself to fill ; And its pure virgin limbs to fold In whitest sheets of lilies cold. Had it liv'd long, it would have been Lilies without roses within. 84 FROM 1649 TO 1689. JOHN DRYDEN (1631-1700), while marked by some of the characteristics of the early poets, may be described as the first and most distinguished cultivator of the more artificial kind of verse, which was introduced at the Restoration from France, and prevailed till the close of the eighteenth century. He was the son of a North- amptonshire gentleman, and was educated at Westmin- ster School, and the University of Cambridge. Soon after the accession of Charles II., he appears to have established himself in London, as a poet and dramatist by profession, and on the death of Davenant, in 1668, he became poet-laureate. For forty years, Dryden practised the literary trade which he had chosen, enjoy- ing, during that period, a high though not undisputed reputation, and suffered considerably from poverty. His plays, twenty-seven in number, of the various clas- ses of tragedies, comedies, and tragi-comedies, are, upon the whole, unworthy of his genius. Most of his poems were written upon passing events and characters ; and of this class the most celebrated are, Absolom and Achi- tophel, a satire upon the Whig leaders of the time of Charles II., The Year of Wonders, Mac Flecnoe, and his Fables. These poems, with his Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, and a few of his other satirical pieces, are now deemed his best. He also translated the Works of Vir- gil, the Satires of Persius, part of the Satires of Juvenal, and portions of other classic authors, into English epic verse. Dryden was a man of amiable and virtuous dis- positions, but was tempted by the taste of the age to write on many occasions very licentiously, and allowed himself to be hurried away by injured self-love into ran- corous controversies, which impaired his peace and de- fraded his genius. Two versifiers named Shadwell and ettle, whose works fell into oblivion immediately after their authors ceased to exist, were the chief objects of the jealousy and hatred of this great bard ; and although they had hardly any importance except from his anger, they were able to give him much serious annoyance. In spite of his faults, which were not small, Dryden con- tinues to be regarded as one of the most illustrious of English poets. He was endowed with a vigorous and excursive imagination, and possessed a mastery over DRYDEN. 85 language which no subsequent writer has attained. With little tenderness or humour, he had great power of delineating character, wonderful ease, an almost sublime contempt for mean things, and sounding, vehement, va- ried versification. The fine enthusiasm of the following stanzas almost rises to the height of Milton : they are from his ODE TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. ANNE KILLIGREW. Thou youngest virgin daughter of the skies, Made in the last promotion of the blest; Whose palms, new pluck'd from paradise, In spreading branches more sublimely rise, Rich with immortal greens above the rest : Whether adopted to some neigbouring star, Thou roll'st above us in thy wand'ring race, Or in procession fix'd and regular, Mov'st with the heaven-majestic pace; Or, call'd to more superior bliss, Thou tread'st, with seraphims, the vast abyss: Whatever happy region is thy place, Cease thy celestial song a little space; Thou wilt have time enough for hymns divine, Since heav'n's eternal year is thine. If by traduction came thy mind, Our wonder is the less to find A soul so charming from a stock so good ; * * * * But if thy pre-existing soul Was form'd at first with myriads more, It did through all the mighty poets roll, Who Greek or Latin laurels wore, And was that Sappho last which once it was before. If so, then, cease thy flight, O heaven-born mind ! Thou hast no dross to purge from thy rich ore : Nor can thy soul a fairer mansion find, Than was the beauteous frame she left behind, Return to fill or mend the choir of thy celestial kind. May we presume to say, that, at thy birth, New joy was sprung in heaven, as well as here on earth. For sure the milder planets did -combine On thy auspicious horoscope to shine, And ev'n the most malicious were in trine. Thy brother angels at thy birth Strung each his lyre and tun'd it high, That all the people of the sky Might know a poetess was born on earth. The description of the Duke of Buckingham in Abso- lom and Achitophel, under the fictitious name of Zimri, is a good specimen of Dryden's satirical manner ; it is 8 86 FROM 1649 TO 1689. a singularly happy sketch of a wayward, eccentric, and contradictory character. CHARACTER OF THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. A man so various that he seem'd to be Not one. but all mankind's epitome: Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was every thing by starts and nothing long; But in the course of one revolving moon Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon : Then all for preaching, painting, rhyming, drinking, Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking. Blest madman who could every hour employ, With something new to wish, or to enjoy ! Railing and praising were his various themes, And both, to show his judgment, in extremes: In squandering wealth was his peculiar art: Nothing went unrewarded but desert. Beggar'd by fools whom still he found too late ; He had his jest, and they had his estate. He laugh'd himself from court, then sought relief By forming parties, but could ne'er be chief: Thus wicked but in will, of means bereft, He left not faction, but of that was left. The difference between the style of versification here exemplified, and that which flourished in earlier times, cannot fail to be remarked. The poets antecedent to the Commonwealth, especially Spenser, Shakspeare, Dray ton, and the dramatists of the reign of James I., uttered sentiments, described characters, and painted external nature, with a luxuriant negligence and free- dom, occasionally giving way to coarseness and conceit, and though apparently unable at any time to perceive when they were writing effectively or otherwise, they were always easy, and frequently very happy. They formed nothing like what is called a school of writers, for they had hardly any rules to be acquired. The Commonwealth, with its religious and political troubles, may be said to have put an end to this class of poets. Those who sprung up in the ensuing 'period, studied as their model the stately and regular versification that prevailed in France, to which they were introduced by the adherents of the court, who had endured a long exile in that country. This new method was introduced with the imposing character of the style of civilized Europe, as regulated by the most authoritative rules of PRYDEN. 87 antiquity, while the old English manner, which had no fol- lowers on the Continent, was regarded as something too homely for polished society. Tenderness and fancy were now exchanged for satire and sophistry; lines, rugged per- haps, but sparkling with rich thought, and melting with genuine feeling, gave place to smooth, accurate, mono- tonous epic couplets, in which the authors would have been ashamed to display any profound sentiment, or any idea of startling novelty. The very subjects of poetry were now essentially different from what they had been. The new order of writers, men of scholarly education and accustomed to live in fashionable society, applied themselves to describe the artificial world of manners, to flatter or satirize their contemporaries ; or, if they at times ventured upon any thing connected with rural nature, it was not till they had disguised it under a set of cold lifeless images, borrowed from the pastorals of antiquity. The nymphs and swains of this class of poets, were like the nymphs and swains of a masquer- ade, well-bred people dressed in good clothes, rather fancifully made. The former were Delias, or Cloes, or Corinnas ; the latter Damons, or Strephons, or Cymons. They might have the crook or the milk-pail in their hands, but they had not human nature in their hearts, nor its language upon their tongues. The most lively arid poetical objects, had to submit to a colder kind of nomenclature at the hands of these poets. The sun obtained the classic appellation of Phoebus. The flow- ers could not be alluded to otherwise than as the off- spring of the goddess Flora ; the north- wind was per- sonified under the doubly freezing epithet of Boreas ; and a voyage could not be performed, unless by special favour of Neptune and his Tritons. Dryden had some contemporaries of considerable poetical reputation in their own day, but, with a few exceptions, now almost forgotten. It happens that four of them were earls. The Earl of Rochester, celebra- ted for his profligacy and wit, displayed considerable talent without producing any one poem of distinguished merit. The Earl of Roscommon was a smooth and ele- gant versifier. The Earl of Halifax, an eminent histo- rical personage, wrote a few occasional pieces, which 88 FROM 1649 TO 1689. are generally admitted into the larger collections of English poetry. The nautical ballad, To all you Ladies now at Land,by the Earl of Dorset, remains as the only worthy poetical memorial of a very amiable nobleman, and munificent patron of poets. Notwithstanding its conceits, it never fails to please. There is something, however, still better in the character which has been drawn of this noble author ; * If one turns,' says Horace Walpole, * to the authors of the last age for the charac- ter of this lord, one meets with nothing but encomiums on his wit and good nature. He was the finest gentle- man in the voluptuous court of Charles II., and in the gloomy one of King William. He had as much wit as his first master, or his contemporaries Buckingham and Rochester, without the royal want of feeling, the Duke's want of principles, or the Earl's want of thought. The latter said with astonishment, " that he did not know how it was, but Lord Dorset might do anything, and yet was never to blame. It was not that he was free from the failings of humanity, but he had the tenderness of it too, which made every body excuse whom every body loved.'" DRAMATISTS. The stage was supported during this period by Dave- nant, Dryden, Wycherly, Otway, and a few others. The first of these individuals, as already mentioned, was allowed to write and act plays during the latter years of the Commonwealth. At the restoration of the monarchy, the theatre was also restored, and with new lustre, though less decency. There were now two principal playhouses in London, one of which contained a com- pany under the patronage of the king, (thence called the King's Servants,) while the other was patronised in like manner by the Duke of York. Amidst other im- provements in the management of the stage, female players, and moveable scenes, were now introduced; and, as it was deemed a mark of loyalty to attend dramatic performances, there was no want of encour- agement for the two houses. During the first ten years after the Restoration, the favourite tragedies were of a OTWAY. 89 kind called heroic or rhyming plays, for which the taste and the model had been brought together from France by the returning court ; they referred solely to very elevated historical characters, and were written in an in- flated metaphysical style, as if intended to represent a superior sort of human nature ; and all the lines termi- nated in rhyme. Such dramas had long been fashiona- ble in the neighbouring country, where they were carri- ed to their greatest height of perfection by the celebrated Racine and Corneille. The principal writer of them in England was Dryden, whose most celebrated plays of this kind are, The Indian Emperor t and The Conquest of Grenada. Sir Robert Howard, brother-in-law to Dryden, and the Earl of Ossory, were likewise writers of heroic plays, very eminent in their own day, but now quite forgotten. It is still a mystery by what means common audiences were prevailed upon to tolerate a kind of dramatic representation involving such absurdi- ties. At length, in 1G71, these dramas were exposed to so much ridicule by u burlesque play entitled The Re- hearsal, of which the chief author was the Duke of Buck- ingham, that they were soon after banished from the stage. The subsequent tragedies of Dryden were di- vested of rhyme, and written in a more rational strain ; and of these, All for Love and Don Sebastian are the most celebrated. The same style was followed by other writers, and thus a return was in some measure effected to the natural taste of the preceding era. But no tra- gedy of this period, not even those of Dryden, has taken such hold of the stage as the Venice Preserved of THO- MAS OTWA.Y, which appeared in the year 1682. Otway, who died soon after, at the age of thirty-four, was the son of a clergyman, and by profession a player and a poet, though unsuccessful in both capacities. After a life spent in the utmost poverty, degradation, and wretch- edness, he is said to have died in consequence of eating, when almost famished, a roll which had been given to him in charity. Out of ten plays written by this unfortu- nate author, Venice Preserved is the only one now in repute ; it exhibits very successfully some of the darker and more violent passions of human nature, beautifully *8 00 FROM 1649 TO 1689. relieved and contrasted with the sorrows of an unoffend- ing and virtuous i em ale. The comedies of this period are as remarkable for their representations of the lowest scenes of debauchery, as the tragedies were at first distinguished for their high- flown dignity. Previously to the Commonwealth, the impurity of the comic productions of Beaumont and Fletcher, and Ben Jonson, was in the course of being somewhat repressed ; and, if decency had not fallen into contempt through the patronage conferred on it by the enemies of royalty, the theatre might have now been com- paratively pure. But as the friends of the monarchy made a point of considering looseness of manners as the test of loyalty, and virtue as the characteristic of a man who was a foe to Church and State, the theatre naturally resumed, at the Restoration, all, or more than all, its former license. The comedies produced by Dryden and others, are full of gross and shameless language, and turn upon events which never occur except among men abandoned to the most detestable vices. The king, it appears, was fond of the Spanish comic drama, which abounds in profligate intrigue, plot, and surprise, carried on by means of disguises and ambuscades ; and accord- ingly it became the business of the English comic writ- ers to introduce these peculiarities into their own com- positions. Dryden's principal comedies are The Spanish Friar, The Maiden Queen, and Amphitryon ; and they are all constructed on this principle, so unfavourable to the decencies of domestic life. Next to him, the most celebrated comic writer of the period was WILLIAM WYCHERLY (1640-1715), whose Plain Dealer and Coun~ try Wife were for a long time popular plays, but are now neglected. Wycherly had some wit and power of delineating character ; but all his merits are lost in the coarse licentiousness which characterised every thing he wrote. PROSE WRITERS. The productions of this period, in the department of prose, bear a high character ; possessing much of the nervous force and originality of the preceding era, they MILTON. 01 make a nearer approach to that elegance in the choice and arrangement of words, which has since been attained in English composition. The chief writers in philoso- phical dissertation are Milton and Cowley (already spok- en of as poets), Sidney, Temple, Thomas Burnet, and Locke ; in history, the Earl of Clarendon and Bishop Burnet; in divinity, Barrow, Tillotson, Stillingfleet, Sherlock, South, Calamy, Baxter, and Barclay ; in mis- cellaneous literature, Fuller, Walton, L'Estrange, Dry- den, and Tom Brown. Bunyan, author of the Pilgrim's Progress, stands in a class by himself. Physical science, or a knowledge of nature, was at the same time culti- vated with great success by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Dr. Barrow, Sir Isaac Newton, and some others, whose writings, however, were chiefly in Latin. An association of men devoted to the study of nature, which included these persons, \vas formed in 1662, under the appellation of the Royal Society a proof that this branch of knowledge was beginning to attract a due share of attention. MILTON began, at the commencement of the Civil War, to write pamphlets against the established Episco- pal Church, and continued through the whole of the ensuing troublous period to devote his pen to the service of his party, even to the defence of that boldest of their measures, the execution of the king. His stern and in- flexible principles, both in regard to religion and to civil government, are displayed in these essays ; some of which were composed in Latin, in order that they might be read in foreign countries as well as in his own. Milton wrote a History of England, down to the time of the Norman Conquest, which does not possess much merit ; a Tract in favour of the liberty of the press, distinguished by great eloquence and dignity of lan- guage ; an Essay on Education, containing many stri- king original views ; and a Treatise on Christian Doctrine (in Latin), which was not published till the year 1825. His prose writings in general refer to subjects of such temporary interest, that they are not now much read. They display, how r ever, much of the sublime and ethe- real spirit of the man, and might be referred to for passages of the utmost poetical excellence. 92 FROM 1649 TO 1689. The prose works of COWLEY extend but to sixty folio pages, and consist chiefly of philosophical essays. It is allowed that he writes with more natural ease, and is therefore more successful in prose than in verse. The Civil War naturally directed the minds of many philosophical men to the subject of civil government ; in which it seemed desirable that some fixed truths might be arrived at, as a means of preventing future contests of the same kind. Neither at that time nor since has it been found possible to lay down a theory of government to which all mankind might subscribe ; but the period under our notice nevertheless produced some political works of very great merit. The Leviathan of Hobbes, which we have found it convenient to allude to in an earlier section, was the most distinguished work on the monarchical side of the question ; while the Oceana of Sir James Harrington, published soon after the acces- sion of Cromwell to supreme power, and some of the treatises of Milton, are the best works in favour of the republican doctrines. ALGERNON SIDNEY, who was executed in December, ] 683, upon a groundless charge of high treason, wrote Discourses on Government, which were not published till fifteen years after his death. They are chiefly designed to show the necessity of a balance between the popular and the monarchical parts of a mixed government, and have obviously a particular reference to the political evils of his own time, to which, unfortunately, he was himself a victim. SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE (1628-1698), who held seve- ral important offices during the reign of Charles II., and was one of the few eminent men of that period who preserved both public and private virtue, wrote various memoirs, letters, and miscellanies, upon subjects of morality, philosophy, and criticism. They have been frequently printed, and are still admired. Sir William was the first patron of the celebrated Jonathan Swift. DR. THOMAS BURNET published, in 1680, a work of con- siderable magnitude, entitled Tlie Sacred Theory of the Earth, which presents a conjectural account of the geological formation of this planet and all its various vicissitudes. The work is totally worthless in a scientific view, from its want of a basis of ascertained facts ; but it LOCKE. 93 abounds in fine composition and magnificent imagery. The same learned person published various other works of a theological character, which are considered as in some measure at variance with revelation. He died in 1715. The greatest philosophical writer of the period was JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704), who was originally reared for the profession of medicine, but spent the most part of his life in studious retirement. Locke was not only a man of extraordinary ability, but of singularly amia- ble character, and perfect simplicity of manners. His principal work is the Essay on the Human Understand- ing, published in 1690 ; the chief peculiarity of which, as distinguishing it from other works on the mental faculties, is, that, rejecting the doctrine which presumes men to have ideas born with them, to be in time devel- oped, it endeavours to show that the senses and the power of reflection are the only sources of what we know. Mr. Locke also wrote a treatise on Toleration, of which he borrowed the plan from Jeremy Taylor; an essay on Education ; and Two Treatises on Civil Government, the design of which was to defend the condition of affairs as settled by the Revolution. All these works contain views much in advance ef the age in point of liberality, and add to the reputation of the author. As a specimen of the philosophical writing of the period, we give Locke's notions respecting PRACTICE AND H.VEIT. We are born with faculties and powers capable of almost anything, such at least as would carry us farther than can be easily imagined ; but it is only the exercise of those powers which gives us ability and skill in anything, and leads us toward perfection. A middle-aged ploughman will scarce ever be brought to the carriage and language of a gentleman, though h ; s body be as well-proportioned, and his joints as supple, and his natural parts not any way inferior. The legs of a dancing-master, and the fingers of a musician, fall as it were naturally, without thought or pains, into regular and admirable mo- tions. Bid them change their parts, and they will in vain endeavour to produce like motions in the members not used to them, and it will require length of time and long practice to attain but some degrees of a like abil- ity. What incredible and astonishing actions do we find rope-dancers and tumblers bring their bodies to; not but sundry in almost all manual arts are as wonderful; but I name those which the world takes notice of for such, because on that very account they give money to see them. All these acquired motions, beyond the reach and almost the conception of unpractised spectators, are nothing but the mere effects of use and 94 FROM 1649 TO 1689. industry in men, whose bodies have nothing peculiar in them from those of the amazed lookers on. As it is in the body, so it is in the mind, practice makes it what it is; and most even of those excellencies which are looked on as natural endowments will be found when examined into more narrowly, to be the product of exercise, and to be raised to that pitch only by repeated ac- tions. Some men are remarked for pleasantness in raillery ; others for apologues and apposite diverting stories. This is apt to be taken for the effect of pure nature, and that the rather, because it is not got by rules ; and those who excel in either of them, never purposely set them- selves to the study of it as an art to be learnt. But yet it is true, that at first some lucky hit which took with somebody, 'and gained him commen- dation, encouraged him to try again; inclined his thoughts and endea- vours that way. till he insensibly got a facility in it without perceiving how ; and that is attributed wholly to nature, which was more the eifect of use and practice. I do not deny that natural disposition may often give the first rise to it ; but that never carries a man far without use and exercise ; and it is practice alone that brings the powers of the mind, as well as those of the body, to their perfection. Many a good poetic vein is buried under a trade, and never produces any thing for want of im- provement. We see the ways of discourse and reasoning are very different, even concerning the same matter, at court and in the university. And he that will go from Westminster Hall to the Exchange, will find a different genius and turn in their ways of talking; and one cannot think that all whose lot fell in the city, were born with different parts from those who were bred at the university or inns of court. To what purpose all this, but to shew that the difference so observable in men's understandings and parts, does not arise so much from the natural fac- ulties, as acquired habits. He would be laughed at who should go about to make a fine dancer out of a country hedger at past fifty. And he will not have much better success who shall endeavour, at that age, to make a man reason well, or speak handsomely, who has never been used to it, though you should lay before him a collection of all the best pre- cepts of logic or oratory. No body is made any thing by hearing of rules, or laying them up in his memory ; practice must settle the habit of doing, without reflecting on the rule; and you may as well hope to make a good painter or musician extempore by a lecture and instruction in the arts of music and painting, as a coherent thinker, or strict rea- soner. by a set of rules, showing him wherein right reasoning consists. This being so that defects and weakness in men's understandings, as well as other faculties, come from want of a right use of their own minds, I am apt to think the fault is generally mislaid upon na'ure, and there is often a complaint of want of parts, when the fault lies in the want of a due improvement of them. We see men frequently dexterous and sharp enough in making a bargain, who, if you reason with them about mat- ters of religion, appear perfectly stupid. The period under review, and the reign which pre- ceded it, were singularly fortunate in historians. The events of the civil war were commemorated with mas- terly ability by EDWARD HYDE, Earl of Clarendon, Lord Chancellor of England ; while those which occur- red between that time and the peace of Utrecht, in the reign of Queen Anne, found an equally able historian in HYDE. BURNET. 95 GILBERT BURNET, Bishop of Salisbury. Hyde (1608- 16"? 4) rose to distinction by the law, was a minister of Charles I. at the commencement of the war, and ac- companied Charles II. in his exile during the period of the Commonwealth. He enjoyed the office of Lord Chancellor from 1660 to 1667, when, having lost the royal favour, he retired to France, and occupied himself in the composition of his History of the Rebellion (for such was the epithet bestowed by the royalists upon the civil war), which, however, was not published till the reign of Queen Anne. This great work, which usually occupies six volumes, is not written in the studied man- ner of modern historical compositions, but in an easy flowing conversational style ; and it is generally esteemed for the lively descriptions which the author gives, from his own knowledge and observation, of his most eminent contemporaries. The events are narrated with that freshness and minuteness which only one concerned in them could have attained ; but some allowance must be made, in judging of the characters and the trans- actions described, for the political prejudices of the au- thor, which were those of a moderate and virtuous royalist. The work of Burnet (1643-1715), which bears the title of A History of my own Times, gives an outline of the events of the Civil War and Commonwealth, and a full narration of all that took place from the Restora- tion to the year 1713, during which period the author advanced from his seventeenth to his seventieth year. Burnet was the son of a Scottish Advocate of reputation, and nephew to Johnston of Warriston, one of the prin- cipal popular leaders of the civil war in Scotland. Af- ter entering life as a clergyman of his native church, he removed to a benefice in London, where, partly by his talents and partly through forward and officious habits, he rendered himself the confidant of many high politi- cal persons. Exiled by the Stuarts, he became service- able in Holland to the Prince of Orange, accompanied the expedition which brought about the Revolution, and was rewarded with the bishopric of Salisbury. Under various circumstances, Burnet had personally known the conspicuous characters of a whole century, and penetrated most of the state secrets of a period nearly 96 tfROM 1649 to 1689. as long. All these he has exhibited in his work, with a felicity not Inferior to Clarendon, though an allowance is also required to be made in his case for political prejudi- ces. Burnet wrote many other books in history, biog- raphy, and theology. His History of the Reformation of the Church of England is the standard work upon the subject. The Church of England has at no period produced so many great divines as during that now under notice. Barrow, Tillotson, Stillingfleet, Sherlock, and South, who flourished during this era, were not only eminent preachers in their own day, but have since continued to stand in the very first rank of excellence as writers in theology. DR. ISAAC BARROW (1630-1677) devoted himself in early life to natural or experimental science, in which he attained great celebrity before he became a clergyman. Having taken orders in 1660, he succes- sively occupied several high official stations in the Uni- versity of Cambridge, of which he was Vice-Chancellor at the time of his death. It was only during a few of his latter years, that he applied himself to those theolo- gipal studies by which he was destined to be afterwards famous. His works of this kind were published after his death in three folio volumes, and chiefly consist of sermons, which are remarkable for justness of thought, and an elegant copiousness of language. One expres- sion of Dr. Barrow is so forcibly expressed, that it will hardly leave any memory ' A strait line is the shortest in morals as well as in geometry.' JOHN TILLOTSON (16301694), who rose through several gradations of clerical rank to be Archbishop of Canterbury, left his sermons as the sole property with which he was able to endow his widow. On account of his great celebrity as a divine, they were purchased by a bookseller for no less than two thousand five hundred guineas. They have ever since been admired as models of correct and elegant composition in the department of literature to which they belong. EDWARD STILLINGFLEET (1635 1699) distinguished himself in very early life by his wri- tings in defence of religion and of the Church. His abilities as a writer caused him to be raised in 1689 to the dignity of Bishop of Winchester. Fifty of his ser- SHERLOCK. SOUTH. LIGHTFOOT. LEIGHTON. 97 mons, published after his death, bear a high character. WILLIAM SHERLOCK, Dean of St, Paul's (1641-1707), was chiefly distinguished in his lifetime for his writings in controversial theology, which were deemed somewhat inconsistent with the doctrines of the established Church. His Practical Discourse concerning Death, published in 1690, was admired, however, as an excellent treatise on a general religious subject. ROBERT SOUTH (1633- 1716), the wittiest of English divines, was the author of six volumes of sermons, which continue to rank among the standard productions of the English Church. Dr. South was one of the most eminent of those clergymen who, in the reign of Queen Anne, maintained what are called high church principles ; that is to say, defended the ancient privileges and doctrines of the Church against every attempt at reducing or altering them. It is very creditable to the Church of England, that, during a period remarkable for an almost universal profligacy, she produced the five divines here enumerated, who, over and above all regard to their abilities, were men of the highest personal excellence. To this list may be added JOHN LIGHTFOOT (1602 1675), who devoted himself to the study of oriental languages. He became one of the most eminent men in rabinical learning, that England ever produced, and his researches and commentaries have furnished suc- ceeding annotators of the Bible with many of their ma- terials. His Harmony was a production of great care and labour. ROBERT LEIGHTON, who died in 1684, was a Scotch divine of surpassing talents and goodness. He was raised to the archbishopric of Glasgow by his merits, but he soon voluntarily resigned that dignity, and retired to scenes more compatible with his love of peace, and taste for literary pursuits, and a life of devo- tion. Doddridge characterises his works, as among the greatest treasures of the English tongue. Indeed, all his writings show that he had an ethereal spirit, a charm- ing imagination, and the richest stores of learning and philosophy that, as some one has expressed it, he ' fed on the pure pulp of knowledge/ His Commentary on Peter is his principal work. He wrote besides, sermons and divinity tracts.* 9 *AM. ED. 98 FROM 1649 TO 1689. During the same period, some writers of great emi- nence appeared among those bodies of Protestant Chris- tians, who did not conform to the rules of the Estab- lished Church. The Presbyterian body may be said to have produced EDMUND CALAMY (1600-1666), whose influence as a preacher during the civil war was very great, and some of whose sermons still remain in esti- mation ; and RICHARD BAXTER (1615-1691), also cele- brated as a preacher, and as the author of two popular religious works, entitled The Saint's Everlasting Rest, and the Call to the Unconverted, besides many other publications of a theological, devotional, or controversial kind. The latter individual would be remarkable, if in no other respect, as an uncommon example of literary industry ; for he wrote, in all, four folios, seventy-three quartos, and forty-nine octavos. ROBERT BARCLAY (1648-1690), a country gentleman of Kincardineshire, in Scotland, distinguished himself by his able writings in defence of the religious society called Quakers, whose principles were at this period held in dread and con- tempt by all other bodies of Christians. His Apology for this 'sect, which appeared in 1676 in Latin, and in English two years after, was a learned and methodical book, very different from what the world expected on such a subject; and it was therefore read with avidity, not only in Britain, but on the Continent. Its most remarka- ble theological feature is the attempt to prove that there is an internal light in man, which is better fitted than even the Scriptures to guide him aright in religious matters. The dedication to King Charles II. has always been particularly admired for its simple and manly freedom of style, and for the pathos of its allusion to his Majes- ty's own early troubles, as a reason for his extending mercy and favour to the persecuted Quakers : * Thou hast tasted,' says Barclay, * of prosperity and adversity ; thou knowest what it is to be banished thy native coun- try, to be over-ruled, as well as to rule and sit upon the throne ; and, being oppressed, thou hast reason to know how hateful the oppressor is, both to God and man.' We may here mention the distinguished name of JOHN OWEN (1616-1683), who has sometimes been called the prince of the Independents. In 1640 he published a OWEN. ELIOT. DAVENPORT. 99 work entitled Display of Arminianism, which rendered him very popular among the non-conformists. He was a friend of Cromwell, and often preached before the Parliament. He wrote in a vigorous style, and many passages in his writings are truly eloquent. Among the best of his works, which are very numerous, are, an Exposition of the Hebrews, Discourse on the Holy Spirit, and Treatise on Original Sin. JOHN HOWE (1630-1705), wrote several valuable theological works. His best pieces are Living Temple, Blessedness of the Righteous, Enmity and Reconciliation, Redeemer's Tears, and Redeemer's Dominion. He is often truly sublime and pathetic, though not always a clear writer.* JOHN ELIOT (1604-1690) usually styled the Apostle of the Indians, who- became an inhabitant of the New World before the age of 30, rendered a lasting service to the interests of religion and learning, in that quarter of the globe, by his pious and literary efforts. His name is held in the highest veneration, especially in New England. After much labour and investigation, he effected a translation of the New Testament into the Indian tongue, which was printed at Cambridge, N. E.,in 1661. In a few years he published in the same tongue the whole Bible, and several other books, as a Grammar, and system of Logic, which he considered suitable to the capacities and wants of the natives. He was the author of a number of valuable treatises in the English language, one of which, entitled the Christian Commonwealth, was published in England, about the year 1660. Other eminent men and scholars, educated indeed in the parent country, appeared in New Eng- land during the present period, whose intellectual exer- tions deserve a passing notice. Among these were JOHN DAVENPORT (1597-1670), a learned and excellent divine, who founded the colony of NewIIaven; CHARLES CHAUN- CEY, also a divine, (1589-1672), the second president of Harvard University, who published a volume of 26 ser- mons on Justification ; and JOHN NORTON (1606-1663), of the same profession, who was the author of several works on theological subjects, and of the first Latin book ever written in America. The form in which the intellect of America at this period exhibited itself, was almost *A. ED. 100 FROM 1649 TO 1689. wholly confined to missionary efforts among the In- dians.* It is proper here to notice JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688) y a lay preacher of the sect called Baptists, and whose religious romance, entitled The Pilgrim's Progress, is one of the most remarkable books in the language. Bunyan was originally a poor, uneducated, and profli- gate man, by profession a tinker or mender of metal utensils ; but by degrees he acquired a sense of religion, and the ability to read and write. Being imprisoned at the Restoration for unauthorised preaching, he employed himself partly in writing pious works, and partly in making tagged laces for the support of his family. The Pilgrim's Progress, produced under these extraordina- ry circumstances, has since gone through innumerable editions, and been translated into most European lan- guages. Its object is to give an allegorical account of the life of a Christian, his difficulties, temptations, and ultimate triumph ; and this is done with such skill and poetical effect, that the book, though upon the most serious subjects, is read by children with as much pleasure as the fictions written professedly for their amusement. Among Bunyan's other works, his Holy War, and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, are the most distinguished. It will have been observed, that we have hitherto spo- ken chiefly of poets, dramatists, divines, and philosophical and historical writers, who, in our own age, are only a portion of the class of literary men. The reason is, that hardly any other class of authors, at least none of any merit, existed before this time. There were, for in- stance, no writers of novels, of criticism, of biography, or of any kind of miscellaneous literature, such as now^ fills our newspapers and magazines. It was not then so easy as it is now, for men to transform their thoughts into print, and therefore, when any one contemplated becoming an author, he generally waited till he should be able to present a book of some importance. About the period at which we are now arrived, the operations of the mind and of the press began to display more alac- rity, and there arose a few men of talent, who would *AM. ED. DULLER. WALTON. EVELYN. 101 condescend to write upon what were considered inferior subjects. These we treat as miscellaneous writers. THOMAS FULLER (1008-1661), a divine of the Estab- lished Church, was the author of one of the earliest biographical works of note in the language ; it bears the title of a History of the Worthies of England, and was published the year after his death. Fuller also wrote a Church history and some other works. His Worthies, though containing much gossip on which dependence cannot be placed, has preserved some valuable bio- graphical information, which would have otherwise been lost. He was himself a very singular person, being able to repeat five hundred unconnected words, after hearing them only twice, or to give an account of all the tradesmen's signs on the leading thoroughfare of the city of London, after passing through it. ISAAC WALTON (1593-1683), originally asempster in London, but who retired from business on a competency in his fiftieth year, enjoys considerable celebrity on account of his work entitled The Complete Angler, or Contem- plative Man's Recreation, which was published in 1653. It is written in the form of dialogues, and not only con- tains instructions for the sport, but describes, with great simplicity and feeling, the rural scenes and pleasures to which the art is apt to introduce its votaries. There is also in the work a tone of benevolence and morality, which adds greatly to its value. Besides this volume, which is still much in the hands of the public, Walton wrote the lives of Dr. Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Shel- den Archbishop of Canterbury, and Mr. George Her- bert, which are much admired for their simple, though somewhat quaint eloquence. JOHN EVELYN (1620-1706), a gentleman of easy fortune and the most amiable per- sonal character, distinguished himself by several scien- tific works. His Sylva, a discourse upon forest trees, published in 1664, was the cause of the planting of an immense quantity of oak timber, which, a century after, proved of the greatest service to the nation, in the construction of ships of war. Terra, a discourse on the earth, with a regard to the rearing of plants, appeared in 1675; and the venerable author also wrote a treatise on medals. Evelyn was one of the first men in England to *9 102 FROM 1649 TO 1689. treat gardening and planting scientifically ; and his grounds at Sayes Court, near Deptford, where he resi- ded, were greatly admired, on account of the number of foreign plants which he reared in them, and the fine order in which they were kept. A Diary, written by this excellent person, and published in 1818, is much valued for the picture which it gives of the state of soci- ety during the latter part of the seventeenth century. ROGER L'ESTRANGE (1616-1704) was the first individ- ual in England who acquired a notoriety as an occa- sional political writer ; from the Restoration to the time of his death, he was constantly occupied in the editing of newspapers and writing of pamphlets, generally in behalf of the Court, from which he at last received the honour of knighthood. He also translated &sop's Fa- bles and the works of Josephus. Sir Roger was so anxious to accommodate his style to the taste of the common people, that few of his writings could now be read with any pleasure. The class whom he addressed were only beginning to be readers, and as yet relished nothing but the meanest ideas, presented in the meanest language. Of DRYDEN'S prose compositions, which have been published separately in four volumes, the most remarka- ble are his Discourse on Dramatic Poetry, and the Pre- faces and Dedications to his various poetical works. These are the first easy and graceful essays upon the lighter departments of literature which appeared in England. Dr. Johnson describes them as airy, anima- ted, and vigorous. In the Discourse, he has drawn cha- racters of his dramatic predecessors, which are allowed to be unsurpassed, in spirit and precision, by any later or more laborious criticisms. Writers named D'URFEY and TOM BROWN, enter- tained the public in the reign of William III., with oc- casional whimsical compositions both in prose and verse, which are now only valued as conveying some notion of the taste and manners of the time. Brown died in 1704, and his works were published three years after, under the title of Dialogues, Essays, Declamations, Sa- tires, and Amusements. It was not till the beginning of the period under no- BOYLE. NEWTON. 103 tice, and fully twenty years after the death of Bacon, that natural science was cultivated with any marked success. The first eminent name which occurs in the history of this useful department of study, is that of the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE, a younger son of the Earl of Cork, and a native of Ireland. Mr. Boyle was born in 1 626, and spent several years of his youth in foreign travel. About the close of the reign of Charles I., while most men were engrossed with political and reli- gious revolutions, this amiable student became the centre of a little circle of gentlemen, who preferred seeking their own amusement and the good of mankind in scien- tific inquiries, and who, in more quiet times, formed themselves into what is called the Royal Society. He himself commenced a series of experiments in chem- istry, and became the inventor of that well-known in- strument, the air-pump. Previously to his death in 1691, he had published no fewer than forty-one different trea- tises, chiefly on subjects in natural philosophy. Among the associates of Boyle, Dr. Isaac Barrow was one of the most eminent. His works in science would have rendered him famous, although he had never been known as a divine. SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1642-1727), who outshone all that went before him, and all that have come after him, was only a young student at the time when Boyle and Barrow were in the height of their re- putation. It was the fortune of Newton to erect, upon the basis of geometry, a new system of philosophy, by which the operations of nature were for the first time properly elucidated ; the motions of the vast orbs com- posing the solar system being shown by him to depend upon rules that were equally applicable to the smallest particles of matter. The work in which he explained this system was written in Latin, and published in 1687, under a title which in English means Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. It is remarkable that all these three eminent cultivators of natural science w r rote also upon religious subjects. Boyle endeavoured in more than one treatise to prove that religion and science were reconcilable, and published a tract against swearing. Sir Isaac Newton wrote Some Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, which were published after his death. 104 FROM 1689 TO 1727. During this period Scotland produced many eminent men, but scarcely any who attempted composition in the English language. The difference between the common speech of the one country, and that which was used in the other, had been widening ever since the days of Chaucer and James I., but particularly since the ac- cession of James VI. to the English throne ; the Scotch remaining stationary or declining, while the English was advancing in refinement of both structure and pro- nunciation. Accordingly, except the works of Drum- mond of Hawthornden, who had studied and acquired the language of Drayton and Jonson, there did not ap- pear in Scotland any estimable specimen of vernacular prose or poetry, between the time of Maitland and Montgomery and that of SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE, Lord Advocate under Charles II. and James II. (1636-1691), who seems to have been the only learned man of his time that maintained an acquaintance with the lighter departments of contemporary English literature. Sir George was the friend of Dryden, by whom he is men- tioned with great respect, and he himself composed poetry, which, if it has no other merit, is at least in pure English, and appears to have been fashioned after the best models of the time. He also wrote some moral essays, which possess the same merits. The only other compositions bearing a resemblance to English, which appeared in Scotland during the seventeenth cen- tury, were controversial pamphlets in politics and divin- ity, now generally forgotten. FIFTH PERIOD. REIGNS OP WILLIAM III., ANNF, AND GEORGE I. 1689 TO 1727. THE thirty-eight years embraced by these reigns pro- duced a class of writers in prose and poetry, who, du- ring the whole of the eighteenth century, were deemed the best, or nearly the best, that the country had ever THE AUGUSTAN ERA. 105 known. :The central period of twelve years which compose the reign of Anne, (1702-14,) was, indeed, usually styled the Augustan Era of English Literature, on account of its supposed resemblance in intellectual opulence to the reign of the Emperor Augustus. This opinion has not been followed or confirmed in the pres- ent age. The praise due to good sense, and a correct and polished style, is allowed to the prose writers, and that due to a felicity in painting artificial life, is awarded to the poets ; but modern critics seem to have agreed to pass over these qualities as of secondary momeni, and to hold in greater estimation the writings of the times preceding the Restoration, and of our own day, as being more boldly original, both in style and in thought, more imaginative, and more sentimental. The Edinburgh Review appears to state the prevailing sentiment in the following sentences ' Speaking generally of that gen- eration of authors, it may be said that, as poets, they had no force or greatness of fancy, no pathos and no enthusiasm, and, as philosophers, no comprehensiveness, depth, or originality. They are sagacious, no doubt, neat, clear, and reasonable ; but for the most part, cold, timid, and superficial.' The same critic represents it as their chief praise that they corrected the indecency, and polished the pleasantry and sarcasm, of the vicious school introduced at the Restoration. ' Writing/ ho continues, ' with infinite good sense, and great grace and vivacity, and, above all, writing for the first time in a tone that was peculiar to the upper ranks of society, and upon subjects that were almost exclusively inter- esting to them, they naturally figured as the most ac- complished, fashionable, and perfect writers which the world had ever seen, and made the wild, luxuriant, and humble sweetness of our earlier authors, appear rude and untutored in the comparison.' While there is gen- eral truth in these remarks, it must at the same time be observed, that the age produced several writers, who, each in his own line, may be called extraordinary. Sa- tire, expressed in forcible and copious language, was certainly carried to its utmost pitch of excellence by Swift. The poetry of elegant and artificial life was exhibited, in a perfection never since attained, by Pope. 106 FROM 1689 TO The art of describing the manners, and discussing the morals of the passing age, was practised for the first time, and with unrivalled felicity, by Addison. And, with all the licentiousness of Congreve and Farquhar, it may be fairly said that English comedy was in their hands what it had never been before, and has scarcely in any instance been since. POETS. The gay epigrammatic kind of versification, introdu- ced froni France at the Restoration, was brought to perfection during the reign of William III. by MAT- THEW PRIOR (1664-1721), an individual of obscure birth, but who, by means of his abilities, rose to consid- erable state employments. Prior was matchless for his tales and light occasional verses, though these, as well as others of his compositions, are degraded by their licentiousness. He wrote one serious poem of consid- erable length, called Solomon, or the Vanity of the World, and a pastoral tale entitled Henry and Emma. As a specimen of his neat and lively manner, and of a kind of versification very popular at this time, we may give his mock epitaph on a couple who seem to have passed through life in a very unostentatious manner. JACK AND JOAN. Interr'd beneath this marble stone, Lie sauntering Jack and idle Joan. While rolling threescore years and one Did round the globe their courses run; If human things went ill or well; If changing empires rose or fell ; The morning past, the evening came, And found this couple just the same. They walk'd and eat, good folks : What then 1 Why then they walk'd and ate again ; They soundly slept the night away; They did just nothing all the day. Nor sister either had nor brother; They seem'd just tallied for each other. Their Moral and Oeconomy Most perfectly they made agree; Each virtue kept its proper ground, Nor trespass'd on the othex - 's round. Nor fame nor censure they regarded ; They neither punish'd nor rewarded. PRIOR. ADDISON. 107 He cared not what the footmen did ; Her maids she neither prais'd nor chid; So every servant took his course, And, bad at first, they all grew worse. Slothful disorder fill'd his stable, And sluttish plenty deck'cl her table. Their beer was strong; their wine was port; Their meal was large ; their grace was short, They gave the poor the remnant meat, Just when it grew not fit to eat. They paid the church and parish rate, And took, but read not, the receipt; For which they claim'd their Sunday's due, Of slumbering in an upper pew. No man's defects sought they to know : So never made themselves a foe. No man's good deeds did they commend ; So never rais'd themselves a friend, Nor cherish'd they relations poor; That might decrease their present store* Nor barn nor house did they repair ; That might oblige their future heir. They neither added nor confounded ; They neither wanted nor abounded. Nor tear nor smile did they employ At news of public grief or joy. When bells were rung and bonfires made, If ask'd, they ne'er deni'd their aid : Their jug was to the ringers carried, Whoever either, died or married. Their billet at the fire was found, Whoever was depos'd or crown'd. Nor good, nor bad, nor fools, nor wise ; They would not learn, nor could advise: Without love, hatred, joy, or fear, They led a kind of as it were: Nor wish'd, nor car'd, nor laugh'd, nor cried: And so they lived, and so they died. The reign of William, though it includes the decli- ning years of Dryden, may be considered as a short and dull period of transition between the style of that S'eat poet and the style of Pope, who followed him. uring this era, besides Dryden and Prior, poetry was cultivated by Addison, Garth, and Blackmore ; men, it may be said, who were sufficient to keep alive the flame, but not to give it any additional fervour or brilliancy. JOSEPH ADDISON (1672-1719), the son of a clergyman, and educated at Oxford, entered life as a literary parti- san of the Whigs, who possessed the reins of govern- ment during nearly the whole period under our notice. His principal poems are congratulatory pieces on the 108 FROM 1689 TO 1727. triumphs of the British army abroad translations from the Roman poets and devotional pieces. His correct, pious, and generally amiable character, are conspicuous in his metrical compositions ; but they do not, in any great degree, display the higher qualities of poetry, and are now not much regarded. SAMUEL GARTH, born of a good family in Yorkshire, and who became a favourite physician among the Whigs during the reign of William, published in 1697 a mock-heroic composition, entitled the Dispensary, referring to a dispute in the College of Physicians, respecting the commencement of a charita- ble institution, in which the poet strongly advocated the cause of benevolence. This work long held its place in our popular literature, on account oi its wit and neat- ness of expression. Garth wrote a few other poems, chiefly upon occasional subjects. SIR RICHARD BLACK- MORE, another popular Whig physician of this era, pub- lished, in 1695, the heroic poem of Prince Arthur, in ten books, in 1697, another heroic poem entitled King Arthur, in twelve .books, and in 1713, a philosophical poem called Creation, in seven books; works which enjoyed great reputation in their own day, but have long been condemned as flat, inelegant, and wearisome. The admiration which they once enjoyed, is not wholly to be attributed to the low state of public taste, but in a great measure to the spirit of party. Blackmore be- ing a zealous Whig, and a friend of the King, who knighted him, it became a kind of political duty with one set of people to read and praise his works, while another heartily despised th^ia^. At length his dulness tired even his friends. His Eliza, a heroic poem in ten books, which appeared in 1705, his Nature of Man, a philosophical poem in three books, published in 1711,7 his King Alfred, a fourth heroic poem, in twelve books, published in 1723, and a great variety of minor pieces, both in prose and poetry, fell still-born from the press. He died at an advanced age in 1729. When ALEXANDER POPE, about the year 1709, first appeared conspicuously before the literary world, poet- ry had sunk into a comparatively languid condition. This celebrated man, the son of a linen-draper in Lon- don, of the Catholic persuasion, was born in 1688. He POPE. 109 was reared at a sequestered villa in Windsor Forest, -to which his father had retired with a competence ; and at twelve years of age, he composed some verses of considerable merit. The extreme weakness and defor- mity of his person inclined him to a studious life ; and as he did not require to apply to any profession for his support, he was encouraged by his father to become a poet. His principal efforts in boyhood were translations from the Roman poets ; a kind of literary labour which was never more extensively cultivated than during this period. At sixteen he wrote some Pastorals, and the beginning of a poem entitled Windsor Forest, which, when published a few years afterwards, obtained high praise for melody of versification. In his early years, he had much intercourse with a Mr. Cromwell, who is described as having been a mixture of the pedant and beau ; and from this individual he acquired many habits of thinking and expression, by no means amiable, in particular, a sarcastic way of treating the female sex. At twenty-one, he wrote his Essay on Criticism, which excited universal admiration by the comprehensiveness of thought, the justness of the remarks, and the happi- ness of illustration, which were then attributed to it, though its merits in these respects have been held some- what lower since. Of this poem it may be said that it at once describes, and is a very fair specimen of, what the wits of Queen Anne's reign were most captivated by an epigrammatic turn of thought, and a happy ap- propriateness of expression. The following is one of the most admired passages : But most by numbers judge a poet's song; And smooth or rough, with them, is right or wrong: In the bright muse though thousand charms conspire, Her voice is all these tuneful fools admire. Who haunt Parnassus but to please the ear, Not mend their minds ; as some to church repair, Not for the doctrine, but the music there. These equal syllables alone require, Though oft the ear the open vowels tire; While expletives their feeble aid do join, And ten low words oft creep in one dull line : While they ring round the same unvaried chimes With sure returns of still expected rhymes; Where'er you find ' the cooling western breeze,' In the next line it ' whispers through tiwj trees :' 10 110 FROM 1689 TO 1727. If crystal streams ' with pleasing murmurs creep,' The reader's threatened, not in vain, with ' sleep :' Then, at the last and only couplet fraught With some unmeaning thing they call a thought, A needless Alexandrine ends the song, Which like a wounded snake drags its slow length along. The dexterity with which the passages here marked in italics were made to exemplify the faults which they condemned, was greatly prized by the readers of those days ; and it is allowed that these deformities were thenceforward banished from our literature. In 1711, when only twenty-three years of age, Pope wrote the two most beautiful of all his original poems The Rape of the Lock, and the Elegy on an Unfortunate Lady. The former of these is a heroic-comical poem in five short cantos, written originally as a mere piece of pleas- antry for the amusement of a private circle, and refer- ring to no other incident than the cutting away of a lock of hair from the tresses of a young lady, by a gentleman who desired it as a keepsake. In its original form, the poem described this incident with comparative brevity and simplicity ; but the poet afterwards introduced into it what was called machinery, namely, a set of super- natural beings, who, like the heathen deities in the Iliad and ^Eneid, were employed in developing the plot and bringing it to a conclusion. The machinery adopted by Pope consisted of the sylphs and gnomes, good and evil genii, who were supposed by the Rosicrucian philoso- phers to direct the proceedings of human beings ; and no kind of creatures could have been better adapted to enter into a story compounded, as this is, of airy fashion- able frivolities. The lady whose loss gave rise to the poem, was Miss Arabella Fermor, whom Pope denom- inates Belinda ; the lover was a Lord Petre ; and the object of the poem was to suppress the quarrel which his lordship's felony had occasioned, not only between himself and his mistress, but between their respective families. The main incident is described as taking place at the tea-table. THE SEVERING OF THE LOCK. For lo! the board with cups and spoons is crown'd, The berries crackle and the mill turns round. POPE. Ill On shining altars of Japan they raise The silver lamp ; the fiery spirits blaze. From silver spouts the grateful liquors glide, While China's earth receives the smoking tide. At once they gratify their scent and taste, And frequent cups prolong the rich repast. Straight hover round the fair her airy band; Some, as she sipped, the fuming liquor fann'd ; Some o'er her lap their careful plumes display'd, Trembling and conscious of the rich brocade. Coffee, which makes the politician wise, And see through all things with his half-shut eyes, Sent up new vapours to the baron's brain, New stratagems the radiant Lock to gain. Ah cease, rash youth! desist ere 'tis too late, Fear the just gods, and think of Scylla's fate! Chang'd to a bird, and sent to flit in air, She dearly pays for Nisus' injur'd hair ! But when to mischief mortals bend their will, How soon they find fit instruments of ill ! Just then Clarissa drew with tempting grace A two-edg'd weapon from her shining case: So ladies in romance assist their knight, Present the spear and arm him for the fight. He takes the gift with reverence, and extends The little engine on his fingers'-ends ; This just behind Belinda's neck he spread, As o'er the fragrant steams she bends her head. Swift to the Lock a thousand sprites repair, A thousand wings, by turns., blow back the hair, And thrice they twitch'd the diamond in her ear; Thrice she drew back, and thrice the foe drew near. Just in that instant, anxious Ariel sought The close recesses of the virgin's thought ; As on the nosegay in her breast reclin'd, He watch'd th' Ideas rising in her mind. Sudden he view'd, in spite of all her art, An earthly lover lurking at her heart. Amaz'd, confus'd, he found his power expir'd, Resign'd to fate, and with a sigh retired. The peer now spreads the glittering forceps wide, T' inclose the lock; now joins it, to divide, Ev'n thep, before the fatal engine clos'd, A wretched sylph too fondly interpos'd; Fate urg'd the shears, and cut the sylph in twain, (But airy substance soon unites again;) The meeting points the sacred hair dissever From the fair head, for ever and for ever! Then flash'd the living lightning from her eyes, And screams of terror rend th' affrighted skies. Not louder shrieks to pitying heaven are cast, When husbands, or when lap-dogs breathe their last ; Or when rich China vessels, fall'n from high, In glittering dust and painted fragments lie. 112 FROM 1689 TO 1727. The Rape of the Lock contains more fancy than any of the other poems of its author, though it is exerted only on ludicrous and artificial objects. His Elegy on an Unfortunate Lady, written at the same time, and his Epistle from Eloisa to Abelard, composed a few years later, are the only poems of Pope which contain much passion or deep feeling. The heroine of the former, whose name has not been ascertained, is said to have destroyed herself in France, in consequence of her affec- tions being blighted by the tyranny of an uncle ; and the following are some of the more pathetic couplets in which her loss is deplored : What can atone, oh ever-injur'd shade, Thy fate unpitied, and thy rites unpaid ? No friend's cemplaint, no kind domestic tear, Pleas'd thy pale ghost, cr grae'd thy mournful bier: By foreign hands thy dying eyes were clos'd, By foreign hands thy decent limbs compos'd. By foreign hands thy humble grave adorn'd, By strangers honour'd and by strangers mourn'd ! What though no friends in sable weeds appear. Grieve for an hour, perhaps, then mourn a year, And bear about the mockery of woe To midnight dances and the public show 1 What though no weeping loves thy ashes grace. Nor polish'd marble emulate thy face'? What though no sacred earth allow thee room. Nor hallow r d dirge be mutter'd o'er thy tomb 1 Yet shall thy grave with rising flowers be dress'd. And the green turf lie lightly on thy breast : There shall the morn her earliest tears bestow, There the first roses of the year shall blow; While angels with their silver wings o'ershade The ground now sacred by thy relics made. So, peaceful rests, without a stone, a name, What once had beauty, titles, wealth, and fame. A heap of dust alone remains of thee; 'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be ! When Pope, in 1713, had reached the age of twen- ty-five, he found his reputation as a poet completely es- tablished. Being anxious to increase the small compe- tence which he enjoyed through his father, he resolved to turn his fame to account by a translation of the Iliad, which he justly supposed would prove a profitable un- dertaking. The publication took place at intervals, but was completed in 1720, when the translator was only thirty-two. Pope's Iliad is not regarded as a faithful POPE. 113 version of the original ; it does not possess the simple majesty and unaffected grandeur of the heathen poet. Yet, while every succeeding attempt to copy these char- acteristics has failed, it must be allowed that Pope, in changing those qualities of the original, for his own bril- liant and elaborate diction and elegance of description, has produced a most fascinating work, and one that, in all probability, will not soon lose its popularity. Pope next undertook to translate the Odyssey, but twelve of the books were executed by his friends, Elijah Fenton and William Broome, to whom he gave a share of the profits. The two translations realized a very large sum, considering the rate at which literary labour was usually remunerated in those clays. From about the year 1715, Pope lived in easy cir- cumstances in a villa at Twickenham, on the Thames, where he occasionally enjoyed the society of his friends, among whom were some of the most distinguished per- sons of the time, especially of the Tory party. Though a man of the most brilliant intellect, he did not enjoy a good temper, which may perhaps be partly attributed to, though it cannot be excused by, his sickly and de- formed person. He was so weak, notwithstanding the supremacy he had gained in literature, as to write bur- lesque and satirical poems, for the purpose of throwing ridicule upon authors who possessed less ability than himself, and many of whom were too humble for notice of any kind. These attacks producing attacks in return, tended greatly to embitter a life, which is allowed, in other respects, to have exemplified many amiable vir- tues. His principal satirical poem is the Dunciad, in four books, published in 1728; a work in which there is now nothing to be seen but misdirected talent, and sentiments inconsistent with the character of a Christian author. He next composed, at the suggestion of Lord Bolingbroke, his celebrated metaphysical and moral po- em, entitled an Essay on Man, in which he embodied, in four short epistles, a series of arguments respecting the human being, in relation to the universe, to himself, to society, and to the pursuit of happiness. Of this great performance, (published in 1733,) it is sufficient here to observe, that it gave an example of the poet's 10* 114 FROM 1689 TO 1727. extraordinary power of managing argument in verse, and of compressing his thoughts into clauses of the most energetic brevity, as well as of expanding them into passages glittering with every poetic ornament. He afterwards published some Imitations of the Satires and Epistles of Horace, and Moral Essays in four Epistles, poems of a satirical cast, and exhibiting many striking views of human life and character. These, with a few short occasional pieces, complete the list of his poetical works. His letters, which, at a late period of life, he collected and gave to the world, are elegant and spright- ly, but too evidently written for parade, to be perfectly agreeable specimens of epistolary composition. This illustrious poet died May 30, 1744, at the age of fif- ty-six. The other poets of the reigns of Anne and George I., whose names are still remembered, rank much beneath Pope. The most distinguished is JOHN GAY (1688- 1732), a man of simple and amiable character, but gift- ed with strong powers of wit, and great knowledge of human character. His most popular poems are his Fables, which, in liveliness and point, have never been matched. His mock-heroic poem in three books, enti- tled Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of Lon- don, was a very happy description of existing manners and customs ; but his fame now mainly rests on The Beggar's Opera, produced in 1727, a play certainly very . reprehensible on the score of morality, but which was so much admired for its music, and for the ridicule which it threw on the weak points of many human institutions, that it was acted sixty-three nights in succession, and has ever since continued to be a favourite with those who delight in theatrical representations. JONATHAN SWIFT, though more eminent as a prose writer, ranks among the poets of this age ; his verses are chiefly of a satirical kind, referring to passing events and characters, and, with a few exceptions, are not now much read. THOMAS TICKELL, a contributor to the Spectator, was an elegant versifier, with somewhat more tenderness than his contemporaries. His ballad of Colin and Lucy is still popular, and one of the verses, in which the lovelorn maid prognosticates her approaching end, has perhaps PARNELL. RAMSAY. 115 fixed itself in more memories than any other stanza of the period : I hear a voice you cannot hear, Which says, I must not stay; I see a hand you cannot see, Which beckons me away. The moral tale of The Hermit, by THOMAS PARNELL, a native of Ireland, is another production of this age, which is still held in estimation. NICOLAS ROWE, poet- laureate to George I., and the friend of Addison, is now less known as a miscellaneous poet than as a tragic dramatist. ELIJAH FENTON wrote some sprightly verses, and, as already mentioned, assisted Pope in translating the Odyssey. The poems of GEORGE GRAN- VILLE LORD LANSDOWNE, enjoyed much notice in their day, as lively imitations of the school of the Restoration, but are now totally overlooked. The works of HUGHES, PATTISON, BROOME, YALDEN, and SHEFFIELD DUKE of BUCKINGHAM, though still permitted to encumber the collections of British poetry, are also entirely neglected by modern readers. The age of Pope and Gay produced only one classic Scottish poet who wrote in his native language. Tt has been mentioned that, from the days of Drummond of Hawthornden, Sir George Mackenzie was the only Scotsman who attempted to cultivate English literature. It may be said, with the same truth, that, from the days of Captain Montgomery, ALLAN RAMSAY was the first who wrote with success in the language more peculiar- ly belonging to the country. This poet was born in Lanarkshire in 1686, and entered life as a wig-maker in the city of Edinburgh, where he finally became a bookseller. The homely rhymes which had maintained an obscure existence from earlier times, and been re- cently practised with something like revived effect by poets named Semple and Pennycuick, were adopted and improved by Ramsay, who found farther models in the poems of Butler, Dryden, and Pope. After produ- cing some short pieces of considerable humour, he pub- lished, in 1726, his celebrated pastoral drama of The Gentle Shepherd, which has become the chief prop of his reputation. This drama depicts the rustics of Scot- 116 FROM 1689 TO 1727. land in their actual characters, and the language of their every day life, and yet without any taint of vulgarity. It is full of fine cordial natural feeling, has some good descriptive passages, and turns on an event which irre- sistibly engages the sympathies of the reader. Ramsay also collected the popular songs of his native country, and was himself skilful in that department of poetic literature. After a very useful and honourable life, he died in 1758. During this splendid era of poetry in England, the art seemed to be almost wholly uncultivated in the Trans- atlantic States. Scarcely any thing of the prevalent taste, appears to have been known among the colonists. Doubtless their time, attention, and intellect, were occu- pied in graver concerns, in efforts more nearly connected with their safety, livelihood, and social comforts. In a new country, where life, freedom, religion and property could be secured and maintained only by incessant, and arduous struggles, or if tranquility was occasionally en- joyed, where the means of indulging in such refinements could not ordinarily be commanded ; the state of things could have been no otherwise than unfavourable to this, as well as most other species of tasteful exhibition. Only three or four individuals of the age of Pope, can be named as writers of poetry in the colonies, and these are by no means distinguished. The principal names that appear, are Benjamin Colman of Boston, John Ad- ams of Newport, and John Danforth of Dorchester. These men, who were clergymen, and eminent in their profession, occasionally wrote and published poetry.* DRAMATISTS. Much of the poetical and inventive power of this age was devoted to dramatic composition, then a lucrative department of literature, and one which served as well as any other, to procure for those who cultivated it the esteem of the higher orders of society. In tragedy, the most celebrated names are those of Southerrie, Lillo, Rowe, and Addison, of whom the two last were also distinguished in oiher branches of litera- * AM. ED. SOUTHERNE. LILLO. ROWE. 117 lure. THOMAS SOUTHERNE (1662-1746) appeared as a tragic writer in the latter part of the reign of Charles II. ; but his most successful pieces, Isabella and Oroono- lio, were brought out during the period under notice. Though the former is still a favourite play, Southerne is not to be considered as a dramatic genius of a high or- der. He had the art, however, to make his productions much more profitable than those of his illustrious con- temporary Dryden, who, being told by him that he had realized seven hundred pounds by a particular piece, remarked, ' It is six hundred more than ever I did.' An entirely novel kind of tragic composition was practised with success by GEORGE LILLO (1693-1739), a modest and respectable tradesman of the city of London. Its novelty consisted in the selection of the subject and char- acters from common life. In George Barnwell, which was founded upon a popular ballad, he represented most happily the progress of an apprentice in moral error, till a flagrant crime brings him to an ignominious death. NICOLAS ROWE (1673-1718), by profession a barrister, and the friend of Pope and Addison, was by many de- grees the most eminent tragic poet of the period. His Tamerlane, Fair Penitent, and Jane Shore, produced between the years 1702 and 1715, are still considered as acting plays ; the last, in particular, being regularly employed to bring out the powers of the best female tragedians. It cannot be said that he possesses in a high degree the principal parts of dramatic invention, such as the nice discriminations of character, and the skilful development and varied play of passion ; but his diction is poetical, without being bombastic or affected, his ver- sification is singularly sweet, and his plays, generally adapted to the taste of the French school, abound in what that people call tirades of sentiment, given with force and elegance, and calculated to dwell on the mind. It is related of Rowe, who was of the Whig party, that he applied for patronage to the Tory minister, Ilarley Earl of Oxford, and being asked if he understood Span- ish, conceived it to be a hint that he might expect some post for which an acquaintance with that language was necessary ; he soon after waited upon the minister, to inform him that he had learned Spanish, when Lord 118 FROM 1689 TO 1727. Oxford, probably forgetting the former conversation, replied, that he envied him the pleasure of reading Don Quixote in the original.' The only tragedy written by ADDISON, was his Cato, acted in 1713 ; a production re- markable for the sustained elevation of its style and the correctness of its plan, containing many speeches that make an indelible impression on the reader or hearer, but deficient in interest of plot, and particularly tame in all the passages that refer to love. The aspirations after liberty, with which this play abounds, caused it, by a concurrence of circumstances at the time, to be well received by both the Tories and the Whigs, and it had a run of thirty-five nights. It has now almost disap- peared from the stage, for which it is certainly less fitted than for private perusal. As a specimen, at once of the play itself, and of the tragic poetry of the period, may be given CATO'S SOLILOQUY BEFORE COMMITTING SUICIDE. [Cato is understood to sit in a thoughtful posture; in his hand Plato's book on the Immortality of the Soul ; a drawn smord on the table be- side him.} It must be so Plato, thou reasonest well; Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This longing after immortality 1 Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror, Of falling into nought ? Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction! 'Tis the divinity that stirs within us ; 'Tis heaven itself, that points out an hereafter, And intimates eternity to man ! Eternity ! thou pleasing, dreadful thought ! Through what variety of untry'd being, Through what new scenes and changes must we pass; The wide, th' unbounded prospect, lies before me; But shadows, clouds, and darkness, rest upon it. Here will I hold. If there's a power above us, (And that there is all nature cries aloud Through all her works,) he must delight in virtue; And that which he delights in must be hdppy. But when ! or where ! This world was made for Ca?sar. I'm weary of conjectures This must end them. (Lai/ing his hand upon his su'ord. Thus am I doubly arm'd : my death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me : This in a moment brings me to an end, But this informs me 1 shall never die. The soul, secur'd in her existence, smiles At the drawn dagger, and defies its point, CONGREVE. 119 The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years ; But thou shall flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the war of elements, The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds. seems to have found ^ a moj^-ApjMUipHa^ As already mentioned, it was an age marked not so much by deep feeling or high imagination, as by an extraordi- nary" attention to the niceties of refined and fashionable sQcjielyJ HellCS, Wlliki the tiagi^poetry of the period was upon the whole more remarkable for correctness than for strong passion, nothing could excel the come- dy, either for the sparkling vivacity of its diction, or the faithfulness with which the characters and incidents of polished life were represented. It is the age, more par- ticularly, to which we must still look back for what is called the legitimate English Comedy that is to say, comedies in five acts, embodying generally a superior and inferior plot, and depending upon no other attrac- tions than what the writer himself can give. This kind of play, while exhibiting hardly any resemblance to the productions of Shakspeare, Jonson, or Beaumont and Fletcher, derived regularity of design from the French theatre of the seventeenth century, and plot and am- buscade from that of Spain. It was essentially connec- ted with a still more lively and intriguing kind of play in two acts, called the Farce, of which England has produced many excellent specimens. Decidedly the most eminent of the comic dramatists of the age was WILLIAM CONGREVE, a gentleman of Staffordshire, born in 1669, and educated in Ireland. While studying law in the Temple, in London, he be- gan to write for the theatre, and at the age of twenty- one produced his first play, entitled The Old Bachelor, which was highly successful. Having experienced min- isterial patronage, he was enabled to devote his talents entirely to the drama ; and such was his industry, that, at the age of twenty-eight, he was the author of four plays, all of which had met with the highest approba- tion. Of these, one was a tragedy called The Mourn- ing Bride ; the names of the two best comedies were 120 PROM 1689 TO 1727. The Double Dealer, and Love for Love. The failure of a play which he afterwards produced, under the name of The Way of the World, caused him to abandon the- atrical composition, though it is now considered as equal in merit with the rest of his comedies. In his latter years, being in easy circumstances, he became too indo- lent to write, and almost too proud, it is said, to ac- knowledge himself as an author. Congreve surpasses not only all the dramatists, but every English comic writer whatever, in wit : he lavishes this quality upon his writings only too abundantly, causing every charac- ter to speak with nearly the same brilliancy. For this and other reasons, the persons of his plays are allowed to be not very exact representations of nature. He died in 1729, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. GEORGE FARQUHAR (16781707), the son of a cler- gyman in the north of Ireland, and who was first a play- er and then a lieutenant in the army, was scarcely infe- rior to Congreve as a comic dramatist. His first play, which appeared in 1698, under the title of Love and a Bottle, was followed two years after by a more success- ful one, The Constant Couple, to which he soon added a sequel, entitled Sir Harry Wildair. The most con- spicuous character in the two latter comedies, is the person from whom the second of them takes its name a perfect model of the easy libertine of the period. In 1703, Farquhar produced The Inconstant, which was followed by The Twin Rivals ; and in 1706 appeared The Recruiting Officer, which is chiefly sustained by the humour of an inferior character, Sergeant Kite. Far- quhar's last and best play was The Beaux 1 Stratagem, which he wrote in six weeks, under the depression of a rooted illness. This piece enjoyed a successful run, and kept large audiences in roars of laughter, while its un- happy and still youthful author was stretched on a death- bed, rendered more distressing to him by the reflection that he was about to leave two daughters unprovided for. Farquhar wrote with great ease and humour; but, though some of his plays have been acted at no re- mote date, there is one powerful reason for the neglect into which they have now fallen. The characters are almost without exception profligates, whose language VANBURGH. CIBBER. CENTLIVRE. 121 and conduct arc rather fitted to shock than to please the comparatively refined readers of the present age. Contemporary with Congreve and Farquhar, was SIR JOHN VANBURGH, author of The Provoked Wife, The Provoked Husband, and some other plays of considera- ble celebrity, most of which appeared between 1697 and 1705, a period during which, perhaps, more of the standard English comedies were produced, than during any other era of three times the space. With the ex- ception of The Provoked Husband, which is an admira- ble comedy in every respect, Vanburgh's plays, while generally marked by the same faults as those of Farqu- har, possess rather less elegance. In his latter years, he became an architect, and had the honour of design- ing Blenheim House for the Duke of Marlborough. Another of the great comic dramatists of the period was COLLEY^IBBE^ an actpx,(l(}7 1-1757), whose Careless Husband, produced ia 1706, is still one of the most ad- mired of English comedies, and who finished Vanburgh's Provoked Husband, by adding the unrivalled scenes between Lord Townly and his lady. It is not necessa- ry to enumerate the less successful efforts of this wai- ter; but it may be mentioned that, in 1 740, he publish- ed his own life, which contains a vast fund of amusing and curious information respecting the theatrical writers and actors from the reign of Charles II. downwards. His personal character was a curious mixture of good nature, vanity, and impudence, with a surprising want of self-respect. T-he last of the brilliant list is Susanna Freeman, better known by the name she obtained from her third husband, MRS. CENTLIVRE, and supposed to have been a native of Ireland. After a life of extraor- dinary adventure, this lady became a regular writer for the theatres, and, besides less successful pieces, was the author of Tlie .Busy Body, performed in 1708; The Wonder, a Woman keeps a"Secfet, in 1714 fand A Bold Stroke for a Wife, in 1717. These pieces, though by no means pure in language or morality, are diverting from the bustle of their plots, and the liveliness of some of the characters. Marplot in the Busy Body is one of the most memorable portraitures in the whole range of the British drama. 11 122 PROM 1689 TO 1727. As a specimen of the comedy of the era, may be giv- en, from Farquhar's Beaux 9 Stratagem, the following HUMOROUS SCENE AT AN INN. Boniface, Aimwell. Bon. This way, this way, sir. Aim, You're my landlord, I suppose? Bon. Yes, sir, I'm old Will Boniface; pretty well known upon this road, as the saying is. Aim. O, Mr. Boniface, your servant. Bon. O, sir What will your honour please to drink, as the say- ing is? Aim. I have heard your town of Litchfield much famed for ale ; I think I'll taste that. Bon. Sir, I have now in my cellar ten ton of the best ale in Stafford- shire : 'tis smooth as oil, sweet as milk, clear as amber, and strong as brandy ; and will be just fourteen years old the fifth day of next March, old style. Aim. You're very exact, I find, in the age of your ale. Bon. As punctual, sir, as I am in the age of my children : I'll show you such ale. Here, tapster ; broach number 1706, as the saying is Sir, you shall taste my anno domini. I have lived in Litchfield, man and boy, above eight-and-fifty years, and, I believe, have not consumed eight-and-fifty ounces of meat. Aim. At a meal you mean, if one may guess by your bulk. Bon. Not in my life, sir; I have fed purely upon ale: I have eat my ale, drank my ale, and 1 always sleep upon my ale. Enter Tapster with a Tankard. Now, sir, you shall see - Your worship's health : [Drinks] Ha! de- licious, delicious: fancy it Burgundy, only fancy it and 'tis worth ten shillings a quart. Aim. [Drinks] 'Tis confounded strong. Bon. Strong ! it must be so, or how would we be strong that drink it ? Aim. And have you lived so long upon this ale, landlord ? Bon. Eight-and-fifty years, upon my credit, sir : but it kill'd my wife, poor woman ! as the saying is. Aim. How came that to pass 1 Bon. I don't know how, sir she would not let the ale take its natural course, sir: she was for qualifying it every now and then with a dram, as the saying is ; and an honest gentleman, that came this way from Ire- land, made her a present of a dozen bottles of usquebaugh but the poor woman was never well after; but, however, I was obliged to the gentle- man, you know. Aim. Why, was it the usquebaugh that killed her 1 Bon. My lady Bountiful said so She, good lady, did what could be done: she cured her of three tympanies : but the fourth carried her off: but she's happy, and I'm contented, as the saying is. Aim. Who's that Lad Bountiful ou mentioned? Aim. Who's that Lady Bon. Odds my life, sir, we'll drnk her eat: Drns y ay Bountiful is one of the best of women. Her last husband, Sir Charles Bountiful, left her worth a thousand pounds a-year ; and I believe she ' lays out one half on't in charitable uses for the good of her neighbours. Aim, Has the lady any children ? ESSAYISTS. 123 Bon. Yes, sir, she has a daughter by Sir Charles; the finest woman in all our country, and the greatest fortune. She has a son too, by her first husband, 'Squire Sullen, who married a fine lady from London t'other day; if you please, sir, we'll drink his health. [Drinks] Aim. What sort of a man is he 7 Bon. Why, sir, the man's well enough : says little, thinks less, and does nothing at all, faith: but he's a man of great estate, and values nobody. Aim. A sportsman, I suppose! Bon. Yes, he's a man of pleasure; he plays at whist, and smokes his pipe eight-and-forty hours together sometimes. Aim. A fine sportsman truly ! and married, you say ? Bon. Ay; and to a curious woman, sir. But he's my landlord, and so a man you know, would not sir, my humble service to you. [Drinks] Though I value not a farthing what he can do to me ; I pay him his rent at quarter-day; I have a good running trade; I have but one daughter, and I can give her but no matter for that. Aim. You're very happy, Mr. Boniface: pray what other company have you in town 1 Bon. A power of fine ladies ; and then we have the French officers. Aim. O that's right, you have a good many of those gentlemen: pray, how do you like their company'? Bon. So well, as the saying is, that T could wish we had as many more of 'em. They're full of money, and pay double for every thing they have. They know, sir, that we paid good round taxes for the ma- king of 'em ; and so they are willing to reimburse us a little; one of 'em lodges in my house. [Bell rings] I beg your worship's pardon. I'll wait on you in half a minute. ESSAYISTS. The age now under notice does not derive greater lustre from its poets and comic dramatists, than from its originating a new and peculiar kind of literature, which consisted in short essays on men and manners, publish- ed periodically. Papers containing news had been es- tablished in London, and other large cities, since the time of the civil war ; but the idea of issuing a periodi- cal sheet, commenting on the events of private life, and the dispositions of ordinary men, was never before enter- tained either in England or elsewhere. In France, it must be allowed, the celebrated Montaigne had pub- lished in the sixteenth century a series of essays, of which manners formed the chief topic. Still more re- cently, La Bruyere, another French author, had pub- lished his Characters, in which the artificial life of the court of Louis XIV. was sketched with minute fidelity, and the most ingenious sarcasm. But it was now for the first time that any writer ventured to undertake a 124 FROM 1689 TO 1727. work, in which he should meet the public several times each week with a brief paper, either discussing some feature of society, or relating some lively tale, allegory, or anecdote. The credit of commencing this branch of literature is due to SIR RICHARD STEELE, a native of Ireland, and a conspicuous Whig member of the House of Commons during the reign of Queen Anne. After composing a few comedies of no great merit, and acting as gazette- writer to the Ministry, this gentleman, onthelsth of April, 1709, commenced the publication of the Tatler, a small sheet designed to appear three times a-week, * to expose/ as the author stated, the false arts of life, to pull off the disguises of cunning, vanity, and affectation, and to recommend a general simplicity in our dress, our discourse, and our behaviour.' Steele, who had then reached his thirty-eighth year, was qualified for his task by a knowledge of the world, acquired in free converse with it, and by a large fund of natural humour; his sketches, anecdotes, and remarks, are accordingly very entertaining. To conciliate the ordinary readers of news, a part of each paper was devoted to public and political intelligence ; and the price of each number was one pen- ny. At first the author endeavoured to conceal himself under the fictitious name of Isaac Bickerstaff, which he borrowed from a pamphlet by Swift ; but his real name soon became known, and his friend ADDISON then began to assist him with a few papers upon more serious sub- jects than he himself was able or inclined to discuss, and also with various articles of a humourous character. When the work had extended to the 271st number, which appeared on the 2d of January, 1711, the editor was induced, by a consideration of the inconvenience of writing such a work without personal concealment, to give it up, and to commence a publication nearly similar in plan, and in which he might assume a new disguise. This was the more celebrated Spectator, of which the first number appeared on the 1st of March, 1711. The Spectator was published daily, and each number was invariably a complete essay, without any admixture of politics. Steele and Addison were con- junct in this work from its commencement, and they STEELE. ADDISON. TICKELL. 125 obtained considerable assistance from a few other wri- ters, of whom the chief were Thomas Tickell, and a gentleman named Budgell. The greater part of the light and humorous sketches are by Steele ; while Ad- dison contributed most of the articles in which there is any grave reflection, or elevated feeling. In the course of the work, several fictitious persons were introduced as friends of the supposed editor, partly for amusement, and partly for the purpose of quoting them on occasions where their opinions might be supposed appropriate. Thus, a country gentleman was described under the name of Sir Roger de Coverly, to whom reference was made when matters connected with rural affairs were in question. A Captain Sentry stood up for the army ; Will Honeycomb gave law on all things concerning the gay world ; and Sir Andrew Freeport represented the commercial interest. Of these characters, Sir Roger was by far the most happily delineated : it is understood that he was entirely a being of Addison's imagination, and certainly, in the whole round of English fiction, there is no character delineated with more masterly strokes of humour .and tenderness. The Spectator, which extended to six hundred and thirty-five numbers, or eight volumes, is not only much superior to the Tat- ler, but stands at the head of all the works of the same kind that have since been produced ; and, as a miscel- lany of polite literature, is not surpassed by any book whatever. All that regards the smaller morals and de- cencies of life, elegance or justness of taste, and the im- provement of domestic society, is touched upon in this paper with the happiest combination of seriousness and ridicule ; it is also entitled to the praise of having cor- rected the existing style of writing and speaking on common topics, which was much vitiated by slang phraseology and profane swearing. The Spectator ap- peared every morning in the shape of a single leaf, and was received at the breakfast-tables of most persons of taste then living in the metropolis ; yet it is stated, that the greatest number sold in this shape did not exceed sixteen hundred and eighty. It has since passed through innumerable editions. During the year 1713, while the publication of the 11* 126 FROM 1689 TO Spectator was temporarily suspended, Steele, with the same assistance, published the Guardian, which was also issued daily, and extended to a hundred and seven- ty-five numbers, or two volumes. It ranks in merit be- tween the Spectator and Tatler. Though Steele reali- zed considerable sums by his writings, as well as by his places under Government, and married a lady of for- tune in South Wales, he was always at a loss for mon- ey, which, it may be said, he could neither want nor keep. With many amiable features of character, and a high admiration of virtue in the abstract, his conduct was frequently inconsistent with the rules of propriety, a circumstance which is attributed in part to his pe- cuniary embarrassments. Being once reproached by Whiston, a strange but disinterested enthusiast in reli- gion, for giving a vote in Parliament contrary to his former professed opinions, he replied, 'Mr. Whiston, you can walk on foot, but I cannot ;' a sentiment which, if serious, certainly lays him open to the severest censure. He died in 1729. The humorous manner of these celebrated papers is very happily instanced in Addison's sketch of THE POLITICAL UPHOLSTERER. There lived some years since, within rny neighbourhood, a very grave person, an upholsterer, who seemed a man of more than ordinary appli- cation to business. He was a very early riser, and was often abroad two or three hours before any of his neighbours. He had a particular carefulness in the knitting of his brows, and a kind of impatience in all his motions, that plainly discovered he was always intent on matters of importance. Upon my enquiry into his life and conversation, I found him to be the greatest newsmonger in our quarter; that he rose before day to read the Postman ; and that he would take two or three turns to the other enJ of the town belore his neighbours were up, to see if there were any Dutch mails come in. He had a wife and several children ; but was much more inquisitive to know what passed in Poland than in his own family, and was in greater pain and anxiety of mind for King Augustus's welfare than that of his nearest relations. He looked ex- tremely thin in a dirth of news, and never enjoyed himself in a west- erly wind. This indefatigable kind of life was the ruin of his shop ; for about the time that his favourite prince left the crown of Poland, he broke and disappeared. This man and his affairs had long been out of my mind, till about three days ago, as I was walking in St. James's Park, 1 heard somebody at a distance hemming after me: and who should it be but my old neigh- bour the upholsterer 1 I saw he was reduced to extreme poverty, by certain shabby superfluities in his dress : for notwithstanding that it was a very sultry day for the time of the year, he wore a loose great- ADDISON. 127 coat and a muff, with a long campaign wig out of curl ; to which he had added the ornament of a pair of black garters buckled under the knee. Upon his coming up to me, I was going to enquire into his pres- ent circumstances ; but was prevented by his asking me, with a whisper, whether the last letters brought any accounts that one might rely upon from Bender'? Itold him, none that I heard of; and asked him, whether he had yet married his eldest daughter 1 He told me, no. But pray, says he, tell me sincerely, what are your thoughts of the King of Swe- den 1 for though his wife and children were starving, I found his chief concern at present was for this great monarch. I told him, that I looked upon him as one of the first heroes of the age. But pray, says he, do you think there is any thing in the story of his wound 1 And finding me surprised at the question, nay, says he, I only propose it to you. I answered, that I thought there was no reason to doubt of it. But why in the heel, says he, more than in any other part of the body 7 Because, said I, the bullet chanced to light there. This extraordinary dialogue was no sooner ended, but he began to launch out into a long dissertation upon the affairs of the north; and after having spent some time on them, he told me, he was in great per- plexity how to reconcile the Supplement with the English Post, and had been just now examining what the other papers say upon the same sub- ject. The Daily Courant, says he, has these words, we have advices from very good hands, that a certain prince has some matters of great importance under consideration. This is very mysterious ; but the Postboy leaves us more in the dark, for he tells us, that there are private intimations of measures taken by a certain prince, which time will bring to light. Now the Postman, says he, who uses to be very clear, refers to the same news in these words: the late conduct of a certain prince affords great matter of speculation. This certain prince, says the uphol- sterer, whom they are all so cautious of naming, I take to be . Upon which, though there was nobody near us, he whispered something in my ear, which I did not hear, or think worthy my while to make him repeat.* We were now got to the upper end of the Mall, where were three or four very odd fellows sitting together upon the bench. These I found were all of them politicians, who used to sun themselves in that place every day about dinner time. Observing them to be curiosities in their kind, and my friend's acquaintance, I sat down among them. The chief politician of the bench was a great asserter of paradoxes. He told us, with seeming concern, that by some news he had lately read from Muscovy, it appeared to him that there was a storm gathering in the Black Sea, which might in time do hurt to the naval forces of this nation. To this he added, that for his part, he could not wish to eee the Turk driven out of Europe, which he believed could not but be prejudi- cial to our woollen manufacture. He then told us that he looked upon those extraordinary revolutions, which had lately happened in those parts of the world," to have risen chiefly from two persons who were not much talked of; and those, says he, are Prince Menzikoff, and the Duchess of Mirandola. He backed his assertions with so many broken hints, and such a shew of depth arid wisdom, that we gave ourselves up to his opinions. The discourse at length fell upon a point which seldom escapes a knot of true-born Englishmen, whether, in case of a religious war, the Prot- estants would not be too strong for the Papists 1 This we unanimously * The prince here alluded to so mysteriously was the Pretender, James Stuart, son Of King James If. 128 FROM 1689 TO 1727. determined on the Protestant side. One who sat on rny right hand, and, as I found by his discourse, had been in the West Indies, assured us, that it would be a very easy matter for the Protestants to beat the pope at sea ; and added, that whenever such a war does break out, it must turn to the good of the Leeward Islands. Upon this, one who sat at the end of the bench, and, as I afterwards found, was the geographer of the company, said, that in case the Papists should drive the Protestants from these parts of Europe, when the worst came to the worst, it would be impossible to beat thenl out of Norway and Greenland, provided the northern crowns hold tdgether, and the Czar of Muscovy stand neuter. He further told us for our comfort, that there were vast tracts of lands about the pole, inhabited neither by Protestants nor Papists, and of greaterextent than all the Roman Catholic dominions in Europe. When we had fully discussed this point, my friend the upholsterer began to exert himself upon the present negociations of peace, in which he deposed princes, settled the bounds of kingdoms, and balanced the power of Europe, with great justice and impartiality. I at length took my leave of the company, and was going away ; but had not gone thirty yards, before the upholsterer hemmed again after me. Upon his advancing towards me, with a whisper, I expected to hear some secret piece of news, which he had not thought fit to communicate to the bench ; but instead of that, he desired me in my ear to lend him half-a-crown. In compassion to so needy a statesman, and to dissipate the confusion I found he was in, I told him, if he pleased I v/ould give him five shillings, to receive five pounds of him when the great Turk was driven out of Constantinople; which he very readily accepted, but not before he had laid down to me the impossibility of such an event, as the affairs of Europe now stand.* MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS. Of this class, the most eminent by far was JONATHAN SWIFT (1667-1744), Dean of St. Patrick's, a man of harsh, selfish, and vulgar character, but gifted with in- tellectual powers of the most vigorous nature. Swift was a native of Ireland, which, it may be remarked, now began to contribute a respectable share of the lit- erary talent usually concentrated in the British metropo- lis. The earlier part of his life was spent chiefly in England, and in connexion with the Whig faction ; he afterwards became a Tory, and was the friend of Pope, Bolingbroke, and other wits of that party. His works are chiefly of a political character, and were written only to serve a temporary end ; yet they are such mod- els of satirical composition, that they still continue to form a constituent portion of every good English libra- ry 7 . ' They are written with great plainness, force, and intrepidity, and always advance at once to the matter *Tatler, vol. iii. SWIFT. 129 in dispute. Their distinguishing feature, however, is the force and vehemence of the invective in which they abound ; the copiousness, the steadiness, the perse- verance, and the dexterity, with which abuse and ridi- cule are showered upon the adversary/ This was, beyond all doubt, Swift's great talent, and the weapon by which he made himself formidable. ' He was, with- out exception, the greatest and most efficient libeller that ever exercised the trade ; and possessed, in an em- inent degree, all the qualifications which it requires a clear head, a cold heart, and a vindictive temper, no admiration of noble qualities, no sympathy with suffer- ing, not much conscience, not much consistency a ready wit, a sarcastic humour, a thorough knowledge of the baser parts of human nature, and a complete famil- iarity with every thing that is low, homely, and familiar in language.'* His earliest work of importance was his Tale of a Tub, published anonymously in 1704, and designed as a burlesque of the disputes among the Cath- olics, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians. For some years after, he was employed entirely in political and occa- sional writings, the . most remarkable of which was his pamphlet called The Conduct of the Allies, published in 1711, by which he disposed the nation to submit to a peace, then anxiously desired by the Ministry. The displacement of his party in 1714, by George I., sent him into retirement in Ireland, and he scarcely resumed his pen till 1724, when he published a series of letters under the signature of ' M. B. Drapier,' in order to rouse the popular feeling against a job of the Govern- ment, for introducing a new coinage of half-pence into Ireland. In this object he succeeded so effectually, that the project was given up. By these and other tracts, in behalf of the popular party in Ireland, he be- came the idol of the common people, and is said to have possessed far more real power than the highest of the constituted authorities. An archbishop, who was also a lord-justice of the kingdom, once taxed him with exas- perating the mob ; when Swift promptly refuted the charge by saying, * If I had lifted up my little finger, they would have torn you to pieces.' These writings, how- * Edinburgh Review, XXV II. 130 PROM 1689 TO 1727. ever, did not so much proceed from any real sympathy with the people, as from a hatred of the party who had then possession of the Government. The most perfect of the larger compositions of Swift, and that by which he will probably be longest remem- bered, is the extraordinary work called Gulliver's Tra- vels, which appeared in 1726, and was altogether a novelty in English literature. Its main design is, under the form of fictitious travels, to satirize mankind and the institutions of civilized countries ; but the scenes and nations which it describes are so wonderful and amus- ing, that the book is as great a favourite with children, as with those who delight in contemplating the imper- fections of human nature. The curiosity it excited at its first appearance was unbounded ; it was the univer- sal topic of discourse ; prints from it filled the shop- windows ; it gave denominations to fashions ; and, what is a stronger proof of its popularity, it introduced words which have become a part of the English language. In the latter part of his life, he published another burlesque on the social world, under the title of Polite Conversa- tion, being an almost exact representation of the unpre- meditated talk of ordinary persons. A still more ludi- crous and satirical work appeared after his death, under the title of Directions to Servants. The days of this great wit terminated in insanity. Besides the books already alluded to, Swift wrote many letters, which rank among the best compositions of that kind in the language, and a considerable number of satirical and humorous poems. The chief character- istics of his prose are, the extensive command which he seems to have possessed over the stores of colloquial language, and the nerve and precision with which he employs it. His great art in satire, is to write as if he were a very simple man, and thus to treat vices, follies, and imperfections, without the least scruple or disguise, and consequently to display them in their utmost possi- ble deformity. Among the miscellaneous prose writers of this period, the next to Swift in excellence is certainly ADDISON, whose best writings, however, are his contributions to the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian. Besides these, and DEFOE. ARBUTHNOT. 131 a few political pamphlets and essays, he gave to the world an account of his travels in Italy, an essay on medals, and a small work in defence of the Christian religion. His manner of writing, whether upon humor- ous or serious subjects, is remarkable for its smoothness, delicacy and gentleness. Next to him must be ranked DANIEL DEFOE (1663-1 731), originally a hosier in Lon- don, but who, in middle life, became an active political writer in behalf of the Whigs and Dissenters, and final- ly advanced from that walk of literature to the compo- sition of fictitious adventures. His best fiction was his Robinson Crusoe, which appeared in 1719, and has be- come the favourite study of youth over the greater part of the civilized world. It describes a solitary shipwrecked manner upon a desert island in the Pacific Ocean, his reflections, his resources, and the extraordinary shifts and exertions by which in time he became self-provided. The success of this singular book induced the author to write TJie Life of Colonel Jack, Memoirs of a Cavalier, and The Adventures of Captain Singleton, all of which are set forth as memoirs written by the parties them- selves, and possess an air^of feasibility and truth which no fictitious writer could give so well as Defoe. DR. JOHN ARBUTHNOT, a native of Scotland, and physician to Queen Anne, deserves to be mentioned here for his comic and satirical writings, though these are not now much read. Being a zealous Tory, he enjoyed the inti- mate friendship of Pope, Swift, and Gay ; and so fre- quently did the whole four unite their wits for the an- noyance of their political opponents, that the authorship of what is attributed to Arbuthnot is not very clearly ascertained. It is, however, generally allowed, that to him belongs the honour of having wholly or chiefly writ- ten the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, a satire on the abuses of human learning (never completed); the His- tory of John Bull, a burlesque on the war of the Spanish Succession ; and a Treatise concerning the Scolding of the Ancients. A good natured vein of pleasantry runs through all the compositions of this author, whose per- sonal character was also remarkable for many excellen- cies. He died in 1735. Though none of the compositions of LADY MARY 132 FROM 1689 TO 1727. WORTLEY MONTAGU (1690-1762), were published in her own lifetime, her writings i belong to this period. She was the daughter of the Duke of Kingston, and accompanying her husband, Mr. Edward Wortley Mon- tagu, to Constantinople, where he officiated as an am- bassador in 1717-18, wrote from that country to her friends in England a series of lively descriptive letters, which are considered to this day as models of epistolary composition. Lady Mary also introduced from Turkey the practice of inoculating children for the small pox, which has been the means of saving many lives, and obviating much misery. She was a lady of almost mas- culine vigour of mind, and the intimate friend of all the great writers of the period. Her letters from Turkey, united with those which she wrote at subsequent times, constitute five volumes, and it is understood that many others remain unpublished in the possession of her fa- mily. METAPHYSICIANS. The metaphysical writings of the period under review were in some instances ingenious, elegant, and even profound ; but it cannot be said that they have added much to the stock of useful speculation in that depart- ment of study. By far the greatest writer of this kind was DR. GEORGIA BERKELEY (1684-1753), Bishop of Cloyne, a man of disinterested and most amiable char- acter, and of very great natural and acquired talents. In 1709, he published a work called The Theory of Vision, in which he was the first to point out, what is now universally allowed, that the connexion between sight and touch is the effect of habit ; insomuch that a person born blind, and suddenly made to see, would at first be utterly unable to foretell how the objects of sight would affect the sense of touch, or indeed whether they could be touched or not. The learned Doctor was led, in a subsequent publication, entitled Principles of Hu- man Knowledge, to extend this doctrine to what is called immaterialism ; that is to say, he attempted to show that we cannot prove that any thing really exists, but that all objects which we suppose to be tangible, make a mere BERKELEY. COOPER. BOLINGBROKE. 1 33 impression on the mind by the immediate act of the Deity, according to certain laws, from which in the course of nature there is no deviation. In a work called The Minute Philosopher, published in 1732, he em- ployed his peculiar ideas in defence of the Christian re- ligion ; and in a subsequent pamphlet he endeavoured to refute the scepticism of a great mathematician, by showing that the object, principles, and inferences of what is termed in that science the analysis, are not more distinctly conceived, or more evidently deduced, than religious mysteries or points of faith. The philosophi- cal works of Berkeley are still held in esteem ; but their influence on the opinions and actions of men, if they ever had any, has long since ceased. Anthony Ashley Cooper, third EARL or SHAFTSBURY (1671-1712), attracted much attention during the reign of Queen Anne, by his numerous publications concern- ing the operations of the human mind, the most of which were collected into one work, entitled Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times, in three volumes, published immediately after his death. The speculations of Shaftsbury contain much acute remark and fine sen- timent ; but, though favourable to natural religion, they are slightly tinged with scepticism regarding revelation, and, upon the whole, are somewhat fantastic. His style corresponds in some measure to the sense ; it is elegant and lofty, but bears too many marks of labour to be agreeable. A still less favourable view must be taken of the metaphysical writings of Henry St. John VIS- COUNT BOLINGBROKE (16721751), a man of brilliant and versatile powers, but unprincipled, and disposed to write rather for effect than for truth. Bolingbroke was a Sec- retary of State in the Tory Ministry at the conclusion of the reign of Queen Anne, and, after the accession of George I., in order to avoid a threatened impeachment, fled to France, where he was for a short time in the service of the Pretender. The remainder of his life was for the most part spent in England, but in a state of total exclusion from power; and, under these cir- cumstances, mortified ambition prompted him to publish many political essays in which patriotism was assumed as a mere instrument for annoying the Ministry, and to 12 134 FROM 1689 TO 1727. write a number of philosophical discussions based on equally unsound principles, and highly adverse to reli- gion. Yet though the matter of his writings be of little value, his style was singularly eloquent for the period, and at the same time highly polished. HISTORICAL, CRITICAL, AND THEOLOGICAL WRITERS. The intellectual strength of this age, as already men- tioned, was exerted in lively comments upon artificial life, whether expressed in prose or verse. In England it produced few writers of eminence in any of the de- partments of literature now to be adverted to, and no respectable cultivators of those many inferior but useful branches of literary labour, by which the people at large are apt to be benefited. The only historical writer wor- thy of being mentioned was LAWRENCE ECIIARD (1671 -1730), a clergyman of the Church of England. He published in 1699, his., Roman History ; in 1702, his Gen- eral Ecclesiastical History; in 1707, and subsequent years, his History of England ; which were the first respectable compilations of the kind, and continued for a long time to be in very general use. DR. RICHARD BENTLEY (1661-1742), Master of Trinity College, Cam- bridge, and Archdeacon of Ely, distinguished himself as a commentator and critic. His editions of several Greek and Roman classics are still esteemed as master- pieces of verbal criticism, though in some instances he is held liable to censure for having taken too great liber- erties with the text of his author. The Grecian Anti- quities of POTTER Archbishop of Canterbury, published in 1697-8, became the standard work on that subject; and BASIL KENNET, President of Corpus Christi College, Ox- ford, about the same time produced what has since been the standard work on Roman Antiquities. The earlier portion of the period was adorned with the lives of Tillotson, South, and other theologians, who more pro- perly belonged to the preceding age. Apart from these, the period may be said to have produced few great divines. The most eminent by many degrees was DR. SAMUEL CLARKE (1675-1729), rector of St. James's, Westminster, a man of extraordinary mental endow- CLARKE. LOWTH. ATTERBURY. HOADLY. 1 35 ments, and singularly virtuous character. He published Paraphrases on the Four Gospels, Sermons on the Attri- butes of God, a work on The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, and An Exposition of the Church Catechism, all of which rank among the best English theological works, though the author's ideas respecting the Trinity are somewhat different from those maintained by the Church. Dr. Clarke was also a classical annotator, and his editions of Ccesar and The Iliad are still held as un- rivalled. WILLIAM LOWTH (1661-1732), prebend of Winchester, and rector of Buriton, acquired permanent celebrity by his Vindication of the Divine Authority and Inspiration of the Scriptures, published in 1692 ; his Di- rections for the Profitable Reading of the Scriptures, 1705 ; and his Commentaries on the Books of the Prophets. He was also an excellent classical scholar, and in that capacity assisted several writers of inferior fame. FRANCIS ATTERBURY (1662-1731), bishop of Rochester, makes a great figure, both in the political and literary history of the time ; having been so zealous a partizan of the exiled house of Stuart, that he was himself banished in 1723; while his intimate friendship with Pope, Swift, and other Tory authors, has caused his name to be much mixed up with theirs. With the exception, however, of his letters to those gentlemen, which are admirable speci- mens of elegant familiarity, he produced no work which was calculated for lasting celebrity. BENJAMIN HOAD- LY, Bishop of Bangor, (afterwards of Winchester,) (1676-1761,) was. one of the most eminent theological writers of the age, on what is called the low side of the Church that is to say, the side w r hich makes the near- est approach to the Dissenters. The peculiar opinions by which Bishop Hoadly chiefly attracted notice, were, that the use of the Sacrament as a test for the admis- sion of men to civil offices, was a prostitution of the sacred rite ; that Christ was the true and ultimate head of the Christian Church, and that, consequently, all en- couragements and discouragements of this world, were not what Christ approved of, tending to make men of one profusion, not of one faith hypocrites, not Chris- tians. A sermon preached by him in 1717, upon these points, was the cause of the celebrated Bangorian Con- 136 FROM 1689 TO 1727. troversy, in which all the chiefs of both parties in the Church were engaged. As a controversialist, Bishop Hoadly enjoys the highest reputation ; he was one of the few who ever conducted religious disputes in the mild spirit of a Christian gentleman. In general divin- ity, he was the author of Discourses on the Terms of Acceptance with God ; a Plain Account of the Nature and End of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and a considerable number of sermons. His whole works fill three folio volumes. CHARLES LESLIE (1650-1722), originally a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, but who lost all his preferments at the Revolution for refus- ing to take the required oaths, distinguished himself as a controversial writer in favour of the views of the non- jurant, or Jacobite party, and by several works in de- fence of general religion, of which the most valuable is his Short and Easy Method with the Deists, published in 1697. MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714), a dissenting divine, was an author of some note. He is best known by his Commentary on the Bible. As a writer he is popu- lar. His style is short and pointed, his imagination fine ; but he has too many antitheses, and withal is some- what fanciful. His commentary otherwise excellent, is too full of typical and allegorical interpretations, The principles of scriptural interpretation in that age, were too loose and unsettled.* In America, during this period, there flourished sev- eral writers of history and theology, though they were in general inferior in their education and attainments, to their immediate predecessors. The country did not afford the means of rearing scholars, equal to those who were originally trained at the English Universities; yet such advantages as it possessed, were diligently impro- ved. To the historians in particular, the United States are greatly indebted, for the valuable works in which their early colonial history is narrated. Among these is COTTON MATHER (16631728) perhaps first in fame. His extraordinary talents and piety, fitted him to be- come one of the most popular moral teachers in the land. He had a bright fancy, a wonderfully tenacious MATHER. HUBBARD. 137 memory, and vast stores of learning ; and he was able to express his thoughts with a copiousness and liveliness equalled by few. He is known as a historian princi- pally by his Magnalia Christi Americana, or Ecclesias- tical History of New England, although he published a great many other works. Indeed he is the most voluminous of American authors, his publications having amounted to three hundred and eighty-two. The most of them were of a religious character, and small in size, being no more than single sermons. Several, however, were works of some magnitude. In his narrations he is pro- lix, and says many strange things, in a strange manner. This was characteristic of the times, as well as of the man, since, as every reader knows, there was a remark- able quaintness in the style of most writers, in that day. He was, perhaps, less credulous than has often been supposed. A people such as he has described, whose object was to form a civil community on Christian princi- ples, would be apt to be distinguished, by extraordinary characters and incidents.* Cotton Mather had been preceded by WILLIAM HUB- BARD (1621-1704) historian of New England. He was said to be superior to all his contemporaries, as a writer. His principal work, which was a History of New England,wa.s modelled after the plan of Winthrop's Journal. It was long kept in manuscript, but was finally, though not many years since, committed to the press. THOMAS PRINCE (1687-1758) wrote a Chronological History of New England of great value. During fifty years, he was employed in making a collection of pub- lic and private papers relating to the history of the same country ; but these valuable manuscripts were princi- pally destroyed during the war of Independence. In the opinion of Dr. Chauncey, he was excelled in learn- ing, by no man in New England, except Cotton Mather.* Among the most celebrated theological writers of America, in addition to the historians already mentioned, who also published many religious treatises, were Jona- than Dickinson, Increase Mather, Solomon Stoddard, and Samuel Willard. These men were distinguished particularly in controversial divinity, and some of their 12* *A*.ED. 138 FROM 1689 TO 1727. productions were published in England. The exigen- cies of the church, or the taste of the times, led many of the American divines into this department of intellect- ual effort. Whoever will look over a list of their wri- tings, will find an unusual number of a -controversial character. The discussions generally turned on the doc- trines of Calvinism, and points of church order. It seemed to be felt under the circumstances of the church in America, that the strict principles originally embraced, should be strenuously maintained, and especially amid any indications of a softening down of the earlier rigid- ness. Among the puritan fathers at the beginning, aj- most the whole population were church members upon a profession of their faith ; but this not proving to be the case in succeeding generations, it was felt on the part of some, that the privileges of the church might be extended beyond the class of strict believers that the Lord's Supper was a converting ordinance, and that all baptized persons, not scandalous in life, have a right to the table, without affecting to view themselves as real Christians. On this subject, the flame of controversy was kindled in New England, and it was not soon or easily extinguished. STODUARD was the projector of the new doctrine, and he had influence over the minds of many in the ministry. This state of things continued, until his grandson, Jonathan Edwards, who also became his colleague, annihilated the arguments by which the notion had been maintained. JONATHAN DICKINSON, first President of Princeton College, among other works, chiefly on polemic divinity, published five discourses in answer to Dr. Whitby. INCREASE MATHER, who was a clergyman of Boston, and preached sixty-six years, and who was several years President of Harvard College, gave to the world a large number of useful publications on religion, as well as on politics, history, and philosophy. He studied sixteen hours everyday, and yet found time for many active duties. MR. WILLARD, who was Vice- President of Harvard College, published many works, chiefly sermons. His largest production was a folio volume, in divinity, the first of that size which issued from the American press.* *An ED. REIGN OF GEORGE II. AND GEORGE III. 139 SIXTH PERIOD. FROM 1727 TO 1780. THE fifty-three years between 1727 and 1780, com- prehending the reign of George II. and a portion of that of George III., produced more men of letters, as well as more men of science, than any epoch of similar ex- tent in the literary history of England. It was also a time during which greater progress was made in diffus- ing literature among the people at large, than had been made, perhaps, throughout all the ages that went before it. Yet while letters, and the cultivators of letters, were thus abundant, it must be allowed that, if we keep out of view the rise of the species of fiction called the novel, the age was not by any means marked by such striking fea- tures of originality or vigour as some of the preceding eras. It was rather remarkable for polishing former styles, and improving the external figure of knowledge, than for creating much that was new. THE POETS. The above observations apply peculiarly to the poetry of the age, which may be described as in general very correct and very sensible, but tame in manner, and de- ficient in imagination and feeling. This was probably owing, in a great degree, to the admiration which Pope and his contemporaries continued, throughout the whole of this period, to draw from the people of England. Overawed, as it were, by the great success of those illustrious men, the writers who flourished during the remaining part of the century, dared not trust to their own observations of nature, but wrote in slavish imita- tion of both the styles of thought and of verse which they found already so highly approved by the public taste. Something was owing to the state of cultivated society, and to the circumstances in which most of the poets were placed. During the era under notice, much of the attention of enlightened persons was devoted to the improvement of manners, to repressing the barba- 140 FROM 1727 TO 1780. risms of the ignorant, and extinguishing the vices of word and deed, which had become fashionable in the reign of Charles the Second. Polite society thus ne- cessarily assumed a dainty, formal, and pedantic char- acter ; and whatever was hearty or natural, even though it might be quite innocent, was regarded with a kind of suspicion. As almost all the poets of the age were men of fashion, or at least habituated to the usages of good society, and chiefly resident amidst the artificial scenes of the metropolis, they could hardly fail to be affected by this prevailing disposition. To this cause, and to the supposed necessity of writing after models, as if any model were aught else than the accidental form into which a vigorous mind had thrown itself, is to be attrib- uted the want of originality, passion, and imagination, which is so conspicuous in this period. In the collected editions of the British poets, the works of upwards of seventy persons are classed be- tween the years 1727 and 1780. Of these, however, comparatively few are worthy of particular notice. Young, Thomson, Gray, Collins, Akenside, Goldsmith, and Beattie, form a first rank. A second is composed of Somerville, Blair, Dyer, Green, Glover, Watts, Shen- stone, Churchill, Falconer, Smollett, Armstrong. Lang- horne, Bruce, Chatterton, Jones, Mickle, "Johnson, Smart, Logan, the three Wartons, and Anstey. The remainder have produced several good pieces, but their works, as a whole, are not entitled to be kept promi- nently before the public eye. EDWARD YOUNG, a clergyman of the English Church, (1681-1765), was the author of various pieces published before 1727, none of which, however, except his tragedy of the Revenge, made any considerable impression on the world. His best work, and that by which he is now chiefly known, the Night Thoughts, belongs to the peri- od under our notice ; it is a serious poem in nine por- tions, the first of which was published by itself in 1742. Young was a man of wordly character, and, in his ex- ternal behaviour, by no means deficient in cheerfulness. His biographers allow, that the gloom of his poem was rather owing to disappointed ambition, than to any supe- rior sentiment. The Night Thoughts are accordingly YOUNG. 141 found to give, upon the whole, a distempered view of human life, and to contain much bombast and affecta- tion. Yet, while the perusal of the whole is a painful and tedious task, the poem presents many passages of sublime expression, of profound reflection, and of stri- king imagery. As a characteristic specimen may be given a few lines from the ninth night, which we shall entitle THE PREVALENCE OF MORTALITY. What is the world itself 1 a grave. Where is the dust that has not been alive? The spade, the plough, disturb our ancestors; From human mould we reap our daily bread. The globe around earth's hollow surface shakes, And is the ceiling of her sleeping sons. O'er devastation we wild revels keep; Whole buried towns support the dancer's heel. Each element partakes our scatter'd spoils; As nature wide our ruin spreads: man's death Inhabits all things, but the thought of man. Nor man alone: his breathing bust expires; His tomb is mortal: empires die: where now The Roman, Greek 1 They stalk an empty name \ Yet few regard them in this useful light, Though half our. learning is their epitaph. When down thy vale, unlocked by midnight thought, That loves to wander in thy sunless realms, Death! I stretch my view; what visions rise; What triumphs ! toils imperial ! arts divine ! In wither'd laurels glide before my sight: What lengths of far-fam'd ages, billow 'd high With human agitation, roll along In unsubstantial images of air ! The melancholy ghosts of dead renown, Whispering faint echoes of the world's applause, With penitential aspect as they pass; All point at earth, and hiss at human pride, The wisdom of the wise, and prancings of the great, But O, Lorenzo! far the res/ above, Of ghastly nature, and enormous size, One form assaults my sight, and chills my blood, And shakes my frame. Of one departed world 1 see the mighty shadow: Oozy wreath And dismal sea- weed crown her; o'er her side Reclin'd, she weeps her desolated realms, _And bloated sons; and, weeping, prophesies Another's dissolution soon in flames. But like Cassandra prophesies in vain ; In vain to many; not I trust to thee. 142 FROM 1727 TO 1780. Perhaps the most popular versifier of the period was JAMES THOMSON (1700-1748). He was the son of a clergyman in Roxburghshire, and educated for the Scot- tish Church, but at an early period of life he removed to London, where, in 1726, he published his poem of Winter. Three other compositions, respectively de- nominated Summer, Spring, and Autumn, successively appeared, and formed what now passes by the general title of his Seasons. These poems are in blank verse, and describe the various natural appearances of the year, in a very rich and eloquent, and often sublime style of language. Thomson wrote another large poem entitled Liberty, which, being upon an abstract subject, never became popular, though it contains many fine passages. Besides some tragedies, which met with con- siderable success upon the stage, he was the author of a poem in the stanza of Spenser, entitled the Castle of Indolence, which was designed as a kind of satire on his own soft and lethargic character, but is nevertheless the most perfect, and perhaps the most poetical, of all his compositions. Thomson, though slothful in the extreme was a very amiable and benevolent man ; he died of a cold caught while sailing upon the Thames, and was buried at Richmond. Collins and Gray are distinguished in lyrical poetry, a species of composition, of which the chief peculiarities are, energy of sentiment, fire and vivacity of expression, and a modulated melodiousness of measure, adapting it for music. With the exception of Dryden's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, no lyrical pieces of eminent excellence had hitherto been produced in England ; but the art was now brought to a high degree of perfection, if not in- deed to the highest which it has ever reached. THOMAS GRAY (1716-1771), the son of a London scrivener, was educated at Cambridge, and originally destined for the profession of the law. He spent the greater part of his life in studious retirement at Cambridge, where he ulti- mately became professor of modern languages and his- tory. The most popular and admired work of Gray, is his Elegy written in a Country Church yard, which was published in 1750. His other pieces are chiefly lyrical, and their principal charm, according to a distin- GRAY. 143 guished critic, is to be traced ' to the naturally exquisite ear of the poet, having been trained to consummate skill in harmony, by long familiarity with the finest models in the most poetical of all languages, the Greek and Italian.' In the odes to Adversity, on the Spring, and on Vicissitude, the genius of Gray is exhibited in its softer graces ; but in that on the Progress of Poetry, and in the wild descriptive ode entitled the Bard, in which he represents a Welsh harper denouncing Ed- ward I. as the spoiler of his country, the poet rises to a strength and dignity little inferior to Milton. ' There is not an ode in the English language,' says Mr. Matthias, 1 which is constructed like these two compositions ; with such power, such majesty, and such sweetness ; with such proportioned pauses and just cadences ; with such regulated measures of the verse ; with such master prin- ciples of lyrical art displayed and exemplified, and at the same time with such concealment of the victory, which is lost in the softness and uninterrupted flowing of the lines in each stanza ; with such a magical music, that every verse in it in succession dwells on the ear and harmonizes with that which has gone before.' The lyr- ics of Gray also display the superior qualities of fancy and tenderness, and, perhaps, owe most of their suc- cess to the strong sympathy which the poet every where manifests with the joys and sufferings of human nature. These characteristics are very happily displayed in some of the stanzas of his ODE ON THE DISTANT PROSPECT OF ETON COLLEGE. Ah happy hills, ah pleasing shade, Ah nelds belov'd in vain, Where once my careless childhood play'd, A stranger yet to pain! I feel the gales that from ye blow, A momentary bliss bestow, As, waving fresh their gladsome wing, My weary soul they seem to soothe, And, redolent of joy and youth, To breathe a second spring. Say, father Thames, for thou hast seen Full many a sprightly race, Disporting on thy margin green, The paths of pleasure trace ; Who foremost now delight to cleave 144 FROM 1727 TO 1780. With pliant arm thy glassy wave 7 The captive linnet which enthrall 1 What idle progeny succeed, To chase the rolling circle's speed, Or urge the flying ball 1 While some on earnest business bent, Their murmuring labours ply, 'Gainst graver hours that bring constraint To sweeten liberty; Some bold adventurers disdain The limits of their little reign, And unknown regions dare descry, Still as they run they look behind, They hear a voice in every wind, And snatch a fearful joy. Gay hope is theirs by fancy fed, Less pleasing when possest; The tear forgot as soon as shed, The sunshine of the breast : Theirs buxom health of rosy hue, Wild wit, invention ever new, And lively cheer, of vigour born ; The thoughtless day, the easy night, The spirits pure, the slumbers light, That fly th' approach of morn. Alas, regardless of their doom, The little victims play! No sense have they of ills to come, No care beyond to-day. Yet see how, all around them, wait The ministers of human fate, And black misfortune's baleful train; Ah show them where in ambush stand, To seize their prey, the murderous band! Ah tell them they are men ! * * * * To each his sufferings: all are men, Condemn'd alike to groan; The tender for another's pain, The unfeeling for his own. Yet ah, why should they know their fate! Since sorrow never comes too late, And happiness too swiftly flies. Thought would destroy their paradise. No more; where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise. WILLIAM COLLINS (1720-1756), the son of a hatter in Chichester, and educated at Oxford, can hardly be deemed inferior to Gray in the harmony and polish of his composition ; while, with less pathos than the former, he displays a still richer imagination. In 1746, while COLLINS. AKENSIDE. 1 45 living as a literary adventurer in London, he published his odes, among which was the celebrated one To the Passions. He was a man of extensive learning, and very amiable character ; but having contracted irregu- lar habits, he gradually lost the powers of both body and mind, and finally was placed in an asylum for luna- tics, where he died. Among his best pieces may be mentioned his Ode to Evening, his Ode on the Supersti- tions of the Highlanders (of Scotland), and a little lyric in honour of those who die fighting for the liberties of their country the last of which is as follows : How sleep the brave who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blest! W^heri Spring, with dewy fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallo w'd mould, She there shall dress a sweeter sod, Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. By fairy hands their knell is rung, By forms unseen their dirge is sung; There Honour comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay, And Freedom shall a while repair, And dwell a weeping hermit there. The Pleasures of Imagination, by MARK AKENSIDE (1721-1770), published when the author was only twen- ty-three years of age, is a poem full of fine imagery, expressed in rich, copious, and msuical language. Aken- side was the son of a butcher at Newcastle, and prac- tised physic first at Northampton, and afterwards in London. Personally he was vain and irritable ; but his poetical genius displayed a vigour and enthusiasm supe- rior to his age. The ardour expressed in the two fol- lowing stanzas, is calculated to enchant every generous mind : ON A SERMON AGAINST GLORY. Come, then, tell me, sage divine, Is it an offence to own That our bosoms e'er incline Towards immortal Glory's throne 7 For with me nor pomp nor pleasure, Bourbon's might, Braganza's treasure, So can Fancy's dream rejoice, So conciliate Reason's choice, As one approving word of her impartial voice. 13 146 PROM 1727 TO 1780. If to spurn at noble praise Be the passport to thy heaven, Follow thou those gloomy ways ; No such law to me was given, Nor, I trust, shall I deplore me, Faring like my friends before me; Nor an holier place desire Than Timoleon's arms require, And Tully's curule chair, and Milton's golden lyre. The chief poems of OLIVER GOLDSMITH (17281774), are The Traveller and The Deserted Village ; the former of which is a contemplative and descriptive piece of the highest merit, while the latter contains some of the hap- piest pictures of rural life and character in the English language. Goldsmith, who was a native of Ireland, and originally educated for the medical profession, spent the time between the year 1758 and his death, as a professed man of letters, in the metropolis, and wrote comedies, histories, and miscellanies, particularly an inimitable novel called the Vicar of Wakefield. He was a man of good dispositions, but vain, and irregular in his conduct ; and, though he realized large sums by his writings, he died deeply in debt. His poetical compositions are characterised by a delightful combination of simplicity, elegance, and pathos. JAMES BEATTIE (1736-1803), a native of Scotland, was the last of those who can properly be placed in the first order of the poets of this time. In 1771, while professor of moral philosophy at Aberdeen, he published his celebrated poem The Minstrel, which describes, in the stanza, of Spenser, the progress of the imagination and feelings of a young and rustic poet. Beattie also wrote several philosophical and controversial works, which attracted considerable attention in their day. His poetry is characterised by a peculiar meditative pathos. Of the second class of the poets of this age, the first in point of time is WILLIAM SOMERVILLE, a country gentleman of Warwickshire (1692-1742), whose chief poem was one in blank verse, entitled The Chase, de- scribing in a very animated manner the circumstances attending that sport. ROBERT BLAIR (1700-1748), minister of Athelstaneford, in Scotland, wrote a serious DYER. WATTS. SHENSTONE. FALCONER. 1 47 poem in blank verse, entitled The Grave, which has ever since been admired for the strong and solemn pictures which it draws of mortal affairs. JOHN DYER (1700- 1758), a country clergyman, enjoys a respectable repu- tation as a didactic and descriptive poet : his chief po- ems are The Fleece and Grongar Hill. One lively de- scriptive poem, entitled The Spleen, has preserved the name of MATTHEW GREEN (1696-1737), an officer in the custom-house of London. RICHARD GLOVER (1712 -1783), is chiefly remembered for an epic poem called Leonidas, which he published in his twenty-fifth year, and which for a long time enjoyed considerable celeb- rity, though none of his works are now much read. The name of ISAAC WATTS, venerable for the worth of him who bore it, continues to enjoy as extensive popularity as any other of this period. Watts (1674-1748), was originally a Dissenting minister in London, but, on ac- count of delicate health, spent the last thirty-six years of his life in the bosom of a private family of opulence at Stoke Newington, where he wrote many works in divinity and morals. Besides some miscellaneous po- ems, which display a lively fancy and refined taste, he wrote a large mass of devotional lyrical poetry, part of which was adapted to the capacities of children. WIL- LIAM SHENSTONE (17141763), a gentleman of Shrop- shire, is chiefly remembered for his pastoral elegies, which have a softness and smoothness of diction, in the highest degree pleasing, though they bear little refer- ence to the sentiments and circumstances of actual rus- tic life. WILLIAM FALCONER, a native of Scotland, and rear- ed as a common sailor, published in 1762 The Ship- wreck, a descriptive poem, which has ever since been considered as a valuable part of the stock of English poetry. It was designed to describe a scene of suffer- ing which took place in a voyage from Alexandria to Venice, when the poet was one of three, who, out of a large crew, were able to make their way from the per- ishing vessel to the shore. A tale of the affections is interwoven with the narrative ; but it was the liveliness and originality of the descriptions, that gave the poem its principal title to notice. In consequence of his sue- 148 FROM 1727 TO 1780. cess as a poet, Falconer was elevated to the situation of purser in an East India vessel ; but the ship, after leav- ing the Cape of Good Hope, was never more heard of. The name of CHURCHILL is now remembered as a part of political and literary history, while his works have almost entirely ceased to be read. He was originally a clergyman, but having fallen into embarrassed circum- stances, and being fond of the life of a man of letters, he began in 1761 to employ himself as a satirist, his first production being The Rosciad, the object of which was to hold up to ridicule the defects of the principal London actors, as well as the characters of a number of gentle- men who interested themselves in theatrical affairs. Churchill was a man of coarse feelings and low habits ; but his powers as a satirist were so very great, that, if he had exerted them on subjects of general and permanent interest, his writings could hardly have failed to secure a lasting reputation. Being attached to a popular party, of which Mr. John Wilkes was the chief, he devoted himself to the task of satirizing the ministry of the Earl of Bute, and all its adherents, among whom might be reckoned the whole of the Scottish nation. In the Prophecy of Famine, all the antiquated notions of the lower English respecting their northern neighbours are embodied with such fancifulness of exaggeration, as al- most redeems the prejudice from which the poem took its rise. Many works of less note were published by Churchill during his brief career, which terminated in November, 1 764, when he was only thirty-three years of age. TOBIAS SMOLLETT (1721-1771), so eminent as a no- velist, wrote a few poetical pieces, which display much delicacy, and an elevated tone of sentiment. Among these, his Ode to Leven Water is the most popular. JOHN ARMSTRONG (1709-1779), who, like Smollett, was a native of Scotland, and a physician, was the author of a didactic or instructive poem of respectable reputation, entitled The Art of Preserving Health, and of some other pieces of less celebrity. LANGHORNE, a clergyman of the English church, enjoyed in his lifetime considera- ble fame as a poet, but is now little known : Owen of Carron, an imitation of the old ballad style, in peculiarly BRUCE. LOGAN. MICKLE. CHATTERTON. 149 soft and melodious versification, is almost the only pro- duction of this writer which continues to be printed in popular collections. An Elegy on Spring, and a short descriptive poem entitled Lochleven, form the chief me- morials of the genius of MICHAEL BRUCE, a school-mas- ter in an obscure part of Scotland, who died in 1767, at the early age of twenty-one. His college companion, JOHN LOGAN (1748-1788), was the author of a well- known Ode to the Cuckoo, of a tragedy named Runny- mede, and some other poems, which continue to rank in the collections of the British poets : he also published a volume of sermons, much admired for their refined sen- timent and elegant composition. WILLIAM JULIUS MICKLE (1734-1788), a native of Dumfries-shire, is chiefly remembered for his translation of the Lusiad of Camoens, a Portuguese poet. His original poems, like too many of those produced in the age now under no- tice, have little to recommend them besides that melody of versification in which poetry was then supposed chiefly to consist, and for which almost every thing else seems to have been sacrificed. The most remarkable name in the whole range of the poets of this age, is that of THOMAS CHATTERTON, a youth of obscure parentage at Bristol, who, in his seven- teenth year, possessed the genius and dexterity neces- sary for writing a series of poems in the old English lan- guage, which he passed off" upon some competent judges as the productions of a versifier of the fifteenth century, and which contained many passages of the highest poet- ical beauty. This extraordinary youth afterwards sought employment as a miscellaneous writer in Lon- don ; but being overtaken by pecuniary distress, he put an end to his own life, August 25, 1770, when he as yet wanted three months of being eighteen years of age. It seems unquestionable, from the specimens he has left, that, if he had survived to maturity, he must have taken one of the first places in English literature. DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784) is less admired for his poetical than for his moral and critical productions ; yet hisVanity of HumanWishes has a moral impressive- ness that belongs to few writers since the time of Pope. Excepting London, a satire, his other poems are chiefly 150 FROM 1727 TO 1780. occasional and trifling. It is remarkable that, while his conversation abounded in metaphor, he gave little illus- tration of that kind to his verses, in which they would have been more appropriate. One of the few poets who seem to have been inclined to break through the tame mediocrity of the age, was CHRISTOPHER SMART (1722-1770), a man of eccentric character and degrading habits, but possessed of a sin- gular genius. Smart had been educated as a clergy- man, but being compelled to sell a college fellowship, in order to pay some tavern debts, he finally settled in London as a man of letters. His mind was at one time so far unsettled by dissipation, that he required to be confined in an asylum for lunatics, where, being denied the use of pen, ink, and paper, he marked his verses with a key upon the wainscot. In this manner was written his best production, the Song to David, which, though betraying some obscurity and irregularity, the result of a deranged understanding, contains, perhaps, more en- ergetic and magnificent poetry than any short poem of the time. Smart had also a considerable turn for hu- morous verse. The life of this ill-fated poet terminated in the King's Bench prison. SIR WILLIAM JONES (17461794) is more eminent as an Oriental scholar, and a man of almost universal ac- complishment, than as a poet, though some of his lyrical pieces are much admired, arid have added to our current phraseology a few highly energetic and beautiful ex- pressions. His Ode in Imitation of Alcceus, is a heart- stirring effusion of patriotism. Of the three WARTONS, the eldest, Thomas, professor of poetry at Oxford (1687 -1745), was a chaste and pleasing versifier. His eldest son, JOSEPH (1722-1800), a dignitary of the English church, though he entertained opinions respecting poet- ry somewhat in advance of his time, as expressed in his Essay on Pope, can only be described as another of the correct versifiers, who so much abounded in the eigh- teenth century. His brother, THOMAS (1728-1790), professor of poetry at Oxford, ranks rather higher as a poet, being possessed of a better descriptive power ; but his name owes its chief lustre to his History of English Poetry, which is a work of great research and equal ANSTEY. FERGUSON. 151 taste. This list of secondary poets concludes with CHRISTOPHER ANSTEY (1724-1805), a gentleman in Cambridgeshire, who, besides some miscellaneous pieces, was the author of a humorous poem, entitled The New Bath Guide, in which the manners of that city, about the beginning of the reign of George III., were described with great wit and satirical vivacity, but with a licen- tiousness which detracts much from its value in the eyes of the present generation. In the still considerable list of poets which remains, there may be found some talent, and, in general, correct versification, with very few pieces, or even lines, that have captivated the fancy, or impressed themselves on the memory, of the people. The names of Hammond, Savage, Aaron Hill, Mallet, Lord Littleton, Hamilton of Bangour, Grainger, Dodsley, Penrose, Wilkie, Black- lock, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, Isaac Hawkins Browne, Mason, and Miss Seward, retain a certain de- gree of fame, though only the reflection of something that once was, as their works have long ceased to be re- printed. Others, such as Welsted, West, Whitehead, Cunningham, Hart, Jago, Lloyd, and Lovibond, only meet the eye when we chance to turn up some half-an- tiquated collection of the British poets. Besides the poets already here enumerated as natives of Scotland, all of whom wrote in English, that country produced one writer in the native dialect, ROBERT FERGUSON, who, after a brief career of tw r enty-four years, died in 1774. Ferguson excelled in descriptions of city life, as then exemplified in the Scottish capital ; and in his homely strains there is perhaps more real genius than in whole volumes of the tame and regular versification of his contemporaries. In America, little good poetry was produced, during this period. Through the extent of its history thus far, we find that the national genius seldom turned upon ima- ginative subjects. The severity of Puritanism which, however, had relaxed in a measure, may be supposed to have been unfriendly to this species of writing. Or rather we may infer that a certain degree of maturity in political institutions, with consequent wealth and leis- 152 FROM 1727 TO 1780. ure is required, in order to the general cultivation and relish of poetical studies. This America did not possess. The necessities of life and the peculiar situation of the people demanded more practical or useful themes. There was a class of poets, or rather of educated men who occa- sionally wrote poetry, and who may perhaps be ranked among the third class of British bards. Among these were John Adams, John Osborn, William Livingston, Mather Byles, and Thomas Godfrey. The poems of JOHN ADAMS (1705-1740), show a good degree of men- tal culture, for that period in the colonies ; but the im- mortality predicted for them at the time, has proved to be a dream. In harmony of versification he surpassed his contemporaries in his own country ; but he had not all the requisites of a good poet. He wrote imitations and paraphrases of scripture, translations from Horace, and some original pieces. JOHN OSBORN, born at Sand- wich, Mass., wrote poetry about the year 1733, which possesses some merit. His Whaling Song has been admired, as well as his Elegiac Epistle on the death of his sister. Philosophical Solitude, written by WILLIAM LIVINGSTON (1723-1790), when only twenty-four years old, w r as one of the most polished poems which the country had hitherto produced. Like most of the con- temporary poetry of Great Britain at this era, it was modelled after that of the school of Pope. The author was an accomplished classical scholar, and he acquired in prose as well as in verse, an elegance of style much in advance of that which generally prevailed among his countrymen. Although his poetry is above mediocrity, his prose is still better. MATHER BYLES, minister in Boston, (1706-1786), wrote poetry as an amusement. He never attempted any considerable work, and has left only a volume of miscellaneous poems. His literary merit procured for him the favour of Pope, Watts, and other men of genius in England, with whom he was in habits of correspondence. THOMAS GODFREY (1736- 1763), died a young man, but gave proofs of a native talent for poetry, in several pieces which were received with great favour in the American Magazine. His verse, however, was not characterised by any great de- MURPHY. 153 gree of refinement. He is said to have written the first play in America, a form of intellectual effort which will be noticed in the folio wing period.* TRAGIC DRAMATISTS. As the miscellaneous poetry of this age was but a refined and tame imitation of that which prevailed in the era of Pope, itself in some measure an imitation of the productions of the Dry den school, so were the tragedies chiefly imitative of those which had gone before them, all of which were upon the French model. The English tragic drama was now weeded of all mixture of comedy, which in the older plays gave it liveliness, at the expense occasionally of good taste ; but it was also relieved in a great measure of all reference to real passion, and be- came a matter of little more than declamation and bom- bast. The Revenge, by Dr. Young, produced a little before the commencement of our era, was a play of this kind, notwithstanding that it still maintains its place in the stock of the British Theatre. So were also the tragedies of Sophonisba and Agamemnon, by the author of The Seasons. In these cases, men of the best abili- ties in general poetry altogether failed to exhibit that picture of the higher passions which constitutes a suc- cessful tragedy. The public taste was nevertheless in some degree accommodated to the nature of that which was habitually placed before it ; so that plays directly translated from the French met with temporary applause. The Zara, Ahira, and Merope of Voltaire, exemplary specimens as they were of the stiffness and coldness of that school, were produced with success by Mr. Aaron Hill. The few other plays which have preserved any degree of celebrity, may be briefly enumerated. The Gustavus Vasa of Brooke, published in 1739, at a time when its representation was forbidden, contains much patriotic sentiment. Barbarossa, by Dr. John Brown, an English clergyman, produced in 1755, possesses such a moderate degree of merit, that, if it had not a pecu- liar convenience for strolling companies in its -limited number of characters, it must have long since sunk. ARTHUR MURPHY (1727-1805), a native of Ireland, * A. ED, 154 FROM 1727 TO 1780. wrote several tragedies, of which The Grecian Daugh- ter, one by no means of eminent merit, has alone taken its place among our ordinary acting plays. The Ca- ractacus of Mason (1759), was an attempt to revive the severe simplicity of the ancient Greek drama ; but the lyrics introduced in accordance with that model, though pronounced beautiful as poems, were found inconsistent with modern dramatic taste, and the play failed to pro- duce the effect which constitutes successful representa- tion. About this time, a portion of natural feeling was restored to the tragic stage by EDWARD MOORE, in the fine moral play of The Gamester (1755), of which the characters were from common life ; and by JOHN HOME, a Scottish clergyman, whose Douglas (1757), though neither in diction nor in character superior to contempo- rary productions, represents the emotions of maternal and filial affection with so much simple tenderness, that it never fails to draw both tears and applause. The Mysterious. Mother, also, by Horace Walpole (1768), while involving incidents peculiarly revolting, and hardly fit even for private study, has the merit of being compa- ratively free from the trammels imposed by custom ; it is written in a manly and vigorous style, and contains cha- racters that are not representatives of classes, or vehi- cles of particular lines of sentiment, but show bold, true, and original features. But these are instances which, after all, tend little to relieve the general flatness of tra- gedy throughout the age under our notice. COMIC DRAMATISTS. While the tragic drama languished under the influ- ence of the same rules and modes which deprived seri- ous poetry of all passion and sublimity, comedy experi- enced a prosperity such as was to be expected in an age in which the forms of social life were so much the sub- ject of attention. This was peculiarly the age of what is called genteel comedy that is, plays like those of the preceding era, but rendered more moral, and in a slight degree more sentimental, while the characters were equally derived from the higher orders of society. In this department of literature no name stands above that . COLMAN. 1 55 of GEORGE COLMAN, whose Jealous Wife (1761), and Clandestine Marriage (1766), are perfect models of dramatic excellence. The Good-Natured Man (1768), and She Stoops to Conquer (1773), of Goldsmith, cannot be ranked so high ; for, though full of humourous dia- logue and character, they call in the aid of disguise and ambuscade experiments originally derived from the Spanish drama after the Restoration, but now generally confined to the minor plays called farces, which, it may be observed, were little known before this age, and of which Garrick and Murphy wrote some excellent speci- mens. The Suspicious Husband of Hoadly (1747), partakes so much of the sprightly license of the school of Farquhar, that it can hardly perhaps be ranked in the class of genteel comedy. In the early part of the reign of George III., sentiment had taken a decided place in our comic drama, and was the ground of the success of Hugh Kelly,whose False Delicacy, and School for Wives, though now almost forgotten, proved, for the reason stated, more attractive in their day than even the plays of Goldsmith. The Beggar's Opera, which has already been adverted to as a production of the preceding period, was the means of creating a new class of dramas, which flour- ished side by side with the genteel comedies, and still maintain a respectable place on the British stage. This was the English Opera, in which the pervading dialogue is in no respect different from that of an ordinary com- edy, but is enlivened at frequent intervals with songs by one or more persons. The best productions of this kind, which appeared during the period under notice, are The Maid of the Mill, and Love in a Village, by Isaac Bick- erstaff, who has never been excelled upon the stage in delineations of simple rural life. PERIODICAL ESSAYISTS. It is somewhat remarkable that, although the essays of Steele and Addison were immediately imitated by many writers (there was even a Scottish Taller, by Donald M'Staff ), no work of the kind obtained a classic reputation until nearly forty years had elapsed, when 156 FROM 1727 TO 1780. several excellent series were produced. The first of these was the Rambler, by SAMUEL JOHNSON ; it was commenced on the 20th of March, 1750, and continued to appear twice a- week, till March 14, 1752, when it had extended to two hundred and eight papers. The Rambler was devoted, like its predecessors of the reign of Queen Anne, to the discussion of subjects connected with ordinary life and the lesser morals, but treated them in a more grave and philosophical manner, with a gloomy pathos peculiar to the author, who was affected by a constitutional melancholy. Lively and trivial mat- ters are not overlooked by this most majestic of all the essayists ; but it was the fault of Johnson, that he had only one manner of composition, so that a thoughtless fop" is described in the same solemn and laboured dic- tion which is used in moralizing on the uncertainty of human life. The next in point of time, and perhaps also of merit, entitled the Adventurer, was commenced in November, 1752, by DR. JOHN HAWKESWORTH (1715- 1 773), who ranks among the most elegant miscellaneous writers of the eighteenth century. This work, to which Johnson lent his valuable assistance, and which was aided by Bathurst and Joseph Warton, extended to one hundred and forty numbers, and terminated in March, 1754. It was favourably received by the public, and merited its success by the purity of its morals, the ele- gance of its critical disquisitions, and, the acquaintance it displayed with life and manners. The papers of the editor, about seventy in number, resemble in style the Ramblers of Johnson, with somewhat less pomp of dic- tion. Those which have been most admired consist of Eastern tales, and stories of domestic life ; in the former of which Hawkesworth exhibits a fine imagination, and in the latter a considerable knowledge of human char- acter. The excellent morality of the Adventurer pro- cured for the editor the degree of doctor of civil law, which was conferred upon him by Archbishop Herring. In January, 1753, the World, a paper hardly less cele- brated, was commenced by MR. EDWARD MOORE, au- thor of the tragedy of The Gamester, with the assistance of the Earl of Chesterfield, Horace Walpole, Soame Jenyns, and other writers of reputation. This work PERIODICALS. 157 extended to two hundred and ten numbers, the last be- ing published in the year 1756. The contributions of the editor are lively and judicious, though the perpetual use of irony, to which dangerous figure of rhetoric he was much addicted, gives them an unpleasant sameness. The Connoisseur, which was published weekly by GEORGE COLMAN and BONNELL THOMPSON, between January 1754 and September 1756, and was thus par- tially contemporary with The Adventurer and The World, professes to criticise town manners with greater freedom than those papers, and is altogether a work of greater gayety and smartness, though apparently not less zealous in the, cause of morality. All these periodicals had an extensive sale in their original form, and the ap- pearance of so many at once, by different authors, is a striking proof of the temporary opulence of English genius in this department of literature. In April, 1758, Johnson commenced his Idler, which extended to one hundred and ten numbers, and is a more playful work than The Rambler. With this work closes the series of the English periodical essayists; for the detached pieces of Shenstone, Goldsmith, and Knox, bearing no dates, must be ranked with the miscellaneous effusions of lite- rature. This mode of writing and of publication was, however, revived in Scotland, at a time somewhat in advance of that now under consideration. The Mir- ror (1779-80), and The Lounger (1785-9), by Mr. Henry Mackenzie, and other writers of less note, showed that the talent for this kind of composition might be found to the north of the Tweed, though the subjects in general had little or no reference to native manners or ideas. But it may be questioned if the literary value of these and most of the preceding essayists is not much exaggerated. When a reader fresh from modern lite- rature looks into them, he is surprised to find that their views of human character generally refer only to those superficial modes which constitute what is called fashion, while many of their moral precepts and discussions bear upon points long since silently ^acquiesced in by cultiva- ted society, or touch on vices of which the existence is now hardly discernible. A perusal of the essayists is thus not unlike a visit to a museum containing antiqua- 14 158 FROM 1727 TO 1780. ted dresses and pictures of inconvenient buildings long since removed. They are certainly valuable as records of an artificial kind of life which once existed ; but, wanting the solid and enduring groundwork of actual human nature, they can claim hardly any other merit. In the vices which they censure there is a grossness, and in the virtues which they celebrate a fastidiousness and puritanism, alike unknown to modern times, the errors and excellencies of which are of a totally different character, and would accordingly require a different treatment. The style is equally unsuitable to modern taste, having a faint and mincing propriety, and a tame neatness and dimness as far removed as possible from the strong, graphic, straightforward, and, it may be, less correct, manner which has risen in its place. At this period no class of writers had arisen in Ame- rica, who might be called essayists : certainly there were none who appeared in periodical productions of the literary, miscellaneous kind, which so abounded in Great Britain ; nor are we aware that this species of literature has ever greatly flourished in the United States. Indeed, since the time of the Lounger, it has not been much cultivated in the British Isles. Its place has been occupied both in England and America, by Magazines and Reviews, constituting a kind of periodi- cal literature and criticism, which has had a wonderful currency for many years. It will hereafter be more particularly noticed. Writers there were in the provin- ces, who occasionally produced essays. Among these were Jeremy Belknap, Mather Byles, Nathan Fiske, Samuel Mather, and Samuel Phillips.* . NOVELISTS. In introducing this class of authors, who have since assumed so high a rank in literature, it is not necessary to trace the novel from the rise of prose fiction in the fourth century, or even from the adoption of the word by the Italian tale writers of the fourteenth. Suffice it to state, that in France, a class of fictitious compositions arose in the seventeenth century, under the denomina- tion of heroic romances, from which the modern senti^ *AM.ED. NOVELISTS. 159 mental novel may be said to have been almost immedi- ately derived. These works took the name of romances, from the so-called compositions of the Provencal min- strels,* (already described,) which they resembled, in as far as they chiefly related to ancient heroes ; but while the characters belonged to remote antiquity, the man- ners and sentiments were those of the existing court of France, so that they were more like to what we now call novels, than to romances. In general, they were of ex- travagant length ; the Grand Cyrus of Madame de Scu- dery, who is the most celebrated writer of heroic romances, extended to ten huge volumes, and the peru- sal of it would serve to entertain a young lady of that time for several months. Though long ago laid aside on account of their intolerable dulness and remoteness from nature, they had the merit of containing much re- fined sentiment, and generally recommending an exalted line of moral conduct. The French heroic plays, which have already been mentioned as imported into England after the Restoration, were a kindred class of composi- tions. Admired as they were in their own day, the heroic romances could not long escape being burlesqued. The poet Scarron, about the time of the Commonwealth, attempted this in a work which he entitled the Comique Roman, or Comic Romance, which detailed a long series of adventures, as low as those of Cyrus were elevated, and in a style of wit and drollery of which there is hardly any other example. This work, though designed only as a ludicrous imitation of another class of fictions, became the first of a class of its own, and found follow- ers in England long before there were any writers of the pure novel. A lady named Aphra Behn, who died in 1689, amused the public during the reign of Charles II., by writing tales of personal adventure similar to those of Scarron, which are almost the earliest specimens of prose fiction that we possess. She was followed by Mrs. Manley, whose works are equally humorous and equally licentious. The fictions of Daniel Defoe, which have been adverted to in the preceding section, are an *The name was derived from the dialect in which the minstrels wrote, which was styled the Roman. 160 FROM 1727 TO 1780. improvement upon these tales, being much more pure, while they at the same time contain more interesting pictures of character and situation. Other models were presented in the early part of the century by the French novelist, Le Sage, whose Gil Bias and Devil on Two Sticks, imitating in their turn the fictions of certain Span- ish writers, consist of humorous and satirical pictures of modern manners, connected by a thread of adventure. Little else need be said of the English novels antece- dent to the time of Richardson and Fielding, except that they were mean in subject and indecorous in style, and calculated to degrade, while they could not in any respect improve, their readers. SAMUEL RICHARDSON (1689-1761), author of the first classical work in this branch of composition, was a printer in London, and had reached the age of fifty be- fore he emerged into public notice. Having always been remarkable for his expertness in letter-writing, he was requested by two booksellers, in 1739, to compose a volume of epistles referring to the common concerns of life, which might serve as models for the instruction of persons of ordinary education. After much impor- tunity, he was induced to revolve the subject in his mind : but, on commencing the work, he thought it might be much enlivened if it could be made to convey a story. He adopted for this purpose a tale which he had heard in early life, the persons of which carried on the narra- tive by means of a succession of letters ; and thus was in time produced the novel of Pamela, which appeared anonymously in 1740. Not only on account of the su- perior literary merits of this work, but from its being the first English novel that inculcated piety and virtue, it immediately obtained a great reputation, and was even recommended by the clergy from the pulpit. It was nevertheless so questionable, both in its details and in its ultimate moral, that a superior genius of that day was tempted to make it the subject of a burlesque. This was HENRY FIELDING (1707-1754) a young man of good birth, but who had lived for some years as a writer of plays, in which capacity he had met with no great success. While Richardson had all the tame de- corum of an elderly and respectable tradesman, Fielding FIELDING. 161 displayed the manners of the man of fashion of that time, accustomed to regard lightly some of the vices which Pamela was chiefly designed to censure, and dis- posed to treat nothing with severity which was not a direct infraction of the laws of honour, or inconsistent with manliness, candour, or generosity. Indignant at the success of what he considered as mere cant, Fielding wrote his History of Joseph Andrews, which, unlike the most of works produced under such circumstances, ex- celled its original, and immediately assumed a rank which it has never since forfeited. Fielding, indeed, had not aimed at burlesquing Richardson by a grotesque imita- tion of his manner; he rather endeavoured to overpower him by reviving and illustrating the free style of Cer- vantes, Scarron, and Le Sage, whose degenerate fol- lowers it had been an object with Richardson to throw into the shade. The strength of the novel may be said to lie in the character of Parson Adams, whose ' sim- plicity, benevolence, and purity of heart, are so admira- bly mingled with pedantry, absence of mind, and with the habits of athletic and gymnastic exercise then ac- quired at the Universities by students of all descriptions, that he may be safely termed one of the richest produc- tions of the Muse of fiction.' In 1747, having mean- while employed his pen upon several works of inferior note, Fielding produced his Tom Jones, or the History of a Foundling, which has been loudly and justly censured for its immoral tendency, while there is but one opinion as to the extraordinary skill and talent with which it is written, and the amusement which it is calculated to afford the reader. It is regarded as a masterpiece of art in the department of humorous fiction, the fable be- ing alike felicitously conceived, managed, and brought to an issue, the characters drawn with the truth of life, and the whole replete with lively sallies of the imagination, and the most acute remarks upon mankind. According to a critic, who judges the work by the rules on which it was constructed, The action has that unity which is the boast of the great models of composition ; it turns upon a single event, attended with many circumstances, and many subordinate incidents, which seem, in the pro- gress of the work, to perplex, to entangle, and to involve *14 162 FROM 1727 TO 1780. the whole in difficulties, and lead on the reader's imagi- nation with an eagerness of curiosity, through scenes of prodigious variety, till at length the different intricacies and complications of the fable are explained after the same gradual manner in which they had been worked up to a crisis ; incident arises out of incident ; the seeds of every thing that shoots up are laid \vith a judicious hand, and whatever occurs in the latter part of the story, seems naturally to grow out of those passages which preceded ; so that, upon the whole, the business, with great propriety and ability, works itself into various embarrassments, and then afterwards, by a regular se- ries of events, clears itself from all impediments, and brings itself inevitably to a conclusion.' A novel of smaller dimensions, entitled Amelia, published in 1751, was the lastw r ork of any importance produced by Field- ing, who died prematurely of gout at Lisbon, in the forty-eighth year of his age. His greatest fault as a writer is his imperfect or incorrect morality. His works are certainly not deficient in pictures of moral excellence, and he generally represents vice as followed by punish- ment, or at least inconvenience ; yet he is greatly blam- able for too often sheltering folly and guilt under the plea of goodness of heart, and for gratuitously and need- lessly introducing scenes, which, though perhaps but too consistent with the manners of the period, and with human nature, cannot be contemplated in literature with any advantage. Undeterred by the satire of Fielding, the author of Pamela proceeded with another and more elaborate novel, of which the first four volumes appeared in 1748, and the remaining four a year or two later, under the title of Clarissa Harlowe. He here adventured upon events and characters of a higher order, and met with still greater success. This work, of \vhich the principal charm lies in the saint-like purity of the heroine, is written, like its predecessor, in letters ; but the style makes a considerable advance in dignity and accuracy, qualities in which Richardson, with all his merits, is upon the whole considerably deficient. The interest which Clarissa excited was greater than even that which attended Pamela ; and it met with the highest approba- RICHARDSON. SMOLLETT. 163 lion both in England and on the continent. Between the publication of the first four and the last four vol- umes, the comfort of the reading world seemed suspen- ded on the result of the story ; and on a report being circulated that it was to end tragically, though that was the only way in which it could appropriately terminate, remonstrances poured in upon the author from all quar- ters, beseeching him to reclaim his profligate hero, and unite him in wedlock to Clarissa. Sir Charles Grandi- son, the latest performance of Richardson, appeared in 1753, in seven volumes, being intended to depict a gen- tleman remarkable for every Christian virtue. In this design the author only succeeds too well ; for the pro- duct of his imagination is correct to tameness, and tires by its solemn and unim passioned dignity. This novel, however, contains a female character (Clementina) which equals any creation of the author's fancy. All the characters in Richardson's works are drawn with minute care and fidelity, and the interest of his story generally depends on a series of details which at first sight appear tiresome, but, after the perusal of a few pa- s, engage the reader inextricably in his task, and cause im to take up volume after volume with increasing pleasure. Long as Clarissa and Grandison are, it is understood that the author wrote them at first in a much more extensive form, and found it necessary to retrench them before publication. There is a tradition, that the former was originally calculated to fill twenty-eight vol- umes ! Meanwhile, anew and formidable rival to Richardson and Fielding had sprung up, in the person of TOBIAS SMOLLETT (17211771,) a native of Dumbartonshire in Scotland, who, after entering life as a naval surgeon, be- came an author by profession in London, and in 1748 published his Adventures of Roderick Random, a work of stronger, though less polished humour than Tom Jones, but equally abounding in happy delineation of character, and possessing, in short, many of both the same faults and the same beauties. This was followed in 1751 by The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, which, with less easy and forcible humour, is more carefully laboured as a work of art, exhibits scenes of greater interest, and 164 FROM 1727 TO 1780. presents a richer variety of character and adventure. Count Fathom and Sir Launcelot Greaves were subse- quent and inferior novels by the same writer ; but at the close of life, his genius shone forth in all its original splendour in The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker, which contains the same striking delineation of charac- ter, and the same broad humour, for which his two first productions are distinguished. Smollett was a much less skilful artist than Fielding, and in none of his works has he attempted the construction of an intricate plot like that of Tom Jones; he was also inferior in delica- cy, and more rarely relieves his writings by pictures of the more elevated qualities of human nature. But he far surpasses Fielding in his humour, which is indeed more rich and copious than that of any other English author. Like Fielding, Smollett is liable to censure for the impurity of many of his scenes and much of his lan- guage, and for the baseness and wickedness of some of those characters for which he chiefly demands the affec- tions of the reader ; but, greatly as these peculiarities may tend to unfit his volumes for indiscriminate perusal, his works present a faithful picture of the manners of the time, which were deficient alike of taste and of morality. Smollett was also a poet, and, in the course of a labori- ous literary career, wrote many miscellaneous works and compilations, none of which, however, (with the ex- ception of a portion of his History of England,) now obtain much notice. The novels of these three eminent persons, though followed by numberless imitations, experienced little worthy or memorable rivalry during the period at pres- ent engaging our attention. The age, however, was rich in fictions of different kinds. In 1759, Dr. Johnson produced his fine Eastern tale of Rasselas, which is de- signed to prove that no worldly pleasures are capable of yielding true gratification, and that men must look for this to a future state of existence. In the same year, LAWRENCE STERNE (1713-1768), an English clergy- man of eccentric manners, burst upon the world with a comic fiction of startling novelty. This was The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, of which eight vol- umes in all were published during the course of six STERNE. GOLDSMITH. 165 years. Sterne possessed wit, sensibility, considerable powers of language, and some acquaintance with old forgotten authors, whose thoughts he made no scruple to appropriate, when they answered his purpose. With these advantages, he composed a work referring to con- temporary manners, which, amidst much frivolity and absolute nonsense, with a license of expression peculiar- ly unbecoming in a clergyman, contains some delinea- tions of character, and strokes of pathos, and flights of fancy, which have never been surpassed, and but rarely approached. In the characters of Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim, he has, in the words of Sir Walter Scott, ' exalted and honoured humanity, and impressed upon his readers such a lively picture of kindness and benevo- lence, blended with courage, gallantry, and simplicity, that their hearts must be warmed whenever it is recall- ed to memory.' In the last year of his life, Sterne pub- lished his SentimentalJourney through France and Italy. which is constructed with less eccentricity, and contains chapters of equal tenderness. The Vicar of Wakefield, written in 1761 by OLIVER GOLDSMITH, then an obscure literary adventurer, resi- ding in a mean part of London, is perhaps the very hap- piest, as it is certainly one of the least exceptionable, of the novels of the last century. It narrates, in the .first person, the history of an amiable and simple-minded clergyman, during a series of domestic misfortunes, that severely try, but never subdue, his moral courage, and over which he is finally triumphant. With some defects in point of probability, it is a singularly beautiful and interesting picture of the middle class of English rural society ; combining great knowledge of human nature and of the world, with the mildness of one who is too sensible of his own weakness to treat those of his neigh- bours with undue severity. The Fool of Quality, pub- lished in 1766 by Mr. Henry Brooke, is a work of much greater extent, but may be ranked beside the Vicar of Waltefield, as affording many pleasing sketches of con- temporary manners. It appears to have been chiefly designed for the young, for whose education it presents many excellent hints. The Adventures of a Guinea, by Charles Johnstone, published about this time, was anoth- 166 PROM 1727 TO 1780. er successful delineation of existing society, but deeply tinged with satire. The four writers last mentioned were natives of Ireland. The series of the novelists of the period is closed by HENRY MACKENZIE (1745-1831), a native of Scotland, who, in 1771, published anonymously his celebrated Man of Feeling, which was followed in the course of a few years by The Man of the World, and Julia de Roubigne. Mackenzie is distinguished by refined sensibility and by exquisite taste. His Man of Feeling is designed to show, in a few fragmentary chapters, exhibiting little coherence, a hero constantly obedient to every emotion of his moral sense, and apparently almost too sensitive and tender-hearted for contact with the world. His second novel aimed at exhibiting a person who, rushing headlong into guilt and ruin, spreads misery all around him, by the pursuit of selfish and sensual pleasures. Mackenzie, with more delicacy, possesses much of Sterne's peculiar pathos ; he has great fancy, and in- comparable taste ; his characters, however, have the fault of being only representatives of certain ideas, in- stead of genuine pictures of individuals existing, or who might have existed. His works, it may be said, are moral treatises in narrative. This period witnessed the commencement of that kind of fiction which at present bears the title of the Romance. The earliest example of it was the Castle of Otronto, by the Honourable HORACE WALPOLE, publish- ed in 1764. Walpole (1717-1797), a younger son of the celebrated prime minister, having devoted himself to the study of Gothic architecture, by degrees his ima- gination became filled with appropriate ideas of the chivalry of the middle ages. A dream at length pre- sented to him the groundwork of what he thought could be wrought up into a romantic fiction, and the result was this elegant tale of superstition, the scene of which is laid in the south of Italy in the eleventh century. The Castle of Otranlo immediately acquired great populari- ty, and was successfully imitated by MRS. CLARA REEVE, in a story entitled The Old English Baron, which ap- peared in 1777. It was not, however, till the ensuing period of literary history, that the Romance was carried o its utmost perfection. HISTORIANS. CARTE. 167 HISTORIANS. The era now under notice may be not improperly termed the Augustan age of historical composition in Britain. In the early part of the century, history was written laboriously, but without elegance. The best compilation of the history of England was that of Echard, already mentioned ; or, as an alternative, the reader might choose the three folios published in 1706, under the title of The Complete History of England, in which the space pre- ceding the reign of Charles I., was given in the language of various authors of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies, while the subsequent reigns were the composition of White Kennett, bishop of Peterborough, celebrated for his controversial writings on the Whig side of church politics. In 1725, a voluminous history of England, written in the French language, was printed at the Hague, being the composition of Monsieur Rapin, a re- fugee French Protestant. Of this work, two transla- tions appeared in England, where it obtained the credit of possessing much solid information, in a -manner upon the whole impartial, though rather more favourable to the Whigs than to the Tories. There were other com- pilations, but so deficient in all the important requisites of history, as to be unworthy of notice. In surveying the historical productions of the period, we are first attracted by the voluminous productions of THOMAS CARTE (1686-1754), originally a clergyman of the Established Church, but who, being prevented by his Jacobite predilections from taking the oaths to George I., assumed the lay habit in 1714, and devoted himself to literary pursuits. Carte was a laborious inquirer, but by no means an accomplished writer, and too strongly swayed by political prejudices to be a fair and just his- torian. His first work was The Life of James Duke of Ormond, published in 1735-6, in three large volumes, and embracing much of the general history of the latter part of the preceding century. He then commenced researches for a history of England, in which he was en- couraged by the chiefs of the Tory party and others, 168 FROM 1727 TO 1780. among whom were the common council of London, who voted him an annuity during the time he should be oc- cupied in the undertaking. The first volume appeared in 1747, and would have been well received, if its credit had not been shaken by an absurd story thrust in at the end, respecting a man who was said to have been cured of the king's evil by the touch of the Pretender in the year 1716. The fourth volume, published after the death of the author, brought the history down to the year 1654 ; it is still esteemed as a great collection of facts, though the style is inelegant and the reflections unphilo- sophical. The Roman History of NATHANIEL HOOKE, published in four large volumes, between 1733 and 1771, is a Work in some respects similar, but written more clearly, and with more critical acuteness in the choice of materials. The public possessed only these ungainly compila- tions, when DAVID HUME (17111776), by birth the younger son of a Scottish country gentleman, and who had distinguished himself by some metaphysical writings, took advantage of his situation as librarian to the Fac- ulty of Advocates at Edinburgh, to commence a history of England, in which a judicious selection of events should be treated in a philosophical manner. The first volumes, embracing the reigns of the Stuart sovereigns, appeared in 1754-6 ; and the work was completed be- fore 176 1, by the addition of the earlier periods. It was the first example of the highest kind of historical com- position which appeared in English literature, and it has ever since been the standard work upon the subject, notwithstanding the superior erudition, accuracy, and even elegance, of subsequent writers. Its acknowl- edged defects are carelessness both as to facts and style, and deliberate partiality towards the cavalier party in the contests of the seventeenth century ; to which may be added one of greater importance, for which, howev- er, the author is not blamable, its want of the inestima- ble advantages which are now derivable from state doc- uments and other genuine materials of history. The merits of this writer are, however, so great, so singular is the charm which his vigorous mind has imparted to the narrative, and so enlarged and philosophical are HUME. ROBERTSON. 169 the greater part of his views of events and characters, that he promises, with the aid of a judicious commenta- ry, if such can be obtained, long to continue superior to all rivalry. The compilation of such a work by an author who could hardly be said to speak the language in which it was expressed, was one of the most remarkable circum- stances connected with it. Scotland had hitherto af- forded hardly any writers of English who approached classical excellence ; and the surprise was accordingly great, when a piece of composition, so graceful amidst all its negligence, was produced on the northern shores of the Tweed. The truth is, that during the reign of George II., a considerable number of learned persons in Scotland had been studying English literature with the greatest zeal ; insomuch that, about the time when Mr. Hume's history appeared, societies existed in more than one of the university towns, for the purpose of en- couraging not only the writing, but as much as possible the speaking of pure English. The country was now accordingly prepared to produce that brilliant cluster of writers, embracing Hume, Blair, Robertson, Smith, and others, which occupies so prominent a place in the liter- ary history of the period. WILLIAM ROBERTSON (17211793), a country clergy- man, enjoying comparatively few advantages for histori- cal study, published in 1759 his History of Scotland du- ring the reigns of Queen Mary and King James F/., which was at once pronounced to be a still finer speci- men of English composition than the work of Hume, though wanting the nervous philosophy of that writer. Encouraged by the success of this effort, Dr. Robertson ventured upon a task requiring far more research and greater grasp of mind, and gave to the world, in 1769, his History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles F., with a View of the Progress of Society in Europe from the Subversion of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Sixteenth Century. In this work he had to sur- vey, in the first place, the steps by which the social in- stitutions of antiquity have passed, through the ages of barbarism, into the characteristic features of the state of modern Europe ; secondly, he had to commemorate, with 15 170 FROM 1727 TO 1780. appropriate spirit and dignity, a series of transactions of peculiar interest, extending throughout the better part of a century, and in which the most civilized countries of Europe were engaged. This difficult performance was accomplished with the most perfect success, and with a material increase to the reputation of the author. The last considerable work of Dr. Robertson was his History of America, which appeared in 1777, and is perhaps, on account of its subject, the most entertaining of all his works. From a time immediately subsequent to his first publication, he had enjoyed several considera- ble preferments, besides a pension of 200 from the king ; and being a man of singular prudence, temper- ance, and natural dignity of character, the latter part of his life was spent in the enjoyment of almost every worldly blessing. His merits as a writer are thus de- scribed by one of his biographers : His style is pure, sweet, dignified without stiffness, singularly perspicuous, and often eloquent ; the arrangement of his materials is skilful and luminous, his mode of narrative distinct, and his descriptions highly graphical ; and he displays a sa- gacity in the development of causes and effects, and in his judgment of public characters and transactions, which is very remarkable in one who was brought up in obscurity and retirement. If there is less glow and ardour in his expression of moral and political feelings, than some eminent writers in a free country have mani- fested, there is, on the other hand, all the candour and im- partiality which belongs to a cool temper, when enlight- ened by knowledge and directed by principle.' Hume and Robertson were the means of exciting at once a taste in the public for historical reading, and a desire in literary men to rival them in the same depart- ment. An elaborate History of the Reign of Henry II. was published by George LORD LYTTLETON, in 1767- 71. DR. ROBERT HENRY (1718-1790), a Scottish cler. gyman, devoted thirty years of his life to the composi- tion of a History of Great Britain, in which the civil, ecclesiastical, constitutional, literary, and commercial affairs, and the progress of arts and of manners, were each treated in a distinct series of chapters. This work appeared in detached portions at different dates between GRAINGER. BIRCH. 171 1771 and 1785, but was brought down no farther than the reign of Henry VIII. It is a perspicuous and useful production, though the author's views and reflections are marked by little force or originality. A Biographi- cal History of England, that is, a history of the lives of the most distinguished characters in the annals of that country, was published in 1769 by the Reverend JAMES GRAINGER, an English clergyman. Lives of Queen Eliz- abeth, Raleigh, Tillotson, Henri/ Prince of Wales, and others, were written with great research, but in a some- what dry manner, by DR. THOMAS BIRCH (1705-66), one of the secretaries of the Royal Society. We may also here advert to Dr. Charles Burney's elaborate Gen- eral History of Music, in four volumes (1776-89), and to Dr. Thomas Warton's History of English Poetry, of like extent, produced between 1774 and 1781, a work of vast research, and upon the whole accurate, but left incomplete by the author. In the less ambitious walk of historical composition, where the object was simply to furnish books of a cer- tain extent and form, for the convenience of ordinary readers, the age now under notice was not less distin- guished. Indeed, the reign of George II. may be term- ed the epoch of respectable compilation in England, for, excepting Echard and Kennett, there had not previous- ly existed any literary men who were qualified to put existing knowledge into new shapes with the required dexterity and neatness. A most valuable work, under the title of Universal History, of which the portion de- voted to ancient times extended to seven, and the mod- ern part to sixteen volumes, in folio, was brought out by the London booksellers in the reign of George II., and is still a constituent part of every good library. It was written by Bower, Campbell, Guthrie, Sale, Psalmana- zar, and other professional authors of eminence. The first of these individuals published a History of the Popes ; Campbell was the author of Lives of the Admi- rals, and of the best articles in the Biographia Britan- nica ; Guthrie published a History of Scotland, a Histo- ry of England, and a Geographical and Historical Grammar, which has continued in repute almost to our own day ; and Sale gained celebrity by translating the 172 FROM 1727 TO ]780. Koran of Mohammed. The three first were natives of Scotland. Dr. Smollett published, in 1758, a History of England, in four quarto volumes, which he is said to have written in the brief space of fourteen months. This work he afterwards brought down to the year 1765. Though, as might be expected, it is superficial in point of information, and much beneath Hume's History in every other respect, the portion which extends from the Revolution to the end of the reign of George II., is usu- ally appended to that superior production, as the best account of the period which as yet exists. Goldsmith, being compelled to resort to compilation for his daily bread, wrote several short histories, which have ever since been veiy generally used in schools. His History of England, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to his Son, published in 1763 in two small volumes, was so much admired at the time as to be generally attributed to Lord Lyttleton. His larger History of England, in four volumes, and his histories of Greece and Rome, re- ceived equal approbation. There is, however, no writer of this class who approaches in skill, sprightliness, and energy, to DR. WILLIAM RUSSELL, a native of Selkirk- shire, who, in 1779-84, supplied the London booksellers with a History of Modern Europe, in seven volumes ; a production which it is at once so brief, so perspicuous, so comprehensive, and so entertaining, that all rivalry appears to be precluded. This work, each volume of which cost the labour of a year, was brought down by the author to 1763, but has been continued by Dr. Coote and other writers to the present time. It is the view of modern European history most proper for the perusal of young persons. The latter part of the era under review produced a historical work of the first class. EDWARD GIBBON (17371794) was the son of a gentleman of family and fortune, and thus enabled to devote the whole of the earlier part of his life to study. Instead of applying, however, to the usual academic pursuits, he spent his time chiefly in a course of miscellaneous reading, par- ticularly in the belles lettres, and in the history of man and of the human mind. In his youth he embraced and soon after renounced the Roman Catholic religion, and GIBBON. 173 displayed many other symptoms of an eccentricity which was perhaps solely attributable to genius. He spent much of his time upon the Continent, and made his first appearance as an author in the French language. At length, while musing one evening amid the ruins of the Capitol at Rome, he formed the resolution to write the history of the decay and overthrow of the great empire of which that city was the metropolis. He soon after proceeded to make the necessary researches ; and in 1776 appeared the first volume of this work, under the title of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Ro- ?nan Empire, the remaining five being added in the course of the twelve ensuing years. It has been pro- nounced by the public to be a performance of vast and accurate research, and of enlarged and philosophical thinking ; abounding in splendid passages and curious discussions ; and written in a style, which, though affec- tedly sonorous and occasionally obscure, is such as to display in the author a thorough mastery of the whole compass of the English language. Notwithstanding an oblique attack upon Christianity, which was very gen- erally condemned, it has taken a secure place among the English classics, and must ever form a conspicuous object in the literary history of the eighteenth century. In this department of literature, we find but few American writers, during this period. Some half dozen respectable histories of the individual colonies were writ- ten, among which may be named, a History of Massa- chusetts by Thomas Hutchinson ; one of Rhode Island by John Callender; one of New Hampshire by Dr. Bel- knap, already named, and an Account of the first Dis- covery and Settlement of Virginia, by William Stith. The reputation of Dr. Belknap as a historian, and gen- erally as a writer, stands high in his own country. He was a man of genius and taste, and explored various walks of literature with success.* 3IETAPHYSICAL WRITERS. Several metaphysical writers of this period have ob- tained a brilliant reputation, though it is now by some * AM. ED. 15* 174 FROM 1727 TO 1780. believed that they have made no solid additions to hu- man knowledge. The earliest, and among the most distinguished, is DAVID HUME, already commemorated as a historian. In 1 738 he published a Treatise on Hu- man Nature; in 1742, Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary ; and subsequently a Natural History of Re- ligion ; to which were added in 1 779, after his death, Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. His philoso- phy, as it has been called, was an attack upon all for- merly conceded principles of knowledge and belief; maintaining, in short, that through the fallaciousness of the human faculties, and even of the senses, it is impos- sible to ascertain or believe any thing. In 1749, DAVID HARTLEY, an English physician, published his celebrated Observations on Man, his Frame, his Duty, and his Ex- pectations ; in which an attempt was made to explain all the phenomena of mind by the single principle of association of ideas, and to account for this principle by vibrations in the substance of the brain ; a system which he alleged to be perfectly consistent with the doctrines of both natural and revealed religion. Soon after, a System of Moral Philosophy, by DR. FRANCIS HUTCHE- SON, a native of Ireland, who long occupied the chair of moral science in the University of Glasgow, was pub- lished posthumously, and attracted much notice. The leading doctrine is, all that our moral ideas are derived from a moral sense implanted in our natures, and which, independently of all consideration as to the advantage of any good action, leads us to perform such ourselves, and to approve them when done by others. DR. ADAM SMITH, professor of logic in the same college, and one of the boldest and most original thinkers of the age, pub- lished, in 1759, his Theory of Moral Sentiments, which is founded on the principle of sympathy, as the source of our feelings concerning the propriety or impropriety of actions, and their good or ill desert. This was fol- lowed by an Enquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense, published in 1764 by DR. THOMAS REID (1710-1790), professor of moral philoso- phy at Glasgow ; a man of powerful and comprehensive intellect. His w T ork was intended to refute the philoso- phy of Locke and Hartley, by disproving the connexions KAMES. BEATTIE. PRIESTLEY. 175 which they supposed to subsist between the several phenomena, powers, and operations of the mind, and by accounting for the foundation of all knowledge on a system of instinctive principles. It was completed about twenty years after by the publication of Essays on the Intellectual and Active Powers. In 1752, HEN- RY HOME (1696-1782), an advocate at the Scottish bar, (subsequently a judge, with the designation of Lord Kames,) published Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion ; which, opposing those theories of human nature which deduce all actions from some single principle, endeavoured to establish several general principles of action. He afterwards wrote An Intro- duction to the Art of Thinking, which continues to be esteemed as an useful book for young persons, and Ele- ments of Criticism, a truly original performance, \vhich, discarding all arbitrary rules of composition, establishes a new theory upon the principles of human nature. In 1773, Lord Kames produced his Sketches of the History of Man, a work of much ingenuity and entertainment, and comprising many important views of society, though fanciful throughout, and based in some places on facts of suspected authority. About this time DR. JAMES BEAT- TIE, professor of moral philosophy at Aberdeen, and who has already been mentioned as one of the most eminent poets of the period, entered the field of contro- versy against Hume, with an Essay on Truth, which, assuming instinctive perception of truth in the human mind, and combating the inferences of his countryman respecting religion, was much applauded at the time, and procured a royal pension for the author, but has since been very generally pronounced a superficial and undignified performance. In 1775, the doctrines of Reid and Beattie were attacked by DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, an English dissenting clergyman of singularly varied accomplishments, who had adopted Hartley's theory of the mind. Besides the work published on this occasion, which bore the title of An Examination of the Doctrine of Common Sense, the same author gave to the world a simplification of Hartley's theory, for popular use, and, in 1777, a series of Disquisitions on Matter and Spirit, which exposed him to much obloquy, on account of their 176 FROM 1727 TO 1780. inconsistency with tbe more commonly received views of Christianity. Dr. Priestley, who belonged to the class called Unitarians, and is generally allowed to have shown great philosophical acuteness in these publica- tions, in consequence of the odium which they had con- cected with his name, was in 1794 obliged to leave his native land, and settle in America. It is a fact not un- worthy of remark, that, with the exception of Hartley, Hutcheson, and Priestly, all the speculators in moral science already mentioned, were natives of Scotland ; a country of which it has been said, that the genius of the people is peculiarly fitted for the cultivation of this department of human knowledge. No man, during the eighteenth century, was more distinguished by his metaphysical writings, than JONA- THAN EDWARDS, a native of East Windsor, Connecticut, (17031758). He possessed an inquisitive, acute, and profound intellect, and was one of the closest and most accurate thinkers that ever lived. His Essay on the Free- dom of the Will, has been pronounced to be one of the greatest efforts of the human mind. It constitutes an era in investigations of this nature having given a di- rection of the most important character to metaphysical enquiries, and produced a change in human opinions, which will affect all future time. In the view of many of the ablest psychological writers, it has settled points of the greatest moment respecting the Will. Indeed, after the investigations of Locke and others, in illustrating the principles of the intellectual part of man, something was wanting to complete our views of his moral nature. This desideratum was supplied by Edwards. In the language of the Edinburgh Review, ' he is one of the acutest, most powerful, and of all reasoners, the most conscientious and sincere. His closeness and candour are alike admirable There is not a trick, a subter- fuge, a verbal sophism in the whole book.'* WRITERS IN DIVINITY. In religious literature, the eighteenth will bear no comparison with the seventeenth century, so far as Great Britain is concerned. The Church is allowed to * AM. ED. WARBURTON. BUTLER. LOWTH. 177 have been, in this age, less zealous in its duties than it was before, or has been since ; and when the clergy employed their pens, it generally was rather to attack or defend some point in divinity, than to pour forth those eloquent appeals to the minds of men, which so much enrich the former period. The two greatest clerical writers by many degrees were Warburton and Butler, both of whom reached the episcopal dignity in conse- quence of their services in this capacity. WILLIAM WARBURTON (1698-1779), Bishop of Gloucester, ex- erted his genius in early life as editor of Shakspeare and Pope. In 1738 he began to publish his Divine Legation of Moses, which was completed some years afterwards in six volumes, and is one of the most extraordinary works in the language, being a wonderful collection of uncommon learning, applied in the support of original and often paradoxical views. He wrote many other books ; but the subject which he chiefly endeavoured to illustrate was that of miracles. He was a man of vigo- rous faculties, indefatigable in inquiry, and possessed of a vast fund of knowledge ; but personally was harsh, arrogant, and overbearing, and his writings are strongly tinctured with these qualities. JOSEPH BUTLER (1692 1752), the son of a dissenting shopkeeper at Wantage in Berkshire, rose through a series of church preferments to the lucrative bishopric of Durham. His great work, The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, published in 1 736, is still considered a masterpiece of reasoning in behalf of Christianity, and is almost universally recommended to youth. Its object is, by drawing an analogy between religion and the constitution and course of nature, to show that both must have had the same origin ; an ar- gument which may be expected to have great power, after it is admitted that nature must have been derived from a divine and supreme Being. ROBERT LOWTH (1710-1787), son of Dr. Lowth, mentioned in the preceding section of this work, rose to the bishopric of London, and distinguished himself by his intimate acquaintance with Hebrew literature, of which he gave examples to the world, in his Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Jews, and his commentary on 178 PROM 1727 TO 1780. the book of Isaiah. He also wrote an admired work on English grammar. Much of the talent and learning of the established clergy of this period was exerted in discussing the doc- trines embraced by the standards of the Church, and in defending the fundamental doctrines of Christianity from infidel writers. In 1730, Dr. Matthew Tindal, FeJlow of All Souls' College, Oxford, published his celebrated treatise entitled Christianity as Old as the Creation, the object of which was to show that there neither has been nor can be, any external revelation distinct from what he terms * the internal revelation of the law of nature in the hearts of all mankind.' It was attacked by Dr. Wa- terland and others, and gave rise to a long-continued controversy. Dr. Conybeare obtained high church preferment in consequence of a defence of revelation against Tindal. Another of the opponents of this writer was DR. CONYERS MIDDLETON (1683-1 "7 50), librarian of the University of Cambridge ; a man whose personal and literary character somewhat resembled that of War- burton. Middleton was also the author of two standard religious works, in one of which an endeavour is made to show that the ceremonies of the Catholic Church are founded upon those of paganism ; the other, entitled ' A Free Enquiry into the Miraculous Powers which are supposed to have subsisted in the Christian Church from the Earliest Ages, through several successive Centuries ,' attempts to prove that all the miracles alleged to have been worked after the time of the apostles, are untrue. He also wrote an elaborate Life of Cicero, which has been discovered, however, to be chiefly derived from an ob- scure work by a Scottish author named Bellenden. The opinions of Dr. Middleton were of such a general tendency as to draw down upon him much censure from what was called the orthodox party of the Church, that is, the party who are scrupulous in adhering to its original doctrines. Another eminent advocate for free enquiry and liberal views, but more amiable as a private indi- vidual, was DR. JOHN JORTIN (1698-1770), author of Discourses concerning the Truth of the Christian Reve- lation, which have obtained a high reputation for the solidity of argument and soundness of erudition which JEBB, LARDNER. 179 they display. It is in his Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, a book extending to six volumes, that he has chiefly assumed that freedom of remark for which his more scrupulous brethren have condemned him. The Sermons and Charges of Dr. Jortin, published after his death in seven volumes, have been much admired. Much Biblical learning, tinctured with the same views, is to be found in the writings of DR. JOHN JEBB (17.36 1786), a man of ardent arid patriotic character, who, from conscientious motives, resigned some valuable liv- ings which he held in the Church, and when far advanced in life, studied the profession of physic as another means of earning a subsistence. Of the other theological and devotional productions of the established clergy of this age, there is only room to notice a few of the best. The Dissertations of Bishop Newton on various parts of the Bible ; the Lectures on the English Church Catechism, by Archbishop Seeker ; the Commentary on the Psalms and Discourses of Bish- op Horne ; Bishop Law's Considerations on the Theory of Religion, and his Reflections on the Life and Charac- ter of Christ ; Bishop Kurd's Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies are all works of standard excellence. The labours of Dr. Kennicott, in the collection of vari- ous manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, are also worthy of being here mentioned, as an eminent service to sa- cred literature. The various bodies of Protestant nonconformists pro- duced, in this age, a set of writers hardly less numerous than those of the established Church. DR. NATHANIEL LARDNER (1684-1768), minister to a congregation at Crutched Friars in London, was the author of several works, which, neither in laboriousness nor utility, have been surpassed by any similar compositions of the en- dowed clergy. The chief is his Credibility of the Gos- pel History, published between 1730 and 1757, in fifteen volumes, and in which proofs are brought from innumer- able sources in the religious history and literature of the first five centuries, in favour of the truth of Christianity. Another voluminous work, entitled, A Large Collection of Ancient Jewish and Heathen Testimonies to the Truth of the Christian Religion, appeared near the close of 180 FROM 1727 TO 1780. the author's life, and completed a design, which, mak- ing allowance for the interruptions occasioned by other studies and writings of less importance, occupied his attention for forty-three years. It is only to be lamented, that the patience and candour of this laborious writer were not attended by a greater dexterity in the art of shaping his materials, and giving them that currency with the pub- lic which is necessary to the full utility of every kind of composition. DR. ISAAC WATTS, already mentioned as a poet, and a man cf extraordinary personal worth, published, besides his Logic and a treatise on the Im- provement of the Mind, many sermons, discourses, es- says, and theological tracts, replete with orthodox divin- ity, and with true benevolence. Next to him in eminence is DR. PHILIP DODDRIDGE (1702-1751), author of the excellent popular treatise entitled the Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, and of The Family Expositor (a version of the New Testament, with critical notes), besides many sermons and lesser tracts. It is remark- able that Dr. Doddridge should have been able, during a short life, to produce so many laborious works, as he had not only to minister to a congregation at Northamp- ton, but was obliged, for a livelihood, to keep an acade- my for the education of young rnen, of whom he had sometimes no fewer than two hundred under his charge. JAMES FOSTER (1697-1752), a Baptist, and one of the most popular preachers in London during the reign of George the Second, obtained a lasting fame by several learned and eloquent works in behalf of revelation. John Guyse, minister of Hertford, published a laborious Paraphrase of the New Testament, which is held in high estimation among the followers of Calvin. A View of the Principal Deistical Writers, with some Account of the Answers that have been written to them, by Dr. John Leland, minister to a body of Protestant dissenters in Dublin, is a book of high reputation. In his Dissertation on Miracles, it is generally allowed that Hugh Farmer, preacher at Walthamstow, has given a more powerful answer to the objections of scepticism, and presented a better view of the nature, origin, and design of those extraordinary manifestations of divine power, than any other of the numerous and eminent writers on this BLAIR. LOGAN, CAMPBELL. EDWARDS. 181 subject. Gibbons, Fell, Stennet, Booth, Williams, Ful- ler, Collyer, and Smith, are dissenting divines who likewise gained distinction by their writings during this age. The literary contributions of the Scottish Presbyteri- ans were very great. DR. HUGH BLAIR (1718-1800), one of the ministers of Edinburgh, and the first preacher in Scotland who brought the graces of polite learning to the service of the pulpit, published in 1777 the first of the five volumes of his celebrated Sermons, which were so elegant in composition, and did so well expound the moral parts of religion, that they immediately became, and have ever since continued to be, extremely popular. Dr. Blair was also the author of Lectures on Rhetoric and the Belles Lettres, which enjoy a reputation not in- ferior. JOHN LOGAN, minister of Leith, (already men- tioned as a poet,) published a volume of discourses, rival- ing those of Blair in elegance, and perhaps surpassing them in feeling. But the highest theological name of the period is that of DR. GEORGE CAMPBELL (17191796), Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen, who wrote an Essay on Miracles, in which it was generally allowed the scruples of Mr. Hume were very triumphantly answered. Principal Campbell was also the author of a Translation of the Gospels, with notes, which stands in the first rank of the works of that kind. The theological writings of the American States, during this period, were somewhat numerous, and seve- ral of them have a high reputation for depth, originality, and usefulness. This is the fact especially with the works of Jonathan Edwards, who has already been named as a metaphysician. Besides his Essay on the Freedom of the Will, he wrote other celebrated works, among which are his Treatise on Religious Affections, a controversial production on Original Sin, a disserta- tion on the Nature of true Virtue, and that on the End for which God created the World. His work on the Affec- tions has been eminently useful. It is a practical and profound analysis of the heart, in respect to the exer- cises of religion, and clearly unfolds the character of holy feelings. As he was accustomed to pen down his thoughts, upon all subjects presented in the course of his 16 182 . FROM 1727 TO 1780. reading, he left fourteen hundred miscellaneous writings behind him, some of which were afterwards published. In his works generally, he may be characterised as a deep searcher into the genuine sources of truth, an ac- curate and minute reasoner, plain and perspicuous in his method, and unadorned, prolix, and even repetitious in his language.* JOSEPH BELLAMY (1719-1790),was the author of True Religion Delineated, and other valuable religious publica- tions, which have gained for him a high reputation, both at home and abroad. In his theological opinions he agreed with Edwards. The work above mentioned is a discriminating and judicious account of Christian piety, and is a safe human guide to correct views on that sub- ject. It may be read with great advantage by all seri- ous enquirers into the nature of internal spiritual reli- gion. SAMUEL HOPKINS (1721-1803), though somewhat later than the above, may be noticed in this place, as many of his publications appeared during the present period, and as he completes, with Edwards and Bella- my, what has been denominated the American triumvi- rate of eminent writers in the same strain of divinity. His greatest work, and that on which his fame as a theo- logian chiefly rests, is his System of Doctrines contained in Divine Revelation. It was published in 1793. In his religious opinions, he varied somewhat from his associates, and from Calvin, chiefly in the extent to which he carried the general Calvinistic scheme. The turn for nice metaphysical discussions and doctrinal investi- gations, by which American works in divinity, particu- larly those of New England, have been distinguished in more modern times, may be attributed, in a great meas- ure, to the influence of these eminent men.* JAMES BLAIR, who died in 1 743, an episcopal clergy- man in Virginia, and President of William and Mary College, was the author of Discourses on Matthew v. vii. in four volumes octavo. They are an excellent com- ment on that portion of Scripture, and written with beautiful simplicity of style, and great seriousness of manner. DR. CHARLES CHAUNCEY (1705-1787) was a voluminous writer in theology, and a man of integrity, * AM. ED. CHAUNCEY. WITHERSPOON. 183 independence, and firmness. In some important points of doctrine, however, he differed from the generality of American divines. Besides a work on the American Episcopate, he published a treatise on the Benevolence of the Deity, five Dissertations on the Fall and its Con- sequences, and a work entitled the Salvation of all Men. This last was answered by Dr. Jonathan Ed- wards, son of the author of the Freedom of the Will. JOHN WITHERSPOON, (1722-1794), a native of Scotland, may be classed with the American divines of this period. He emigrated to the United States in 1769, and imme- diately took charge of Princeton College as its Presi- dent. He rendered as a theologian and civilian, a signal service to his adopted country, by his counsels and wri- tings. His theological productions are marked by sound good sense, condensed thought, a simple style, and a lucid method. In his Ecclesiastical Characteristics, he shows no small share of refined humour and delicate satire. His works, published in four volumes octavo, are partly political and literary, as well as religious. Among other divines whose writings were well received in their own time, and some of which continue to be acceptable to their countrymen, we may name Nathan- iel Appleton, Aaron Burr, President of Princeton Col- lege, Samuel Davies, Samuel Finley, Thomas Clap, Samuel Johnson, Andrew Eliot, and Samuel Cooper. The two last, as was the case with many other divines of that period, wrote on subjects connected with the revolutionary struggle of the country, as well as on theological topics. In no land has the science of the- ology, commencing at this era, been more successfully cultivated than in the United States, and in none has the beneficial effect of able theological works, been more sensibly felt. The whole of Protestant Christendom, we believe, has experienced important and favourable changes in some respects, from the luminous theology of the American press. It has been no unnatural precursor or attendant of those extensive moral and religious re- formations which have since prevailed in so many places.* *An. ED- 184 FROM 1727 TO 1780. MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS. In this section are comprehended several eminent persons, who, though noticed under other heads, may here be more particularly adverted to, as much of their fame arises from miscellaneous literature ; this depart- ment also embraces a few who fall under no other divis- ion. Of the first class the most remarkable is DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784), whose character as a poet and essayist has already been given. He was born of obscure parents at Litchfield, and after an unsuccess- ful attempt as a teacher, became a professional author in London, where, during the earlier part of his life, he suffered great hardships. Among his miscellaneous wri- tings must be reckoned his contributions to the early volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine, his Dictionary of the English Language, his Journey to the Western Islands, and his Lives of the Poets and other persons. The compilation of the Dictionary occupied the years between 1747 and 1755, and though a work of great value for its admirable definitions, and rich in well- chosen and beautiful quotations, is now considered de- fective in etymology, and too limited in the selection of words. The Journey to the Western Islands contains many just and philosophical views of society, and some lively descriptions. Perhaps the very best productions of the pen of Johnson are his Lives of the Poets, which were written between 1779 and 1781, as prefaces to a collection of the works of those individuals. It is to be regretted that, according to the taste of the time, the list of the genuine poets of England being held to com- mence with Cowley, we want in this work memoirs of Chaucer, Spenser, and the many excellent writers who adorned the reigns of Elizabeth and James : at the same time, it admits notices of several persons whose w r ritings are now justly neglected. Yet, after every defect and blemish has been acknowledged, there still remains a most valuable store of biography, criticism, and power- ful thinking. The last peculiarity is that which most conspicuously characterises the writings of Johnson. Under the weight of a pompous and over-artificial die- JOHNSON. BOSWELL. SMITH. 185 tion, and struggling with numberless prejudices and foibles, we see, in all of his compositions, the workings of a strong and reflecting mind. It is to be lamented that this great writer and virtuous man laboured under constitutional infirmities of body and mind, which ren- dered him occasionally gloomy, capricious, and over- bearing ; though he seems to have been by no means deficient in either abstract or practical benevolence. It is remarkable that while the works of Johnson are be- coming less and less familiar to modern readers, his life, as related by his friend JAMES BOSWELL, is constantly increasing in popularity. This appears to result from the forced and turgid style of his writing, which is inconsistent with the taste of the present age, while his colloquial language, as reported by his biographer, has perfect ease and simplicity, with equal, if not superior energy. The Life of Johnson is in itself one of the most valuable literary productions of the eighteenth century. It is the most minute and complete account of a human being ever written. Mr. Bos well, who was a native of Scot- land, and a man of lively, though not powerful intellect, employed himself for many years in gathering the par- ticulars of his friend's life, in noting down the remarks of the moralist upon men and things, and in arranging and compiling his work, which was published in 1791 in two volumes quarto. Its author has thus, by an em- ployment to which few men would have condescended, and a laborious exertion of powers, in themselves al- most trifling, been the means of presenting to the world one of the most instructive and entertaining books in existence. DR. ADAM SMITH (1723-1790), who was alluded to in the section of metaphysical writers, as author of a Theory of Moral Sentiments, published, in 1776, his Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations ; the first work in which the science of Politi- cal Economy was fully and philosophically treated. Dr. Smith, who was a native of Scotland, and professor of moral philosophy in the University of Glasgow, is said to have spent about ten years in preparing this celebrated book, which, in the utility of its object, and in logical and vigorous thinking, differs greatly from the generality 16* 186 FROM 1727 TO 1780. of the productions of the eighteenth century. It may be remarked of most of the writers, and also of the statesmen, of this age, that they aimed less at precise knowledge and sound reasoning than at rhetorical ele- gance ; they sought the shadow rather than the sub- tance. Dr. Smith, on the contrary, devoted himself to the elucidation of a science which is not capable of any ornament, but professes to treat of every thing upon which the physical comfort of a country depends. He showed that the only source of the opulence of nations is labour that the natural wish to augment our fortunes and rise in the world, is the cause of riches being accu- mulated. He demonstrated that labour is productive of wealth, when employed in manufactures and commerce, as well as when it is employed in the cultivation of land ; he traced the various means by which labour may be rendered most effective ; and gave a most admirable analysis and exposition of the prodigious addition made to its efficacy by its division among different individuals and countries, and by the employment of accumulated wealth, or capital, in industrious undertakings. He also showed, in opposition to the commonly received opin- ions of the merchants, politicians, and statesmen of his time, that wealth does not consist in the abundance of gold and silver, but in the abundance of the various ne- cessaries, conveniences, and enjoyments of human life ; that it is in every case sound policy to leave individuals to pursue their own interest in their own way ; that, in prosecuting branches of industry advantageous to them- selves, they necessarily prosecute such as are, at the same time, advantageous to the public ; and that every regulation intended to force industry into particular channels, or to determine the species of commercial intercourse to be carried on between different parts of the same country, or between distant and independent countries, is impolitic and pernicious.* Such are the leading features of a work, which, though not without some errors of doctrine, was far before the general sense of the age in which it appeared, and must ever be con- sidered as one of the noblest productions of the human intellect. * M'Culloch's Principles of Political Economy, 2d edit. p. 57. BURKE. BLACKSTONE. 187 EDMUND BUKRE (1730-1797), distinguished as a statesman, may be ranked with the miscellaneous wri- ters of this period, on account of his Essay on the Sub- lime and Beautiful, which appeared in 1757, and from the elegance of its language, and the spirit of philosophi- cal investigation which it displayed, at once raised its author to the first class among writers on topics of taste and criticism. The hypothesis maintained in this trea- tise is, that the principal source of the sublime is terror, or some sensation resembling it, and that beauty is that quality, or the results of those qualities in objects, by which they excite love, or some similar affection. The splendid talents and acquirements of Burke were em- ployed, during the remainder of his life, almost exclu- sively in the business of a parliamentary career, the only literary product of which was a series of speeches, which will ever rank amongst the best effusions of the oratori- cal genius of his country. He also published, in 1790, a pamphlet entitled, Reflections on the Revolution in France, in which, though a member of the Whig party, he took the most unfavourable view of the changes then advancing in the neighbouring kingdom, and pleaded the cause of ancient institutions with great force of argu- ment, and still greater felicity of illustration, though not without leaving room for a very powerful answer from another writer. One of the greatest productions of this period was the Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in 1765. by SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTOIVE, afterwards a judge of the Court of King's Bench. In this book, which continues to be the standard work upon the subject, the spirit of the English government and laws is expound- ed in a philosophical manner, and with an union of re- search, accuracy, and elegance, worthy of the highest praise, but at the same time with a servile respect for technical rules, more characteristic of the lawyer than of the philosopher, and with less regard for the real merit of laws and institutions in general, than for their antiquity. A revisal of Blackstone's Commentaries, which should accommodate them to the practice of con- stitutional and municipal law in the present day, and to the enlarged spirit of the nation, is very desirable. 188 PROM 1727 TO 1780. Philip Dormer Stanhope, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD (1694-1773), was an elegant author, though his only popular compositions are his Letters to his Son, a work containing many excellent advices for the cultivation of the mind and improvement of the external worldly character, but greatly deficient in the higher points of morality. SOAME JENYNS (1704-1787) was distinguish- ed in early life as a gay and witty writer, both in poetry and prose ; but afterwards applying himself to serious subjects, he produced, in 1757, A Free Enquiry into the Nature of Evil; in 1776, A View of the Internal Evi- dences of the Christian Religion ; and in 1782, Disqui- sitions on various subjects ; works containing much in- genious speculation, but which have lost most of their early popularity. One of the most eminent cultivators of miscellaneous literature during this period was HORACE WALPOLE (1718-1797), who, at the close of a long life, succeeded a nephew in the title of Earl of Orford. A Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, published in 1758, and Anecdotes of Painting in England, two volumes, 1761, are, with his Castle of Otranto, already noticed, the chief works of Walpole which appeared during his lifetime ; but several large collections of letters, and a History of the last ten years of the reign of George II., edited since his death, are more valuable, the former, in particular, being full of lively and amusing descriptions of the man- ners and characters of the eighteenth century. Person- ally, and also in his manner of writing, Walpole was eccentric and heartless ; but the ease, pungency, and brilliancy of his style, independently of their historical value, will long keep his w r orks before the public eye. He spent the greater part of his life in a villa called Strawberry Hill, which he built and furnished in his favourite Gothic manner, and which is still visited as a curiosity. It is here necessary to advert to a series of political epistles, which appeared in a London newspaper during the years 1769, 1770, and 1771, and which, from the signature attached to them, are usually called the Let- ters of Junius. They chiefly aimed at exposing the ag- gressions which the crown was at that time supposed to CHAMBERS. REES. CAMPBELL. DODSLEY. 1 89 be making upon the national liberties ; but, in perform- ing this task, the writer did not scruple to satirize both the king and his supporters. He displayed such powers of keen, yet delicate sarcasm, such dexterity in parrying and retorting the attacks of his adversaries, and so mas- terly a knowledge of the English constitution, as, joined to the brilliancy and polish of his style, gave to his com- positions the character of a standard work, which they have ever since retained. The writer of these letters had no personal communication with the individual who published them ; he seems to have formed the res- olution of keeping the secret of their authorship from the world, and of allowing it to perish with him. Accord- ingly, though attempts have been made to trace them to various individuals, the author must still be considered as unknown. Overlooking one comparatively obscure work, the Cyclopaedia of EPHRAIM CHAMBERS, published in 1728, in two folio volumes, was the first dictionary or reper- tory of general knowledge published in Britain. Cham- bers, who had been reared to the business of a globe- maker, and was a man of respectable, though not pro- found attainments, died in 1740. His work was printed five times during the subsequent eighteen years, and has finally been extended, in the present century, under the care of DR. ABRAHAM REES, to forty volumes in quarto. DR. JOHN CAMPBELL (1708 1775), whose share in com- piling the Universal History has already been spoken of, began in 1742 to publish his Lives of the British Admi- rals, and three years later, commenced the Biographia Britannica ; works of considerable magnitude, and which still possess a respectable reputation. The reign of George II. produced many other attempts to familiarize knowledge ; but it seems only necessary to allude to one of these, the Preceptor of ROBERT DODS- LEY, first published in 1 748, and which long continued to be a favourite and useful book. It embraced within the compass of two volumes, in octavo, treatises on elo- cution, composition, arithmetic, geography, logic, moral philosophy, human life and mariners, and a few other branches of knowledge, then supposed to form a com- plete course of education. Dodsley, though only the 190 FROM 1727 TO 1780. editor of this work, was an original writer of some abil- ity : originally a footman, he rose by his own exertions to be a respectable publisher, and was the author of a small moral work still popular, entitled the Economy of Human Life, and of a favourite farce, called the King and the Miller of Mansfield. The age under notice may be termed the epoch of Magazines and Reviews. The earliest work of the former kind, the Gentleman's Magazine, commenced in the year 1731, by Mr. Edward Cave, a printer, was at first, simply, a monthly condensation of newspaper dis- cussions and intelligence, but in the course of a few years, became open to the reception of literary and ar- chae logical articles. The term magazine thus gradually departed from its original meaning as a depository of extracts from newspapers, till it was understood to refer to monthly miscellanies of literature, such as it is now habitually applied to. The design of Mr. Cave was so successful, that it soon met with rivalry, though it was some time before any other work obtained sufficient en- couragement to be continued for any lengthened period. The Literary Magazine, started in 1735 by Mr. Ephraim Chambers, subsisted till about the close of the century. The London Magazine, the British Magazine, and the Town and Country Magazine, were other works of the same kind, published with more or less success, during the reigns of George II. and George III. In 1739, the Scots Magazine was commenced in Edinburgh, upon a plan nearly similar to the Gentleman's ; it survived till 1826, and forms a valuable register of the events of the times over which it extends. In the old magazines, there is little trace of that anxiety for literary excellence which now animates the conductors of such miscellanies ; yet, from the notices which they contain, respecting the characters, incidents, and manners of former years, they are generally very entertaining. The Gentleman's Magazine continues to be published, and retains much of its early distinction as a literary and archaelogical re- pository. Periodical works, devoted exclusively to the criticism of new books, were scarcely known in Britain till 1749, when the Monthly Review was commenced under the AMERICAN MISCELLANY. 191 patronage of the Whig and Low Church party. This was followed, in 1756, by the establishment of the Crit- ical Review, which for some years was conducted by Dr. Smollett, and was devoted to the interests of the Tory party in church and state. These productions, conducted with no great ability, were the only publica- tions of the kind previous to the commencement of the British Critic in 1793. Another respectable and useful periodical work was originated in 1758, by RoberfDodsley, under the title of the Annual Register ; the plan being suggested, it is said,, by the celebrated Burke, who, for some years, wrote the historical portion with his usual ability. This work, and a rival called the New Annual Register, com- menced some years later, are still published. The miscellaneous writings produced in America, during the present period, were numerous, although as merely literary works, but few of them would take a high rank. The refinements of literature could not re- ceive an extensive cultivation, in the state of things which existed in the colonies, especially during the latter por- tion of the period. A. progress, however, was realized in regard to learning and taste, and thus a preparation was made for the coming brighter era of their litera- ture. The intellect of America was called forth by the agitating question of Independence, and here it shone with a degree of brilliancy. The exigencies of the times awakened and created talent. Many publications, par- ticularity of a political character, were given to the world, and conferred distinction on minds, which before probably knew not their own powers. " The literature of the Revolution was bold, direct, and without any affec- tation. Any high exertions of mind will produce new and ardent expressions ; and these after a while will be moulded by taste. If you take the orders and procla- mations of Washington the letters written by him in the exigencies of the moment there will be found that strength and felicity of expression, that is supposed to be the offspring of care and leisure." Among those who may be called the writers of the revolution, and whose productions had reference principally to that great cri- 192 FROM 1727 TO 1780. sis, are James Otis, John Dickinson, Josiah Quincy, Richard Henry Lee, and Arthur Lee. Others there are who might be included in this list, but as their lives were extended far into the succeeding period, and many of their writings belong to that period, they will be more properly noticed there. OTIS wrote A Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatives of Massa- chusetts, in 1 762, The Rights of the British Colonies as- serted 1764, and Considerations on behalf of the Colo- nists 1765. These papers were received with warm commendation at the 4ime. DICKINSON'S productions deserve to rank among the best specimens of American talent. He was the author of Fabius, a series of letters, in which he advocated the adoption of the Federal Con- stitution. He drafted also some of the most important papers of the Congress of 1774, among which were an Address to the Inhabitants of Canada, the first Petition to the King, the Address to the Army, &c. Few writers have held so powerful political a pen, as John Dickin- son. RICHARD HENRY LEE, among other works, wrote what has been called The Farmer's Letter, and the sec- ond address to the people of Great Britain. AUTHUR LEE his brother, was the author of papers which took the signature of Junius Americanus, a production of high repute at that day.* Other writers of this era, who pursued the paths of literature more exclusively, though some of them were authors of political papers, were Franklin, Stiles, Dud- ley, Colden, Rittenhouse, and Hopkinson. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) a native of Boston, was a distin- guished political writer, but particularly celebrated for his philosophical discoveries, literary essays, correspon- dence, and autobiography. On the latter his fame will principally rest. In the walks of literature and science, he was an ornament not only of his country, but of his species. He rendered very important services to both, and had his religious principles been well settled, his in- fluence would have been still more happy. He has been considered one of the first of his countrymen, who at- tained to the easy, natural style which characterised the standard authors of Great Britain. He took the Spec- * AM. ED. STILES. DUDLEY. COLDEN. RITTENHOUSE. 1 93 tator of Addison for his model in style ; and though the copy was inferior to the original, he was enabled by this means, to avoid the turgid and affected manner of wri- ting, too common at that time with a large class both of British and American authors. His words are purely English, and placed in a natural order, they convey his ideas with clearness and precision. He contributed some valuable papers to the philosophical societies of his country. His autobiography was carried down to the year 1757. This has appeared in connection with sev- eral essays, and constitutes an Entertaining book. His political, miscellaneous, and philosophical writings have been variously published, and show the singular origin- ality, sprightliness, depth, and practical character of his understanding.* EZRA STILES (1727-1795), president of Yale College, was a universal scholar, but excelled more especially in sacred literature. He wrote the Lives of the three Judg- es of Charles /., Whalley, Goffe, and Dixwell, and pub- lished several orations and discourses, which showed both eminent scholarship and pie'ty. PAUL DUDLEY (1675-1571), Chief Justice of Massachusetts, was the first person in America, who turned his attention to Natural History. Some of his papers prove him to have been a fine writer. CADWALLADER COLDEN (1688 -1776) was skilled in many branches of learning, partic- ularly in medicine, botany, and astronomy. In 1751 he published a work under the title of the Principles of Action in Matter, to which was added a treatise on Fluxions. His principal publication however was the History of the Five Indian Nations, in which his re- search and judgment were conspicuous. DAVID RIT- TENHOUSE (1732-1796), who was one of the most emi- nent philosophers that ever appeared in the United States, was a self-taught man having never received a liberal education. But " his mind was the repository of all ages and countries." He left several monuments of his genius in his mechanical inventions, though not many writings. A few Memoirs on Mathematical and Astro- nomical Subjects in the first four volumes of the Trans- * AM. ED. 17 194 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. actions of the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, were the principal recorded efforts of his genius.* SEVENTH PERIOD. FROM 1780 TILL THE PRESENT TIME. IN the progress of literature, it would almost seem a fixed law that an age of vigorous original writing, and an age of imitation and repetition, should regularly fol- low each other. Authors possessed of strong original powers make so great an impression on public taste their names, their styles, their leading ideas, become so exclusively objects of admiration and esteem, that for some time there is an intolerance of every thing else ; new writers find it convenient rather to compete with the preceding in their own walks, than to strike out into novel paths ; and it is not perhaps, until a considerable change has been wrought upon society, or at least until men begin to tire of a constant reproduction of the same imagery and the same modes of composition, that a fresh class of inventive minds is allowed to come into opera- tion who, in their turn, exercise the same control over those who are to succeed them. The period between 1727 and 1780, which was the subject of the foregoing section, may be said to have been the age of the follow- ers of Dryden, Pope, Swift, and Addison ; it was an era devoted to a refining upon the styles of those men and their contemporaries, and produced comparatively little that was strikingly new. Towards the close of the century, the vein would appear to have been ex- hausted ; the subject of artificial manners had been fully treated ; the sounding and delicately measured compo- sition, which originated in the days of Queen Anne, had been carried to its utmost pitch of perfection ; the pub- lic began to grow weary of a literature which aimed at nothing which was novel, either in matter or in form ; and the time had come for a change. Accordingly, there * AM. ED. GENERAL REMARKS. 195 now arose a series of writers, who, professing to be in a great measure independent of rule in the selection of themes and styles, sought to impress or to please their readers by whatever of new, in thought or sentiment, imagery or narrative, they were able to throw into a lit- erary form. Relieved from the formalities which op- pressed both polite life and polite literature during the eighteenth century ; encouraged by the free and inquir- ing spirit which was at the same. time animating men in their political and social affairs ; the individuals who cultivated letters at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries, were characteri- sed by the vigour and novelty of their descriptions and narratives, by a high sense of the beautiful both in na- ture and in art, by a boldness of imagination unknown since the days of Elizabeth, and a desire rather to ex- pound those feelings and affections which form the groundwork of man's character and moral condition, than to dwell on the trivial and accidental peculiarities which constitute his external manners. Even in the language of these writers, there was an ease and volubil- ity which could not fail to be distinguished by the most careless reader from the stiff and neatly adjusted para- graphs of their predecessors : it almost appeared that formality, precision, and pomp, were dismissed at the time of the French Revolution from the ideas and words, as well as from the dresses of men. It is indeed to be remarked that, in no delineation of any elevated poetical scene, either painted or written, during the eighteenth century, does the artist or writer seem to have been able to shake off the formal costumes which were then pre- scribed by fashion to all above the meanest rank. The noblest personages of antiquity seem to wear the wigs, brocade, and stately manners of the court of George the Second. The most sublime conceptions of natural and artificial objects, bear marks of the prevailing taste in gardening and architecture. It was not until the epoch at which we have now arrived, that poets, painters, and players, adopted language, dress, and scenery, suitable to the objects and the times which they desired to re- present. 196 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. POETS. The above general remarks on the literature of the age apply with peculiar force to the department of poetry, which is not only a conspicuous branch of the belles- lettres, but that which usually gives a character to all the rest. It is generally allowed that a disposition to depart from the polished and formal style of versification which prevailed during the preceding period, owed its rise, in no small measure, to the several collections of tradition- ary poetry which appeared during the eighteenth cen- tury. A panegyrical criticism on the ballad of Chevy Chase, which Addison published in the Spectator, is allowed to have been the first instance of any specimen of that kind of poetry being noticed with commendation by a scholarly writer. In 1755, DR. THOMAS PERCY (afterwards Bishop of Carlisle) gave to the world the extensive collection entitled Reliques of Ancient Eng- lish Poetry, which may be described as having been the more immediate means of awakening a taste for the un- affected strains of simple narrative and genuine passion. This work contains a great variety of those ballads, which, though perhaps partly originated by the early professional poets called minstrels, have so long existed as a legendary literature among the common people, that they may almost be considered as the composition of that portion of the community, of whose tastes and forms of thought and feeling they are an almost express record. The romantic incidents which they commemo- rate, the strong natural pathos with which they abound, and the simple forms of the diction and versification, ena- bled these ballads, when brought before the literary world, to make a powerful impression; but as profes- sional persons are always latest to acknowledge improve- ments in those matters which respectively concern them, it was not till a decided change had been wrought in the public taste, that modern literature was much affected by them. Another large collection was published in 1777, by a bookseller named Evans ; and in 1800, an equally extensive body of Scottish traditionary poetry was published by Mr. Walter Scott, under the title of COWPER. 197 The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Towards the close of the century, a marked effect was produced by the publications of Percy and Evans upon the forms and styles of poetry, being chiefly observable in the compo- sitions of Coleridge, Southey, and Wordsworth. But before that time there had appeared several eminent poets, whose compositions betrayed that a breaking up of the old style had already commenced. The most distinguished of these was WILLIAM COW- PER (1731-1800), a gentleman originally educated for the law, but who, from some constitutional weaknesses, occasionally affecting his reason, retired in the prime of life to reside with a private family in the country, where, till his fiftieth year, he seems to have been hardly con- scious of possessing the gift of poetry. His first vol- ume, containing pieces entitled Table Talk, Hope, The Progress of Error, and others, appeared in 1782 ; two years later he published a long poem, entitled The Task; and he subsequently gave to the world a translation of Homer in blank verse. The whole of his works were written between the years 1780 and 1792, which may be described as only a lucid interval in a life, the greater part of which was the prey of a diseased melancholy. The most conspicuous peculiarity of Cowper's poetry is the unaffected and unrestrained expression of his own feelings, enjoyments, and reflections, all of which, as it happens, are of a kind calculated to engage the attention, and awaken the sympathies of the reader. * His lan- guage/ says Campbell, 'has such a masculine idiomatic strength, and his manner, whether he rises into grace, or falls into negligence, has so much plain and familiar freedom, that we read no poetry with a deeper convic- tion of its sentiments having come from the author's heart ; and of the enthusiasm, in whatever he describes, having been unfeigned. * * He blends the deter- mination of age with an exquisite and ingenuous sensibility ; and though he. sports very much with his subjects, yet, when he is in earnest, there is a gravity of long-felt conviction in his sentiments, which gives an un- common ripeness of character to his poetry.' Cowper, without condescending to personalities, was a great moral satirist ; and among his other characteristics, was 17* 198 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. a rich yet chastened humour, which pervades most of his writings, and constitutes the entire merit of his well- known tale of John Gilpin. His works are strongly tinged with religious feeling, arid also with the melan- choly which so greatly embittered his existence. He excels in descriptions of the quiet felicity of domestic life, and this, apparently, because he himself so greatly enjoyed its pleasures. The following extract from the fourth book of The Task, is a specimen of his best manner : I crown thee king of intimate delights. Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturbed Retirement, and the hours Of long, uninterrupted evening, know. No rattling wheels stop short before these gates ; No powdered pert proficient in the art Of sounding an alarm, assaults these doors Till the street rings: no stationary steeds Cough their own knell, while, heedless of the sound, The silent circle fan themselves, and quake: But here the needle plies its busy task, The pattern grows, the well-depicted flower, Wrought patiently into the snowy lawn, Unfolds its blossom; buds, and leaves, and sprigs, And curling tendrils, gracefully disposed, Follow the nimble finger of the fair ; A wreath that cannot fade, of flowers, that blow With most success when all besides decay. The poet's or historian's page by one Made vocal for th' amusement of the rest; The sprightly lyre, whose treasure of sweet sounds The touch from many a trembling chord shakes out; And the clear voice symphonious, yet distinct, And in the charming strife triumphant still; Beguile the night, and set a keener edge On female industry : the threaded steel Flies swiftly, and unfelt the task proceeds. The volume closed, the customary rites Of the last meal commence, a Roman meal; Such as the mistress of the world once found Delicious, when her patriots of high note, Perhaps by moonlight, at their humble doors,- And under an old oak's domestic shade, Enjoy'd, spare feast! a radish and an egg. Discourse ensues, not trivial, yet not dull, Nor such as with a frown forbids the play Of fancy, or proscribes the sound of mirth : Nor do we madly, like an impious world, Who deem religion frenzy, and the God DARWIN. CRABBE. 199 That made them, an intruder on their joys, Start at his awful name, or deem his praise A jarring note ; themes of a graver tone Exciting oft our gratitude and love, While we retrace, with memory's pointing wand That calls the past to our exact review, The dangers we have 'scaped, the broken snare, The disappointed foe, deliverance found Unlook'd for, life preserv'd, and peace restor'd - Fruits of omnipotent eternal love. O evenings worthy of the gods ! exclaim'd The Sabine bard. O evenings, I reply, More to be prized and coveted than yours, As more illumin'd, and with nobler truths, That I and mine, and those we love, enjoy. ERASMUS DARWIN (1732-1802), a physician atLitch- field, gained a high but temporary reputation, by the publication of a poem entitled The Botanic Garden. which was given to the world -in detached portions be- tween the years 1781 and 1792. It consisted of an allegorical exposition of the Linna3an system of plants. The ingenuity and novelty of many of its personifica- tions, and its brilliant and figurative language, caused this work at first to be looked on as the foundation of a new era in poetry ; but its unvarying polish, and want of human interest, rapidly reduced its reputation. In 1793 Darwin published a poem ectitled Zoonomia, in which a fanciful view was taken of the laws of organic life. Some other works, in which similar attempts were made to give the charms of poetry and allegory to sci- entific subjects, appeared immediately before and after his death. He is now condemned to neglect, and per- haps with justice ; but his daring metaphor, and origin- ality of manner, were certainly of some avail in reawa- kening the spirit of genuine poetry. Among others who, in the early part of the period under notice, departed from the style of the former age was GEORGE CRABBE (1754-1832). He was in early life a surgeon and apothecary at the sea-port of Aldbo- rough in Suffolk, but afterwards took clerical orders, and spent the greater part of his life in performing the duties of a country rector. This individual seems to have been originally less gifted with those powers of imagin- ation which form a chief ingredient in poetry, than w r ith the talent of making accurate and minute observations 200 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. of the realities of life. It early occurred to him, that if the characters of rustic society were painted in their actual lineaments, without the elevation and embellish- ment which the poetry of all ages had given to them, the result would be something strikingly novel, and not destitute of a moral use. The Village, a poem in two books, published in 1782, was formed upon this plan ; and its correct, though sometimes unseemly descrip- tions, made a strong impression upon the public mind. It was followed in 1785, by a short poem entitled The Newspaper, after which for many years Mr. Crabbe devoted himself to his clerical duties, and to theological study. In 1807, he re-appeared before the literary world with The Parish Register, a longer composition than either of the preceding, but devoted to the same unflattering views of rural life. The Borough (1810), Tales in Verse (1812), and Tales of the Hall (1819), were poetical works of considerable magnitude, pub- lished by Mr. Crabbe during his lifetime ; and a third series of Tales appeared after his death. The literary character of Crabbe is that of a stern, but accurate de- lineator of human nature, in its less pleasing aspects and less happy circumstances : he loved to follow out the history of vice and misery in all their obscure wind- ings, and to appal and melt his readers by the most startling pictures of woe. Care must be taken to keep in mind that his writings do not present a just view of human nature and human life on the whole ; for a mis- take of this kind might lead such of his readers as pos- sess little knowledge of the world into a great mistake. With all his severity, he has much tenderness ; and it must excite our surprise that this quality is more appa- rent in his later than in his earlier poems. His works are also distinguished throughout by very high moral aims. The next great ornament of our poetical literature was ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796), a native of Ayrshire, in Scotland, and reared to the laborious profession of a farmer. AVith the advantage of a plain education, and access to a few books, the mind of this highly-gifted individual received a degree of cultivation, much supe- rior to what is attainable in the same grade of society BURNS. ROGERS. 201 in other countries ; and, at an early age, he began to write in his vernacular language, verses respecting rural events and characters. Models, as far as he required any, he found in the poetry of Ramsay and Ferguson, and in that great body of national song, comic and sen- timental, which the Scottish people have composed for themselves in the course of ages. A volume which he published in his native district in 1 786, attracted the ad- miration of the learned and polished society of Edin- burgh, and his reputation soon spread to England, and to all other countries where his diction was intelligible. The vigorous thought, the felicitous expression, the pathos, the passion, which characterise the poetry of Burns, have since established him as one of the British classics, or standard authors. During the latter years of his life, he employed his poetical talent chiefly in the composition of a series of songs, which, though they have the gene- ral fault of treating love with too little regard for its higher and more delicate emotions, are allowed to rank among the best compositions in that department of po- etry. His latter years, as must be generally known, were clouded with poverty and its attendant distress, aggravated by passions, which, equally with his genius, formed a part of the extraordinary character assigned to him by nature. After his death, his works, including poems, songs, and letters, were published in an elegant collection by Dr. James Currie, of Liverpool, who added a biographical memoir, remarkable for judgment and good taste. In the same year with the first publication of Burns, an Ode to Superstition and other Poems, proceeded from the pen of SAMUEL ROGERS, a banker in London, who, by his subsequent writings, has attained an eminent place in literature. The Pleasures of Memory, by which he is best known, appeared in 1792 ; in polish and harmony it equals the best productions of the preceding period, while it contains pictures of sufficient freshness, and remarks and sentiments of sufficient animation, to place it amongst the best productions of the modern race of versifiers. The Voyage of Columbus (1812), Jacqueline, a Tale (1814), Human Life (1819), and Italy, a Poem (1822), are the other works of Mr. Rogers, who, unlike 202 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. most of his contemporaries, seems to have been more studious of the quality than of the quantity of his pro- ductions. The power of touching the finer feelings, and of describing visible and mental objects with truth and effect, a happy choice of expression, and a melodious flow of verse, are the principal characteristics of this author. One of the most striking distinctions of the poets of the present, as contrasted with those of the past age, consists in the greater variety of their styles, both of thought and language : Cowper, Darwin, Crabbe, Burns, and Rogers, are all very different from each other, and he whom we are now to notice is not less peculiar. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, who was born at Cocker- mouth in 1770, and received an excellent education, retired at an early period of life to a cottage amidst the lakes of Cumberland, in order to cultivate his poetical talents. Two small volumes, published in 1793, con- taining poems entitled The Evening Walk, and Descrip- tive Sketches, were the first fruits of his genius ; they remind the reader of the poetry of Goldsmith, though with a vein of feeling which is not to be found in that author. It was not until 1798, when Mr. Wordsworth published a volume entitled Lyrical Ballads, that he first displayed examples of that peculiar theory of poe- try by which he has so much distinguished himself. Two volumes of Poems in 1807, The Excursion (1814), The White Doe of Rylstone (1815), and Sonnets (1820), are the chief productions of this writer which remain to be noticed ; while it is known that many other works have Keen retained in manuscript, inconsequence of a conviction on the part of the author, that the tastes and feelings of the readers of the present day are not capa- ble of appreciating his poetry. The principal object which Mr. Wordsworth proposed to himself in his early poems, was to choose incidents and situations from ordinary life, and to relate or de- scribe them in the language commonly used by men ; at the same time, investing them with a certain colour- ing of the imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way ; and it was his aim further, and above all, to make these incidents WORDSWORTH. COLERIDGE. 203 and situations interesting, by tracing in them the primary- laws of our nature. Thirty years have now shown, with sufficient clearness, that, as far as this theory was to be exemplified by verses in which ordinary events and thoughts are expressed in ordinary language, it was not qualified to give pleasure to any reader ; such wri- tings being in effect little better or more attractive than the common talk of the streets or fields. But though some of Mr. Wordsworth's compositions exhibit these features more exclusively than others, the greater num- ber, especially of those which he wrote in later life, while generally referring to unimportant actions and situations, are so charged with the profound poetical feeling of the author, contain so much meditative thought, and are so enriched with the hues of a wonderful ima- gination, that, with minds of a certain order, there is no modern poet who stands higher, or bids so fairly for im- mortality. His Excursion, which is only part of a larger and unpublished work entitled The Recluse, is one of the noblest philosophical poems in our language ; containing views at once comprehensive and simple, of man, na- ture, and society, and combining the finest sensibilities with the richest fancy. Nor can any poems more deeply touching be found, than ' The Fountain,' ' Ruth,' We are Seven,' 'The Complaint of the Indian,' and others of his minor pieces. He indeed possesses, in an eminent degree, the grand qualification of a poet, as described by himself 'a promptness greater than what is possessed by ordinary men, to think and feel without immediate excitement, and a greater power of expressing such thoughts and feelings as are produced in him in that manner.' And, with regard to his much controverted doctrine, the propriety of using common language, in- stead of the ornamental diction usually adopted for verse, it may be said that he is himself an involuntary breaker of his own rule ; for there is no poet who oftener gives a charm to his writings by the use of some extraordi- nary, and yet appropriate phraseology. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1773-1834), a native of Ottery St. Mary, in Devonshire, and educated in Christ's Hospital, London, and Jesus College, Cam- bridge, was one of those who formed what was called 204 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. the Lake School. He began to publish verses in 1794, but, for some years after that period, was chiefly en- gaged in political compositions. An undue devotion to the study of metaphysics and of German literature, seems to have early blighted the genius of this poet, whose powers both of imagination and of expression, are among the highest that have been known in the present age. There is scarcely one of his poems which is not in some respect imperfect or deformed, and it is only in a few particular passages that he appears in his native and genuine lustre. The unfinished production called Christabel, a fragment entitled Genevieve, the tale of The Ancient Mariner, and his Ode to Mount Blanc, may be instanced as the finest portions of his writings. The decade between 1790 and 1800 added a greater number of brilliant names to our literature than perhaps any former space of the same extent ; the political agi- tation which then prevailed, being probably the means of awakening some minds which might have otherwise remained inert. In the number who seem to have been stirred by the exciting events of that day, we must reckon Wordsworth, Coleridge, and also ROBERT SOUTH- EY, a poet of the first rank, though he has never attained great popularity. This gentleman, who was born at Bristol in 1774, and received a liberal education, pub- lished his first poetical volume in 1795, when only twen- ty-one years of age : it contained the masterly epic, entitled Joan of Arc. About the same time, he gave to the world a dramatic poem called Wat Tyler, which has been considered by some as an argument for princi- ples of liberty and equality in their utmost latitude. Mr. Southey was at this early period an enthusiastic admirer of the contemporary revolution in France, and, in com- pany with his friend Coleridge and a Mr. Lovel, pro- jected the establishment of a philosophical government on the banks of the Susquehanna ; a scheme which was broken up by the marriage of the young men to three sisters, resident in Bath. Messrs. Wordsworth, Cole- ridge, and Southey afterwards embraced, with equal enthusiasm, the opposite side of politics. Mr. Southey's principal poems, subsequent to a collection of minor pieces in 1799, were Thalaba the Destroyer (1803), Met- SOUTHEY. 205 rical Tales (1804), Madoc (1805), The Curse of Kehama (1811), Roderick the Last of the Goths (1814), and A Vision of Judgment (1821); besides which, he has writ- ten many prose works of distinguished excellence. Hav- ing in 1801 obtained a pension of 200 for acting a short while as secretary of the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer in Ireland, Mr. Southey retired to a sequestered villa near Keswick, in Cumberland, and devoted him- self to the life of a man of letters. In 1813, his income was increased by his obtaining the situation of poet-lau- reate, which then, for the first time since the days of Dryden, was held by a man of eminent abilities. In his Thalaba and Kehama, Mr. Southey has developed the more striking of his poetical powers, which consist in the delineation of characters hovering on the verge of the natural, or altogether transcending it, whom he leads through scenes of more than earthly beauty and terror, filling the mind of the reader with wild and agitating images, but at the expense of all influence over his sym- pathies. In his more familiar poems, his invention becomes comparatively languid, but his power over the attention of the reader is increased. The verse which he employs in Thalaba is an unrhyrned lyrical stanza, entirely of his own invention, and which adds greatly to the effect. In his poetical style, in the choice of his subjects, in his language, and its structure, he is alike original : he resembles in no respect any preceding poet, and no one seems to have yet found it possible to make him an object of imitation. The following characteris- tic passage, extracted from his Joan of Arc, is a descrip- tion of a scene presented to that heroine, in a supposed visit to the regions of eternal punishment. THE MURDERERS OF MANKIND. They entered there a large and lofty dome, O'er whose black marble sides a dim drear light Struggled with darkness from the unfrequent lamp. Enthroned around, the murderers of mankind, Monarchs, the great ! the glorious ! the august ! Each bearing on his brow a crown of fire, Sat stern and silent. Nimrod, he was there, First king, the mighty hunter; and that chief Who did belie his mother's fame, that so He might be called young Ammon. In this court 18 206 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. Ceesar was crowned accursed liberticide ; And he who murdered Tully, that cold villian Octavius, though the courtly minion's lyre Hath hymned his praise, though Maro sang to him. Titus was here, the conqueror of the Jews, He the delight of human kind misnamed; Cffisars and Soldans, Emperors and Kings, Here were they all, all who for glory fought, Here in the Court of Glory, reaping now The meed they merited. The next of the great modern poets is THOMAS CAMP- BELL, who is a native of Glasgow, and studied in the University of that city. In 1799, when only twenty- two years of age, this gentleman published his Pleas- ures of Hope, which immediately took its rank as one of the finest sentimental poems in the language. Gertrude of Wyoming, a tale in the Spenserian stanza (1809), Theodric, a tale (1824), and some lyrical pieces, com- plete the list of his poetical productions. The Pleasures of Hope, though deformed by a few of the bombastical thoughts and tinsel expressions which young poets are apt to use, is a noble effusion of ardent and elevated feeling, embodying much fine precept, and many affect- ing views of human life. In Gertrude, the ardour is softened, and a more gentle and pensive style assumed. Overlooking Theodric, which is considered a failure, his lyrical pieces may be described as perhaps the most successful efforts of the genius of Campbell. Those entitled 'Ye Mariners of England/ and 'The Battle of the Baltic,' but particularly the former, are truly national songs, and highly qualified to awaken the sympathies of the people. Excepting in these productions, and in some of the passages of his earliest poems, the poetical charac- ter of Campbell maybe described, in the words of a peri- odical critic, as * refined, elegant, and tranquil, abounding in delicate traits, appealing to the softer emotions, with a tenderness almost feminine ; fluent and gentle as a melody, polished like a rare gem, and betraying the in- fluence of a taste approaching the limits of extreme fas- tidiousness.' As a characteristic specimen of Campbell, the following may be presented : THE HOPE OP THE POOR MAN. And mark the wretch whose wanderings never knew The world's regard, that soothes, though half-untrue ; CAMPBELL. SCOTT. 207 Whose erring heart the lash of sorrow bore, But found not pity when it erred no more: Yon friendless man, at whose dejected eye The unfeeling proud one looks and passes by-- Condemned on Penury's barren path to roam, Scorned by the world, and left without a home, Even he, at evening, should he chance to stray Down by the hamlet's hawthorn-scented way, Where round the cot's romantic glade are seen The blossomed bean-field, and the sloping green, Leans o'er its humble gate, and thinks the while, Oh! that for me some home like, this would smile! Some hamlet-shade, to yield my sickly form, Health in the breeze, and shelter in the storm! Here should rny hand no stinted boon assign To v/retched hearts with sorrow such as mine ! That generous wish can soothe unpitied care, And hope half mingles with the poor man's prayer. The poetry of Campbell was in the height of its pop- ularity, and Wordsworth, Southey, and others, were contending not very successfully with the adverse tastes of the day, when WALTER SCOTT (1771-1832), a Scot- tish barrister, commenced a poetical career of unexam- pled prosperity. Mr. Scott had stored his mind with antiquarian and miscellaneous knowledge, and caught a taste for romance from some specimens of modern Ger- man literature, and from the ballad poetry of his native land. With these qualifications, joined to great readi- ness of versification, and a portion of fancy and feeling which never exceeded the limits assigned by good sense, he commenced the composition of a series of metrical tales, in which he succeeded to a wonderful extent in charming his readers by a revival of the manners, inci- dents, and sentiments of chivalrous times. The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), The Lady of the Lake (1810), and The Lord of the Isles (1814), refer to various periods of Scottish history ; while Rokeby (1812), is a tale of the English civil wars of the seven- teenth century. These poems were received with an avidity for which there was no parallel in English liter- ary history, twenty-five thousand copies of the first being sold in six years. The verse adopted by Mr. Scott was a short irregular measure, similar to that of the early minstrels, of whose works, indeed, his might be styled a kind of revival or imitation. This verse he wrote with singular fluency and SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. animation, though not without the occasional admission of a bald and ineffective stanza. As a strictly narrative poet, he did not attempt to melt the feelings like Camp- bell, or to awaken meditative thought like Wordsworth, or to lead the mind into wild and supernatural regions like Southey ; he only endeavoured to entertain the great bulk of mankind with such a relation of probable, though romantic events, as they might be supposed ca- pable of appreciating.^ The poetry of his writings ex- pressly consists in the feeling which he excites in asso- ciation with those events a feeling of admiration and wonder, which we are apt to entertain for every thing connected with the past, but especially for the former circumstances of that which is still before our eyes. He perceived that the romantic periods of Scottish history were not yet so remote as to have lost their interest that, indeed, the country still contained communities who bore, in their language, dress, and ideas, the most vivid traces of a former and ruder state of things ; and it was by a judicious use of the materials thus furnished to him, and by a skilful reference from the past to the present, and from the present to the past, that he succeeded so well in his poetical undertakings. He was also much indebted to his extraordinary power of description, a talent which was never possessed in a superior degree by any poet. Mr. Scott was beginning to experience a slight decline of popularity, when his reputation was nearly altogether eclipsed by that of LORD BYRON (1788-1 824), who, after some early and less happy efforts, published the first canto of his Childe Harold's Pilgrimage in 1812, and immediately took the first place in the ranks of the poets. The narrative of this poem describes a young libertine, who, satiated with pleasure, and sunk in list- lessness and misanthropy, endeavours to solace himself by wandering into foreign countries. It is constructed in the Spenserian stanza, w r hich suits admirably well with the sombre and contemplative character of the po- em. The splendid descriptions and noble meditations contained in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and the suppo- sed identity of the hero with the poet, excited at once admiration and curiosity. It was followed by poems BYRON* 209 entitled The Giaour and The Bride of Abydos (1813), The Corsair and Lara (1814), Hebrew Melodies and The Siege of Corinth (1815), a third canto of Childe Harold and The Prisoner of Chillon (1816), Manfred, a dramatic poem, and The Lament of Tasso (1817), a fourth and concluding canto of Childe Harold and Bep- po, a comic tale of modern Italian life (1818), Mazeppa, and the commencement of a licentious, but witty and humorous tale ,entitled Don Juan ( 1819) ; after which he chiefly employed himself in writing dramatic poetry, and in extending the poem last mentioned, which ulti- mately was broken off at the sixteenth canto. The personal character of Lord Byron was an extraordinary mixture of benevolence and misanthropy, and of aspira- tions after excellence, with a practical enslavement to degrading vices. The only key to the mystery is to be found in that theory which represents the tempera- ment of genius, in its extreme forms, as a species of in- sanity. The poetry of Byron may be generally described as a representation of his own turbid feelings, sometimes in his own person, and sometimes in the persons of ideal characters ; all of whom, however, resemble himself. To use the words of a distinguished critic, ' he delights in the delineation of a certain morbid exaltation of cha- racter and of feeling a sort of demoniacal sublimity. He is haunted almost perpetually with the image of a being feeding upon and fed by violent passions, and the recollections of the catastrophes they have occasioned ; and, though worn out by their past indulgence, unable to sustain the burden of an existence which they do not continue to animate full of pride and revenge and ob- stinacy, disdaining life and death, and mankind and him- self, and trampling in his scorn, not only upon the false- hood and formality of polished life, but upon its tame virtues ; yet envying, by fits, the selfish beings he despi- ses, and melting into mere softness and compassion when the helplessness of childhood, or the frailty of woman, makes an appeal to his generosity.' Beings such as this are Childe Harold, and Lara, and Manfred, and almost every hero delineated by Byron, and such, unfortunate- ly, was he himself. In those compositions where he 18* 210 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780, attempts to describe, or give expression to any other kind of person, he comparatively fails ; hence the dulness of his tragedies. If Mr. Wordsworth's theory be correct, that the poet ought to be a person who can intuitively conceive, and eloquently express, the thoughts and feelings of all orders of his fellow-creatures, the poetry of Byron, limited as it is to the description of one being, and that an unnatural, or at least an uncommon one, cannot be ranked among the highest. But such is the interest which his intense personal feeling has given to this character, that the at- tention of the public has been more forcibly arrested by it than by all the thoughts and feelings which other poets have breathed for the whole circle of their kind. Tt is to be observed, moreover, that if Byron be limited in character, he is not limited in any of the other elements of poetry. We find in him, according to the critic just quoted, 'a perpetual stream of quick-coming fancies an eternal spring of fresh-blown images, which seem called into existence by the sudden flash of those glowing thoughts and overwhelming emotions, that struggle for expression through the whole flow of his poetry, and im- part to a diction that is often abrupt and irregular, a force and a charm which seem frequently to realize all that is said of inspiration.' As a specimen of the gloomy, yet elevated melancholy of Byron, we may present his APOSTROPHE TO THE OCEAN. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth with ruin his control Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain A shadow of man's ravage, save his own, When, for a moment, like a drop of rain, He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown. His steps are not upon thy paths, thy fields Are not a spoil for him, thou dost arise And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields For earth's destruction, thou dost all despise, Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, And send'st him, shivering in thy playful spray, And howling to his gods, where haply lies BYRON. MOORE. 211 His petty hope i'n some near port or bay, And dashest him again to earth : there let him lay. The armaments which thunder-strike the walls Of rock-built cities, bidding nations quake, And moriarchs tremble in their capitals, The oak leviathans, whose huge ribs make Their clay creator the vain title take Of Lord of thee, and arbiter of war; These are thy toys, and, as the snowy flake, They melt into thy yeast of waves, which mar Alike the Armada's pride, or spoils of Trafalgar. Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage, what are they ? Thy waters wasted them while they were free, And many a tyrant since, their shores obey, The stranger, slave, or savage ; their decay Has dried up realms to deserts: not so thou, Unchangeable, save to thy wild waves' play Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now. Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests; in all time, Calm or convulsed in breeze, or gale, or storm, Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime Dark-heaving ; boundless, endless, and sublime The image of Eternity the throne Of the Invisible, even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made; each zone Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. THOMAS MOORE, a native of Ireland, and a member of the English bar, appeared as a poet before Lord Byron, but did not so soon fix the attention of the world. He published a translation of the Odes of Anacreon, with notes, in 1800, when only twenty years of age ; and in the succeeding year gave to the public a volume of ori- ginal poetry, under the fictitious name of Little. This latter work, and a similar volume issued in 1806, were censured for the licentious character of great part of their contents ; and it was not before 1813, when he commenced a series of songs for the melodies of his na- tive country, that he merited and obtained true applause. The Irish Melodies, in which Mr. Moore was the author of the new poetry, and Sir John Stevenson the harmo- nizer of the airs, has finally extended to ten numbers, and is one of the most admired and popular works of united music and verse which Britain has produced. The songs of Moore are characterised by a refined gai- J 212 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. ety and a sparkling fancy, with little share of the pro- found passion and tenderness which Burns infused into the same class of compositions. His language is highly epigrammatic, and most dexterously adjusted to the movement of the air and the nature of the sentiment, but with the fault of too obvious an appearance of labour. In 1816, he contributed the poetry required in a musical publication entitled Sacred Songs, Duets, and Trios, and in the next year fixed his reputation as one of the first of modern poets, by publishing his Lalla Rookh. This is an Oriental tale, or rather a series of tales, conceived in the voluptuous spirit of Asiatic poetry, and replete with the richest Asiatic imagery. It is said to have produced three thousand pounds to the author. Be- sides his Loves of the Angels, another highly imaginative and brilliant poem, Mr. Moore has published political satires, and biographical and historical works in prose. His general characteristics as a poet are summed up when we mention fancy, wit, and lively and pointed ex- pression. In thus far commemorating the greatest poetical names of the age, we have been obliged to overlook many of less lustre, which may now be brought into view by themselves. The Rev. WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES is dintinguished as a writer of sonnets, some of which he published so early as 1789. WILLIAM GIFFORD, the author of some sentimental poems of merit, published, in 1794 and 1795, two satires, respectively entitled The Baviad and The Mceviad, which had the effect of com- pletely extinguishing a generation of trivial versifiers, who at that time usurped the public attention. From the year 1778 till about 1813, a series of pasquinades upon public characters, and more frequently upon the sove- reign than on any other person, issued from the pen of DR. JOHN WOLCOT, or, as he called himself on his title pages, Peter Pindar, an individual who, with little of the spirit of genuine poetry, possessed a wonderful fund of humour. His satires, though much superior to most compositions of the same order, have now fallen out of notice, in consequence of the interest respecting the sub- jects of them having died away. JAMES MONTGOMERY, born in 1771, is the author of BLOOMFIELD. WHITE. LEYDEN. GRAHAME. 213 various poetical volumes, the most important of which are entitled Prison Amusements (1797), The Wander- ers of Switzerland ( 1806), The West Indies (1810), The World before the Flood (1813), Greenland (181 9), Songs of Zion (1822), and The Pelican Island (1827). As a poet he is chiefly characterised by purity and elevation of thought, harmonious versification, and a line strain of devotional feeling. In 1800, ROBERT BLOOMFIELD, a shoemaker, published a poem entitled The Farmer's Boy, which obtained a high reputation, not only on ac- count of the circumstances under which it had been writ- ten, but for its strikingly true and touching delineation of rustic life. In 1803, HENRY KIRKE WHITE, a young man of singularly amiable character, published a poem entitled Clifton Grove, but died of the effects of severe study in 1806, when only twenty-one years of age. His poetical remains, published by Mr. Southey in three vol- umes, are chiefly of a moral and devotional character ; and, without much energy, are very pleasing. About the time when Mr. White published his Clifton Grove, JOHN LEYDEN (1775-1811), the son of a Roxburghshire peasant, and a licentiate of the Scottish Church, occa- sionally employed in versification an intellect for which no kind of study or accomplishment seemed unmeet. His ballads of the Kout of Keeldar and The Mermaid of Colonsay, published in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, by his friend Sir Walter Scott ; his Scenes of Infancy, Verses on an Indian Gold Coin, and some oth- ers ; are very favourable specimens of his poetical tal- ent. In 1804, JAMES GRAHAME (1765-1811), an advo- cate at the Scottish bar, who subsequently became a clergyman of the Church of England, published The Sabbath, a poem in blank verse, embodying the many fine associations connected with the day of rest and worship. Though ' the Sabbath' appeared anonymous- ly, and in the most unpretending form, it very soon ob-' tained general approbation ; and the author had the pleasure of hearing it recommended to his perusal by his own wife, while she was still unacquainted with the fact of his having written it. Mr. Grahame subse- quently published poetical volumes entitled, Sabbath Walks, Biblical Pictures, The Birds of Scotland, and 214 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. British Georgics; but though these works contain much devotional feeling, and animated and flowing description, none of them possess the merit of ' the Sabbath.' Among other minor poets who adorned the early years of the present century, were MATTHEW GREGORY LEW- IS, who chiefly aimed at raising images of superstitious terror ; the Honourable WILLIAM SPENCER, who con- fined himself to the composition of light and gay trifles for the amusement of polite society; WILLIAM SOTHE- BY, who, besides original poems, favoured the public with an excellent translation of the Oberon of the Ger- man poet Wieland, and an admirable version of Ho- mer ; LORD STRANGFORD, whose translations from the Portuguese poet Camoens (1803), were much admired; REGINALD HEBER, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta, au- thor of Palestine, a university prize poem (1803), and one of the few such productions which have obtained general applause ; and MRS. JOHN HUNTER and MRS. OPIE. respectively the authoresses of some beautiful lyrical pieces. Having thus brought down the history both of the greater and the lesser British poets to the year 1812, we shall proceed to notice those who have since appeared. MR. JOHN WILSON, a native of Paisley in Scotland, professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Ed- inburgh, is the author of The Isle of Palms and other Poems (1812), The City of the Plague and other Poems (1816), and of several pieces which have more recently appeared in periodical publications. It may also be mentioned that, in 1806, when studying in Magdalen College, Oxford, Mr. Wilson carried off Sir Roger New- digate's prize, for a poem in recommendation of the study of ancient architecture, sculpture, and painting ; which was published in the same year. On the appear- ance of his ' Isle of Palms,' he was generally described as a new member of the Lake School of Poetry, but apparently for no other reason than that his genius led him to assume a meditative and ideal style, somewhat resembling theirs. His poetical character is described by a competent critic as consisting of ' a constant glow of kind and pure affection a great sensibility to the charms of external nature, and the delights of a private, WILSON. HOGG. 215 innocent, and contemplative life a fancy richly stored with images of natural beauty and simple enjoyments great tenderness and pathos in the representation of suf- ferings and sorrow, though almost always calmed, and even brightened, by the healing influences of pitying love, confiding piety, and conscious innocence.' Almost the only passions with which his poetry is conversant, con- tinues this writer, ' are the gentler sympathies of our na- ture tender compassion, confiding affection, and guilt- less sorrow. From all these there results, along with a most touching and tranquillizing sweetness, a certain monotony and languor, which, to those who read poetiy for amusement merely, will be apt to appear like dul- ness, and must be felt as a defect by all who have been used to the variety, rapidity, and energy, of the popular poetry of the day.'* MR. JAMES HOGG, originally a shepherd in the seclu- ded district of Ettrick in Scotland, after some less suc- cessful attempts in verse, produced in 1813 his beautiful poem, or combination of poems, entitled The Queen's Wake ; followed by two volumes of Dramatic Tales (1814), The Pilgrims, of the Sun (1815), Queen Hynde (1825), and other poetical works. Mr. Hogg enjoyed the merit of having, from the condition of an unlettered peasant, struggled through many unfavourable and ad- verse circumstances, into a literary reputation which many men possessing every advantage might well envy. His qualifications as a poet have been described as ' great powers of versification, an unusual copiousness and facility in the use of poetical fiction and imagery, a lively conception of natural beauty, with a quick and prolific fancy to body forth his conceptions.' Wijh these merits, he has been said to want that taste which is usu- ally to be gained from a systematic education ; and, as might be expected of a poet so constituted, he succeeds best in themes which extend beyond the sphere of nat- ural and ordinary things, where his fancy obtains its freest play, and no images of inferior purity are likely to occur. The public has accordingly decided that the best specimen of his genius is to be found in a tale enti- * Edinburgh Review, XXVI. 460. SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. tied Kilmeny, (part of the ' Queen's Wake,') which de- scribes the recollections of a child who had in her sleep been carried away into fairyland, and permitted, after a time, to return for a short period to her mortal pursuits. The power of the poet in supernatural description is there displayed with great delicacy and beauty ; and a wild and unearthly charm, totally unlike anything else in the circle of British poetry, is diffused over the whole composition. A comic poem, entitled Anster Fair, was published in 1812 by MR. WILLIAM TENNANT, a Scottish school- master, who afterwards became professor of Oriental Languages in the University of St. Andrews. It ex- tended to six cantos ; and, with a slight thread of story running throughout, was chiefly descriptive of. a series of rustic festivities and games, supposed to take place at the village of Anstruther, or Anster, in the sixteenth century. The stanza employed in this poem is of a kind much used by the Italian poets, by whom it is styled the ottava rima, from its containing eight lines, but which had not been adopted by the poets of Great Britain since the time of Elizabeth. With the Italian rhyme, Mr. Tennant revived a gay and fantastic humour, pe- culiar to some of the Italian writers, and in which he has since found no equal, except in the Beppo of Lord Byron. The Edinburgh Review says, in reference to Anster Fair, ' the great charm of this singular composi- tion consists in the profusion of images and groups which it thrusts upon the fancy, and the crowd and hurry and animation with which they are all jostled and driven along ; but this, though a very rare merit in any modern production, is entitled perhaps to less distinction than the perpetual sallies and outbreakings of a rich and poetical imagination, by which the homely themes on which the author is professedly employed, are constantly ennobled or contrasted, and in which the ardour of a mind evidently fitted for higher tasks, is somewhat ca- priciously expended.' A specimen of this poem, in which the fragments of many different verses are huddled to- gether, will serve to enliven these pages of literary and historical detail : TENNANT. HUNT. 217 THE GATHERING TO ANSTER PAIR. Comes next from Ross-shire and from Sutherland The horny-knuckled kilted Highlandman; From where upon the rocky Caithness strand Breaks the long wave that at the Pole began; And where Lochfyne from her prolific sand Her herrings gives to feed each bord'ring clan. Arrive the brogue-shod men of gen'rous eye, Plaided, and breechless all, with Edom's hairy thigh And ev'ry husbandman, round Largo-law, Hath scraped his huge-wheeled dung cart fair and clean, Wherein on sacks stuftVd full of oaten straw, Sits the goodwife, Tarn, Katey, Jock, and Jean ; In flowers and ribands drest, the horses draw Stoutly their creaking cumbersome machine, As, on his cart-head, sits the goochnan proud, And cheerily cracks his whip, and whistles clear and loud. Then from her coal-pits Dysart vomits forth Her subterranean men of colour dun, Poof human mould warps ! doomed to scrape in earth, Cimmerian people, strangers to the sun ; Gloomy as .soot, with faces grim and swarth, They march, most sourly leering every one. * * * * Next, from the well-air'd ancient town of Crail. Go out her craftsmen with tumultuous din, Her wind-bleached fishers, sturdy-limbed and hale, Her in-knee'd tailors, garrulous and thin ; And some are flushed with horns of pithy ale, And some are fierce with drams of smuggled gin. * * * * And market-maids, and aproned wives, that bring Their gingerbread in baskets to the Fair; And cadgers with their creels, that hang by string From their lean horse ribs, rubbing off the hair; And crook-legg'd cripples that on crutches swing Their shabby persons with a noble air. * * * * Nor only was the land with crowds opprest, That trample forward to th' expected Fair ; > The harrassed ocean had no peace or rest, So many keels her foamy bosom tear ; For, into view, now sailing from the west, With streamers idling in the bluish air, Appear the painted pleasure-boats superb. * * * * And red-prowed fisher-boats afar are spied In south-east, tilting o'er the jasper main, Whose wing-like oars, dispread on either side, Now swoop on sea, now ride in sky again. Mr. LEIGH HUNT, the conductor of a London news- paper, published in 1814 a lively and half-satirical poem 19 218 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. entitled The Feast of the Poets, and two years after established his reputation by The Story of Rimini, a tale of early Italian life, founded on a passage in Dante. Mr. Hunt formed his style partly on the Italian poets, and partly on the early English writers : he has 'the same fresh, lively, and artless pictures of external manners with the latter writers the same profusion of gorgeous but redundant and needless description the same fa- miliarity and even homeliness of diction ; and, above all, the simplicity and directness in representing actions and passions in colours true to nature, but without any appa- rent attention to their effect, or any ostentation, or even visible impression as to their moral operation and ten- dency. The great distinction between the ancient and modern poets is, that the former painted more from the eye and less from the mind than the latter. They de- scribed things and actions as they saw them, without ex- pressing, or at any rate without dwelling, on the deep- seated emotions from which the objects derived their in- terest, or the actions their character. The moderns, on the contrary, have brought these prominently forward, and explained and enlarged upon them perhaps at ex- cessive length. Mr. Hunt, in Rimini, follows the ancient school ; and though he has necessarily gone somewhat beyond the naked notices that would have suited the age of Chaucer, he has kept himself far more to the deline- ation of visible physical realities than any other modern poet on such a subject.'* The poetry of this gentleman would probably have attained a wider popularity, if it had not been charged with some considerable blemishes, both in expression, and in the selection of subjects. His descriptions of natural scenery are the most unexceptionably pleasing portions of his works : they are marked by a peculiar clearness and freshness, which affect the mind like a picture. As a generally characteristic specimen, we present the concluding passage of Rimini, in which he describes the approach of the funeral party with his dead hero and heroine. * Edinburgh Review, XXVI. 476. HUNT. SHELLEY. 219 THE FUNERAL OF THE LOVERS. The days were then at close of autumn still, A little rainy, and, towards nightfall, chill ; There was a fitful, moaning air abroad ; And ever and anon, over the road, The last few leaves came fluttering from the trees, Whose trunks now thronged to sight, in dark varieties. The people, who from reverence kept at home, Listened till afternoon to hear them come; And hour on hour went by, and naught was heard But some chance horseman, or the wind that stirred, Till towards the vesper hour ; arid then 'twas said Some heard a voice, which seemed as if it read ; And others said that they could hear a sound Of many horses trampling the moist ground. Still nothing came till on a sudden, just As the wind opened in a rising gust, A voice of chanting rose, and as it spread, They plainly heard the anthem for the dead. It was the choristers who went to meet The train, and now were entering the first street. Then turned aside that city, young and old, And in their lifted hands the gushing sorrow rolled. But of the older people, few could bear To keep the window, when the train drew near; And all felt double tenderness to see The bier approaching, slow and steadily, On which those two in senseless coldness lay, Who but a few short months it seemed a day Had left their walls, lovely in form and mind, In sunny manhood he she first of womankind. They say that when Duke Guido saw them come, He clasped his hands, and looking round the room, Lost his old wits forever. From the morrow None saw him after. But no more of sorrow. On that same night, those lovers silently Were buried in one grave, under a tree; There, side by side, and hand in hand, they lay In the green ground : and on fine nights in May Young hearts betrothed used to go there to pray. The next individual who attracted the notice of the public as a poet, was MR. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1792-1 822), the eldest son of a baronet 'in Sussex. A poem entitled Queen Mab, published without his consent while he was at college, subjected him to much cen- sure, on account of the atheistical opinions contained in it. This, and other circumstances of his life, tended to embitter a mind which seems to have been altogether of an irregular kind, and perhaps prevented his poetical tal- ents fro^n being fully appreciated. His principal publi- cations are, The Revolt of Islam; Alastor.or the Spirit 220 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. of Solitude ; The Cenci, a tragedy ; Adonais, a lament for the death of Mr. John Keats ; Hellas; Prometheus Unbound. A selection of his best works was published after his death. The greater part of the poetry of Shelley has a mystical grandeur, which alike recom- mends it to the more enthusiastic lovers of verse, and disqualifies it from giving general pleasure. Some of his smaller pieces, however, have experienced a better reception. In 1817, Mr. JOHN KEATS (1796-1820), a youth of obscure birth, who had been educated as a surgeon's ap- prentice, published a volume of poems, the most of which had been written before he attained the age of twenty. They were hailed by many as giving promise of a very high poetical genius ; and Mr. Keats next year pub- lished a longer piece entitled Endymion, and, in 1820, his Lamia, Isabella, and other Poems. With some youth- ful faults, the compositions of Keats possessed many merits. He threw a new, striking, and most poetical feeling upon many of the mythic stories and characters of ancient times ; and his Eve of St. Agnes is a tale full of rich description and romantic interest. This youth- ful genius died of consumption, immediately after com- pleting his twenty-fourth year. In 1820, MR. BRYAN WILLIAM PROCTER, under the fictitious name of Barry Cornwall, published Marcian Colojina, an Italian Talc, with Three Dramatic Scenes, and other Poems ; since which time he has appeared as a tragic dramatist, and presented several other poetical volumes. His characteristics are, * a beautiful fancy and a beautiful diction ; a fine ear for the music of verse, and great tenderness and delicacy of feeling.' A volume of English Songs, published in 1832, shows high qualifications for that kind of poetry, many of the pieces reminding the reader of those delightful little madrigals which enliven the dialogues of the early dra- matists. Since the appearance of Mr. Procter, many other individuuals have come before the public with poetical volumes, or have scattered the fruits of their genius throughout periodical publications. MR. ALLAN CUN- NINGHAM, a native of Scotland, has produced some sin- LANDON. HEMANS. HOWITT. HOOD. 221 gularly beautiful imitations of, or rather improvements upon, the old ballad poetry. Miss LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON has shown, in several volumes, an intimate ac- quaintance with the more romantic and generous feel- ings of the female breast. MRS. HEMANS is unrivalled in the poetry of the affections, and exhibits occasionally a fine strain of heroism. DR. JOHN BOWRING has pre- sented, since 1821, poetical translations from the Rus- sian, Dutch, ancient Spanish, Polish, Servian, and Hun- garian languages ; with the literature of which nations the British public were previously almost entirely un- acquainted. MR. EBENEZER ELLIOT, of Sheffield, writes poetry relating to political subjects, and the bearing of politics upon domestic circumstances, in a spirit vigorous and fervent, though somewhat harsh. WILLIAM HOW- ITT and his wife, MARY HOWITT, are at the head of their contemporaries in a feeling for external nature, and a power of describing it. Mr. THOMAS HOOD, who is chiefly known as a punning and comic versifier, in which character he has done much to amuse the public, is also a serious poet of great feeling, imagination, and taste, which he has exemplified in his Plea for the Mid- summer Fairies, his -ballad of The Dream of Eugene Aram, and other compositions. MR. ALEXANDER ALA- RIC WATTS is the author of some very pleasing lyrical poetry ; and Messrs. Moir, Malcolm, Kennedy, Mother- well, Tennyson, Robert Montgomery, and Moxon, with the Honourable Mrs. Norton, and Lady Emmeline Stu- art Wortley, are among those who, from their efforts at an early period of life, may be expected to rise into dis- tinction in this department of literature. Poetry, as well as every other branch of polite learn- ing, received an important impulse in the United States, at the commencement of the present period, and espe- cially has this been the fact within the last twenty years. When the minds of the educated men of the country were disengaged from one absorbing topic, the Revolu- tion, they embraced a wider range of literary pursuit. At first, few or none were merely authors ; their intel- lectual efforts were in a great measure connected with the business of professional life. Hence the great mass of American literature, especially during the early por- 19* 222 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. tion of this period, whatever may be thought of particu- lar productions, was wanting in that polish which we look for in the best and most elaborate efforts of the hit- man mind. Still, the discipline through which the States had passed, was an important preparation and a happy stimulus for intellectual pursuits, and we notice in all classes of writers, and particularly in the poets, an ad- vance on those who went before them, in polish and elegance. Their models were the literary productions of England, and the spirit of imitation is somewhat dis- cernible. The earlier poets would be considered as be- longing to the school of Pope. Perhaps an American national literature, original and racy, must be more diffi- cult of attainment from the circumstances of the case, than is ordinarily true of other nations. In one point of view, the literature of every separate people speaking the English tongue, is already formed. The standard authors of Great Britain, particularly from the age of Elizabeth down through that of Anne, have given a cha- racter to English literature which it will maintain as long as the tongue shall exist. They have transmitted the language to posterity, in the greatest beauties, per- haps, of which it is susceptible. This fact places Ame- rica on disadvantageous ground as to a literature of her own, and under the circumstances in which she is situ- ated, the manner of forming it might admit of a ques- tion. There would be little hope, that her writers would add much to the idiomatic excellencies of the tongue, its beauty of expression, or those forms of composition which are most appropriate to the display of its harmo- ny and power. In these particulars almost every thing has been forestalled. The form, then, of English litera- ture will scarcely admit of improvement. The most that American writers cou'd do, in this case, to constitute an .original literature of their own, would be by introducing into it what possibly may yet remain of unappropriated beauties of diction ; by exhibiting its characteristic ex- cellencies of expression under new combinations of thought ; and by giving to the whole an aspect and a spirit corresponding with the novel circumstances of the nation.* * AM. ED. TRUMBULL. 223 It has sometimes been a complaint with English wri- ters, that the Americans have corrupted the language. If they have sometimes employed new terms, or used old ones in a new sense, it is no more than what the English themselves have done, and the Americans have the same right to accommodate their diction to their pe- culiar circumstances, that the English or any other people would claim. Besides, in the nature of the case, the English language, like all others, cannot but undergo partial changes at the least. 'Like every living language,' says Dr. Webster, 'it is in a state of progression, as rapid now as at any former period. It is fruitless to attempt to fix that which is in its nature changeable, and to fix which beyond the power of alteration, would be the greatest evil that could happen to a living language.' Intelligent persons who have made accurate compari- sons of the two nations, English and American, have generally conceded that in no country, not even in the parent land, is the English language spoken with greater purity and correctness, than in the United States. The writers in America those esteemed there will not be found among the corrupters of their mother tongue.* Two or three of the poets whom we are about to name, began to write during the Revolution, but they properly belong to this period, as having lived near to its close, and as having continued the use of their pens long subsequently to that event. JOHN TRUMBULL (1750 1831), who was a native of Connecticut, is celebrated as the author of M'Fingal, a burlesque poem after the manner of Hudibras, directed against the enemies of American liberty. The first part of it was published in 1775. As it was patriotic in its motive and aim, and its satire singularly keen, it attained to a greater celeb- rity than any other poem, which the country had at that time produced. It is also meritorious in itself, so far as poems of such a nature can be so considered. It must be acknowledged, that it is the province of poetry less to expose the faults and follies of men, than to commend their virtues, and to be conversant with the sympathies of the heart and the scenery of nature. The Progress of Dulness was an earlier work of the author, in a simi- *AM ED. 224 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. lar strain, and little, if at all, inferior to it. They are both happy specimens of a humorous, satirical vein, reminding the reader of the poet's great prototype, Butler. Contemporary with Trumbull, and associated with him in literary pursuits, and in the aim to pro- mote a taste for elegant letters in the college of which they were members, was TIMOTHY D WIGHT (1752 1817), a native of Massachusetts, and for many years, President of Yale College. In native genius and splen- dour of intellect, few men in the United States have equalled Dr. Dwight. He may be considered, perhaps, more than any other person, the father of American po- etry of the higher order, so far as his example and influ- ence, and the quantity which he wrote, are concerned. His poetry generally cannot rank with the best speci- mens of English verse, nor is it equal to some which has been produced since by his countrymen ; yet it rises in merit above the average level of poetry, in the lan- guage. Its characteristics are splendour, smoothness, and gravity. He shows an exuberant fancy, and ready command of language. He fails, however, at times, in distinctness of grouping, and transparency of style. His Conquest of Canaan, a regular epic poem, is his longest production. It was finished in his twenty-third year although it was not published' until ten. years afterwards. It is altogether a remarkable production for one so young. Its faults, which are those of youth and the want of practice in the art, have consigned it to a neglect which it by no means deserves. Greenfield Hill, a later poem, has always been held in higher repute. It is a didactic poem, or rather a collection of didactic poems, of various forms and metres, written expressly after the manner of several popular British bards. We give an extract from it in a part which is modelled after the Minstrel of Beat- tie, as a specimen of American poetry at this time.* " O'er these sweet fields, so lovely now, and gay, Where modest nature finds each want supplied, Where home-born happiness delights to play, And counts her little flock, with household pride, Long frowned, from age to age, a forest wide: Here hung the slumbering bat; the serpent dire Nested his brood, and drank the impoisoned tide; *A M ED. DWIGHT. HUMPHREYS. HOPKINS. 225 Wolves peal'd, the dark drear night in hideous choir, Nor shrank the unmeasured howl from Sol's terrific fire. No charming cot imbarik'd the pebbly stream ; No mansion tower'd, nor garden teem'd with good; No lawn expanded to the April beam; Nor mellow harvest hung its bending load ; Nor science dawn'd ; nor life with beauty glow'd ; Nor temple whiten'd, in the enchanting dell; In clusters wild, the, sluggish wigwam stood ; And, borne in snaky paths the Indian fell, Now aim'd the death unseen, now scream'd the tiger-yell. E'en now, perhaps, on human dust I treaJ, Pondering with solemn pause the wrecks of time ; Here sleeps, perchance, among the vulgar dead, Some chief, the lofty theme of Indian rhyme, Who lov'd ambition's cloudy steep to climb, And smiled, death, dangers, rivals, to engage; Who roused his followers' souls to deeds sublime, Kindling to furnace heat vindictive rage, And soared Caesarean heights, the Phoenix of his age. In yon small field, that dimly steals from sight, (From yon small field these meditations grow,) Turning the sluggish soil from morn to night The plodding hind, laborious, drives his plough, Nor dreams a nation sleeps his foot below. There undisturbed by the roaring wave, Released from war, and far from deadly foe, Lies down in endless rest, a nation brave, And trains in tempests bovn, there find a quiet grave." DAVID HUMPHREYS (17531818), born in Connecti- cut, was a friend of D wight and Trumbull in college, and some years afterwards was associated with Trum- bull, Barlow, and Hopkins at Hartford in literary and political writings. He wrote several poems of conside- rable merit, but the similarity of their subjects, and style of execution, render them less pleasing than would otherwise have been the fact. His first piece, written in 1782, entitled Address to the Armies of the United States, was highly popular at the time. General Hum- phreys spent a great part of his life in camps and courts, yet he found leisure to cultivate polite literature, and to improve his literary taste. LEMUEL HOPKINS (1750 1801), a native of Connecticut, was associated with Richard Alsop, Theodore Dwight, and a number of others at Hartford in the production of the Echo, the Political Greenhouse, and many satirical poems of that class. The Echo is one of the cleverest series of satires 226 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. ever produced in the United States. Hopkins had a prin- cipal share, also, in writing the Anarchiad, a political sa- tire having respect to the disturbed and almost distracted condition of the country immediately previous to the adoption of the federal constitution. It was a piece of some vigour. His associates in it were Trumbull and JOEL BARLOW. ~This last named poet (1755-1812), also born in Connecticut, was more known out of his native country, by his poetical pieces, than any of his brother bards. His long residence in Europe, and the public functions with which he was intrusted, account for this fact. His genius for song was, however, hardly equal to that of his distinguished contemporaries, and has cer- tainly been eclipsed since. It was, on the whole, unfor- tunate for the reputation of American poetry, that almost he only was known abroad as a poet of the United States. The imperfections of his Columbiad, an epic and his principal work, were severely crit- icised, and American genius for poetry was made to pay the forfeiture. He was, however, more fortu- nate in some of his other pieces, and his Hasty Pudding, a humorous, descriptive poem in heroic measure, is a happy production, and deserves all its fame. PHILIP FRENAU, who died a few years since, was contempo- raneous with the poets above named. He graduated in 1771, but we have no account of the time of his birth. The principal part of his poetic effusions, about two hundred in number, were published in a volume in 1795. They are of unequal merit. On some subjects he wrote with a true poetic warmth and with a fine fancy. From some cause, perhaps his voluminousness, he has fallen into a degree of neglect.* In the history of American poetry it is proper to state, that the school already noticed, was followed at an interval of some ten or fifteen years, by a few poets who appeared in somewhat of a different style of composition, but who cannot be well grouped together as a distinct class. WILLIAM CLIFFTON of Pennsylva- nia, a young man, wrote satirical poetry, which was greatly relished by his political friends at that period of high party warfare ; but his reputation as a poet rests *AM. ED. PAINE. LINN. FESSENDEN. 227 on a few pieces which breathe a softer air. ROBERT TREAT PAINE of Massachusetts, wrote a few popular pieces, but they were without any rich infusion of po- etic spirit, and are likely soon to be forgotten. JOHN BLAIR LINN of Pennsylvania, was author of the Powers of Genius, a didactic poem, which, though deficient in several respects, shows some powers of genius in the writer. Then followed THOMAS G. FESSENDEN, born in New Hampshire, who has succeeded best in his light and burlesque productions, the principal of which, Ter- rible Tractoration, was published about 1804. At the same period, a volume of his miscellaneous poems ap- peared, which was favourably noticed in England and in the United States. These works were published while the author resided in Great Britain. Democracy Un- veiled soon followed, upon his return to his native coun- try. After a long interval, another satirical work, as we understand, has lately proceeded from his pen. These were among the poets whose works, including of course only the earlier productions of Fessenden, constituted a sort of transition-state of poetry in the United States.* We come now to a period when the new views respecting poetry which had prevailed in Great Britain, began to affect America. Her writers felt the impulse and stirrings of nature, and left the beaten track of the followers of Pope, striking out new paths in the regions of sentiment and fancy. In some instances, the popular poets of Great Britain have been imitated in the United States, but in general her poetry of this era has been dis- tinguished by a good degree of independence and origin- ality. Very few American writers, whether in prose or verse, it will be remembered, are authors by profession, or devote their whole time to composition. We may hence account for the fact, that the mass of their poetry consists of small detached pieces, and not of extended works, elaborately planned, and" finished with studious toil. There are many single efforts of moderate length, distinguished by their energy or grace, and equal to any thing of their kind in the language ; but there are few great, continuous poems. The condition of the country is, however, rapidly changing, and such encouragement *AM. ED. 228 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. is now afforded to literature, that authors, and even po- .ets among the rest, begin to look for the means of per- manent support in the cultivation of letters.* In 1803, WILLIAM C. BRYANT published a volume of poems with the title of The Embargo, or Sketches of the Times. Although he was at that time but fourteen years old, the book was well received, and passed to a second edition. Several years afterwards (1821) appeared the volume containing The Ages, Thanatopsis, and other effusions. Besides thece, many of the poetical articles in the United States Literary Gazette were from his pen. Bryant is an elegant poet, distinguished by correctness and delicacy, and by an even flow of thought and ex- pression. In style and manner he is among the most classical of the poets of the United States. He describes nature with a simple and affecting beauty, showing that he is master of the philosophy of the heart. A writer remarks that he * condenses his thoughts with great power over language, by having clear views of his sub- ject.' This is the true classical grace, and always ex- cites the admiration of the discerning reader. A short poem, the title of which is To the EvcmrtgWind, is pre- sented as a specimen of the manner of this poet * Spirit that breathest through my lattice, thou That cool'st the twilight of the sultry day, Gratefully flows thy freshness round my brow; Thou hast been out upon the deep at play, Riding all day the wild blue waves till now, Roughening their crests, and scattering high their spray, And swelling the white sail. I welcome thee To the scorched land, thou wanderer of the sea. Nor I alone a thousand bosoms round Inhale thee in the fulness of delight; And languid forms rise up, and pulses bound Livelier, at coming of the wind at night ; And, languishing to hear thy grateful sound. Lies the vast inland stretched beyond the sight. Go forth into the gathering shade; go forth, God's blessing breathed upon the fainting earth ! Go, rock the little wood-bird in his nest, Curl the still waters, bright with stars, and rouse The wide old wood from his majestic rest, Summoning from the innumerable boughs The strange, deep harmonies that haunt his breast ; Pleasant shall be thy way where meekly bows *AM. ED. BRYANT. PIERPONT. 229 The shutting flower, and darkling waters pass, And 'twixt the o'ershadowing branches and the grass. The faint old man shall lean his silver head To feel thee; thou shall kiss the child asleep, And dry the moistened curls that overspread His temples, while his breathing grows more deep; And they who stand about the sick man's bed, Shall joy to listen to thy distant sweep, And softly part his curtains to allow Thy visit, grateful to his burning brow. Go but the circle of eternal change, That is the life of nature, shall restore, With sounds and scents from all thy mighty range, Thee to thy birth-place of the deep once more; Sweet odours in the sea-air, sweet and strange, Shall tell the home-sick mariner of the shore ; And, listening to thy murmur, he shall deem He hears the rustling leaf and running stream. JOHN PIERPONT, a native of Connecticut, published, about the year 1812, The Portrait. In 1816 appeared his Airs of Palestine, a descriptive poem of some length, and a highly finished production. It has gained for the author a high reputation both at home and abroad. In point of correctness it is exceeded by no poem which the country has produced. Calm and chastened feelings are expressed in transparent and graceful language. His taste seems to be formed partly on the models of the eighteenth century, and partly on those of more modern times, combining much of the polish of the for- mer, with the beautiful imagery and rich thought of the latter. In this poem, from the nature of the subject, we do not look for the strongest poetic glow and the highest flights of fancy : and there is an error of taste in the author's frequent double rhymes. We find rather the beauties of chaste and elegant expression. ' The main scope of the poem is to illustrate the influence of music upon the passions of mankind, and consequently its moral nature and tendency, by themes taken from sacred history.' Mr. P. has also evinced a talent for lyric poetry in several admired patriotic and devo- tional songs. We give the following from the Airs of Palestine, as a specimen of his poetry.* On Arno's bosom, as he calmly flows, And his cool arms round Vallombrosa throws, 20 *A.ED. 230 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. Rolling his crystal tide through classic vales, Alone, at night, the Italian boatman sails. High o'er Mont Alto walks, in maiden pride, Night's queen : he sees her image on that tide, Now, ride the wave that curls its infant crest; Around his brow, then rippling sinks to rest ; Now, glittering dance around his eddying oar, Whose every sweep is echoed from the shore ; Now, far behind him, on a liquid bed Of waveless water, rests her radiant head. How mild the empire of that virgin queen! How dark the mountain's shade! how still the scene! Hush'd by her silver sceptre, zephyrs sleep On dewy leaves that overhang the deep, Nor dare to whisper through the boughs, nor stir The valley's willow, nor the mountain's fir, Nor make the pale and breathless aspen quiver, Nor brush, with ruffling wing, that glassy river. Hark! 'tis a convent's bell; its midnight chime, For music measures even the march of time : O'er bending trees, that fringe the distant shore, Gray turrets rise : the eye can catch no more. The boatman, listening to the tolling bell, Suspends his oar ; a low and solemn swell, From the deep shade, that round the cloister lies, Rolls through the air, and on the water dies. What melting song wakes the cold ear of night 1 A funeral dirge, that pale nuns, robed in white, Chant round a. sister's dark and narrow bed, To charm the parting spirit of the dead. Triumphant is the spell ! with raptured ear, That uncaged spirit hovering lingers near ; Why should she mount 1 why pant for brighter bliss, A lovelier scene, a sweeter song than this 7 In the year 1815, MRS. LYDIA H. SIGOURNEY, (then Miss Huntley,) gave to the public a volume entitled Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse. In 1 822 appeared Traits of the Aborigines of America, in 1827, Poems, by the Author of Moral Pieces, and, in 1835, Zinzendorff, and other Poems. These books, together with some mis- cellaneous poetry which she has written since, have en- deared her name to the lovers of virtue and song, eve- rywhere. As a writer of verses she has high moral aims, and though this circumstance, with ordinary talent, might entitle her to consideration, she can add the effect- ual claim of sterling literary excellence. If her earlier productions, in some instances, were wanting in a rich vein of thought, it was because she had not dug suffi- ciently deep into the mine. She has since done so, and SANDS. EASTBURN. PERCIVAL. HALLECK. 231 brought up solid masses and beautiful forms of senti- ment. Her poetry is characterised by ease, tenderness, a chastened fancy, and a delicate susceptibility of what- ever is beautiful in nature, or charming in truth. It may be described in one word as the poetry of refined reli- gious emotion. ROBERT C. SANDS, who died a short time since, was one of the authors of Yamoyden, a poem of much merit. His associate was JAMES WALLIS EASTBURN, an Englishman by birth. They were both young men, but exhibited an uncommon maturity of talent. Eastburn died at the age of 22. Yamoyden is an Indian story, and the best of the kind which the abo- riginal history of America has afforded. ' The striking peculiarities of the Indian character and superstition are introduced with great felicity, and the descriptions are handled with a reach of thought and expression, which we do not often see surpassed.'* JAMES G. PERCIVAL, a native of Connecticut, gave to the world his first collection of poetry in 1 820. This was followed by two numbers of his Clio, and another small volume in continuation of the first, in the course of two years. In 1824, a neat edition of his select pieces appeared, which w r as republished, with a brief memoir, the same year, in London, 2 vols. 12mo. He has since written a third number of the Clio, and other pieces of a miscellaneous description ; being chiefly contributions to various literary journals. Dr. Percival has a rich poetic vein, and exhibits in his works all the prominent character- istics of good poetry. He has little idea of an exquisite pol- ish or fastidious neatness, but trusts to strong and graphic sketches, in making an impression on the readers mind. He possesses both fancy and feeling, and shows a richly furnished intellect, in the variety of his illustrations and classic allusions. FITZ-GREENE HALLECK, also a native of Connecticut,* has often been before the public in pieces of singular wit and playfulness. In 1819, he wrote in part a series of Pindaric Odes for the New York Evening Post, under the signature of ' Croaker & Co.' The satire and humour of these pieces were keenly felt at the time. The first work which he put forth in a volume, was Fanny : this appeared in 1819, and was * AM. ED. 232 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. a production of haste, though it has been highly appre- ciated by readers. It has been twice reprinted in Eng- land. Alnwick Castle and other poems appeared in 1827. They bear the impression of a strong mind and practised in the art. His pieces are all marked by a flow and ease of composition, a playful fancy, and ten- derness and warmth of feeling.* CHARLES SPRAGUE, born in Boston, and living there, is, in manner, somewhat removed from Halleck and many other American poets. Yet he has a share of popularity equal to the most favoured. He aims at con- densation of thought, perspicuity, and harmony ; and thus success has rewarded his labour. He is known as the author of several prize poems, designed as theatri- cal prologues, and other small pieces of a finished cha- racter. His Winged Worshippers has been pronounced to be one of the most beautiful little pieces in our lan- guage. JOHN G. C. BRAINARD, a native of Connecticut, died in early life, being but 32 years old, but he has se- cured for himself a sterling reputation as a poet. What more he might have done, had his life been protracted, and his circumstances as to leisure, health, and study been favourable, might perhaps be conjectured from the success which attended many of his efforts, during a brief and unpropitious career. His poetry is character- ised by originality of thought, by pathos, and by a natu- ral and striking manner of expression a sort of careless boldness which paints the idea to the reader's mind. This is exemplified in the famous lines in the poem on the Fall of Niagara where the voice of God had bid- den the " flood to chronicle the ages back And notch His centuries in the eternal rocks. From the circumstances in which he was led to write his poems, viz. the necessity of filling some column or part of a column of a weekly paper which he edited, with verses, it was almost unavoidable that he should compose with haste, and often in a state of mind adverse to poetic inspiration. Hence he has unequal poems, and sometimes careless, incorrect, or coarse lines. His *AM.ED. WILCOX. DANA. 233 Fall of Niagara before alluded to has been much ad- mired. His Address to Connecticut River is a highly descriptive and graphic piece.* In CARLOS WILCOX (1794-1827), born in New Hampshire, we come to a poet who, unlike most of the American bards, projected a great and extended poem, which, however, he did not live to finish. He has left only fragments of it in his Age of Benevolence No. /., but they show a rich vein of poetry of the devotional didactic cast. He seems to have taken Cowper as his model, and deals in the description 'of real life and simple nature, and for the development of his own earnest feelings, in behalf of moral and religious truth.' Had opportunity been allowed him to complete his de- signs, he would have ranked below few poets in the English language. RICHARD H. DANA, a native of Mas- sachusetts, may be classed with the foregoing poet, as having written the poetry of benevolence, piety, and domestic life ; but he has deeper feeling and a more pow- erful imagination. He displays a philosophy of a broad- er and more solemn cast is more original and marked in his poetic character. His style is simple and concise his thoughts are highly condensed, and though he has but little ornament, he presents the most vivid pictures before the fancy. It is the praise of his poetry, that while it pleases the taste, it is calculated to elevate and purify the immortal mind. The following lines are a short specimen of Mr. Dana's poetry, in its mingled fea- tures of gentleness and grandeur.* O listen, man! A voice within us speaks that startling word, 'Man, thou shalt never die!' Celestial voices Hymn it unto our souls : according harps, By angel fingers touch'd when the mild stars Of morning sang together, sound forth still The song of our great immortality : Thick clustering oibs, and this our fair domain, The tall, dark mountains, and the deep-toned seas, Join in the solemn, universal song. O listen ye, our spirits : drink it in From all the air ! 'Tis in the gentle moonlight ; 'Tis floating 'midst day's setting glories ; Night, Wrapped in her sable robe, with silent step Comes to our bed, and breathes it in our ears: 20* 234 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. Night, and the dawn, bright day, and thoughtful eve, All time, all bounds, the limitless expanse, As one vast mystic instrument, are touch'd By an unseen living Hand, and conscious chords duiver with joy in this great jubilee. The dying hear it ; and as sounds of earth Grow dull and distant, wake their passing souls To mingle in this heavenly harmony. NATHANIEL P. WILLIS, a native of Boston, appeared in early life before the public as a poet. He acquired at once a reputation uncommon for one of his years, and sustained himself by the force of his genius, in several subsequent attempts. Practice in the art, foreign travel, a commanding position, and still comparative youth, en- courage the expectation on the part of his countrymen, that he will achieve yet greater things for his own and his country's literary reputation. His Scripture Sketches, and Unwritten Philosophy, display high poetic talents. In a recent publication which contains Melanie, Lord Ivon and his Daughter, the Dying Alchymist, and seve- ral other poems, he has acquitted himself in a manner, fitted to enhance the public impression respecting the resources of his genius. He shows a refined and deli- cate taste, and is master of a sweet and graceful diction. James G. Brooks, Edward C. Pinckney, John Neal, Samuel Woodvvorth, H. W. Longfellow, Grenville Mel- len, Katharine A. Ware, Sarah J. Hale, George W. Doane, William B. Tappan, William O. Peabody, and several others, have written poetry which has been well received, and which it would give us pleasure separate- ly to notice, did our limits permit.* DRAMATISTS. During the course of the age now under our notice, dramatic literature has undergone a change correspond- ing with that which has taken place in all other depart- ments of the belles lettres. The taste for regular trage- dies and comedies has declined with the taste for Pope and Richardson ; and in their place have come plays of a less formal kind, displaying the pathos and humour of human life in that mixed state in which they are found in reality, and generally with much liveliness and rapid- AM ED. MELODRAMA. 235 ity of action. A new species of dramatic representa- tion has also come into vogue, namely, the Melodrama, which, being a delineation of some romantic incident, aided by great splendour of scenery, dress, and decora- tion, may be said to correspond with the department of fictitious literature which, originating with Walpole, has been brought to perfection by Mrs. Radcliffe, Sir Wal- ter Scott, and others. It is the common opinion that the literature of the drama has declined in our times ; and we cannot deny that there are not now engaged in it the same superior intellects which gave it such lustre in the days of Elizabeth, or even in those of Queen Anne. For this, however, the chief reason is perhaps one of an accidental nature. Successful writing for the stage seems to require a close connexion with the thea- tre itself, in order that the author may be able to adapt the language, characters, and general structure of the piece, to those circumstances, known only to actors, which tend to make dramatic representation effectual. Hence it is found that the greatest dramatists of former times were either themselves players, or maintained a close acquaintance with the theatre. A wide space, however, has been drawn between the literary men of the present day and the actors. Our greatest poets, dis- daining to subject their genius to a schooling from the performers, or to bend to considerations of theatrical convenience, have either abstained from dramatic com- position, or written only what they term dramatic poems ; that is, poems in a dramatic form, but not designed for representation. In the defect of better writers, there has arisen a class, consisting partly of actors and mana- gers, who, without the genius of the kindred class of men who flourished in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., display the same readiness and skill, and in some instan- ces, no inconsiderable share of ability, in serving the the- atres with pieces calculated to affect or entertain com- mon audiences. In the department of tragedy, so far as tragedy can be said to have had a distinct existence, we find little produced in this age besides the dramatic poems to which allusion has been made, or, at the best, tragedies intended, but not in the least fitted, for representation. 236 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. In 1798, Miss JOANNA BAILLIE (born in 1764), publish- ed the first volume of a series of what she designated Plays on the Passions, of which other two volumes sub- sequently appeared. These are partly tragedies and partly comedies, one of each class being devoted to the development of a particular ruling passion, such as love, ambition, hope, and revenge. A volume of miscellane- ous plays proceeded from the same pen in 1804; and the Family Legend, a tragedy, produced in 1810, closes the list of the dramatic works of this distinguished lady. According to a modern critic, there is in all these com- positions great vigour, great variety of situation and cha- racter, a vehement and nervous eloquence, and a per- petual flow of exalted thought and feeling. The defects which disqualified them for the stage are deficiencies of interest, of situation, of the rapidity and fulness of action. by which the attention of a theatrical audience can alone be sustained. The tragedy of Remorse, by Coleridge ; the tragic plays of Halidon Hill and Auchindrane, by Sir Walter Scott ; the Manfred, Werner, Marino Faliero, Sarda- napalus, and Two Foscari, of Byron ; the Mirandola of Procter, are also to be classed as dramatic poems, par- taking of the ordinary character of the poetical produc- tions of their respective authors, but possessing perhaps less of their usual vigour. Bertram, a tragedy by the REV. ROBERT MATURIN, better known as a novelist, has appeared on the stage, for which, however, the wild passions delineated, and the odious nature of the sub- ject, render it scarcely fit. Evadne and The Apostate, by MR. RICHARD LALOR SIIIEL ; Fazio, by the REV. HENRY MILMAN ; and Julian, Rienzi, and The Vespers of Palermo, by Miss MARY RUSSELL MITFORD, are modern plays, respectable as dramatic poems, which have experienced some share of success upon the stage. The only author of recent times who has realized our ideas of the great dramatists of a former age, is MR. JAMES SHERIDAN KNOWLES, who, like Maturin and Shiel, is a native of Ireland ; and is perhaps indebted for a part of his success to his professional connexion with the stage. The principal plays of this writer are, Cams Gracchus, Virginius, William Tell, The Wife, SHERIDAN. O'KEEFE. DIBDIN. COLMAN. 237 and The Hunchback. His style, though modelled upon that of Massinger, is characterised by a simple energy and ardour peculiar to himself, and which sometimes be- trays him into bald and homely expressions. The genteel comedy of the eighteenth century may be said to have terminated with the productions of RICH- ARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN (1751-1816), a lessee of Dru- ry Lane Theatre, and eminent as an orator inthe House of Commons. In polish of composition, and vivacity of dialogue, nothing can exceed the Rivals, Duenna, and School for Scandal of this celebrated dramatist ; though few of the characters display individuality, and the mo- rality of the plot is often defective. Of the writers whom we have described as chiefly supplying the new pieces required at the theatres, one of the first in point of time was JOHN O'KEEFE (1746- 1833), a native of Ireland, and who for a long time was a strolling actor in that country. From about the year 1 779 to a late period of his life, OKeefe was constantly employed in writing plays, of which above fifty were brought out at the London Theatres, being generally light humorous pieces, designed only to make people merry, but sometimes containing a dash of original cha- racter. The most popular are The Agreeable Surprise. Wild Oats, Modern Antiques, The Highland Reel, and The Poor Soldier. CHARLES DIBDIN (1748-1815) wrote many dramatic pieces for temporary amusement, but is now remembered only for the great variety of national arid nautical songs which he composed in the course of his own endeavours to entertain the public, as a reciter and singer. The songs of Dibdin, of which the music was generally his own, had so powerful an effect in animating the lower departments of the naval service during the war occasioned by the French Revo- lution, that the author was thought worthy of a pension of two hundred pounds a-year ; those of a pathetic and affectionate kind may be described as models in that species of composition. MR. GEORGE COLMAN, son of the eminent dramatist of the same name, formerly men- tioned, is the author of The Mountaineers, The Poor Gentleman, John Bull, The Heir-at-Law, and other pop- ular plays ; the distinguishing merit of which lies in a 238 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. mixture of characters of tenderness and pathos, with the usual persons of the comic drama. The Dramatist, The Will, and Laugh when you can, are the best of the numerous productions of FREDERICK REYNOLDS, who, for forty years, served Covent Garden Theatre in the capacity of what he called * thinker,' that is, performer of every kind of literary labour required in the establish- ment. The Honey-Moon, by JOHN TOBIN, and Speed the Plough, and The School of Reform, by THOMAS MORTON, were the most distinguished dramatic produc- tions of the earlier years of the present century ; and, of the more recent writers of this class, Messrs. Poole, Planche, Jerrold, and Buckstone, may be mentioned as the most eminent. In the United States, plays began to be acted about the middle of the last century ; but the composition of dramatic pieces has claimed comparatively little atten- tion, until more recent times. Numbers of them have been designed for representation ; and a respectable list might be made out of successful pieces. Others were intended for private reading, like many of that class which was noticed among the English productions of the present period. It is only as a part of the literature of the land that they are here mentioned ; and very few can be named as having distinguished merit. The ear- liest author, in this department of literary effort in America, was THOMAS GODFREY, son of the inventor of the quadrant, as already mentioned. At the age of twenty-two, he wrote The Prince of Parthia, a trage- dy, printed in 1765. It was never performed on the stage, and may have been intended only for the closet. As the first effort of the American dramatic Muse, it deserves notice, though it has been pronounced a fail- ure. It was too great an undertaking for so young a man, inasmuch as tragedy is one of the most difficult productions of the human mind, requiring the highest in- ventive powers, and a thorough knowledge of the world and of character.* ROYAL TYLER, a native of Massachusetts, w r ho died in 1825, was the author of The Contrast, The Georgia Spec, or Land in the Moon 1796, and other dramatic * AM. ED. DUNLAP. NOAH. PAULDING. PAYNE. 239 pieces which have not been made public. He has dis- played respectable talents as a dramatist. DAVID Ev- ERET also a native of Massachusetts, wrote a tragedy called Daranzel, or the Persian Patriot, which was acted and published at Boston in 1800. It is said to be " deficient in accurate and striking representation of in- dividual character, but has many eloquent passages and scenes of high dramatic interest." WILLIAM DUNLAP, a native of New Jersey, is the most voluminous writer of plays which the United States have ever produced, and many of his productions have been great favourites on the stage. He is the author among many others, of Pontainville Abbey, a tragedy ; Andre, a tragedy ; Lov- er's Vows ; Italian Father ; False Shame ; and Force of Calumny, The four last are comedies. The dra- matic efforts of JAMES N. BARKER, born in Philadelphia, are much celebrated. He wrote " Tears and Smiles" a comedy, 1807; The Indian Princess, or La Belle Sauvage, a melo drama ; Marmion, dramatised from Scott; How to try a Lover, 1817, a comedy ; and Su- perstition, a tragedy 1823. These are popular plays, and one of them at least, Marmion, is said to keep pos- session of the stage.* M. M. NOAH is the author of several plays that have been acted with great success. Among these appear The Grecian Captive; The Grand Canal; Marion, or The Hero of Lake George ; She would be a Soldier ; and Paul and Alexis. SAMUEL WOODWORTH, a native of Massachusetts, is the writer of several dramatic pie- ces, viz. The Deed of Gift ; La Fayette, or The Castle of Olmutz ; The Widow's Son ; and The Rose of the Forest. These have all been very successful on the stage. JAMES K. PAULDING, a native of the State of New York, wrote a comedy entitled The Lion of the West, which has been acted with great effect. JOHN HOWARD PAYNE, an actor as well as writer of plays, was born in the city of New York, where his fine pow- ers were witnessed in very early life. He was remark- able for the precocity of his intellect. About the year 1812, he went to England, and continued abroad many years. He has contributed, both to the English and * AM. ED. 240 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. American stage, several successful translations from French dramas. These, together with some origin- al plays, have been popular, and continue to be, in both countries. Among them are Brutus, Oswali of Athens, Peter Smink, or Which is the Miller, Richlieu, and several others.* JAMES A. HILLHOUSE, a native of Connecticut, has produced two dramatic poems, though they were not designed for representation. They are of a superior or- der, as is also his poetry generally. Percy's Masque, his first drama, was published originally in London, and in 1820, reprinted in the United States. Hadad, from a scriptural subject, made its appearance in 1825. Ha- dad is considered as his best effort, and is a master-piece of the kind. With true poetical feeling and discern- ment, he has appropriated to his purposes, one of the difficult but interesting themes of sacred story, and man- aged it with entire success. The poetry of this author is generally of a classic and finished character. It has a pointed polish, and yet is natural, animated, and warm. The enlightened reader perceives that taste and judg- ment have guided his pen. A few lines from Hadad will show Mr. Hillhouse's manner, in that elaborate pro- duction : * THE SAGE OF CAUCASUS. Hadad. None knows his lineage, age, or name: his locks Are like the snows of Caucasus ; his eyes Beam with the wisdom of collected ages. In green, unbroken years, he sees, 'tis said, The generations pass like autumn fruits, Garnered, consumed, and springing fresh to life, Again to perish,- while he views the sun, The seasons roll, in rapt serenity, And high communion with celestial powers. Some say 'tis Shem, our father; some say Enoch, And some Melchisedek. r rv*? 268 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. part of the sixteenth century. The high approbation bestowed upon this work encouraged the author to write The Life of Andrew Melville, which was publish- ed in 1819, and might be described as a continuation of the history of religion and literature from the period where it was dropped in the Life of Knox. Histories of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Spain and Italy were subsequently published by Dr. M'Crie, who may be characterised as an industrious inquirer, and an accurate, vigourous, and animated wri- ter. The Life of Nelson, published in 1813, by Mr. Southey, with the unambitious purpose of affording to common sailors a view of the transactions of that hero, is now generally acknowledged to be the best biograph- ical production of the age. It is brief and simple; but while apparently free from effort or design, is in reali- ty a masterpiece of literary art. Mr. Southey after- wards wrote The Life of Wesley, and contributed to Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia Lives of the British Admirals. His pure language, and graceful manner of composition, seem peculiarly adapted for biography. The Life of the Admirable Crichton (1819), and The Life of Sir Thomas Craig (1823), by MR. PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, already mentioned as the author of the History of Scotland, are chiefly valuable for the light they throw on the ancient state of learning and litera- ture in Scotland. The same author has since written a series of Lives of Scottish Worthies and a Life of Sir Walter Raleigh. His patient habits of research, and the pure, graceful, and mellifluous flow of his language, qualify him in a high degree to shine in biographical composition. MR. THOMAS MOORE, whose poetical talents have obtained for him so high a celebrity, is the author of a Life of Sheridan (1825), Memoirs of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and Notices of the Life of Lord Byron (1830). In 1825, a Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, on the same scale with Southey's Life of Nelson, was undertaken by SIR WALTER SCOTT, but eventually swelled out to nine bulky volumes, and bore in other respects little resemblance to its model. The subject was one to which the sympathies of the author could not easily be reconciled ; his information, and his sense of SCOTT. LODGE. LOCKHART. MATHER. 269 many points of national feeling, and of the relations of parties, were defective ; and, what was perhaps, the greatest fault of the book, it extended beyond the space which is convenient for the greater proportion of mod- ern readers. Hence, while the animation of the narra- tive was such as might have been expected from this wonderful writer, the work was generally considered as a failure. The Lives of the Novelists, contributed by the same author to an edition of their works, and since published separately, are much superior to the Life of Napoleon, and show that he was very highly qualified for this department of literature. The memoirs attached by Mr. Edmund Lodge to a splendid collection of the Portraits of Illustrious Per- sons, are distinguished by great research, and no less dignity and elegance. Out of many minor contributions to biography, it may suffice to mention the admirable Life of Burns, by Mr. John Gibson Lockhart ; the Life of George Buchanan, by Dr. David Irving ; the Life of Alexander the Great, by the Rev. Mr. John Williams ; and the Life of Frederick the Great, by Lord Dover. It must not be overlooked, that, besides nu- merous memoirs of literary men, written for periodi- cals, and in connexion with editions of their works, England has produced, during the period under notice, two General Biographical Dictionaries of high merit ; one in ten volumes quarto, 1 published between the years 1799 and 1815, by Dr. John Aikin; and another, in thirty-two volumes octavo, re-edited with great ad- ditions, between 1812 and 1816, by Mr. Alexander Chalmers. In America, few biographical works were written previously to the Revolution. Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia, has given the lives of several worthies of the earlier times ; and occasionally pamphlets appeared, in which the character and virtues of eminent individuals were commemorated. Since the Revolution, many bi- ographies or memoirs of single individuals, and several biographical dictionaries have been published. Within a short period, there has been a great increase of books of this description. Our limits will allow only a suc- cinct account of this portion of American literature. 23* 270 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. The Life of Washington has been written by David Ramsay, John Marshall, Aaron Bancroft, and others. Judge MARSHALL'S work was published in 1 805. in five large volumes. The History of the American Colonies, which constituted an introductory part, was published in a separate form in 1824. It is a production of great merit, as to a detail of facts and delineation of character, although the style is less finished than that of some bi- ographies since executed in the United States. There is room, perhaps, for ? life of Washington, of a more elaborate and philosophical character than any hitherto written such an one, as might be produced by an au- thor, who should fully understand human nature, and the free institutions of his country ; and whose clas- sical taste and moral endowments, might enable him to do justice to exalted merit of every kind. The Life of James Otis, by WILLIAM TUDOR, who died in 1830, is an able and interesting work, and throws much light on the state of things preceding and attend- ing the American Revolution. A very meritorious bi- ographical work is a Life of Patrick Henry by WILLIAM WIRT. Mr. Wirt, who died in 1834, was also author of The British Spy, and The Old Bachelor, the one a series of letters, and the other a series of essays, which origin- ally appeared in newspaper prints, but were afterwards collected, each into a volume. They have both been very popular, having passed through many editions.* The Life of Gouverneur Morris has been written by JARED SPARKS, in three volumes. In this work, are included selections from Morris's correspondence and miscellaneous papers, detailing events in the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and in the political history of the United States. The Washington papers having been put into the hands of Mr. Sparks, a few years since, have been published with notes and illustra- tions, in separate volumes from time to time. In con- nection with his Library of American Biography, which is soon to be noticed more particularly, his diligent pen has produced other biographies, and is understood to be still employed in this entertaining department of litera- ture. In these several publications, the judgment, can- dour, and impartiality displayed by Mr. Sparks, are *AM.ED. BROWN. DUNLAP. JAY. HAMILTON. 271 only equalled by his indefatigable spirit of research. The Life of John B. Linn was written by his friend CHARLES B. BROWN the novelist, in a style of uncom- mon excellence. The Life of Brown himself was pub- lished some years since by WILLIAM DUNLAP, the paint- er. Mr. Dunlap has since put to the press (1834), a great amount of biography in his History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States. It consists, in part, of a series of biographical notices of a large number of American artists. These several works are written in an easy and clear style, and are replete with entertainment. The Life of John Jay, by his v son WILLIAM JAY, in two volumes octavo, deserves the attention of the student of political history. It is a fair and manly memorial of the talents and virtues of a justly celebrated relative. The Life of Alexander Ha- milton, by his son JOHN C. HAMILTON, is another affec- tionate tribute to the memory of a great man. With a higher moral tone, it would deserve an emphatic eulogi- um, as it is written with good taste, and in pure Eng- lish. B. B. THATCHER'S Indian Biography is an attrac- tive work, and shows much impartiality and skill in treating a difficult subject. A Memoir of RogerWilliams the Founder of the State of Rhode Island, has been given by PROF. JAMES D. KNOWLES. It is a work of research, accuracy, impartiality, and fulness of detail. The Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of In- dependence, by JOHN SANDERSON and ROBERT WALN, JR., is a valuable work. It is an extended account of these celebrated men, being embodied in no less than nine volumes. The Life of Jehudi Ashmun, by RALPH R. GURLEY, is a merited tribute to the memory of a good man. Ashmun was devoted to the cause of African Colonization, and through the whole course of his important enterprise, manifested a wonderful ener- gy of character.* Much excellent religious biography has been produced in the United States, w r ithin a short period. Both the matter and manner of books of this kind commend them to the lovers of good sense, taste, and piety. We may name among these works, in addition to such as have *AM ED. 272 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780* been already spoken of, partaking more or less of a religious character, the following memoirs, viz. one of Elias Cornelius by B. B. EDWARDS, that of John H. Rice by WILLIAM MAXWELL, one of Gregory T. Bedell by STEPHEN H. TYNG, another of Samuel Green by RICHARD S. STORRS. The above remark applies with much force to those biographical volumes in which the labours and virtues of deceased American missionaries have been commemorated. They are beginning to constitute a most valuable portion of the literature of the country. * What a host/ says a literary journalist, * of biographies of holy men, and devout and heroic women who have laboured and suffered and perished, in extending the limits of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and who have left behind them that example which the good in all coming ages shall love to admire and imitate, and that memory which is, in the language of Scripture, "blessed !" Could these biographies be collected and published in a series, what an amount of the most valu- able and spirit-stirring matter would thus be presented to the public !'f The observation here quoted applies in a great measure to American biographical works of this class. The Memoirs of David Brainerd, Samuel J. Mills, Gordon Hall, George D. Boardman, and several others, written by men well qualified for their task, may serve to show the character of this species of American literature. Among other interesting biographies of va- rious kinds during the present period, are the Lives of Richard Henry Lee and Arthur Lee by one of their de- scendants R. H. LEE ; The Life of Columbus by W. IRVING, already noticed ; DR. HOSACK'S Memoir of De Witt Clinton ; Biography of Self -Taught Men by B. B. EDWARDS ; Memoir of the Life of Daniel Webster by SAMUEL L. KNAPP.* Several valuable biographical dictionaries have been published within the current period, as the Biographical Dictionary of JOHN ELLIOT, which gives an account of the distinguished characters of New England, The Ame- rican Biographical Dictionary of WILLIAM ALLEN, and The American Biographical Dictionary of T. J. Ro- * AM. ED. t North American Review, No. 87. SPARKS. CHILD. STEWART. 273 GERS. The last named work is confined to an account of the heroes, sages, and statesmen of the American Revolution. An extended publication entitled Library of American Biography conducted by JARED SPARKS, has already furnished the reading public with several well written, able memoirs. The names of several contribu- tors to the work besides Mr. Sparks, are EDWARD EV- ERETT, JOHN ARMSTRONG, WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, C. W. UPHAM, WM. B. O. PEABODY, and GEORGE S. HILLARD. A work projected by MRS. D. L. CHILD, entitled The Lady's Family Library, affords excellent specimens of biographical writing. It consists of a se- ries of volumes, which the author intends to give to the public from time to time. The varied and sprightly powers of this lady furnish a sufficient pledge, that this publication will be a valuable addition to the stock of biographical reading. It may be remarked in the con- clusion of this article, that the style of some of the ear- lier biographical works in the United States, is certainly exceptionable. Many words are employed which, they who thoroughly understand the language, would not for a moment tolerate. Within a few years, however, a great improvement has been effected in the style of American biography.* METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. ; The science of the human mind has not been so fa- vourite an object of study during the last, as in the im- mediately preceding age. The so-called common sense views of Reid, which proceeded upon the assumption that there are certain native powers in the mind, such as perception, memory, conception, abstraction, judg- ment, reason, taste, moral perception, and conscious- ness ; and which expounded these faculties, without as- serting that they formed the whole of our mental consti- tution ; were adopted with zeal by his pupil, MR. Du- GALD STEWART (1753-1828), Professor of Moral Phi- losophy in the University of Edinburgh. This gentle- man published, in 1792, the first volume of an elaborate work, entitled Elements of the Philosophy of the Hu- * AM. ED. 274 SUBSEQUENT TO 1 780. man Mind, of which a second volume appeared in 1813, and a further continuation in 1827. He was also the author of Outlines of Moral Philosophy, for the Use of Students (1793), Philosophical Essays (1810), and some compositions of less importance. His writings, though, by his own confession, they leave a true and complete philosophy still in expectation, have been received with the highest marks of public approbation, on account of the singular elegance of their composition, and the cheer- ful, benevolent, and elevating views of human nature, and the progress of man as a social being, which they present. While Stewart was spending his latter years in retirement, DR. THOMAS BROWN, (1778-1820,) who, though nominally only his assistant in the chair of moral philosophy, had undertaken the entire performance of his duties, developed views considerably at variance with those of Reid, and gave a new turn to this line of phi- losophic inquiry. Without that majestic and eloquent flow of language, from which much of the celebrity of Stewart has arisen, Dr. Brown excelled him in those acute and discriminating powers of intellect which are best fitted for the prosecution of metaphysical investi- gations. The latter was thus able to trace back some of the mental faculties assumed and named by Reid, to others more primitive and elementary. He taught that all feelings and thoughts are the mind itself, existing in certain conditions, and that consciousness is not a distinct faculty, but a general term for all the states of the intel- lect, Tho philosophy of Brown, of which it is impossi- ble here to give a more minute account, is comprehended in his lectures, which were published after his death, and continue to be used as a class-book. At the time when Brown was endeavouring to ana- lyze the mind into its primitive powers, the same task was undertaken by a class of inquirers, originating in Germany, and afterwards extended into France, Britain, and America, who professed to have ascertained by ob- servation that each of those powers resides in a particular portion of the brain, the extent or volume of which, in ordinary circumstances, indicates the comparative ener- gy of the faculty. The phrenologists, as these inquirers are called, divide the mind into upwards of thirty dis- COMBE. EDWARDS. SMALLEY. 275 tinct powers and dispositions, each of which they assert to be capable of exertion, independently, or in com- bination with others ; and to these simple or com- pound operations they trace every action and expression, or other manifestation of character, exemplified by human beings, every individual being understood to have the various powers and dispositions in different degrees of energy. The most eminent expositor of this science is MR. GEORGE COMBE of Edinburgh, author of a Sys- tem of Phrenology, an Essay on the Constitution of Man, and other works. In the United States, during this period, no metaphys- ical work has been produced equal to the Treatise on the Freedom of the Will ; yet there has been much metaphysical discussion ever since the time of Edwards. If few elaborate, extended works can be named ; still, single essays, or metaphysical disquisitions in the form of sermons, possessing much merit, have appeared, and large numbers of well-written articles that have turned on metaphysical topics, have been embodied in various periodicals. JONATHAN EDWARDS (1745-1801), son of the Jonathan Edwards already spoken of, and president of Union College, was inferior only to his father as a metaphysical writer. He had similar endowments of mind, and was truly a great man. His manner of argu- mentation had more attractions than that of the first Edwards ; while for acuteness and extent of compre- hension, he had no superior among his contemporaries. His Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity is a clear and powerful production, as is also the work entitled The Sal- vation of all Men strictly Examined and Refuted, in an- swer to Dr. Chauncy. JOHN SMALLEY (1734-1820) a Congregational clergyman in Connecticut, wrote a cele- brated metaphysical work on Natural and Moral Ina- bility. This production properly belongs to a former age, but the larger portion of Dr. Smalley's writings, which are of a metaphysical cast, are much more recent. Two volumes of his sermons were published at different times. In many of these discourses, the peculiar pow- ers of his mind appear to advantage. The work on Natural and Moral Inability was republished in England, and, as is supposed, translated into the German Ian- 276 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. guage. It has thrown much light on several important principles or operations of the human mind in reference to religion. STEPHEN WEST, SAMUEL SPRING, SAMUEL AUSTIN, NATHANIEL EMMONS, and others, have shown, in their writings, much talent on topics of a metaphysical and speculative kind. Many of the papers which ap- peared in the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, pub- lished at Hartford, in the latter part of the last century and the beginning of the present, were calculated to ad- vance metaphysical truth, but as they were published anonymously, we have no means of identifying their authors. The same is true, also, in respect to the dis- cussions of a polemic and metaphysical nature, which have been carried on of late years, in the Quarterly Christian Spectator, published in New Haven. They have excited much attention, and some philosophical the- ories or explanations respecting the doctrines of reli- gion have been ably sustained.* Treatises on Mental and Moral Science have not been common, as compared with most other classes of litera- ry productions. A few books of the kind, are, however, works of merit. LEVI FRISBIE, who died in 1822, wrote ably on the subject. A Collection of his Miscellaneous Writings, in which were extracts from the manuscript notes of his Lectures, was published after his death. GEORGE PAYNE published, in 1 829, Elements of Mental and Moral Science. This book consists, in a great measure, of comments on the Lectures of Dr. Thomas Brown. In 1835, FRANCIS WAYLAND gave to the public a work entitled The Elements of Moral Science. This more nearly accords with its title, than the one above named, as an elementary treatise on the particular sci- ence which he has aimed to illustrate. In general, it is ably executed. Dr. Wayland's work proceeds on the supposition which has been controverted of late, that ' a careful study of human nature, as now manifested in its various states of comparative vice and virtue, may, and indeed will lead us so far as it will lead us at all, to right results as to its true character ; just as a careful study of any other portion of God's creation, will enable us to ascertain much that is true concerning it, and need not * AM. ED. PORTEUS. HORSLEY. PRIESTLEY. PALEY. 277 conduct us to any thing that is erroneous.' Mental Phi- losophy, in two volumes, by THOMAS C. UPHAM, is a work of merit. He has written other works which have been favourably received.* WRITERS IN DIVINITY. It is impossible, in the present little treatise, to give a particular account of all the clergymen and laymen who have distinguished themselves since 1780 by their writings on religious topics. We can only attempt a brief sketch of a few whose names are somewhat more conspicuous than the rest. BEILBY PORTEUS (17311803), Bishop of London, a divine of the highest personal worth, obtained a lasting reputation by his sermons, published in various forms, and by a great variety of other works, treating chiefly of the doctrines and discipline of the Church. SAMUEL HORSLEY (1733-1806), Bishop of St. Asaph, is celebra- ted as a keen and enthusiastic advocate of some of those tenets of the Church, which in all ages have been most exposed to controversy. His chief antagonist was the equally celebrated DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY (17331804), whose publications in favour of the Unitarian views of Christianity attracted more attention, in his own time, than those scientific inquiries and discourses, for which he is now chiefly esteemed. Another of Bishop Hors- ley's opponents was GILBERT WAKEFIELD (1756-1801), a most industrious scholar and biblical critic, who had retired, for conscientious reasons, from a charge in the established Church. Mr. Wakefield's principal works are An Enquiry into the Opinions of the Three First Centu- ries concerning the Person of Jesus Christ (1784), A Translation of the New Testament, with Notes (1792), and a pamphlet against the interference of Great Britain with the French Revolution, for which he suffered two years' imprisonment. Perhaps the most extensively useful religious writer of the period was DR. WILLIAM PALEY (1743-1805), who rose from a humble origin to be Archdeacon of Carlisle, and was a man of extraordinary single-heart- *AM. ED. 24 278 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. edness and worth. His first work, The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785), is one of great value, though its conclusions on the foundation of moral distinctions, on subscription to articles of religion, on the British constitution, and several other topics, have been frequently assailed by equally able writers. His Horce PaulincB (1790), Evidences of Christianity (1794), and Natural Theology (1802), ought to be read in the re- verse order of their publication ; the Natural Theolo- gy, as a most ingenious, familiar, and convincing de- monstration of the existence of a Deity from his works ; the Evidences, as an equally ingenious argument for the truth of the revelations attributed to him in the Old and New Testament ; and the Hora3 Paulinae, as following up the whole with a very powerful exposition of that department of the evidences of Christianity which rests upon the Epistles of St. Paul. The writings of Paley, all of which refer to the high- est and most important questions upon which human reason can be exercised, are less remarkable for elo- quence than for minute and elaborate reasoning, an easy and familiar style of illustration, and a vigilant and com- prehensive sagacity, which pursues an argument through all its details, and never fails to bring it clearly out at last. His works have been very extensively circulated and read ; and the Evidences must still be considered, notwithstanding many rivals, as the standard book on the subject. RICHARD WATSON (1737-1816), Bishop of Llandaff, and, like Paley, liberal in his views both of church and state, was another of the great divines who adorned the latter portion of the eighteenth century. His principal works are An Apology for Christianity (1776), written in one month, for the purpose of defending religion against the attack made upon it in Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and An Apology for the Bible, published in 1796, as a refutation of the infidel writings of Thomas Paine. The other compositions of this eminent prelate are principally ser- mons, and charges to the clergy of his diocese. The Established Church has more recently derived honour from the labours of JOHN OWEN, rector of Pa- MANT. SIMEON. HALL. CHALMERS. CLARKE. 279 glesham ; BISHOP MANX, joint-editor of a highly es- teemed commentary on the Bible ; CHARLES SIMEON, whose Horce Homeliticce, in twenty-one volumes, con- tain the rudiments of between two and three thousand sermons, referring to every part of the sacred writings, and designed to aid the clergy in their pulpit composi- tions ; and the BISHOPS SUMNER and BLOMFIELD. Of the many able and useful writers who have risen in the same period among the Dissenters, the most brilliantly gifted was the REV. ROBERT HALL (1764- 183J), a Baptist minister, successively at Cambridge, Leicester, and Bristol, and perhaps the most famous preacher of his time in England. The magnificent and forcible eloquence of this eminent person is not lost, like that of many other orators, in print : his published sermons and tracts are found to possess nearly the same power of impressing the reader, which the preacher exercised in the pulpit. After the death of Hall, there remained no pulpit orator who oould bo placed beside DR. THOMAS CHALMERS, a Clergyman of the Established Church of Scotland, and professor of divinity in the University of Edinburgh. With great defects of style and other blemishes, the sermons of Dr. Chalmers pos- sess a power of melting, convincing, and delighting, which can be the result only of an extraordinary degree of genius. DR. ADAM CLARKE (1763-1832), a Metho- dist preacher, is not less eminent as a biblical annotator and scripture critic. His edition of the Bible, which has the advantage of his vast Oriental learning, is a book of the highest reputation ; and he was the author of an- other laborious work entitled a Bibliographical Diction- ary. Dr. Clarke was admired by men of all religious denominations for his profound knowledge and mild unassuming deportment. The theological works produced in the United States during this period, constitute no inconsiderable portion of the literature of the nation. The American mind, as already appears, has been successfully exerted in most kinds of religious discussions. Theology as a sci- ence has received much attention from the clergy, and is in general well understood by that profession. Pro- found and original investigations of a speculative charac- 280 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. ter in the science have not been wanting ; but perhaps the former age was more remarkable than the present, for this description of works. A class of writers, how- ever, has more lately arisen, connected principally with theological seminaries, whose works, in respect to accu- racy and extent of biblical learning, possess a higher reputation than any that have preceded them. These authors acquainting themselves with the rules of scrip- tural interpretation, beyond the degree attained by their fathers, and ascending to original sources of theological knowledge, have added a most useful and instructive portion to the studies and reading of the religious pub- lic. Theology and biblical literature, separately or in connection, now claim the attention of several of the master minds in the United States.* In the early portion of the present period, Dr. Ed- wards, Dr. Smalley, and most, if not all of the Ameri- can metaphysical writers, who were named in the pre- ceding section, distinguished themselves by their reli- gious publications, of a practical, as well as polemical character. As authors of sermons they have also been held in high repute. In this department of religious writing, the number of esteemed authors, without naming anynow living, is quite large. Amonthese,may be named Charles Backus, Joseph Lathrop, Nathan Strong, Timo- thy Dwight, Samuel S. Smith, David Tappan, Joseph S. Buckminster, John M. Mason, Edward Payson, John R. Hobart, Ebenezer Porter, Henry Kollock. DR. BACKUS was the author of a volume of sermons on Regeneration. The subject is treated with judgment and ability, and the book is a valuable guide to correct views concerning the doctrine of regeneration. DR. LATIIROP'S Sermons are comprised in six volumes. As he is one of the most volu- minous, so he is one of the most popular of American wri- ters of sermons. His publications have been extensively known in Great Britain as well as in the United States. He exhibits clearness of thought, fertility of invention, and originality of views. His style is neat and forcible. NATHAN STRONG was the author of two volumes of sermons. He also wrote a work in vindication of the doctrine of future punishment, entitled Benevolence and *AM. ED. DWIOHT. SMITH. TAPPAN. BUCKMINSTER. 28 1 Misery. As evinced by his writings, his views of the- ology were comprehensive ; his statements were guard- ed, his reasonings conclusive, and his style simple and unadorned. Several of the occasional sermons of PRES. DWIGIIT were published some years since, in one vol- ume. They give the reader a good idea of the elo- quence, theological knowledge, and piety for which he is justly celebrated. The discourses which constitute his Theology Explained, will be soon noticed in a differ- ent connection. SAMUEL STANHOPE SMITH published several volumes of sermons. He was a popular preach- er, and the style of his sermons is polished and perspic- uous. He wrote several other books in which he exhib- its a philosophical vein, an extensive acquaintance with literature, and a commendable zeal for the advance- ment of true religion. His Essay on the Variety of Complexion in the Human Species is an elaborate per- formance, and does him much credit as a philosopher and a Christian.* Two volumes of the works of DAVID TAPPAN, who was a professor of divinity in Harvard University, have been published since his death one consisting of ser- mons on important subjects, the other of lectures on Jewish antiquities. The amiable temper and correct moral feeling of the author appear in his writings. He combines entertainment with instruction, and elegance of style with convincing logic. His sermons would have been improved by a somewhat stronger infusion of distinguishing doctrinal truth. The sermons of JOSEPH S. BUCKMINSTER were committed to the press after his decease. They are deficient in evangelical sentiment, and in pungency of appeal ; but probably no sermons ever published in the United States, excel them in puri- ty and sweetness of style. Equally celebrated with these, though of a very different character, are the dis- courses of JOHN M. MASON. His works, consisting of Sermons, Essays, and Miscellanies have been published since his decease, in four volumes. Of his sermons, as also of his other works, it may be said that they give evidence of the powerful intellect, extensive learning, and nervous eloquence of the author. They are specimens less of taste *AM. ED. 24* 282 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. and fine writing, than of a comprehensive and keen un- derstanding, and ardent feelings in the cause of truth. His pulpit talents in particular were of the highest order. EDWARD PAYSON was the author of a volume of ser- mons, which appeared soon after his death. Some other remains of this excellent divine have since been given to the public. His sermons are animated, discriminating exhibitions of evangelical truth. There is in them a happy combination of good sense, warmth of feeling, and strong imagination. The sermons of Dr. Payson, are a fair specimen of that class of American pulpit ex- hibitions, which have so effectually promoted the inter- ests of religion in the United States calculated alike to enlighten the understanding in respect to the truths of the Gospel, to impress the conscience, and to move the feelings. Two volumes of sermons by JOHN H. HOBART, were published in London several years since. They were on the Principal Events and Truths of Re- demption, and proved to be a valuable addition to the stores of Protestantism, especially in its warfare against vice, heresy, and infidelity. His Posthumous Works have lately been given to the public, with a memoir by Dr. William Berrian. EBENEZER PORTER published in 1834, Lectures on Homilectics and Preaching, and on Public P/ aycr, together with Sermons and Addresses, in one volume octavo. An edition of this work was an- nounced in London the next year. He gave to the public several religious discourses which are not em- bodied in a volume. Besides sermons, he wrote some other works of a choice character, as Analysis of Vocal Inflection, Analysis of the Principles of Rhetorical De- livery, in 1827, of which there have been six or seven editions, and Lectures on Eloquence and Style. The last publication has appeared since his death. Dr. Por- ter's sermons and other works discover much good sense, careful discrimination, and a cultivated, refined taste. They are calculated to please by their classical style, and to do good by their seriousness and weight of thought. Four volumes of the sermons of HENRY KOLLOCK have been published since his death. In these pulpit efforts, his talents, learning, and eloquence are displayed to advantage. They are characterised by a DWIGHT. CONTROVERSIAL THEOLOGIANS. 283 glowing, easy, and popular style. Occasional single sermons of a high character, and even volumes of dis- courses on religious topics, respectable as to literary merit, frequently issue from the American press. So general are the taste and capacity for this species of intellectual effort, that there are few of the better edu- cated class of divines who have not published a greater or less number of well written sermons.* It does not appear that systematic divinity has been published of late, to any great extent, in the United States. Compendiums and systems of doctrine in part, have appeared ; but extended works of this kind, giving a complete view of divine truth in connection, have been rare, The most important work of the kind is Dr. D wight's Theology Explained and Defended, in a series of Discourses. The sound views, cultivated taste, and eloquent writing of the author, are conspicuous in this, as well as in all his other productions, and have pro- duced the most beneficial results. The work has been extensively circulated, both in England and the United States. In the former country, Dr. Dvvight's good sense and guarded statements, as is believed, have corrected some antinomian perversions, which had been connected with the inculcation of the general evangelical system, on the part of a class of English divines.* The religious controversies in the United States written the present century, whatever evils they may have produced, have awakened and created a large share of talent, and issued in the publication of many valuable papers. In the various disputes between Or- thodoxy and Unitarianism, several writers have become distinguished. NOAH WORCESTER, SAMUEL WORCESTER, MOSES STUART, LEONARD WOODS, and others, have been engaged on one side ; and WILLIAM E. CHANNING, HENRY WARE, ANDREWS NORTON, BERNARD WHITMAN, and oth- ers, on the opposite side. Important disclosures of plans and doctrines were brought into view, in this polemic war- fare ; and ample means were afforded to the public, for forming a judgment of the points at issue. The dispu- tations among the evangelical congregational clergy of New England, respecting certain portions of their com- *AM. ED. 284 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. mon creed the questions which have been discussed in the presbyterian church, pertaining to a strict construc- tion of their articles of faith and the controversy which relates to the claims of episcopacy, have enrolled able writers on either side of the matter in dispute, and light has been thrown on important principles of truth and church order. It is an abatement, it must be confessed, of the value of some of these publications, that evil, suspicious, and uncharitable feelings, have been engen- dered between the undoubted friends of virtue and the Bible. Where so many have written and published, and with nearly equal power, it is impossible to give an account of their productions singly and in detail. Seve- ral, if not all, of the writers above named, have employ- ed their pens on other subjects, some of which remain to be mentioned.* While interesting discussions of this kind have been carried on in the church, many pens have been employed in the production of a miscellaneous religious literature, under the titles of Essays, Lectures, Addresses, &c. In this department, JAMES P. WILSON, JESSE APPLETON, ELIPHALET NOTT, JEREMIAH EVARTS, JOHN H. RICE, HEAIAN HUMPHREYS, JOEL HAW r Es,WiLLiAM B. SPRAGUE, and many others, have distinguished themselves. Ex- tended religious treatises on important topics, both of the doctrinal and practical kind, have been somewhat numerous, within the latter part of the present period. Among the more prominent writers, we may name SAM- UEL MILLER, EDWARD D. GRIFFIN, LEONARD WOODS, LYMAN BEECIIER, GARDINER SPRING, W. C. BROWNLEE. Some of the productions of these authors, have parta- ken more or less of a controversial character. With- in a few years, a class of productions has issued from the American press, having special reference to the re- ligious welfare of youth, or adapted to the various do- mestic and social relations of life. Many of these are engaging and able works, and have been extensively circulated abroad as well as at home. They have fur- nished many important and lively illustrations of what may be called, the economy of social, religious life. LYDIA H. SIGOURNEY, JOHN S. C. ABBOT, JACOB ABBOT, *AM ED. STUART. ROBINSON. HODGE. BUSH. 285 G. D. ABBOT, THOMAS H. GALLAUDET, SAMUEL NOTT, CHARLES A. GOODRICH,F.L.DIMICK,HARVEYNEWCOMB, and others, have excelled as writers of books of this de- scription. The study of 'biblical criticism andliterature has been prosecuted for a number of years past in the United States with much success the result of which has ap- pearedin several publications of sterling excellence. PROF. MOSES STUART has distinguished himself in works of this description. His Commentary on the Epistle to the He- brews, and that on the Epistle to the Romans, show the critical skill and various learning of the author, as well as throw much light on the portions of scripture of which he has treated. They have been well received, both in Europe and in the United States. Several other works pertaining to the study of the Hebrew language, to the investigation of scripture, or to the general inter- ests of religion, have proceeded from his pen, and are valuable contributions to learning and piety. PROF. EDWARD ROBINSON, formerly editor of the Biblical Re- pository, has published in that work and in other forms, the fruits of extensive acquaintance with oriental litera- ture, and philological analysis. His books have added much to the stock of sacred learning, and to the literary credit of the United States. A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans has proceeded from the pen of PROF. C. HODGE, and also a Commentary on the Psalms by PROF. GEORGE BUSH, began to make its appearance in 1835, to be published in periodical numbers. The learning and talent of the authors of these works, will not fail to insure to them a desirable reputation.* TRAVELLERS AND VOYAGERS. In the department of travels and voyages, this period exhibits an increase of writers, proportioned to the in- creasing spirit of enterprise which has animated natives of Britain in exploring distant countries and seas. JAMES BRUCE of Kinnaird, in Stirlingshire, a gentleman of singular intrepidity, and extensive accomplishments, devoted the year 1768, and the five which followed, to a journey along the northern coast of Africa, and into * AM. ED. 286 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. Abyssinia ; the main end which he had in view being the discovery of the source of the Nile, which no Euro- pean had ever before reached. After succeeding in this undertaking, he returned to his native country; and, in 1790, published an account of his travels in five quar- to volumes, with an additional volume of drawings. The more extraordinary details of this work were doubted at the time of its appearance, but have since been confirmed by other travellers into Abyssinia, of whom the chief are Lord Valentia and Mr. Henry Salt. The voyages of the celebrated circumnavigator, CAP- TAIN JAMES COOK, which commenced in 1768, and were prosecuted, with but few interruptions, till 1779, might have been noticed with more propriety perhaps under the preceding period. The history of the first expedi- tion of this great discoverer, as well as of the underta- kings of his predecessors, Byron, Wallis, and Carteret, was written by Dr. John II awkes worth, who has been already mentioned. The second voyage was described by the navigator himself, who also brought down the narrative of his third enterprise till within a short period of his death. Towards the close of the eighteenth century, a strong wish took possession of the public mind that the interior of the large continent of Africa should be explored, with a view to commerce; and the task was undertaken by MR..MUNGO PARK, a Scottish surgeon, who, in 1795, travelled from the Senegal to the Niger, and traced the latter river for a considerable way through a well-peo- pled country. A history of this expedition was published in 1799, and is a work of much interest. A second journey, undertaken by Mr. Park in 1805, terminated in the destruction of his own life, and that of most of his companions ; and of this enterprise an account ap- peared in 1815. In 1822, and the two subsequent years, a journey into the same vast continent, from the vicinity of Tripoli, was performed by MAJOR DENHAM, CAP- TAIN CLAPPERTON, and DR. OUDNEY, who made some important discoveries, though they did not succeed in reaching the Niger. A narrative of this expedition, chiefly written by Denham, was published in 1826. Of a journey subsequently undertaken by Clapperton, LANDER. ROSS. PARRY. FRANKLIN. COXE. 287 in which he penetrated from the Guinea coast to Soc- catoo, where he lost his life, an account was given to the world by his attendant, RICHARD LANDER, who afterwards engaged in a similar expedition, and was successful in discovering the course of the Niger towards the sea. The latter journey was described in three volumes of the Family Library. After the conclusion of the French revolutionary war, the British government turned its attention to the discov- ery of a passage to Asia along the supposed northern coasts of America; and, in 1817, an expedition sailed under the charge of CAPTAIN JOHN Ross, with CAPTAIN EDWARD PARRY, as second in command. Another ex- pedition in 1819-20, a third in 1821-2-3, a fourth in 1824-5, and a fifth in 1827, under Parry alone, have all been commemorated in large books, illustrated by en- gravings ; while a journey undertaken in concert with the nautical expeditions, by CAPTAIN JOHN FRANKLIN, has been described in a similar manner. Notwithstand- ing the failure of the main object of these expeditions, the works in which they are narrated possess a very high interest, not only on account of the new seas and terri- tories which they bring to view, but from the many sin- gular forms of nature depicted in them, and the inge- nious devices which were necessarily resorted to for the sustenance of human life under the extreme cold of an arctic climate. ARCHDEACON COXE, whose historical works have been already mentioned, published in early life his Travels in Switzerland and the northern kingdoms of Europe, with an elaborate work descriptive of the discoveries made by the Russians between Asia and America. A tour through the north of Europe was also published in 1805, by SIR JOHN CARR, who was the author of several other books of travels, now forgotten. No English traveller, however, has ever attained so high a reputation as DR. EDWARD DANIEL CLARKE (1767-1822), a clergyman, educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, and who finally became professor of mineralogy in that university. In 1799, this eminent person began to travel through Den- mark, Sweden, Lapland, Finland, Russia, Tartary, Cir- cassia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and 288 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. Turkey, returning, in 1802, through Germany and France ; and after various works of inferior importance, referring to objects of antiquity which he had brought with him to England, he published an account of his ex- tensive and laborious tour, in six quarto volumes (1810- 23). For the duties of a traveller and describer of travels, Dr. Clarke possessed unrivalled qualifications, great acquired knowledge, unshrinking courage and power of enduring fatigue, and the ability to narrate what he observed in a lively, graphic, and agreeable manner. The most valuable portion of the work of Dr. Clarke is that which refers to the countries adjacent to the head of the Mediterranean, which, from their connection with Scriptural history, possess a peculiar interest in the eyes of Europeans, while their political condition causes them to be less frequently visited and described than many states which do not attract nearly so much of our re- gard. Since the return of Dr. Clarke, several intelli- gent travellers have been induced to brave the dangers of a journey through those countries, in order that the British public might be made more intimately acquainted with them. JOHN Louis BURCKHARDT, a Swiss, in the employment of the African Association of England, spent two years and a half in Syria and Palestine, and afterwards performed some most adventurous journeys in northern and eastern Africa and Arabia, personating a Mahometan for the purpose of acquainting himself thoroughly with the religious ceremonies of the nations, though a discovery of the deception would have sub- jected him to instant death. This enterprising traveller died in 1817, at Cairo, having previously sent to England the whole of his journals, from which, accounts of his travels in Syria, in Nubia and Egypt, and in Arabia, have since been published. At a period somewhat later, MR. J. S. BUCKINGHAM, formerly the conductor of a news- paper in British India, performed an overland journey from that country to England, travelling through Meso- potamia, Media, Persia, Syria, and Arabia, which he afterwards described both by books and by lectures. In 1822, SIR ROBERT KER PORTER, who had previously written Sketches of Sweden and Russia, published Trav- CARNE. WILSON. EUSTACE. FORSYTH. 289 els in Georgia, Persia, and Armenia; and tours in Palestine have subsequently been given to the world by MR. CARNE and MR. RAE WILSON. By the researches and observations of these and other intelligent individu- als, much new light has been thrown upon the geogra- phy of the regions mentioned in the Bible, and also on the manners and events alluded to, both in the earlier and the later portions of the sacred writings. The interest which the ancient literature and history of Greece and Rome, possess in the eyes of cultivated Europeans, has been, in like manner, the cause of much travelling in those countries. A journey undertaken in Italy, in 1802, by the REV. JOHN CHETWODE EUSTACE, with a special reference to the objects of classical re- nown, is commemorated with much elegance and enthu- siasm, but little correctness, in a work published in 1813. At the same time appeared MR. JOSEPH FORSYTH'S Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters, during an Excursion in Italy, in the years 1802 and 1803 ; a work of less eloquence and feeling than the Classical Tour of Eustace, but more vigorous, acute, and epigrammatic, and decidedly the best English book upon the subject. The Diary of an Invalid, by MR. HENRY MATTHEWS, is a lively and agreeable description of an Italian tour, though not to be trusted as an authority. Miss Waldie's work, entitled Rome in the Nineteenth Century, is lively and intelligent : and Lady Morgan's Italy, whatever may be its faults, contains a faithful description of some portions of Italian society. Among many other re- cent productions on the same subject, we have only space to mention the accurate Description of the Anti- quities of Rome, by Dr. Burton, the elegant Observations on Italy by Mr. John Bell, and Mr. Brockedon's illustrated works respecting the scenery of the Alps. A work entitled Travels in Italy and Greece, by MR. H. W. WILLIAMS, is valuable for its remarks on the ancient works of art preserved in these states. But the most elaborate book on the latter country, and one which in a great measure supersedes all others, is .A Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece, pub- lished in 1819 in two volumes quarto, by MR. EDWARD DODWELL. 25 290 SUBSEQUENT TO 1780. Of those voyagers and travellers who have related the wonders of distant parts of the earth in a lively and pleasing manner, there are few who rank higher than CAPTAIN BASIL HALL. The first work of this able officer was An Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea, and the Great Loo Choo Island (1818), of which the great charm consisted in the moral inter- est with which he invested the account of a primitive and simple nation of Chinese, who inhabit that portion of the earth. In 1824, Captain Hall published Extracts from a Journal written on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico, being the result of his observations in those countries during a residence of three years ; a work which also obtained high public approbation, chiefly for its lively sketches of the manners and customs of the South American republics. A subsequent work, de- scriptive of the United States, met with a less favoura- ble reception, on account of the censure which it be- stowed upon the character of the people of that country, and the political inferences which it drew from that character ; but in his Fragments of Voyages and Tra- vels, published still more recently, the powers of the au- thor, as a describer of incident and adventure, have been more admired, perhaps, than in any of his preced- ing publications. Innumerable other writers have described the nearer European countries, the United States, and the various British colonies; some of them characterised by dry accuracy in matters of fact, others by powers of lively description, and the art of giving an interest to what they relate. Of the latter sort, a remarkable example was found in MR. HENRY DAVID INGLIS, author of works referring to Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the Channel Islands, and Ireland. The natural scenery of our own island has been also described during the present age, in a series of pleasing publications by the REVEREND WILLIAM GILPIN (1724-1804), Vicar of Boldre, and Prebend of Sarum. Of collections of voyages and travels, one was pub- lished by Mr. John Pinkerton, the Scottish antiquary, in nineteen large volumes quarto ; another by Mr. Robert Kerr, in eighteen volumes octavo. A compilation man- CONDER. BARTRAM. CARVER. 291 aged in a different manner, has been published, in a long series of small volumes, by MR. JOSIAH CONDER, under the title of The Modern Traveller ; in this work, a sum- mary description of each country is given from a care- ful and judicious survey of the various accounts of voyages and travels relating to it, by which much ex- pense and also much pains is spared to the reader. During the period under review, the literature of the United States has been enriched by a number of books of travels. The enterprise of various classes of the people has carried them into every part of the world, mostly indeed, for the purposes of gain ; but in many instances, they have been actuated by the desire to see and describe foreign countries, and to enlarge the boundaries of knowledge. JOHN BARTRAM (1701-1777), a native of Pennsylvania, was one of the earliest among his countrymen who published the results of travels. He, and the succeeding traveller to be named, belonged to a former age ; but as they could not be mentioned elsewhere, they deserve a passing notice here. Mr. Bartram, whom Linnaeus pronounced the greatest nat- ural botanist in the world,' made excursions from Cana- da to Florida, in pursuit of the objects of his favourite study. The Observations which he made on the inhab- itants, climate, soil. /7/, li'i/lia m . . 220 Buckingham, J. S. . 288 CJinch, Charles P. . 241 Buckminster, Joseph S. . 281 1 Golden, Cadwalladcr . . 193 Bui wer, Edward Lytton . 'J.>4 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 203-4,36 Banyan, John . 76, 100 Collections of Poetry in the reign of Burckhardt, John Louis . 288, Elizabeth . . 35 Burke, Edmund . . 187, 91; Collins, William . . 142, 4 Burnet, Dr. Thomas . . 92 Colman, George, (elder) . 155, 7 Burnet, Gilbert . . 95 Colman, George, (younger) . 237 Burney, Dr. Charles . . 171 Colton, Calvin . . 294 Burns, Robert . . 200-1 Colton, Walter . . 294 Burr, Aaron . . 183 Combe, George . . 275 Burton, Dr. . 289 Conder, Josiah . . 290 Burton, Robert . . 681 Congreve, William . 119-20 Bush, Prof. George . 285 1 Connecticut Evangelical Maffnzinc 'J70 Butler, Dr. Joseph . . 177 Consolation from Friendship, (poetical Butler, Samuel . . 81) specimen) . . 34 Byles, Mather . . 152 Constable's Miscellany . 306 Byron, Lord . . 208-11, 36 Cooper, James F. . 257 | Cooper, Samuel . . 183 CAEDMON, an Anglo-Saxon writer 10, Cook, Captain James ' . 286 Calamy, Edmund . . 98 Coote, Dr. . . . 172 Callender, John . . 173 Corbet, Richard . . 39 Camden, William . . 65' Cotton, John Campbell, Dr. George . 181 1 Cotton, Sir Robert . 74 Campbell, Dr. John, Author of Lives Coverdale, Miles, translates the Bible 27 of the Admirals . 171, 891 Cowley, Abraham , 76, 92 GENERAL INDEX. 323 Cowper, William Coxe, Archdeacon Crabbe, George Critical Review Croly, Mr: . Croker, Crofton Cunningham, Allen Currie, Ur. James Gushing, Caleb PAGE 197-9 261, 87 199 191 253 252 220 201, 67 294 DAFFODILS, to, (poetical specimen) 40 Dana, Richard H. . 233 Dane, Nathan . . 309 Daniel, Samuel . . 36 Dante ... 13 D'Arblay, Madame . 241 Darby, William . . 313 Darwin, Erasmus . 199 Davenant, Sir William . 41, 64 Davenport, John . Davies, Samuel Death of the Dutchess of Malfy, (dra- matic specimen) . . 55 Defoe, Daniel . . 131,59 Dekkar, Thomas . 59, 64 Dekkar against Fine Clothes, (prose specimen) 6 Denham, Major . . 286 Denham, Sir John . 4] Dennie, Joseph . . 31C Dibdin, Charles . . 237 Dibdin, Thomas Frognall . 297 Dickinson, John . . 192 Dickinson, Jonathan . 137, 8 Dimick, F. L. . . 285 D'lsraeli, Isaac . . 295 Doanc, George W. . . 234 Doddridge, Dr. Philip . 180 Dodsley, Robert . 151, 89, 91 Dodsley's Annual Register . 191 Dodwell, Edward Donne, John Dorset, Earl of Douce, Francis . . 296 Douglas, Gavin . .23 Dover, Lord . . 269 Drama, The : reasons for its encour- agement under Elizabeth and the early Stuarts . . 30 Drama, Rise of the . 44-5 Writers preceding Shakspeare 47-8 Inferior writers of the age of Shakspeare and Jonson 6' Drayton, Michael . 37-8 Drummond to his Lute, (poetical spe- cimen) Drummorid, William . Dryden, John 84, 85, 88, 90, H>2 Dudley, Paul . . 193 Dumont, Etienne . 30 Dunbar, William . . 25 Dunlap, William . 239,7 Dunlop, John . . 264 D'Urfey . . 10$ Dwight, H. G.O.. Dwight, Theodore . 225 Dwight, Timothy . .224,8 Dyer, John . . 14' EASTBVRN, JAMES WJ1LLIS 23 PAGE 3chard, Lawrence . 134 idgeworth, Maria Edinburgh Cabinet Library 307 Edinburgh Encyclopedia . 305 Edinburgh Review . 298 Edwards, B. B. . . 272 Edwards, Jonathan . 176, 81 Edwards, Dr. Jonathan . 183, 275 Eliot, Andrew . . 183 Eliot, John ... 99 Elliot, Ebenezer . . 221 Elliot, John . . .272 Emerson, Joseph . . 313 Emmons, Nathaniel . . 276 Encyclopedia Americana . 318 Encyclopedia Britannica . 304 Encyclopedia Metropolitana 305 Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge 318 Encyclopedias . . 189,304 English Language of eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centu- ries, specimens of, (note) 12 becomes the language of education and pub- lic proceedings 16 Latin introduced into it . 23, 27, 29 affected by the Refor- mation 27 changes in the seven- teenth century 75 spoken with purity in America . 223 Essay, Rise of the . 123 Eustace, Rev. J. C. .289 Evans's Collection of Old Ballads 196 Evarts, Jeremiah . 284 Evelyn, John . . 101 Everct, David . 239 Everett, Edward . 273, 310 FAERY QUEEN, THE, of Spenser 31-2 Falconer, William . 147 Family Library . 307 Farmer, Hugh . . 181 Farce, The, a minor species of comedy 119 Farquhar, George . 120 Fashionable Novels . . 253 Fenton, Elijah . 115 Fergusson, Dr. Adam . 259 Ferrex and Porrex, first English tra- g<-dy . . . 26,48 Fcssendcn, Thomas G. . 227 Fielding, Henry . . 160-2 Finley, Samuel . 183 Finn, Henry J. . . 241 Fiskc, Nathan . 158 Fisk, Pliny . : 295 Fletcher, Phineas and Giles 41 Flint, Timothy . 258. 66, 93 Forbes, Sir William . 267 Ford, John . . 60 Forsylh, Joseph . 289 Fortescue, Sir John . . 20 Fosb; ooke, T. D. . 296 Foster, James . . 180 Foster, Mrs. . . 255 Fox, Charles James . Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Captain John . 287 324 GENERAL INDEX. Fraser, James Frenau, Philip Frisbie, Levi Fuller, Thomas Funeral of the Lovers, The, (poetical specimen) GALLAUDET, THOMAS H. Gait, John Garrick, David Garth, Samuel Gascoigne, George Gathering to Aiister Fair, (poetical specimen) Gay, John Gentleman's Magazine Gibbon, Edward Gifford, William 252 Herrick, Robert 226 Heylin, Dr. Peter 276 Heywood, John 101 Hill, Aaron 219 28,1 2.50 155 Hillard, George S. '. Hillhouse, James Jl. Hoadly, Author of the "Suspicious Husband " Hoadly, Benjamin Hobart, John H. PAGE 39 74,75 46 153 273 240 155 135 104 1 Hobbes,' Thomas' 35 217 114 Gildas, the first Anglo-Saxon Writer Gillies, Dr. Adam Gilpin, Rev. William Glover, Richard Godfrey, Thomas Godwin, William Goldsmith, Oliver Goodrich, Charles Jl. Goodrich, Samuel G. Gordon, William Gore, Mrs. Gower, John Grahame, James Grainger, James 172-3 212, 98 10 Hodge, Prof. Charles Hogg, James Holland, Lord Holmes, Mid Home, Henry, (Lord Kames) . Home, John Homer, translated by Chapman 259; 290J Hood, Thomas 147! Hooke, Nathaniel 152, 238, Hooker, Richard 2431 Hooker, Thomas 146, 55, 65, 72 Hook, Theodore Pope Covvper 70-1,92 285 215, 51 267 264 175 154 53 112-13 197 221 35 1 Hope of the Beggar, the, (poetical spc- 65 73 253 313 cimen) 24 Hopkins, Lemuel 13, Hopkins, Samuel 213 1 Home, Bishop 171 Horseley, Samuel Granville, George, (Lord Lansdowne) 115; Howard, Sir Robert Grattan, Colley . . 254 j Howe, John Gray, Thomas . 142 Howell, James Green, Matthew Greenfield Hill, Extract from, (poeti col specimen) . . 224-5 Griffin, Edward D. Griscom, John Gurlcy, Ralph R. Guthrie, William, Author of the Ge- ographical Grammar Quyse, John . 293 271 HALE, SARAH J. Halifax, Earl of Hallam, Henry Hall, Basil Hall, Gordon Hall, Joseph Hall, Mrs. S. C. Hall, Rev. Robert Halleck, Fitz-Greene Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton, Elizabeth Hamilton of Gilbertfield Hamilton, John C. Harrington, Sir James Hartley, David Hawes, Joel Hawkesworth, Dr. John Hayley. William Hazlitt, William Heber, Reginald Hemans, Mrs. Henry, Dr. Robert Henry, Matthew Henryson, Robert Herbert of Cherbury, Lord 234,58 87 253 290 295 39,70 252 279 231 308 246 18 271 92 174 284 156,286 214 221 170 13(3 206-7 252 225 1H2 179 277 89 99 74 221 221 137 168, 74, 81 Howitt, Mary Howitt, Wilfiam Hubbard, William Hume, David Humorous scene at an Inn, (dramat- ic specimen) . 12 Humphreys, David 225 Humphreys, Heman . 284 Hunter, Mrs. John . 214 Hunting of the Hart, (poetical specimen) 38 Huntintfton, JV*. G. Hunt, Leigh Hurd, Bishop Hutcheson, Dr. Francis Hutchinson, Thomas Hutton, Joseph 313 217-18, 303 179 174 173 241 Hymn to Diana, (poetical specimen) 57 INCHBALD, MRS. . . 242 Ingersoll, Cfiarlts J. . 241 Inglis, Henry David . 290 Irving, Dr. David . 259 Irving, Washington 255, 7, 272 JACK AND JOAN, [poetical speci- men] James I. of Scotland 67 James VI. of Scotland 302 James, Mr. Jay, John Jet William j, Dr. John Jefferson Thomas Jeffrey, Francis Jenyns, Soame ,06,7 43 251 308 270 179 156,88 GENERAL INDEX. 325 PAGE Johnson, Dr. Samuel 149, 56, 7, 64, 84 PAGE Literature, Periodical, in the United Johnson, Samuel . . 18 States, unsuccessful until the com- Johnstone, Charles . 165 mencement of the 19th century 314 Johnstone, Mrs. . 251 Literature, reasons for its flourishing Jones, Richard . . 302 after the Reformation . 30 Jones, Sir William . 150 Livingston, Edward . 309 Jonson, Benjamin 41, 43, 56-7, 75 Livingston, William . 152 Jortin, Dr. John . 179 Locke, John . . 93-4 Judson, Ann H. . . 295 Lockart, John Gibson 254, 69, 98 Junius . . 188 Lodge, Edmund 4 269 Logan, John . . 149,81 KEATS, JOHN 220 Logan, Mrs. . . 251 Kelly, Hugh . . 155 London Magazine . . 190 Kennett's (Basil) Roman Antiquities 134 Kennett, White . . 167 Long and Say - . 293 Longfellow, H. W. . .234 Kennicott, Dr. . 179 Lovelace, Richard . 40 Kent, James . . 309 Lowth, Robert . . 177 Kerr, Robert . . 290 Lowth, William . 135 Knapp, Samuel L. Lucasta, to, on going to the Wars, Knickerbocker's Magazine 318 Kollock, Henry . . 282-3 [poetical specimen] . 40 Lydgate, John . . 20 Knowles, James Sheridan 236 Lylly, John . . 35 Knowles, Prof. James D. . 271 Lyman,Mr. . . 265 Lyttleton, Lord . 170 LAD rs FJ1MIL Y LIBRAR Y 273 Laing, Malcom . . 261 MACKENZIE, HENRY 157,66 Lake School of Poetry . 204 Lamb, Charles . 303 Mackenzie, Sir George . 104 Mackintosh, Sir James . 262, 98 Lander, Richard . . 287 Madison, James . . 308 Landon, Lctitia Elizabeth 221 Maitland, Sir Richard . 42 Landor, W. S. . . 303 Malcolm, John . . 221 Langhorne, John . 14S Malcolm, Sir John . 264 Langlande . . 13 Malthus, T. R. . . 296, 301 Language, the, first spoken in the Brit- Mandeville, Sir John, traveller 15 ish Isles . . 9 Manley, Mrs. . . 159 Lardner, Dr. Nathaniel . 179 Mant, Bishop . . 279 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia . 307 Marlowe, Christopher . 49 Lathrop, Joseph . . 280 Marshall, H. . . 266 Law, Bishop . . 179 Marshall, John . . 270 Layamon, translator of Wace 11 Marston, John . . 53 Ledyard, John . 292 Martineau, Harriet . . 302 Lee, Arthur . . 192 Marvell, Andrew . 82 Lee, Harriet . . 244 Mason, John M. . . 281 Lee, Richard Henry . 192,72 Mason, William . 151, 4 Lee, Sophia . . 241, 4 Masques . . 58 Legitimate English Comedy . 119 Massinger, Philip . 60 Lcighton, Robert . 97 Mather, Cotton . . 137-8 Leland, Dr. John . . 180 Mather, Increase . 138-8 Leland, John . . 24-5 Mather, Samuel . . 158 Leonard, L. W. . . 313 Matthews, Henry : 289 Leslie, Charles . . 136 Maturin, Robert . . 236,47 L'Estrange, Sir Roger . 102 Maxwell, William . 272 Lewis and Clark . 293 May, Thomas . . 74 Lewis, Matthew Gregory . 214 M'Call, Hugh . 266 Leyden, John . . 213 M'Crie, Dr. Thomas . 267 Library of American Biography 273 M'Culloch, J.R. . 301 Library of Entertaining Knowledge 306 Mellen, Grcnville . . 234 Library of Christian Knowledge 319 Melodrama 235 Library of Useful Knowledge 306 Memory, [poetical specimen] . 33 Lightfoot, John . 97 Metaphysical Poets . 41 Lillo, George . . 117) Meikle, William Julius . 149 Lindsay, Sir David . 24, 47 Middleton, Dr. Conyers . 178 Lingard, Dr. John . . 263 Millar, John . . 296 Linn, John Blair . 227 Mill, James . . 264, 301 Literary and Theological Review 317 Miller, Samuel . .310 Literary Magazine . 190 Milman, Henry . . 236 Literature, American, obstacles to the Milton, John . . 77-9,91 formation of 222 Minot, George R. . 266 what may be done to im- Minot, Lawrence . . 13 prove it 222 Minstrel Poems . 12 28 326 GENERAL INDEX. Minstrels . . 12 Miracle Plays . . 45 Mirrour for Magistrates, a series of poems . . 26 Mitford, Miss . . 236, 304 Mitford's History of Greece 259 Moir, David M. .221 Montague, Lady M. W. . 132 Montgomery, Captain Alexander 42 Montgomery, James . 212,13 Monthly Magazine . . 299 Monthly Review . 190 Moore, Dr. John . . 242 Moore, Edward . 154,i Moore, Thomas . 211, 12, 68 Moral Plays . . 45 More, Mrs. Hannah . 246 More. Sir Thomas . 24 Morgan, Lady . . 247, 89 Morrell, Benjamin . 293 Morris, Georcre P. . 241 Morse, Jedediah . 312 Morton, Thomas . . 238 Morier, James . . 252 Motherwell, William . 221 Mulgrave, Earl of . 253 Murderers of Mankind, the, [poetical specimen] . . 205 Murphy, Arthur . . 153 NAPIER, COLONEL W. F. P. Napier, Macvey Neal, John New Annual Register Ncwcomb, Harvey Newell, Samuel Newman, Samud P. New Monthly Magazine Newton, Bishop Newton, Sir Isaac Noah, M. M. Norman-French Language North American Review Norton, Andrews . Norton, John Nott, Eliphatet Nott, Samuel Nmrlist, presiding aim of the Novel, rise of the PAGE PAINE, ROBERT TREA1 227 Paley, Dr. William 277-8 Palgrave, Sir Francis . 263 Park, Mungo . . 286 Parnell, Thomas . 115 Parry, Captain Edward . 287 Paulding, James K. . 239, 57 Payne, George . . 276 Payne, John Howard . 239 Pay son, Edward . . 282 Peabody, William B. O. . 273 Peabody, William O. i 234 Penny Magazine . 307 Percival, James O. . 231 Percy, Dr. Thomas . 196 Petrarch . . . 13 Philosophical Observer, the, [poetical specimen] . . 36-7 Phrenology . . 274-5 Picken, Andrew . . 251 Pickering, John . 312 Pierpont, John \ . 229 Pike, Zebulon M. . 293 Pinckney, Edward C. . 234 Pinkerton, John . 259 Pit kin, Timothy . . 265 Pity for a Slain Enemy, [dramatic specimen] . . 60 Plays in the United States, first begin to be acted about the middle of the 204 l&hcrntary . 238 305 Poi.try, American, between 1727 and 234, 57 1780, little good produced 151-2 191 not much cultivated during the early part of the 18th 295 century . 116 311 received a new impulse af- 299 ter the Revolution 221 179 Political Economy - 301-2 103 Political Upholsterer, the, [prose spe- 239| cimen] . 126 11| Pope, Alexander . 105, 8-14 115! Potter, Anna Maria . . 244 283 Porter, Ebenczer . 282 99 j Porter, Jane . . 244 284 Porter, Sir Robert Kerr . 288 285| Porteus, Dr. Beilby . 277 253j Port Folio . . 314 . -_, . 158| Potter's Grecian Antiquities 131 Nymph's Description of her Fawn, Practice and Habit, [prose specimen] 93 [poetical specimen] . 83 Prescott, William II. . 273 Prevalence of Mortality, the, [poetical OCCLEVE, THOMAS . 19 Ode on the distant prospect of Eton College, [poetical specimen] 143-4 Ode to the Grasshopper, [poetical spe clmen] Ode to the Memory of Mrs. Anne Kil legrew, [poetical specimen] . O'Keefe.John . Olney,J. Operas, English Opie, Mrs. . Osborne, John tis, James Thomas Ossoryj EV1 of Oudney, Dr. specimen] Priestley, Dr. Joseph Prince, Thomas Prior, Matthew . Procter, Bryan William 141 175/277 137 106 220, 36 Prodigal Lady, the, [dramatic speci- Owen, John Owen, John men] . . . 61-4 237i Proud, Robert . 266 313 Provencal Poetry . . 13, 158 155! Purchas, Samuel . 74 214, 45J 152 QUARLES, FRANCIS . 42 192 Quarterly Christian Spectator 316 89 Quarterly Review . 298 89 Quincv, Josiah . . 192 2861 98-9J RADCL1FFE, MRS. ANNE 242-3 278 Raleigh, Sir Walter 35, 65-6 GENERAL INDEX. 327 PAGE Ralph Royster Doyster, first English PAGE Sigourney, Mrs. L. H. . 230, 84 Comedy . . 47 Ramsay, Allen . ; 115 Silliman, Prof. Benjamin . 293 Simeon, Charles 279 Ramsay, David . 264, 70 Sims, Mr. . . 258 Rapin, Monsieur . . 167 Skelton, John . 21 Rees, Dr. Abraham . 189, 304 Smalley, John . . 275 Reeve, Mrs. Clara . . 166 Smart, Christopher . 150 Reid, Dr. Thomas . 174 Smith, Charlotte . . 242 Revolution, American talent awakened Smith, Dr, Adam . 174, 85 by the . 191 Smith, Eli . 285 Reynolds, Frederick . 238 Smith, Horace . . 251 Ricardo, David . 301 Smith, Rev. Sydney . 298 Rice, John H. . . 284 Smith, Roswell C. . . 313 Richards, James . 295 Smith, Samuel S. . 281 Richardson, Samuel . . 160, : Smith, William . . 266 Ritfeon, Joseph . . 29f Smollett, Tobias 148, 63, 72, 91 Rittenhousc, David . 193 Society for the Diffusion of Useful Robert of Gloucester . 11 Knowledge . . 306 Robertson, Dr. William . 169-70 Somerville, William . 146 Robinson, Prof. Edward 285 Sotheby, William . 214 Rocheford, Lord . . 26, 27 Southerne, Thomas . 1 17 Rochester, Earl of . 87 Southey, Robert 204-6, 63, 68 Rogers, Samuel . . 201 South, Robert . . 97 Rogers, T. J. . 272-3 Southwell, Robert . 35 Roscoe, William . . 259 Roscoinmon, Earl of . 87 Sparks, Jared . . 265, 70 Spectator, the . 124 Ross, Captain John . . 287 Speed, John . . 74 Rowe, Nicholas . 115, 17 Spelman, Sir Hrnry . * 74 Rowson, Mrs. . . 255 Spt-ncer, Hon. William . 2] 4 Rush, Dr. James * 312 Spencer, Edmund . 31 Russell, Dr. William . 172 Sprague, Charles . , 232 Sprague, William B. . 284 SACKVILLE, THOMAS, Earl of Spring, Gardiner . . 284 Dorset . . 26, 35, 48 Spring, Samuel 272 Sadler, M. T. . . 302 SteH, Sir Richard . . 124 Sage of Caucasus, [dramatic speci- Sterne, Lawrence . 164 men] . . 240-1 Stewart, Charles S. . 295 Sanderson and Wain, Messrs. 271 Stewart, Dugald . 274, 5 Sands, Robert C. . . 231 Stiles, Ezra . . 193 Sandys, George . 3S Stillingfleet, Edward . 96 Saxon Language . . 9-1C Still, John . 47 Schoolcraft, Henry R. . 294 Stith, William . 173 Scorn not the Least, [poetical speci- Stoddard, Amos . . 266 men] . . 35-6 Stoddard, Solomon . 137,8 Scot, Alexander . . 42 Stone, John A. . . 241 Scottish Language . 16, 42, 104 Starrs, Richard S. . 272 Scottish Poets of the sixteenth century 42 Scots Magazine . 190 Story, Joseph . . 309 Strangford, Lord . 214 Scott, Sir Wttlter 196, 207-8, 36, 48-50, Strong, Nathan . . 280 62, 68-8 Strutt, Joseph . . . 296 Seeker, Archbishop . 179 Stuart, Prof. Moses . . 283, 85 Sedgwick, Miss . 258 Suckling, Sir John . 40 Selden, John . . 70 Sullivan, James . . 265 Self- Abandonment, [poetical speci- Sullivan, William . 313 men] . . .34,5 Surnner, Bishop . . 279 Senior, W.N. . . 302 Surrey, Earl of . . 25-26 Sermon against Glory, on a, [poetical specimen] . . 145 Swift, Jonathan . 105,1428-30 \ Sydney, Sir Phiiip . . 33,65 <* Severing of the Lock, [poetical speci- men] . . 110-11 T AIT'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE 2C9 Shaftsbury, Earl of . . 132 Tappan, David . . 281 Shakspeare, his poetry . 34 Tappan, William B. . 234 his plays . 50-53 Taylor, Jeremy . 71 Shelley, Percy Bysshe . 219 Temple, Sir William . . 92 Shenstone, William . 147 Ten riant, William . 216 Sherlock, William . 97 Thatcher, B. B. . . 271 Riiel, Richard Lalor . 236 Theology, American, much of it con- Shirley, James . 61 troversial towards the beginning of Sidney, Algernon . . 2 the 18th century ". " 137 328 GENERAL INDEX. PAGE Theology, American, much cultivated 279 Thompson, James . 142, 53 Thornton, Bormell . . 157 Tickel, Thomas . 114 Tindal, Dr. Matthew . 178 Tillotson, Archbishop . 96 Tobin, John . . 238 To the Evening Wind, [poetical sped- men] . . 228,9 Town and Country Magazine 190 Troubadours . . 11 Trumbull, Benjamin . 265-6 Trumbull, John . . 223 Tudor, William . 270 Turner, Sharon . . 260 Tyler, Royal . . 238 Tyndale, William, translates the New Testament . . 27 Tyng, Stephen H. . . 272 Tytlcr, Patrick Fraser 261,68 UDALL, NICOLAS . 47 United States Review . 315 Universal History Upham, C. W. . ^^ 273 Upham, Thomas C. . 271 Uses of Knowledge, [prose specimen ] 67-8 Usher, James, Archbishop of Armagh 74 VANBURGH, SIR JOHN . 121 Vaux, Lord . -ti Verplanck, Mr. . . 256 Views in Theology . 317 WAKEFIELD, GILBERT 277 Waldie,Miss . . 289 Waller, Edmund Walpole, Horace . 154, 6, 66, 88 Walton, Isaac . 101 Warburton, Dr. William . 177 Ware, Katherine A. . 234 Ware, 7/r ///// . . 283 Wiirton, Thomas and Joseph 150 Watson, Dr. Richard . 278 PAGE Watts, Alexander Alaric . 221 Watts, fsaac . . 147, 80 Webster, Daniel . 310 Webster, John . . 54 Webster, Noah . 311 Westminster Review . 299 West, Stephen . . 276 Whately, Archbishop . 302 White, Henry Kirke . 213 Whitman, Bernard . . 283 Wicliffe, John . . 15 Wilcox, Carlos . . 233 Willard, Mrs. Emma . 313 Willard, Samuel . . 137-8 Williams, H. W. . 289 Williams, John . . 269 Williams, Prof. Samuel . 266 Williamson, Hush . . 266 Williamson, William D. . 265 Willis, Nathaniel P. . 234 Wilson, John . . 215, 50 Wilson, Kae . . 289 Wilson, Thomas, early writer on Rhetoric ... 28 Winter, [poetical specimen] 198 Winthrop, John . . 73 Wirt, William . . 270, 3 Witherspoon,John . 183 Wolcot, Dr. John, [Peter Pindar] 212 Woodbritltre, William C. . 313 Woods, Leonard . 283, 4 Woodworth, Samuel . 234, 9 Wordsworth, William . 202-3 Worcester, J. E. . 313 Worcester, J^oah . . 283 Worcester, Samuel . 283 Worcester, Samuel . . 313 Wyatt, Sir Thomas . 26 Wycherly, William . 90 Wyntown, Andrew, chronicler 18 YjiTES ./?JV> MOULTOJV, MESSRS. . . Young, Edward ERRATA Page 13, 2 lines from bottom, for GEOFFRY, read GEOFFREY. 157, 7 " M top, " THOMPSON, " THORNTON. M 187, 1 line H " " BUKRE, BURKE. 192, 20 lines II bottom, " AUTHUR, " ARTHUR. M M 288, 16 " 264, 17 " (i H top, " u u Phitothea, " ALLISON, " Philothea. A. ALISON. 3.* ADDITIONS TO THE GENERAL INDEX. Alexander \ James W. Benjamin, Park Bradford, T. G. . Buckingham, Joseph T. Buckingham, Edwin Davis, Thomas Everett, Alexander H. Godman, Dr. Goodrich, Prof. Chauncey A. Green, Dr. A. . Hall, James Hoadley, L. I. . 31(i Hooker, Herman ZYlJenks, William 318 Jenks, J. W. 317 Lieber, Francis 317 Mitchell, John 316 Smith, Elizur G. 315 Tcnney, Caleb J. . 318 Tuthill, Cornelius 316 Walsh, Robert, 317 Wilson, Dr. . 318 Wigglesworth, E. . 319 Woods, Leonard, Jr. PAGE 319 319 319 318 316 316 317 316 315 317 318 317 o RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2- month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 'MOV 14 1994 SEMTONU.L AUG I \ 2000 U. C. BERKELEY 20,000 (4/94) YB 73961 S7/S 7 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY