[Transcriber’s Note:

 This e-text includes a few characters that will only display in UTF-8 (Unicode) file encoding:

 āă ē ŏ īĭ ŭ: vowels with “long” or “short” marks (macron and breve) œ, ȝ: “oe” ligature; yogh

 If any of these characters do not display properly--in particular, if the diacritic does not appear directly above the letter--or if the apostrophes and quotation marks in this paragraph appear as garbage, make sure your text reader’s “character set” or “file encoding” is set to Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need to change the default font. As a last resort, use the latin-1 version of the file instead. 

 All Greek words were given in transliteration, and have not been changed. 

 Single italicized letters within words are shown in braces {}; other italics are shown conventionally with _lines_. Boldface type is shown by +marks+. Individual +bold+ or CAPITALIZED words within an italicized phrase should be read as non-italic, though the extra _lines_ have been omitted to reduce clutter. ]

A BRIEF HISTORY

of the

ENGLISH

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

by

J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN, M. A. 

 Professor of the Theory, History, and Practice of Education in the University of St. Andrews, Scotland

 Boston D. C. Heath & Co. , Publishers 1887

_Copyright, 1887, _

By D. C. Heath & Co. 

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE. 

The present volume is the second part of the author’s “EnglishLanguage-- Its Grammar, History, and Literature. ” It includes theHistory of the English Language and the History of English Literature. 

The first part comprises the department of Grammar, under which areincluded Etymology, Syntax, Analysis, Word Formation, and History, witha brief outline of Composition and of Prosody. The two may be hadseparately or bound together. Each constitutes a good one year’s courseof English study. The first part is suited for high schools; the second, for high schools and colleges. 

The book, which is worthy of the wide reputation and ripe experience ofthe eminent author, is distinguished throughout by clear, brief, andcomprehensive statement and illustration. It is especially suited forprivate students or for classes desiring to make a brief and rapidreview, and also for teachers who want only a brief text as a basis fortheir own instruction. 

PREFACE. 

This book provides sufficient matter for the four years of studyrequired, in England, of a pupil-teacher, and also for the first year athis training college. An experienced master will easily be able to guidehis pupils in the selection of the proper parts for each year. The tenpages on the Grammar of Verse ought to be reserved for the fifth year ofstudy. 

It is hoped that the book will also be useful in Colleges, Ladies’Seminaries, High Schools, Academies, Preparatory and Normal Schools, tocandidates for teachers’ examinations and Civil Service examinations, and to all who wish for any reason to review the leading facts of theEnglish Language and Literature. 

Only the most salient features of the language have been described, andminor details have been left for the teacher to fill in. The utmostclearness and simplicity have been the aim of the writer, and he hasbeen obliged to sacrifice many interesting details to this aim. 

The study of English Grammar is becoming every day more and morehistorical-- and necessarily so. There are scores of inflections, usages, constructions, idioms, which cannot be truly or adequatelyexplained without a reference to the past states of the language-- tothe time when it was a synthetic or inflected language, like German orLatin. 

The Syntax of the language has been set forth in the form of RULES. Thiswas thought to be better for young learners who require firm and cleardogmatic statements of fact and duty. But the skilful teacher willslowly work up to these rules by the interesting process of induction, and will-- when it is possible-- induce his pupil to draw the generalconclusions from the data given, and thus to make rules for himself. Another convenience that will be found by both teacher and pupil in thisform of _rules_ will be that they can be compared with the rules of, orgeneral statements about, a foreign language-- such as Latin, French, orGerman. 

It is earnestly hoped that the slight sketches of the History of ourLanguage and of its Literature may not only enable the young student topass his examinations with success, but may also throw him into theattitude of mind of Oliver Twist, and induce him to “ask for more. ”

The Index will be found useful in preparing the parts of each subject;as all the separate paragraphs about the same subject will be foundthere grouped together. 

J. M. D. M. 

CONTENTS. 

PART III. Page The English Language, and the Family to which it belongs 193 The Periods of English 198 History of the Vocabulary 202 History of the Grammar 239 Specimens of English of Different Periods 250 Modern English 258 Landmarks in the History of the English Language 266

PART IV. 

 History of English Literature 271 Tables of English Literature 367

 Index 381

PART III. 

THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

INTRODUCTION. 

1. +Tongue, Speech, Language. +-- We speak of the “English tongue” or ofthe “French language”; and we say of two nations that they “do notunderstand each other’s speech. ” The existence of these three words--+speech+, +tongue+, +language+-- proves to us that a language issomething +spoken+, -- that it is a number of +sounds+; and that thewriting or printing of it upon paper is a quite secondary matter. Language, rightly considered, then, is an +organised set of sounds+. These sounds convey a meaning from the mind of the speaker to the mindof the hearer, and thus serve to connect man with man. 

2. +Written Language. +-- It took many hundreds of years-- perhapsthousands-- before human beings were able to invent a mode of writingupon paper-- that is, of representing +sounds+ by +signs+. These signsare called +letters+; and the whole set of them goes by the name of the+Alphabet+-- from the two first letters of the Greek alphabet, which arecalled _alpha_, _beta_. There are languages that have never been putupon paper at all, such as many of the African languages, many in theSouth Sea Islands, and other parts of the globe. But in all cases, everylanguage that we know anything about-- English, Latin, French, German--existed for hundreds of years before any one thought of writing it downon paper. 

3. +A Language Grows. +-- A language is an +organism+ or +organicexistence+. Now every organism lives; and, if it lives, it grows; and, if it grows, it also dies. Our language grows; it is growing still; andit has been growing for many hundreds of years. As it grows it losessomething, and it gains something else; it alters its appearance;changes take place in this part of it and in that part, -- until atlength its appearance in age is something almost entirely different fromwhat it was in its early youth. If we had the photograph of a man offorty, and the photograph of the same person when he was a child of one, we should find, on comparing them, that it was almost impossible topoint to the smallest trace of likeness in the features of the twophotographs. And yet the two pictures represent the same person. And soit is with the English language. The oldest English, which is usuallycalled Anglo-Saxon, is as different from our modern English as if theywere two distinct languages; and yet they are not two languages, butreally and fundamentally one and the same. Modern English differs fromthe oldest English as a giant oak does from a small oak sapling, or abroad stalwart man of forty does from a feeble infant of a few monthsold. 

4. +The English Language. +-- The English language is the speech spokenby the Anglo-Saxon race in England, in most parts of Scotland, in thelarger part of Ireland, in the United States, in Canada, in Australiaand New Zealand, in South Africa, and in many other parts of the world. In the middle of the +fifth+ century it was spoken by a few thousand menwho had lately landed in England from the Continent: it is now spoken bymore than one hundred millions of people. In the course of the nextsixty years, it will probably be the speech of two hundred millions. 

5. +English on the Continent. +-- In the middle of the fifth century itwas spoken in the north-west corner of Europe-- between the mouths ofthe Rhine, the Weser, and the Elbe; and in Schleswig there is a smalldistrict which is called +Angeln+ to this day. But it was not thencalled +English+; it was more probably called +Teutish+, or +Teutsch+, or +Deutsch+-- all words connected with a generic word which covers manyfamilies and languages-- +Teutonic+. It was a rough guttural speech ofone or two thousand words; and it was brought over to this country bythe +Jutes+, +Angles+, and +Saxons+ in the year 449. These men lefttheir home on the Continent to find here farms to till and houses tolive in; and they drove the inhabitants of the island-- the +Britons+--ever farther and farther west, until they at length left them in peacein the more mountainous parts of the island-- in the southern andwestern corners, in Cornwall and in Wales. 

6. +The British Language. +-- What language did the Teutonic conquerors, who wrested the lands from the poor Britons, find spoken in this islandwhen they first set foot on it? Not a Teutonic speech at all. They founda language not one word of which they could understand. The islanditself was then called +Britain+; and the tongue spoken in it belongedto the Keltic group of languages. Languages belonging to the Kelticgroup are still spoken in Wales, in Brittany (in France), in theHighlands of Scotland, in the west of Ireland, and in the Isle of Man. A few words-- very few-- from the speech of the Britons, have come intoour own English language; and what these are we shall see by-and-by. 

7. +The Family to which English belongs. +-- Our English tongue belongsto the +Aryan+ or +Indo-European Family+ of languages. That is to say, the main part or substance of it can be traced back to the race whichinhabited the high table-lands that lie to the back of the western endof the great range of the Himalaya, or “Abode of Snow. ” This Aryan racegrew and increased, and spread to the south and west; and from it havesprung languages which are now spoken in India, in Persia, in Greece andItaly, in France and Germany, in Scandinavia, and in Russia. From thisAryan family we are sprung; out of the oldest Aryan speech our ownlanguage has grown. 

8. +The Group to which English belongs. +-- The Indo-European family oflanguages consists of several groups. One of these is called the+Teutonic Group+, because it is spoken by the +Teuts+ (or the +Teutonicrace+), who are found in Germany, in England and Scotland, in Holland, in parts of Belgium, in Denmark, in Norway and Sweden, in Iceland, andthe Faroe Islands. The Teutonic group consists of three branches-- +HighGerman+, +Low German+, and +Scandinavian+. High German is the name givento the kind of German spoken in Upper Germany-- that is, in thetable-land which lies south of the river Main, and which rises graduallytill it runs into the Alps. +New High German+ is the German of books--the literary language-- the German that is taught and learned inschools. +Low German+ is the name given to the German dialects spoken inthe lowlands-- in the German part of the Great Plain of Europe, andround the mouths of those German rivers that flow into the Baltic andthe North Sea. +Scandinavian+ is the name given to the languages spokenin Denmark and in the great Scandinavian Peninsula. Of these threelanguages, Danish and Norwegian are practically the same-- theirliterary or book-language is one; while Swedish is very different. Icelandic is the oldest and purest form of Scandinavian. The followingis a table of the

 GROUP OF TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. 

 [The table was originally printed in full family-tree form, using the layout below. The full text is here given separately. ]

 T. ____________|_____________ | | | LG HG Sc ______|____ __|__ _____|_____ | | | | | | | | | | | Du Fl Fr E O M N I Dk Fe Sv (Nk) (Sw)

 TEUTONIC. LOW GERMAN. Dutch. Flemish. Frisian. English. HIGH GERMAN. Old. Middle. New. SCANDINAVIAN. Icelandic Dansk (or Norsk). Ferroic. Svensk (Swedish). 

It will be observed, on looking at the above table, that High German issubdivided according to time, but that the other groups are subdividedaccording to space. 

9. +English a Low-German Speech. +-- Our English tongue is the +lowest ofall Low-German dialects+. Low German is the German spoken in thelowlands of Germany. As we descend the rivers, we come to the lowestlevel of all-- the level of the sea. Our English speech, once a meredialect, came down to that, crossed the German Ocean, and settled inBritain, to which it gave in time the name of Angla-land or England. TheLow German spoken in the Netherlands is called +Dutch+; the Low Germanspoken in Friesland-- a prosperous province of Holland-- is called+Frisian+; and the Low German spoken in Great Britain is called+English+. These three languages are extremely like one another; but theContinental language that is likest the English is the Dutch orHollandish dialect called _Frisian_. We even possess a couplet, everyword of which is both English and Frisian. It runs thus--

 Good butter and good cheese Is good English and good Fries. 

10. +Dutch and Welsh-- a Contrast. +-- When the Teuton conquerors came tothis country, they called the Britons foreigners, just as the Greekscalled all other peoples besides themselves _barbarians_. By this theydid not at first mean that they were uncivilised, but only that theywere _not_ Greeks. Now, the Teutonic or Saxon or English name forforeigners was +Wealhas+, a word afterwards contracted into +Welsh+. Tothis day the modern Teuts or Teutons (or _Germans_, as _we_ call them)call all Frenchmen and Italians _Welshmen_; and, when a German, peasantcrosses the border into France, he says: “I am going into Welshland. ”

11. +The Spread of English over Britain. +-- The Jutes, who came fromJuteland or Jylland-- now called Jutland-- settled in Kent and in theIsle of Wight. The Saxons settled in the south and western parts ofEngland, and gave their names to those kingdoms-- now counties-- whosenames came to end in +sex+. There was the kingdom of the East Saxons, or+Essex+; the kingdom of the West Saxons, or +Wessex+; the kingdom of theMiddle Saxons, or +Middlesex+; and the kingdom of the South Saxons, or+Sussex+. The Angles settled chiefly on the east coast. The kingdom of+East Anglia+ was divided into the regions of the +North Folk+ and the+South Folk+, words which are still perpetuated in the names _Norfolk_and _Suffolk_. These three sets of Teutons all spoke different dialectsof the same Teutonic speech; and these dialects, with their differences, peculiarities, and odd habits, took root in English soil, and lived anindependent life, apart from each other, uninfluenced by each other, forseveral hundreds of years. But, in the slow course of time, they joinedtogether to make up our beautiful English language-- a language which, however, still bears in itself the traces of dialectic forms, and is inno respect of one kind or of one fibre all through. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE PERIODS OF ENGLISH. 

1. +Dead and Living Languages. +-- A language is said to be dead when itis no longer spoken. Such a language we know only in books. Thus, Latinis a dead language, because no nation anywhere now speaks it. A deadlanguage can undergo no change; it remains, and must remain, as we findit written in books. But a living language is always changing, just likea tree or the human body. The human body has its periods or stages. There is the period of infancy, the period of boyhood, the period ofmanhood, and the period of old age. In the same way, a language has itsperiods. 

2. +No Sudden Changes-- a Caution. +-- We divide the English languageinto periods, and then mark, with some approach to accuracy, certaindistinct changes in the habits of our language, in the inflexions of itswords, in the kind of words it preferred, or in the way it liked to putits words together. But we must be carefully on our guard againstfancying that, at any given time or in any given year, the Englishpeople threw aside one set of habits as regards language, and adoptedanother set. It is not so, nor can it be so. The changes in language areas gentle, gradual, and imperceptible as the changes in the growth of atree or in the skin of the human body. We renew our skin slowly andgradually; but we are never conscious of the process, nor can we say atany given time that we have got a completely new skin. 

3. +The Periods of English. +-- Bearing this caution in mind, we can goon to look at the chief periods in our English language. These are fivein number; and they are as follows:--

 I. Ancient English or Anglo-Saxon, 449-1100 II. Early English, 1100-1250 III. Middle English, 1250-1485 IV. Tudor English, 1485-1603 V. Modern English, 1603-1900

These periods merge very slowly, or are shaded off, so to speak, intoeach other in the most gradual way. If we take the English of 1250 andcompare it with that of 900, we shall find a great difference; but if wecompare it with the English of 1100 the difference is not so marked. Thedifference between the English of the nineteenth and the English of thefourteenth century is very great, but the difference between the Englishof the fourteenth and that of the thirteenth century is very small. 

4. +Ancient English or Anglo-Saxon, 450-1100. +-- This form of Englishdiffered from modern English in having a much larger number ofinflexions. The noun had five cases, and there were several declensions, just as in Latin; adjectives were declined, and had three genders; somepronouns had a dual as well as a plural number; and the verb had a muchlarger number of inflexions than it has now. The vocabulary of thelanguage contained very few foreign elements. The poetry of the languageemployed head-rhyme or alliteration, and not end-rhyme, as we do now. The works of the poet +Caedmon+ and the great prose-writer +King Alfred+belong to this Anglo-Saxon period. 

5. +Early English, 1100-1250. +-- The coming of the Normans in 1066 mademany changes in the land, many changes in the Church and in the State, and it also introduced many changes into the language. The inflexions ofour speech began to drop off, because they were used less and less; andthough we never adopted new _inflexions_ from French or from any otherlanguage, new French _words_ began to creep in. In some parts of thecountry English had ceased to be written in books; the language existedas a spoken language only; and hence accuracy in the use of words andthe inflexions of words could not be ensured. Two notable books--written, not printed, for there was no printing in this island till theyear 1474-- belong to this period. These are the +Ormulum+, by +Orm+ or+Ormin+, and the +Brut+, by a monk called +Layamon+ or +Laweman+. Thelatter tells the story of Brutus, who was believed to have been the sonof Æneas of Troy; to have escaped after the downfall of that city; tohave sailed through the Mediterranean, ever farther and farther to thewest; to have landed in Britain, settled here, and given the country itsname. 

6. +Middle English, 1250-1485. +-- Most of the inflexions of nouns andadjectives have in this period-- between the middle of the thirteenthand the end of the fifteenth century-- completely disappeared. Theinflexions of verbs are also greatly reduced in number. The +strong+[1]mode of inflexion has ceased to be employed for verbs that arenew-comers, and the +weak+ mode has been adopted in its place. Duringthe earlier part of this period, even country-people tried to speakFrench, and in this and other modes many French words found their wayinto English. A writer of the thirteenth century, John de Trevisa, saysthat country-people “fondeth [that is, try] with great bysynes for tospeke Freynsch for to be more y-told of. ” The country-people did notsucceed very well, as the ordinary proverb shows: “Jack would be agentleman if he could speak French. ” Boys at school were expected toturn their Latin into French, and in the courts of law French only wasallowed to be spoken. But in 1362 Edward III. Gave his assent to an Actof Parliament allowing English to be used instead of Norman-French. “Theyer of oure Lord, ” says John de Trevisa, “a thousond thre hondred fourescore and fyve of the secunde Kyng Richard after the conquest, in al thegramer scoles of Engelond children leveth Freynsch, and construeth andturneth an Englysch. ” To the first half of this period belong a+Metrical Chronicle+, attributed to +Robert of Gloucester+; +Langtoft’s+Metrical Chronicle, translated by +Robert de Brunne+; the +Agenbite ofInwit+, by Dan Michel of Northgate in Kent; and a few others. But to thesecond half belong the rich and varied productions of +GeoffreyChaucer+, our first great poet and always one of our greatest writers;the alliterative poems of +William Langley+ or +Langlande+; the morelearned poems of +John Gower+; and the translation of the Bible andtheological works of the reformer +John Wyclif+. 

 [Footnote 1: See p. 43. ]

7. +Tudor English, 1485-1603. +-- Before the end of the sixteenth centuryalmost all our inflexions had disappeared. The great dramatist BenJonson (1574-1637) laments the loss of the plural ending +en+ for verbs, because _wenten_ and _hopen_ were much more musical and more useful inverse than _went_ or _hope_; but its recovery was already past prayingfor. This period is remarkable for the introduction of an enormousnumber of Latin words, and this was due to the new interest taken in theliterature of the Romans-- an interest produced by what is called the+Revival of Letters+. But the most striking, as it is also the mostimportant fact relating to this period, is the appearance of a group ofdramatic writers, the greatest the world has ever seen. Chief amongthese was +William Shakespeare+. Of pure poetry perhaps the greatestwriter was +Edmund Spenser+. The greatest prose-writer was +RichardHooker+, and the pithiest +Francis Bacon+. 

8. +Modern English, 1603-1900. +-- The grammar of the language was fixedbefore this period, most of the accidence having entirely vanished. Thevocabulary of the language, however, has gone on increasing, and isstill increasing; for the English language, like the English people, isalways ready to offer hospitality to all peaceful foreigners-- words orhuman beings-- that will land and settle within her coasts. And thetendency at the present time is not only to give a hearty welcome tonewcomers from other lands, but to call back old words and old phrasesthat had been allowed to drop out of existence. Tennyson has been one ofthe chief agents in this happy restoration. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE HISTORY OF THE VOCABULARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

1. +The English Nation. +-- The English people have for many centuriesbeen the greatest travellers in the world. It was an Englishman--Francis Drake-- who first went round the globe; and the English havecolonised more foreign lands in every part of the world than any otherpeople that ever existed. The English in this way have been influencedby the world without. But they have also been subjected to manifoldinfluences from within-- they have been exposed to greater politicalchanges, and profounder though quieter political revolutions, than anyother nation. In 1066 they were conquered by the Norman-French; and forseveral centuries they had French kings. Seeing and talking with manydifferent peoples, they learned to adopt foreign words with ease, and togive them a home among the native-born words of the language. Trade isalways a kindly and useful influence; and the trade of Great Britain hasfor many centuries been larger than that of any other nation. It hasspread into every part of the world; it gives and receives from alltribes and nations, from every speech and tongue. 

2. +The English Element in English. +-- When the English came to thisisland in the fifth century, the number of words in the language theyspoke was probably not over +two thousand+. Now, however, we possess avocabulary of perhaps more than +one hundred thousand words+. And soeager and willing have we been to welcome foreign words, that it may besaid with truth that: +The majority of words in the English Tongue arenot English+. In fact, if we take the Latin language by itself, thereare in our language more +Latin+ words than +English+. But the grammaris distinctly English, and not Latin at all. 

3. +The Spoken Language and the Written Language-- a Caution. +-- We mustnot forget what has been said about a language, -- that it is not aprinted thing-- not a set of black marks upon paper, but that it is intruest truth a +tongue+ or a +speech+. Hence we must be careful todistinguish between the +spoken+ language and the +written+ or +printed+language; between the language of the +ear+ and the language of the+eye+; between the language of the +mouth+ and the language of the+dictionary+; between the +moving+ vocabulary of the market and thestreet, and the +fixed+ vocabulary that has been catalogued andimprisoned in our dictionaries. If we can only keep this in view, weshall find that, though there are more Latin words in our vocabularythan English, the English words we possess are +used+ in speaking ahundred times, or even a thousand times, oftener than the Latin words. It is the genuine English words that have life and movement; it is theythat fly about in houses, in streets, and in markets; it is they thatexpress with greatest force our truest and most usual sentiments-- ourinmost thoughts and our deepest feelings. Latin words are found oftenenough in books; but, when an English man or woman is deeply moved, hespeaks pure English and nothing else. Words are the coin of humanintercourse; and it is the native coin of pure English with the nativestamp that is in daily circulation. 

4. +A Diagram of English. +-- If we were to try to represent to the eyethe proportions of the different elements in our vocabulary, as it isfound in the dictionary, the diagram would take something like thefollowing form:--

 Diagram of the English Language. 

 +-----------------------------------------------------+ | ENGLISH WORDS. | +-----------------------------------------------------+ | LATIN WORDS | | (including Norman-French, which are also Latin). | +--------------+--------------------------------------+ | GREEK WORDS. | Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, | | | Hebrew, Arabic, Hindustani, Persian, | | | Malay, American, etc. Etc. | +--------------+--------------------------------------+

5. +The Foreign Elements in our English Vocabulary. +-- The differentpeoples and the different circumstances with which we have come incontact, have had many results-- one among others, that of presenting uswith contributions to our vocabulary. We found Kelts here; and hence wehave a number of Keltic words in our vocabulary. The Romans held thisisland for several hundred years; and when they had to go in the year410, they left behind them six Latin words, which we have inherited. In the seventh century, Augustine and his missionary monks from Romebrought over to us a larger number of Latin words; and the Church whichthey founded introduced ever more and more words from Rome. The Danesbegan to come over to this island in the eighth century; we had for sometime a Danish dynasty seated on the throne of England: and hence wepossess many Danish words. The Norman-French invasion in the eleventhcentury brought us many hundreds of Latin words; for French is inreality a branch of the Latin tongue. The Revival of Learning in thesixteenth century gave us several thousands of Latin words. And whereverour sailors and merchants have gone, they have brought back with themforeign words as well as foreign things-- Arabic words from Arabia andAfrica, Hindustani words from India, Persian words from Persia, Chinesewords from China, and even Malay words from the peninsula of Malacca. Let us look a little more closely at these foreign elements. 

6. +The Keltic Element in English. +-- This element is of three kinds:(i) Those words which we received direct from the ancient Britons whomwe found in the island; (ii) those which the Norman-French brought withthem from Gaul; (iii) those which have lately come into the languagefrom the Highlands of Scotland, or from Ireland, or from the writings ofSir Walter Scott. 

7. +The First Keltic Element. +-- This first contribution contains thefollowing words: _Breeches_, _clout_, _crock_, _cradle_, _darn_, _dainty_, _ mop_, _pillow_; _barrow_ (a funeral mound), _glen_, _havoc_, _kiln_, _mattock_, _pool_. It is worthy of note that the first eight inthe list are the names of domestic-- some even of kitchen-- things andutensils. It may, perhaps, be permitted us to conjecture that in manycases the Saxon invader married a British wife, who spoke her ownlanguage, taught her children to speak their mother tongue, and whosewords took firm root in the kitchen of the new English household. Thenames of most rivers, mountains, lakes, and hills are, of course, Keltic; for these names would not be likely to be changed by the Englishnew-comers. There are two names for rivers which are found-- in one formor another-- in every part of Great Britain. These are the names +Avon+and +Ex+. The word +Avon+ means simply _water_. We can conceive thechildren on a farm near a river speaking of it simply as “the water”;and hence we find fourteen Avons in this island. +Ex+ also means_water_; and there are perhaps more than twenty streams in Great Britainwith this name. The word appears as +Ex+ in +Exeter+ (the older andfuller form being _Exanceaster_-- the camp on the Exe); as +Ax+ in+Axminster+; as +Ox+ in +Oxford+; as +Ux+ in +Uxbridge+; and as +Ouse+in Yorkshire and other eastern counties. In Wales and Scotland, thehidden +k+ changes its place and comes at the end. Thus in Wales we find+Usk+; and in Scotland, +Esk+. There are at least eight Esks in thekingdom of Scotland alone. The commonest Keltic name for a mountain is+Pen+ or +Ben+ (in Wales it is _Pen_; in Scotland the flatter form _Ben_is used). We find this word in England also under the form of +Pennine+;and, in Italy, as +Apennine+. 

8. +The Second Keltic Element. +-- The Normans came from Scandinaviaearly in the tenth century, and wrested the valley of the Seine out ofthe hands of Charles the Simple, the then king of the French. Thelanguage spoken by the people of France was a broken-down form of spokenLatin, which is now called French; but in this language they hadretained many Gaulish words out of the old Gaulish language. Such arethe words: _Bag_, _bargain_, _barter_; _barrel_, _basin_, _basket_, _bucket_; _bonnet_, _button_, _ribbon_; _car_, _cart_; _dagger_, _gown_;_mitten_, _motley_; _rogue_; _varlet_, _vassal_, _wicket_. The abovewords were brought over to Britain by the Normans; and they graduallytook an acknowledged place among the words of our own language, and haveheld that place ever since. 

9. +The Third Keltic Element. +-- This consists of comparatively fewwords-- such as _clan_; _claymore_ (a sword); _philabeg_ (a kind ofkilt), _kilt_ itself, _brogue_ (a kind of shoe), _plaid_; _pibroch_(bagpipe war-music), _slogan_ (a war-cry); and _whisky_. Ireland hasgiven us _shamrock_, _gag_, _log_, _clog_, and _brogue_-- in the senseof a mode of speech. 

10. +The Scandinavian Element in English. +-- Towards the end of theeighth century-- in the year 787-- the Teutons of the North, calledNorthmen, Normans, or Norsemen-- but more commonly known as Danes-- madetheir appearance on the eastern coast of Great Britain, and attacked thepeaceful towns and quiet settlements of the English. These attacksbecame so frequent, and their occurrence was so much dreaded, that aprayer was inserted against them in a Litany of the time-- “From theincursions of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us!” In spite of theresistance of the English, the Danes had, before the end of the ninthcentury, succeeded in obtaining a permanent footing in England; and, inthe eleventh century, a Danish dynasty sat upon the English throne fromthe year 1016 to 1042. From the time of King Alfred, the Danes of theDanelagh were a settled part of the population of England; and hence wefind, especially on the east coast, a large number of Danish names stillin use. 

11. +Character of the Scandinavian Element. +-- The Northmen, as we havesaid, were Teutons; and they spoke a dialect of the great Teutonic (orGerman) language. The sounds of the Danish dialect-- or language, as itmust now be called-- are harder than those of the German. We find a +k+instead of a +ch+; a +p+ preferred to an +f+. The same is the case inScotland, where the hard form +kirk+ is preferred to the softer+church+. Where the Germans say +Dorf+-- our English word +Thorpe+, a village-- the Danes say +Drup+. 

12. +Scandinavian Words+ (i). -- The words contributed to our language bythe Scandinavians are of two kinds: (i) Names of places; and(ii) ordinary words. (i) The most striking instance of a Danishplace-name is the noun +by+, a town. Mr Isaac Taylor[2] tells us thatthere are in the east of England more than six hundred names of townsending in +by+. Almost all of these are found in the Danelagh, withinthe limits of the great highway made by the Romans to the north-west, and well-known as +Watling Street+. We find, for example, +Whitby+, orthe town on the _white_ cliffs; +Grimsby+, or the town of Grim, a greatsea-rover, who obtained for his countrymen the right that all ships fromthe Baltic should come into the port of Grimsby free of duty; +Tenby+, that is +Daneby+; +by-law+, a law for a special town; and a vast numberof others. The following Danish words also exist in our times-- eitheras separate and individual words, or in composition-- +beck+, a stream;+fell+, a hill or table-land; +firth+ or +fiord+, an arm of the sea--the same as the Danish fiord; +force+, a waterfall; +garth+, a yard orenclosure; +holm+, an island in a river; +kirk+, a church; +oe+, anisland; +thorpe+, a village; +thwaite+, a forest clearing; and +vik+ or+wick+, a station for ships, or a creek. 

 [Footnote 2: Words and Places, p. 158. ]

13. +Scandinavian Words+ (ii). -- The most useful and the most frequentlyemployed word that we have received from the Danes is the word +are+. The pure English word for this is +beoth+ or +sindon+. The Danes gave usalso the habit of using +to+ before an infinitive. Their word for +to+was +at+; and +at+ still survives and is in use in Lincolnshire. We findalso the following Danish words in our language: +blunt+, +bole+ (of atree), +bound+ (on a journey-- properly +boun+), +busk+ (to dress), +cake+, +call+, +crop+ (to cut), +curl+, +cut+, +dairy+, +daze+, +din+, +droop+, +fellow+, +flit+, +for+, +froward+, +hustings+, +ill+, +irk+, +kid+, +kindle+, +loft+, +odd+, +plough+, +root+, +scold+, +sky+, +tarn+(a small mountain lake), +weak+, and +ugly+. It is in Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lincoln, Norfolk, and even in the western counties ofCumberland and Lancashire, that we find the largest admixture ofScandinavian words. 

14. +Influence of the Scandinavian Element. +-- The introduction of theDanes and the Danish language into England had the result, in the east, of unsettling the inflexions of our language, and thus of preparing theway for their complete disappearance. The declensions of nouns becameunsettled; nouns that used to make their plural in +a+ or in +u+ tookthe more striking plural suffix +as+ that belonged to a quite differentdeclension. The same things happened to adjectives, verbs, and otherparts of language. The causes of this are not far to seek. Spokenlanguage can never be so accurate as written language; the mass of theEnglish and Danes never cared or could care much for grammar; and bothparties to a conversation would of course hold firmly to the +root+ ofthe word, which was intelligible to both of them, and let the inflexionsslide, or take care of themselves. The more the English and Danes mixedwith each other, the oftener they met at church, at games, and in themarket-place, the more rapidly would this process of stripping go on, --the smaller care would both peoples take of the grammatical inflexionswhich they had brought with them into this country. 

15. +The Latin Element in English. +-- So far as the number of words--the vocabulary-- of the language is concerned, the Latin contribution isby far the most important element in our language. Latin was thelanguage of the Romans; and the Romans at one time were masters of thewhole known world. No wonder, then, that they influenced so manypeoples, and that their language found its way-- east and west, andsouth and north-- into almost all the countries of Europe. There are, aswe have seen, more Latin than English words in our own language; and itis therefore necessary to make ourselves acquainted with the characterand the uses of the Latin element-- an element so important-- inEnglish. [3] Not only have the Romans made contributions of large+numbers+ of words to the English language, but they have added to it aquite new +quality+, and given to its genius new +powers+ of expression. So true is this, that we may say-- without any sense of unfairness, orany feeling of exaggeration-- that, until the Latin element wasthoroughly mixed, united with, and transfused into the original English, the writings of Shakespeare were impossible, the poetry of the sixteenthand seventeenth centuries could not have come into existence. This istrue of Shakespeare; and it is still more true of Milton. His mostpowerful poetical thoughts are written in lines, the most telling wordsin which are almost always Latin. This may be illustrated by thefollowing lines from “Lycidas”:--

 “It was that _fatal_ and _perfidious_ bark, Built in the _eclipse_, and rigged with curses dark, That sunk so low that _sacred_ head of thine!”

 [Footnote 3: In the last half of this sentence, all the essential words-- _necessary_, _acquainted_, _character_, _uses_, _element_, _important_, are Latin (except _character_, which is Greek). ]

16. +The Latin Contributions and their Dates. +-- The first contributionof Latin words was made by the Romans-- not, however, to the English, but to the Britons. The Romans held this island from A. D. +43+ to A. D. +410+. They left behind them-- when they were obliged to go-- a smallcontribution of six words-- six only, but all of them important. Thesecond contribution-- to a large extent ecclesiastical-- was made byAugustine and his missionary monks from Rome, and their visit took placein the year +596+. The third contribution was made through the medium ofthe Norman-French, who seized and subdued this island in the year +1066+and following years. The fourth contribution came to us by the aid ofthe Revival of Learning-- rather a process than an event, the dates ofwhich are vague, but which may be said to have taken place in thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Latin left for us by the Romansis called +Latin of the First Period+; that brought over by themissionaries from Rome, +Latin of the Second Period+; that given us bythe Norman-French, +Latin of the Third Period+; and that which came tous from the Revival of Learning, +Latin of the Fourth Period+. The firstconsists of a few names handed down to us through the Britons; thesecond, of a number of words-- mostly relating to ecclesiasticalaffairs-- brought into the spoken language by the monks; the third, of alarge vocabulary, that came to us by +mouth+ and +ear+; and the fourth, of a very large treasure of words, which we received by means of +books+and the +eye+. Let us now look more closely and carefully at them, eachin its turn. 

17. +Latin of the First Period+ (i). -- The Romans held Britain fornearly four hundred years; and they succeeded in teaching the wealthierclasses among the Southern Britons to speak Latin. They also built townsin the island, made splendid roads, formed camps at important points, framed good laws, and administered the affairs of the island withconsiderable justice and uprightness. But, never having come directlyinto contact with the Angles or Saxons themselves, they could not in anyway influence their language by oral communication-- by speaking tothem. What they left behind them was only six words, most of whichbecame merely the prefixes or the suffixes of the names of places. Thesesix words were +Castra+, a camp; +Strata+ (_via_), a paved road;+Colonia+, a settlement (generally of soldiers); +Fossa+, a trench;+Portus+, a harbour; and +Vallum+, a rampart. 

18. +Latin of the First Period+ (ii). -- (_a_) The treatment of the Latinword +castra+ in this island has been both singular and significant. Ithas existed in this country for nearly nineteen hundred years; and ithas always taken the colouring of the locality into whose soil it struckroot. In the north and east of England it is sounded hard, and takes theform of +caster+, as in +Lancaster+, +Doncaster+, +Tadcaster+, andothers. In the midland counties, it takes the softer form of +cester+, as in +Leicester+, +Towcester+; and in the extreme west and south, ittakes the still softer form of +chester+, as in +Chester+, +Manchester+, +Winchester+, and others. It is worthy of notice that there are inScotland no words ending in _caster_. Though the Romans had camps inScotland, they do not seem to have been so important as to become thecentres of towns. (_b_) The word +strata+ has also taken different formsin different parts of England. While +castra+ has always been a suffix, +strata+ shows itself constantly as a prefix. When the Romans came tothis island, the country was impassable by man. There were no roadsworthy of the name, -- what paths there were being merely foot-paths orbridle-tracks. One of the first things the Romans did was to drive astrongly built military road from +Richborough+, near Dover, to theriver Dee, on which they formed a standing camp (+Castra stativa+) whichto this day bears the name of +Chester+. This great road became thehighway of all travellers from north to south, -- was known as “TheStreet, ” and was called by the Saxons +Watling Street+. But this word+street+ also became a much-used prefix, and took the different forms of+strat+, +strad+, +stret+, and +streat+. All towns with such names areto be found on this or some other great Roman road. Thus we have+Stratford-on-Avon+, +Stratton+, +Stradbroke+, +Stretton+, +Stretford+(near Manchester), and +Streatham+ (near London). --Over the other wordswe need not dwell so long. +Colonia+ we find in +Colne+, +Lincoln+, andothers; +fossa+ in +Fossway+, +Fosbrooke+, and +Fosbridge+; +portus+, in +Portsmouth+, and +Bridport+; and +vallum+ in the words +wall+, +bailey+, and +bailiff+. The Normans called the two courts in front oftheir castles the inner and outer baileys; and the officer in charge ofthem was called the bailiff. 

19. +Latin Element of the Second Period+ (i). -- The story of PopeGregory and the Roman mission to England is widely known. Gregory, whena young man, was crossing the Roman forum one morning, and, when passingthe side where the slave-mart was held, observed, as he walked, somebeautiful boys, with fair hair, blue eyes, and clear bright complexion. He asked a bystander of what nation the boys were. The answer was, thatthey were Angles. “No, not Angles, ” he replied; “they are angels. ” Onlearning further that they were heathens, he registered a silent vowthat he would, if Providence gave him an opportunity, deliver them fromthe darkness of heathendom, and bring them and their relatives into thelight and liberty of the Gospel. Time passed by; and in the long courseof time Gregory became Pope. In his unlooked-for greatness, he did notforget his vow. In the year 596 he sent over to Kent a missionary, called Augustine, along with forty monks. They were well received by theKing of Kent, allowed to settle in Canterbury, and to build a smallcathedral there. 

20. +Latin Element of the Second Period+ (ii). -- This mission, thechurches that grew out of it, the Christian customs that in time tookroot in the country, and the trade that followed in its track, broughtinto the language a number of Latin words, most of them the names ofchurch offices, services, and observances. Thus we find, in our oldestEnglish, the words, +postol+ from _apostolus_, a person sent; +biscop+, from _episcopus_, an overseer; +calc+, from _calix_, a cup; +clerc+, from _clericus_, an ordained member of the church; +munec+, from_monăchus_, a solitary person or monk; +preost+, from _presbyter_, an elder; +aelmesse+, from _eleēmosŭnē_, alms; +predician+, from_prædicare_, to preach; +regol+, from _regula_, a rule. (_Apostle_, _bishop_, _clerk_, _monk_, _priest_, and _alms_ come to us really fromGreek words-- but through the Latin tongue. )

21. +Latin Element of the Second Period+ (iii). -- The introduction ofthe Roman form of Christianity brought with it increased communicationwith Rome and with the Continent generally; widened the experience ofEnglishmen; gave a stimulus to commerce; and introduced into this islandnew things and products, and along with the things and products newnames. To this period belongs the introduction of the words: +Butter+, +cheese+; +cedar+, +fig+, +pear+, +peach+; +lettuce, lily+; +pepper+, +pease+; +camel+, +lion+, +elephant+; +oyster+, +trout+; +pound+, +ounce+; +candle+, +table+; +marble+; +mint+. 

22. +Latin of the Third Period+ (i). -- The Latin element of the ThirdPeriod is in reality the French that was brought over to this island bythe Normans in 1066, and is generally called +Norman-French+. Itdiffered from the French of Paris both in spelling and in pronunciation. For example, Norman-French wrote +people+ for +peuple+; +léal+ for+loyal+; +réal+ for +royal+; +réalm+ for +royaume+; and so on. But bothof these dialects (and every dialect of French) are simply forms ofLatin-- not of the Latin written and printed in books, but of the Latinspoken in the camp, the fields, the streets, the village, and thecottage. The Romans conquered Gaul, where a Keltic tongue was spoken;and the Gauls gradually adopted Latin as their mother tongue, and-- withthe exception of the Brétons of Brittany-- left off their Keltic speechalmost entirely. In adopting the Latin tongue, they had-- as in similarcases-- taken firm hold of the root of the word, but changed thepronunciation of it, and had, at the same time, compressed very much orentirely dropped many of the Latin inflexions. The French people, anintermixture of Gauls and other tribes (some of them, like the Franks, German), ceased, in fact, to speak their own language, and learned theLatin tongue. The Norsemen, led by Duke Rolf or Rollo or Rou, marchedsouth in large numbers; and, in the year 912, wrested from King Charlesthe Simple the fair valley of the Seine, settled in it, and gave to itthe name of Normandy. These Norsemen, now Normans, were Teutons, andspoke a Teutonic dialect; but, when they settled in France, they learnedin course of time to speak French. The kind of French they spoke iscalled Norman-French, and it was this kind of French that they broughtover with them in 1066. But Norman-French had made its appearance inEngland before the famous year of ’66; for Edward the Confessor, whosucceeded to the English throne in 1042, had been educated at the NormanCourt; and he not only spoke the language himself, but insisted on itsbeing spoken by the nobles who lived with him in his Court. 

23. +Latin of the Third Period+ (ii). +Chief Dates+. --The Normans, having utterly beaten down the resistance of the English, seized theland and all the political power of this country, and filled all kindsof offices-- both spiritual and temporal-- with their Norman brethren. Norman-French became the language of the Court and the nobility, thelanguage of Parliament and the law courts, of the universities and theschools, of the Church and of literature. The English people held fastto their own tongue; but they picked up many French words in the marketsand other places “where men most do congregate. ” But French, being thelanguage of the upper and ruling classes, was here and there learned bythe English or Saxon country-people who had the ambition to be in thefashion, and were eager “to speke Frensch, for to be more y-told of, ”--to be more highly considered than their neighbours. It took about threehundred years for French words and phrases to soak thoroughly intoEnglish; and it was not until England was saturated with French wordsand French rhythms that the great poet Chaucer appeared to producepoetic narratives that were read with delight both by Norman baron andby Saxon yeoman. In the course of these three hundred years thisintermixture of French with English had been slowly and silently goingon. Let us look at a few of the chief land-marks in the long process. In+1042+ Edward the Confessor introduces Norman-French into his Court. In+1066+ Duke William introduces Norman-French into the whole country, andeven into parts of Scotland. The oldest English, or Anglo-Saxon, ceasesto be written, anywhere in the island, in public documents, in the year+1154+. In +1204+ we lost Normandy, a loss that had the effect ofbringing the English and the Normans closer together. Robert ofGloucester writes his chronicle in +1272+, and uses a large number ofFrench words. But, as early as the reign of Henry the Third, in the year+1258+, the reformed and reforming Government of the day issued aproclamation in English, as well as in French and Latin. In +1303+, Robert of Brunn introduces a large number of French words. The Frenchwars in Edward the Third’s reign brought about a still closer union ofthe Norman and the Saxon elements of the nation. But, about the middleof the fourteenth century a reaction set in, and it seemed as if thegenius of the English language refused to take in any more French words. The English silent stubbornness seemed to have prevailed, and Englishmenhad made up their minds to be English in speech, as they were English tothe backbone in everything else. Norman-French had, in fact, becomeprovincial, and was spoken only here and there. Before the greatPlague-- commonly spoken of as “The Black Death”-- of +1349+, both highand low seemed to be alike bent on learning French, but the reaction maybe said to date from this year. The culminating point of this reactionmay perhaps be seen in an Act of Parliament passed in +1362+ by EdwardIII. , by which both French and Latin had to give place to English in ourcourts of law. The poems of Chaucer are the literary result-- “thebright consummate flower” of the union of two great powers-- thebrilliance of the French language on the one hand and the homely truthand steadfastness of English on the other. Chaucer was born in +1340+, and died in +1400+; so that we may say that he and his poems-- thoughnot the causes-- are the signs and symbols of the great influence thatFrench obtained and held over our mother tongue. But although weaccepted so many _words_ from our Norman-French visitors and immigrants, we accepted from them no _habit_ of speech whatever. We accepted fromthem no phrase or idiom: the build and nature of the English languageremained the same-- unaffected by foreign manners or by foreign habits. It is true that Chaucer has the ridiculous phrase, “I n’am but dead”(for “I am quite dead”[4])-- which is a literal translation of thewell-known French idiom, “Je ne suis que. ” But, though our tongue hasalways been and is impervious to foreign idiom, it is probably owing tothe great influx of French words which took place chiefly in thethirteenth century that many people have acquired a habit of using along French or Latin word when an English word would do quite as well--or, indeed, a great deal better. Thus some people are found to call a_good house_, a _desirable mansion_; and, instead of the quiet oldEnglish proverb, “Buy once, buy twice, ” we have the roundaboutLatinisms, “A single commission will ensure a repetition of orders. ” AnAmerican writer, speaking of the foreign ambassadors who had beenattacked by Japanese soldiers in Yeddo, says that “they concluded tooccupy a location more salubrious. ” This is only a foreign language, instead of the simple and homely English: “They made up their minds tosettle in a healthier spot. ”

 [Footnote 4: Or, as an Irishman would say, “I am kilt entirely. ”]

24. +Latin of the Third Period+ (iii). +Norman Words+ (_a_). --TheNorman-French words were of several different kinds. There were wordsconnected with war, with feudalism, and with the chase. There were newlaw terms, and words connected with the State, and the new institutionsintroduced by the Normans. There were new words brought in by the Normanchurchmen. New titles unknown to the English were also introduced. A better kind of cooking, a higher and less homely style of living, wasbrought into this country by the Normans; and, along with these, new andunheard-of words. 

25. +Norman Words+ (_b_). -- The following are some of the Norman-Frenchterms connected with war: +Arms+, +armour+; +assault+, +battle+;+captain+, +chivalry+; +joust+, +lance+; +standard+, +trumpet+; +mail+, +vizor+. The English word for +armour+ was +harness+; but the Normansdegraded that word into the armour of a horse. +Battle+ comes from theFr. _battre_, to beat: the corresponding English word is +fight+. +Captain+ comes from the Latin _caput_, a head. +Mail+ comes from theLatin _macula_, the mesh of a net; and the first coats of mail were madeof rings or a kind of metal network. +Vizor+ comes from the Fr. _viser_, to look. It was the barred part of the helmet which a man could seethrough. 

26. +Norman Words+ (_c_). -- Feudalism may be described as the holding ofland on condition of giving or providing service in war. Thus a knightheld land of his baron, under promise to serve him so many days; a baronof his king, on condition that he brought so many men into the field forsuch and such a time at the call of his Overlord. William the Conquerormade the feudal system universal in every part of England, and compelledevery English baron to swear homage to himself personally. Wordsrelating to feudalism are, among others: +Homage+, +fealty+; +esquire+, +vassal+; +herald+, +scutcheon+, and others. +Homage+ is the declarationof obedience for life of one man to another-- that the inferior is the_man_ (Fr. _homme_; L. _homo_) of the superior. +Fealty+ is theNorman-French form of the word _fidelity_. An +esquire+ is a +scutiger+(L. ), or _shield-bearer_; for he carried the shield of the knight, whenthey were travelling and no fighting was going on. A +vassal+ was a“little young man, ”-- in Low-Latin +vassallus+, a diminutive of_vassus_, from the Keltic word _gwâs_, a man. (The form _vassaletus_ isalso found, which gives us our _varlet_ and _valet_. ) +Scutcheon+ comesfrom the Lat. _scutum_, a shield. Then scutcheon or escutcheon came tomean _coat-of-arms_-- or the marks and signs on his shield by which thename and family of a man were known, when he himself was covered fromhead to foot in iron mail. 

27. +Norman Words+ (_d_). -- The terms connected with the chase are:+Brace+, +couple+; +chase+, +course+; +covert+, +copse+, +forest+;+leveret+, +mews+; +quarry+, +venison+. A few remarks about some ofthese may be interesting. +Brace+ comes from the Old French _brace_, anarm (Mod. French _bras_); from the Latin _brachium_. The root-idea seemsto be that which encloses or holds up. Thus _bracing_ air is that which_strings_ up the nerves and muscles; and a _brace_ of birds was twobirds tied together with a string. --The word +forest+ contains initself a good deal of unwritten Norman history. It comes from the Latinadverb _foras_, out of doors. Hence, in Italy, a stranger or foreigneris still called a _forestiere_. A forest in Norman-French was notnecessarily a breadth of land covered with trees; it was simply land_out of_ the jurisdiction of the common law. Hence, when William theConqueror created the New Forest, he merely took the land _out of_ therule and charge of the common law, and put it under his own regal powerand personal care. In land of this kind-- much of which was kept forhunting in-- trees were afterwards planted, partly to shelter largegame, and partly to employ ground otherwise useless in growing timber. --+Mews+ is a very odd word. It comes from the Latin verb _mutare_, tochange. When the falcons employed in hunting were changing theirfeathers, or _moulting_ (the word _moult_ is the same as _mews_ in adifferent dress), the French shut them in a cage, which they called+mue+-- from _mutare_. Then the stables for horses were put in the sameplace; and hence a row of stables has come to be called a +mews+. --+Quarry+ is quite as strange. The word _quarry_, which means a mine ofstones, comes from the Latin _quadrāre_, to make square. But the huntingterm _quarry_ is of a quite different origin. That comes from the Latin_cor_ (the heart), which the Old French altered into +quer+. When a wildbeast was run down and killed, the heart and entrails were thrown to thedogs as their share of the hunt. Hence Milton says of the eagle, “Hescents his quarry from afar. ” --The word +venison+ comes to us, throughFrench, from the Lat. _venāri_, to hunt; and hence it means _huntedflesh_. The same word gives us _venery_-- the term that was used in thefourteenth century, by Chaucer among others, for hunting. 

28. +Norman Words+ (_e_). -- The Normans introduced into England theirown system of law, their own law officers; and hence, into the Englishlanguage, came Norman-French law terms. The following are a few:+Assize+, +attorney+; +chancellor+, +court+; +judge+, +justice+;+plaintiff+, + sue+; +summons+, +trespass+. A few remarks about some ofthese may be useful. The +chancellor+ (_cancellarius_) was the legalauthority who sat behind lattice-work, which was called in Latin_cancelli_. This word means, primarily, _little crabs_; and it is adiminutive from _cancer_, a crab. It was so called because thelattice-work looked like crabs’ claws crossed. Our word _cancel_ comesfrom the same root: it means to make cross lines through anything wewish deleted. --+Court+ comes from the Latin _cors_ or _cohors_, a sheep-pen. It afterwards came to mean an enclosure, and also a body ofRoman soldiers. --The proper English word for a _judge_ is +deemster+ or+demster+ (which appears as the proper name _Dempster_); and this isstill the name for a judge in the Isle of Man. The French word comesfrom two Latin words, _dico_, I utter, and _jus_, right. The word jus isseen in the other French term which we have received from the Normans--+justice+. --+Sue+ comes from the Old Fr. _suir_, which appears inModern Fr. As _suivre_. It is derived from the Lat. Word _sequor_, I follow (which gives our _sequel_); and we have compounds of it in_ensue_, _issue_, and _pursue_. --The +tres+ in +trespass+ is a Frenchform of the Latin trans, beyond or across. _Trespass_, therefore, meansto cross the bounds of right. 

29. +Norman Words+ (_f_). -- Some of the church terms introduced by theNorman-French are: +Altar+, +Bible+; +baptism+, +ceremony+; +friar+;+tonsure+; +penance+, +relic+. --The Normans gave us the words +title+and +dignity+ themselves, and also the following titles: +Duke+, +marquis+; +count+, +viscount+; +peer+; +mayor+, and others. A duke is a_leader_; from the Latin _dux_ (= _duc-s_). A +marquis+ is a lord whohas to ride the _marches_ or borders between one county, or between onecountry, and another. A marquis was also called a +Lord-Marcher+. Theword +count+ never took root in this island, because its place wasalready occupied by the Danish name _earl_; but we preserve it in thenames +countess+ and +viscount+-- the latter of which means a person _inthe place of_ (L. _vice_) a count. +Peer+ comes from the Latin _par_, anequal. The House of Peers is the House of Lords-- that is, of those whoare, at least when in the House, _equal_ in rank and _equal_ in power ofvoting. It is a fundamental doctrine in English law that every man “isto be tried by his _peers_. ” --It is worthy of note that, in general, the +French+ names for different kinds of food designated the +cooked+meats; while the names for the +living+ animals that furnish them are+English+. Thus we have _beef_ and _ox_; _mutton_ and _sheep_; _veal_and _calf_; _pork_ and _pig_. There is a remarkable passage in SirWalter Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe, ’ which illustrates this fact with great forceand picturesqueness:--

“‘Gurth, I advise thee to call off Fangs, and leave the herd to theirdestiny, which, whether they meet with bands of travelling soldiers, or of outlaws, or of wandering pilgrims, can be little else than to beconverted into Normans before morning, to thy no small ease andcomfort. ’

“‘The swine turned Normans to my comfort!’ quoth Gurth; ‘expound that tome, Wamba, for my brain is too dull, and my mind too vexed, to readriddles. ’

“‘Why, how call you those grunting brutes running about on their fourlegs?’ demanded Wamba. 

“‘Swine, fool, swine, ’ said the herd; ‘every fool knows that. ’

“‘And swine is good Saxon, ’ said the jester; ‘but how call you the sowwhen she is flayed, and drawn, and quartered, and hung up by the heels, like a traitor?’

“‘Pork, ’ answered the swine-herd. 

“‘I am very glad every fool knows that too, ’ said Wamba; ‘and pork, I think, is good Norman-French: and so when the brute lives, and is inthe charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes aNorman, and is called pork, when she is carried to the castle-hall tofeast among the nobles; what dost thou think of this, friend Gurth, ha?’

“‘It is but too true doctrine, friend Wamba, however it got into thyfool’s pate. ’

“‘Nay, I can tell you more, ’ said Wamba, in the same tone; ‘there is oldAlderman Ox continues to hold his Saxon epithet, while he is under thecharge of serfs and bondsmen such as thou, but becomes Beef, a fieryFrench gallant, when he arrives before the worshipful jaws that aredestined to consume him. Myhneer Calf, too, becomes Monsieur de Veau inthe like manner; he is Saxon when he requires tendance, and takes aNorman name when he becomes matter of enjoyment. ’”

30. +General Character of the Norman-French Contributions. +-- TheNorman-French contributions to our language gave us a number of +generalnames+ or +class-names+; while the names for +individual+ things are, ingeneral, of purely English origin. The words +animal+ and +beast+, forexample, are French (or Latin); but the words +fox+, +hound+, +whale+, +snake+, +wasp+, and +fly+ are purely English. --The words +family+, +relation+, +parent+, +ancestor+, are French; but the names +father+, +mother+, +son+, +daughter+, +gossip+, are English. --The words +title+and +dignity+ are French; but the words +king+ and +queen+, +lord+ and+lady+, +knight+ and +sheriff+, are English. --Perhaps the mostremarkable instance of this is to be found in the abstract termsemployed for the offices and functions of State. Of these, the Englishlanguage possesses only one-- the word +kingdom+. Norman-French, on theother hand, has given us the words +realm+, +court+, +state+, +constitution+, +people+, +treaty+, +audience+, +navy+, +army+, andothers-- amounting in all to nearly forty. When, however, we come toterms denoting labour and work-- such as agriculture and seafaring, wefind the proportions entirely reversed. The English language, in suchcases, contributes almost everything; the French nearly nothing. Inagriculture, while +plough+, +rake+, +harrow+, +flail+, and many othersare English words, not a single term for an agricultural process orimplement has been given us by the warlike Norman-French. --While thewords +ship+ and +boat+; +hull+ and +fleet+; +oar+ and +sail+, are allEnglish, the Normans have presented us with only the single word +prow+. It is as if all the Norman conqueror had to do was to take his stand atthe prow, gazing upon the land he was going to seize, while theLow-German sailors worked for him at oar and sail. --Again, while thenames of the various parts of the body-- +eye+, +nose+, +cheek+, +tongue+, +hand+, +foot+, and more than eighty others-- are all English, we have received only about ten similar words from the French-- such as+spirit+ and +corpse+; +perspiration+; +face+ and +stature+. Speakingbroadly, we may say that all words that express +general notions+, or generalisations, are French or Latin; while words that express+specific+ actions or concrete existences are pure English. Mr Spaldingobserves-- “We use a foreign term naturalised when we speak of ‘colour’universally; but we fall back on our home stores if we have to tell whatthe colour is, calling it ‘red’ or ‘yellow, ’ ‘white’ or ‘black, ’ ‘green’or ‘brown. ’ We are Romans when we speak in a _general_ way of ‘moving’;but we are Teutons if we ‘leap’ or ‘spring, ’ if we ‘slip, ’ ‘slide, ’ or‘fall, ’ if we ‘walk, ’ ‘run, ’ ‘swim, ’ or ‘ride, ’ if we ‘creep’ or ‘crawl’or ‘fly. ’”

31. +Gains to English from Norman-French. +-- The gains from theNorman-French contribution are large, and are also of very greatimportance. Mr Lowell says, that the Norman element came in asquickening leaven to the rather heavy and lumpy Saxon dough. It stirredthe whole mass, gave new life to the language, a much higher and widerscope to the thoughts, much greater power and copiousness to theexpression of our thoughts, and a finer and brighter rhythm to ourEnglish sentences. “To Chaucer, ” he says, in ‘My Study Windows, ’ “Frenchmust have been almost as truly a mother tongue as English. In him we seethe first result of the Norman yeast upon the home-baked Saxon loaf. Theflour had been honest, the paste well kneaded, but the inspiring leavenwas wanting till the Norman brought it over. Chaucer works still in thesolid material of his race, but with what airy lightness has he notinfused it? Without ceasing to be English, he has escaped from beinginsular. ” Let us look at some of these gains a little more in detail. 

32. +Norman-French Synonyms. +-- We must not consider a +synonym+ as aword that means exactly _the same thing_ as the word of which it is asynonym; because then there would be neither room nor use for such aword in the language. A synonym is a word of the same meaning asanother, but with a slightly different shade of meaning, -- or it is usedunder different circumstances and in a different connection, or it putsthe same idea under a new angle. +Begin+ and +commence+, +will+ and+testament+, are exact equivalents-- are complete synonyms; but thereare very few more of this kind in our language. The moment the genius ofa language gets hold of two words of the same meaning, it sets them todo different kinds of work, -- to express different parts or shades ofthat meaning. Thus +limb+ and +member+, +luck+ and +fortune+, have thesame meaning; but we cannot speak of a _limb_ of the Royal Society, orof the _luck_ of the Rothschilds, who made their _fortune_ by hard workand steady attention to business. We have, by the aid of theNorman-French contributions, +flower+ as well as +bloom+; +branch+ and+bough+; +purchase+ and +buy+; +amiable+ and +friendly+; +cordial+ and+hearty+; +country+ and +land+; +gentle+ and +mild+; +desire+ and+wish+; +labour+ and +work+; +miserable+ and +wretched+. These pairs ofwords enable poets and other writers to use the right word in the rightplace. And we, preferring our Saxon or good old English words to anyFrench or Latin importations, prefer to speak of +a hearty welcome+instead of +a cordial reception+; of +a loving wife+ instead of an+amiable consort+; of +a wretched man+ instead of +a miserableindividual+. 

33. +Bilingualism. +-- How did these Norman-French words find their wayinto the language? What was the road by which they came? What was theprocess that enabled them to find a place in and to strike deep rootinto our English soil? Did the learned men-- the monks and the clergy--make a selection of words, write them in their books, and teach them tothe English people? Nothing of the sort. The process was a much ruderone-- but at the same time one much more practical, more effectual, andmore lasting in its results. The two peoples-- the Normans and theEnglish-- found that they had to live together. They met at church, inthe market-place, in the drilling field, at the archery butts, in thecourtyards of castles; and, on the battle-fields of France, the Saxonbowman showed that he could fight as well, as bravely, and even tobetter purpose than his lord-- the Norman baron. At all these places, under all these circumstances, the Norman and the Englishman wereobliged to speak with each other. Now arose a striking phenomenon. Everyman, as Professor Earle puts it, turned himself as it were into awalking phrase-book or dictionary. When a Norman had to use a Frenchword, he tried to put the English word for it alongside of the Frenchword; when an Englishman used an English word, he joined with it theFrench equivalent. Then the language soon began to swarm with “yokes ofwords”; our words went in couples; and the habit then begun hascontinued down even to the present day. And thus it is that we possesssuch couples as +will and testament+; +act and deed+; +use and wont+;+aid and abet+. Chaucer’s poems are full of these pairs. He joinstogether +hunting and venery+ (though both words mean exactly the samething); +nature and kind+; +cheere and face+; +pray and beseech+; +mirthand jollity+. Later on, the Prayer-Book, which was written in the years1540 to 1559, keeps up the habit: and we find the pairs +acknowledge andconfess+; +assemble and meet together+; +dissemble and cloak+; +humbleand lowly+. To the more English part of the congregation the simpleSaxon words would come home with kindly association; to others, thewords _confess_, _assemble_, _dissemble_, and _humble_ would speak withgreater force and clearness. --Such is the phenomenon called byProfessor Earle +bilingualism+. “It is, in fact, ” he says, “a putting ofcolloquial formulæ to do the duty of a French-English and English-Frenchvocabulary. ” Even Hooker, who wrote at the end of the sixteenth century, seems to have been obliged to use these pairs; and we find in hiswritings the couples “cecity and blindness, ” “nocive and hurtful, ”“sense and meaning. ”

34. +Losses of English from the Incoming of Norman-French. +-- (i) Beforethe coming of the Normans, the English language was in the habit offorming compounds with ease and effect. But, after the introduction ofthe Norman-French language, that power seems gradually to havedisappeared; and ready-made French or Latin words usurped the place ofthe home-grown English compound. Thus +despair+ pushed out +wanhope+;+suspicion+ dethroned +wantrust+; +bidding-sale+ was expelled by+auction+; +learning-knight+ by +disciple+; +rime-craft+ by the Greekword +arithmetic+; +gold-hoard+ by +treasure+; +book-hoard+ by+library+; +earth-tilth+ by +agriculture+; +wonstead+ by +residence+;and so with a large number of others. --Many English words, moreover, had their meanings depreciated and almost degraded; and the wordsthemselves lost their ancient rank and dignity. Thus the Normanconquerors put their foot-- literally and metaphorically-- on the Saxon+chair+, [5] which thus became a +stool+, or a +footstool+. +Thatch+, which is a doublet of the word +deck+, was the name for any kind ofroof; but the coming of the Norman-French lowered it to indicate a _roofof straw_. +Whine+ was used for the weeping or crying of human beings;but it is now restricted to the cry of a dog. +Hide+ was the genericterm for the skin of any animal; it is now limited in modern English tothe skin of a beast. --The most damaging result upon our language wasthat it entirely +stopped the growth of English words+. We could, forexample, make out of the word +burn+-- the derivatives +brunt+, +brand+, +brandy+, +brown+, +brimstone+, and others; but this power died out withthe coming in of the Norman-French language. After that, instead ofgrowing our own words, we adopted them ready-made. --Professor Craikcompares the English and Latin languages to two banks; and says that, when the Normans came over, the account at the English bank was closed, and we drew only upon the Latin bank. But the case is worse than this. English lost its power of growth and expansion from the centre; fromthis time, it could only add to its bulk by borrowing and conveying fromwithout-- by the external accretion of foreign words. 

 [Footnote 5: _Chair_ is the Norman-French form of the French _chaise_. The Germans still call a chair a _stuhl_; and among the English, _stool_ was the universal name till the twelfth century. ]

35. +Losses of English from the Incoming of Norman-French. +-- (ii) Thearrestment of growth in the purely English part of our language, owingto the irruption of Norman-French, and also to the ease with which wecould take a ready-made word from Latin or from Greek, killed off an oldpower which we once possessed, and which was not without its own use andexpressiveness. This was the power of making compound words. The Greeksin ancient times had, and the Germans in modern times have, this powerin a high degree. Thus a Greek comic poet has a word of fourteensyllables, which may be thus translated--

 “Meanly-rising-early-and-hurrying-to-the-tribunal- to-denounce-another-for-an-infraction-of-the-law- concerning-the-exportation-of-figs. ”[6]

And the Germans have a compound like “the-all-to-nothing-crushingphilosopher. ” The Germans also say _iron-path_ for _railway_, _handshoe_for _glove_, and _finger-hat_ for _thimble_. We also possessed thispower at one time, and employed it both in proper and in common names. Thus we had and have the names _Brakespear_, _Shakestaff_, _Shakespear_, _Golightly_, _Dolittle_, _Standfast_; and the common nouns _want-wit_, _find-fault_, _mumble-news_ (for _tale-bearer_), _pinch-penny_ (for_miser_), _slugabed_. In older times we had _three-foot-stool_, _three-man-beetle_[7]; _stone-cold_, _heaven-bright_, _honey-sweet_, _snail-slow_, _nut-brown_, _lily-livered_ (for _cowardly_);_brand-fire-new_; _earth-wandering_, _wind-dried_, _thunder-blasted_, _death-doomed_, and many others. But such words as _forbears_ or_fore-elders_ have been pushed out by _ancestors_; _forewit_ by_caution_ or _prudence_; and _inwit_ by _conscience_. Mr Barnes, theDorsetshire poet, would like to see these and similar compoundsrestored, and thinks that we might well return to the old clearwell-springs of “English undefiled, ” and make our own compounds out ofour own words. He even carries his desires into the region of Englishgrammar, and, for _degrees of comparison_, proposes the phrase _pitchesof suchness_. Thus, instead of the Latin word _omnibus_, he would have_folk-wain_; for the Greek _botany_, he would substitute _wort-lore_;for _auction_, he would give us _bode-sale_; _globule_ he would replacewith _ballkin_; the Greek word _horizon_ must give way to the pureEnglish _sky-edge_; and, instead of _quadrangle_, he would have us allwrite and say _four-winkle_. 

 [Footnote 6: In two words, a _fig-shower_ or _sycophant_. ]

 [Footnote 7: A club for beating clothes, that could be handled only by three men. ]

36. +Losses of English from the Incoming of Norman-French. +-- (iii) Whenonce a way was made for the entrance of French words into our Englishlanguage, the immigrations were rapid and numerous. Hence there weremany changes both in the grammar and in the vocabulary of English fromthe year 1100, the year in which we may suppose those Englishmen whowere living at the date of the battle of Hastings had died out. Thesechanges were more or less rapid, according to circumstances. But perhapsthe most rapid and remarkable change took place in the lifetime ofWilliam Caxton, the great printer, who was born in 1410. In his prefaceto his translation of the ‘Æneid’ of Virgil, which he published in 1490, when he was eighty years of age, he says that he cannot understand oldbooks that were written when he was a boy-- that “the olde Englysshe ismore lyke to dutche than englysshe, ” and that “our langage now vsedvaryeth ferre from that whiche was vsed and spoken when I was borne. Forwe Englysshemen ben borne ynder the domynacyon of the mone [moon], whichis neuer stedfaste, but euer wauerynge, wexynge one season, and wanethand dycreaseth another season. ” This as regards time. --But he has thesame complaint to make as regards place. “Comyn englysshe that is spokenin one shyre varyeth from another. ” And he tells an odd story inillustration of this fact. He tells about certain merchants who were ina ship “in Tamyse” (on the Thames), who were bound for Zealand, but werewind-stayed at the Foreland, and took it into their heads to go on shorethere. One of the merchants, whose name was Sheffelde, a mercer, entereda house, “and axed for mete, and specyally he axyd after eggys. ” But the“goode-wyf” replied that she “coude speke no frenshe. ” The merchant, whowas a steady Englishman, lost his temper, “for he also coude speke nofrenshe, but wolde have hadde eggys; and she understode hym not. ”Fortunately, a friend happened to join him in the house, and he acted asinterpreter. The friend said that “he wolde have eyren; then the goodewyf sayde that she understod hym wel. ” And then the simple-minded butmuch-perplexed Caxton goes on to say: “Loo! what sholde a man in thysedayes now wryte, eggës or eyren?” Such were the difficulties that besetprinters and writers in the close of the fifteenth century. 

37. +Latin of the Fourth Period. +-- (i) This contribution differs veryessentially in character from the last. The Norman-French contributionwas a gift from a people to a people-- from living beings to livingbeings; this new contribution was rather a conveyance of words frombooks to books, and it never influenced-- in any great degree-- the+spoken language+ of the English people. The ear and the mouth carriedthe Norman-French words into our language; the eye, the pen, and theprinting-press were the instruments that brought in the Latin words ofthe Fourth Period. The Norman-French words that came in took and kepttheir place in the spoken language of the masses of the people; theLatin words that we received in the sixteenth and seventeenth centurieskept their place in the written or printed language of books, ofscholars, and of literary men. These new Latin words came in with the+Revival of Learning+, which is also called the +Renascence+. 

The Turks attacked and took Constantinople in the year +1453+; and thegreat Greek and Latin scholars who lived in that city hurriedly packedup their priceless manuscripts and books, and fled to all parts ofItaly, Germany, France, and even into England. The loss of the Eastbecame the gain of the West. These scholars became teachers; they taughtthe Greek and Roman classics to eager and earnest learners; and thus anew impulse was given to the study of the great masterpieces of humanthought and literary style. And so it came to pass in course of timethat every one who wished to become an educated man studied theliterature of Greece and Rome. Even women took to the study. Lady JaneGrey was a good Greek and Latin scholar; and so was Queen Elizabeth. From this time began an enormous importation of Latin words into ourlanguage. Being imported by the eye and the pen, they suffered little orno change; the spirit of the people did not influence them in theleast-- neither the organs of speech nor the ear affected either thepronunciation or the spelling of them. If we look down the columns ofany English dictionary, we shall find these later Latin words inhundreds. _Opinionem_ became +opinion+; _factionem_, +faction+;_orationem_, +oration+; _pungentem_ passed over in the form of +pungent+(though we had _poignant_ already from the French); _pauperem_ came inas +pauper+; and _separatum_ became +separate+. 

38. +Latin of the Fourth Period. +-- (ii) This went on to such an extentin the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century, that onewriter says of those who spoke and wrote this Latinised English, “Ifsome of their mothers were alive, they were not able to tell what theysay. ” And Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) remarks: “If elegancy (= the useof Latin words) still proceedeth, and English pens maintain that streamwe have of late observed to flow from many, we shall, within a fewyears, be fain to learn Latin to understand English, and a work willprove of equal facility in either. ” Mr Alexander Gill, an eminentschoolmaster, and the then head-master of St Paul’s School, where, amonghis other pupils, he taught John Milton, wrote a book in 1619 on theEnglish language; and, among other remarks, he says: “O harsh lips!I now hear all around me such words as _common_, _vices_, _envy_, _malice_; even _virtue_, _study_, _justice_, _pity_, _mercy_, _compassion_, _profit_, _commodity_, _colour_, _grace_, _favour_, _acceptance_. But whither, I pray, in all the world, have you banishedthose words which our forefathers used for these new-fangled ones? Areour words to be executed like our citizens?” And he calls this fashionof using Latin words “the new mange in our speaking and writing. ” Butthe fashion went on growing; and even uneducated people thought it aclever thing to use a Latin instead of a good English word. SamuelRowlands, a writer in the seventeenth century, ridicules thisaffectation in a few lines of verse. He pretends that he was out walkingon the highroad, and met a countryman who wanted to know what o’clock itwas, and whether he was on the right way to the town or village he wasmaking for. The writer saw at once that he was a simple bumpkin; and, when he heard that he had lost his way, he turned up his nose at thepoor fellow, and ordered him to be off at once. Here are the lines:--

 “As on the way I itinerated, A rural person I obviated, Interrogating time’s transitation, And of the passage demonstration. My apprehension did ingenious scan That he was merely a simplician; So, when I saw he was extravagánt, Unto the óbscure vulgar consonánt, I bade him vanish most promiscuously, And not contaminate my company. ”

39. +Latin of the Fourth Period. +-- (iii) What happened in the case ofthe Norman-French contribution, happened also in this. The languagebecame saturated with these new Latin words, until it became satiated, then, as it were, disgusted, and would take no more. Hundreds of

 “Long-tailed words in _osity_ and _ation_”

crowded into the English language; but many of them were doomedto speedy expulsion. Thus words like _discerptibility_, _supervacaneousness_, _septentrionality_, _ludibundness_ (love ofsport), came in in crowds. The verb _intenerate_ tried to turn out_soften_; and _deturpate_ to take the place of _defile_. But goodwriters, like Bacon and Raleigh, took care to avoid the use of suchterms, and to employ only those Latin words which gave them the power toindicate a new idea-- a new meaning or a new shade of meaning. And whenwe come to the eighteenth century, we find that a writer like Addisonwould have shuddered at the very mention of such “inkhorn terms. ”

40. +Eye-Latin and Ear-Latin. +-- (i) One slight influence produced bythis spread of devotion to classical Latin-- to the Latin of Cicero andLivy, of Horace and Virgil-- was to alter the spelling of French words. We had already received-- through the ear-- the French words _assaute_, _aventure_, _defaut_, _dette_, _vitaille_, and others. But when ourscholars became accustomed to the book-form of these words in Latinbooks, they gradually altered them-- for the eye and ear-- into_assault_, _adventure_, _default_, _debt_, and _victuals_. They wentfurther. A large number of Latin words that already existed in thelanguage in their Norman-French form (for we must not forget that Frenchis Latin “with the ends bitten off”-- changed by being spoken peculiarlyand heard imperfectly) were reintroduced in their original Latin form. Thus we had +caitiff+ from the Normans; but we reintroduced it in theshape of +captive+, which comes almost unaltered from the Latin_captivum_. +Feat+ we had from the Normans; but the Latin _factum_, which provided the word, presented us with a second form of it in theword +fact+. Such words might be called +Ear-Latin+ and +Eye-Latin+;+Mouth-Latin+ and +Book-Latin+; +Spoken Latin+ and +Written Latin+;or Latin at second-hand and Latin at first-hand. 

41. +Eye-Latin and Ear-Latin. +-- (ii) This coming in of the same word bytwo different doors-- by the Eye and by the Ear-- has given rise to thephenomenon of +Doublets+. The following is a list of +Latin Doublets+;and it will be noticed that Latin1 stands for Latin at first-hand-- frombooks; and Latin2 for Latin at second-hand-- through the Norman-French. 

 LATIN DOUBLETS OR DUPLICATES. 

 LATIN. LATIN1. LATIN2. 

 Antecessorem Antecessor Ancestor. Benedictionem Benediction Benison. Cadentia (Low Lat. Noun) Cadence Chance. Captivum Captive Caitiff. Conceptionem Conception Conceit. Consuetudinem Consuetude {Custom. {Costume. Cophinum Coffin Coffer. Corpus (a body) Corpse Corps. Debitum (something owed) Debit Debt. Defectum (something wanting) Defect Defeat. Dilatāre Dilate Delay. Exemplum Example Sample. Fabrĭca (a workshop) Fabric Forge. Factionem Faction Fashion. Factum Fact Feat. Fidelitatem Fidelity Fealty. Fragilem Fragile Frail. Gentīlis Gentile Gentle. (belonging to a _gens_ or family) Historia History Story. Hospitale Hospital Hotel. Lectionem Lection Lesson. Legalem Legal Loyal. Magister Master Mr. Majorem (greater) Major Mayor. Maledictionem Malediction Malison. Moneta Mint Money. Nutrimentum Nutriment Nourishment. Orationem Oration Orison (a prayer). Paganum Pagan Payne (a proper name). (a dweller in a _pagus_ or country district) Particulam (a little part) Particle Parcel. Pauperem Pauper Poor. Penitentiam Penitence Penance. Persecutum Persecute Pursue. Potionem (a draught) Potion Poison. Pungentem Pungent Poignant. Quietum Quiet Coy. Radius Radius Ray. Regālem Regal Royal. Respectum Respect Respite. Securum Secure Sure. Seniorem Senior Sir. Separatum Separate Sever. Species Species Spice. Statum State Estate. Tractum Tract Trait. Traditionem Tradition Treason. Zelosum Zealous Jealous. 

42. +Remarks on the above Table. + --The word +benison+, a blessing, maybe contrasted with its opposite, +malison+, a curse. --+Cadence+ is thefalling of sounds; +chance+ the befalling of events. --A +caitiff+ wasat first a _captive_-- then a person who made no proper defence, but_allowed_ himself to be taken captive. --A +corps+ is a _body_ oftroops. --The word +sample+ is found, in older English, in the form of+ensample+. --A +feat+ of arms is a deed or +fact+ of arms, _parexcellence_. --To understand how +fragile+ became +frail+, we mustpronounce the +g+ hard, and notice how the hard guttural falls easilyaway-- as in our own native words _flail_ and _hail_, which formerlycontained a hard +g+. --A +major+ is a _greater_ captain; a +mayor+ is agreater _magistrate_. --A +magister+ means a _bigger man_-- as opposedto a +minister+ (from _minus_), a smaller man. --+Moneta+ was the namegiven to a stamped coin, because these coins were first struck in thetemple of Juno Moneta, Juno the Adviser or the Warner. (From the sameroot-- +mon+-- come _monition_, _admonition_; _monitor_; _admonish_. )--Shakespeare uses the word +orison+ freely for _prayer_, as in theaddress of Hamlet to Ophelia, where he says, “Nymph, in thy orisons, beall my sins remembered!” --+Poor+ comes to us from an Old French word_poure_; the newer French is _pauvre_. --To understand the vanishing ofthe +g+ sound in _poignant_, we must remember that the Romans sounded italways hard. --+Sever+ we get through _separate_, because +p+ and +v+are both labials, and therefore easily interchangeable. --+Treason+--with its +s+ instead of +ti+-- may be compared with +benison+, +malison+, +orison+, +poison+, and +reason+. 

43. +Conclusions from the above Table. +-- If we examine the table onpage 231 with care, we shall come to several undeniable conclusions. (i) First, the words which come to us direct from Latin are found morein books than in everyday speech. (ii) Secondly, they are longer. Thereason is that the words that have come through French have been worndown by the careless pronunciation of many generations-- by that desirefor ease in the pronouncing of words which characterises all languages, and have at last been compelled to take that form which was leastdifficult to pronounce. (iii) Thirdly, the two sets of words have, ineach case, either (_a_) very different meanings, or (_b_) differentshades of meaning. There is no likeness of meaning in _cadence_ and_chance_, except the common meaning of _fall_ which belongs to the rootfrom which they both spring. And the different shades of meaning between+history+ and +story+, between +regal+ and +royal+, between +persecute+and +pursue+, are also quite plainly marked, and are of the greatest usein composition. 

44. +Latin Triplets. +-- Still more remarkable is the fact that there arein our language words that have made three appearances-- one throughLatin, one through Norman-French, and one through ordinary French. Theseseem to live quietly side by side in the language; and no one asks bywhat claim they are here. They are useful: that is enough. Thesetriplets are-- +regal+, +royal+, and +real+; +legal+, +loyal+, and+leal+; +fidelity+, +faithfulness+, [8] and +fealty+. The adjective realwe no longer possess in the sense of _royal_, but Chaucer uses it; andit still exists in the noun +real-m+. +Leal+ is most used in Scotland, where it has a settled abode in the well-known phrase “the land o’ theleal. ”

 [Footnote 8: The word _faith_ is a true French word with an English ending-- the ending +th+. Hence it is a hybrid. The old French word was _fei_-- from the Latin _fidem_; and the ending +th+ was added to make it look more like _truth_, _wealth_, _health_, and other purely English words. ]

45. +Greek Doublets. +-- The same double introduction, which we noticedin the case of Latin words, takes place in regard to Greek words. Itseems to have been forgotten that our English forms of them had beenalready given us by St Augustine and the Church, and a newer form ofeach was reintroduced. The following are a few examples:--

 GREEK. OLDER FORM. LATER FORM. 

 Adamanta[9] (the untameable) Diamond Adamant. Balsamon Balm Balsam. Blasphēmein (to speak ill of) Blame Blaspheme. Cheirourgon[9] Chirurgeon Surgeon. (a worker with the hand) Dactŭlon (a finger) Date (the fruit) Dactyl. Phantasia Fancy Phantasy. Phantasma (an appearance) Phantom Phantasm. Presbuteron (an elder) Priest Presbyter. Paralysis Palsy Paralysis. Scandălon Slander Scandal. 

 [Footnote 9: The accusative or objective case is given in all these words. ]

It may be remarked of the word _fancy_, that, in Shakespeare’s time, it meant _love_ or _imagination_--

 “Tell me, where is _fancy_ bred, Or in the heart, or in the head?”

It is now restricted to mean a lighter and less serious kind ofimagination. Thus we say that Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ is a work ofimagination; but that Moore’s ‘Lalla Rookh’ is a product of the poet’sfancy. 

46. +Characteristics of the Two Elements of English. +-- If we keep ourattention fixed on the two chief elements in our language-- the Englishelement and the Latin element-- the Teutonic and the Romance-- we shallfind some striking qualities manifest themselves. We have already saidthat whole sentences can be made containing only English words, while itis impossible to do this with Latin or other foreign words. Let us taketwo passages-- one from a daily newspaper, and the other fromShakespeare:--

 (i) “We find the _functions_ of such an _official_ _defined_ in the _Act_. He is to be a _legally_ _qualified_ _medical_ _practitioner_ of skill and _experience_, to _inspect_ and _report_ _periodically_ on the _sanitary_ _condition_ of town or _district_; to _ascertain_ the _existence_ of _diseases_, more _especially_ _epidemics_ _increasing_ the _rates_ of _mortality_, and to _point_ out the _existence_ of any _nuisances_ or other _local_ _causes_, which are likely to _originate_ and _maintain_ such _diseases_, and _injuriously_ _affect_ the health of the _inhabitants_ of such town or _district_; to take _cognisance_ of the _existence_ of any _contagious_ _disease_, and to point out the most _efficacious_ _means_ for the _ventilation_ of _chapels_, _schools_, _registered_ _lodging_-houses, and other _public_ buildings. ”

In this passage, all the words in italics are either Latin or Greek. But, if the purely English words were left out, the sentence would fallinto ruins-- would become a mere rubbish-heap of words. It is the smallparticles that give life and motion to each sentence. They are thejoints and hinges on which the whole sentence moves. --Let us now lookat a passage from Shakespeare. It is from the speech of Macbeth, afterhe has made up his mind to murder Duncan:--

 (ii) “Go bid thy _mistress_, when my drink is ready, She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed!-- Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come! let me clutch thee! --I have thee not; and yet I see thee still. ”

In this passage there is only one Latin (or French) word-- the word_mistress_. If Shakespeare had used the word +lady+, the passage wouldhave been entirely English. --The passage from the newspaper deals withlarge +generalisations+; that from Shakespeare with individual +acts+and +feelings+-- with things that come +home+ “to the business andbosom” of man as man. Every master of the English language understandswell the art of mingling the two elements-- so as to obtain a fineeffect; and none better than writers like Shakespeare, Milton, Gray, andTennyson. Shakespeare makes Antony say of Cleopatra:--

 “Age cannot wither her; nor _custom_ stale Her infinite _variety_. ”

Here the French (or Latin) words _custom_ and _variety_ form a vividcontrast to the English verb _stale_, throw up its meaning and colour, and give it greater prominence. --Milton makes Eve say:--

 “I thither went With _inexperienc’d_ thought, and laid me down On the green bank, to look into the _clear_ Smooth _lake_, that to me seem’d another sky. ”

Here the words _inexperienced_ and _clear_ give variety to the samenessof the English words. --Gray, in the Elegy, has this verse:--

 “The breezy call of _incense_-breathing morn, The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, The cock’s shrill _clarion_ or the _echoing_ horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. ”

Here _incense_, _clarion_, and _echoing_ give a vivid colouring to theplainer hues of the homely English phrases. --Tennyson, in theLotos-Eaters, vi. , writes:--

 “Dear is the _memory_ of our wedded lives, And dear the last _embraces_ of our wives And their warm tears: but all hath _suffer’d_ _change_; For _surely_ now our household hearths are cold: Our sons _inherit_ us: our looks are _strange_: And we should come like ghosts to _trouble_ _joy_. ”

Most powerful is the introduction of the French words _suffered change_, _inherit_, _strange_, and _trouble joy_; for they give with painfulforce the contrast of the present state of desolation with the homelyrest and happiness of the old abode, the love of the loving wives, thefaithfulness of the stalwart sons. 

47. +English and other Doublets. +-- We have already seen how, by thepresentation of the same word at two different doors-- the door of Latinand the door of French-- we are in possession of a considerable numberof doublets. But this phenomenon is not limited to Latin and French-- isnot solely due to the contributions we receive from these languages. Wefind it also +within+ English itself; and causes of the most differentdescription bring about the same results. For various reasons, theEnglish language is very rich in doublets. It possesses nearly fivehundred pairs of such words. The language is all the richer for havingthem, as it is thereby enabled to give fuller and clearer expression tothe different shades and delicate varieties of meaning in the mind. 

48. +The sources of doublets+ are various. But five different causesseem chiefly to have operated in producing them. They are due todifferences of +pronunciation+; to differences in +spelling+; to+contractions+ for convenience in daily speech; to differences in+dialects+; and to the fact that many of them come from +differentlanguages+. Let us look at a few examples of each. At bottom, however, all these differences will be found to resolve themselves into+differences of pronunciation+. They are either differences in thepronunciation of the same word by different tribes, or by men indifferent counties, who speak different dialects; or by men of differentnations. 

49. +Differences in Pronunciation. +-- From this source we have +parson+and +person+ (the parson being the _person_ or representative of theChurch); +sop+ and +soup+; +task+ and +tax+ (the +sk+ has here become+ks+); +thread+ and +thrid+; +ticket+ and +etiquette+; +sauce+ and+souse+ (to steep in brine); +squall+ and +squeal+. 

50. +Differences in Spelling. +-- +To+ and +too+ are the same word-- onebeing used as a preposition, the other as an adverb; +of+ and +off+, +from+ and +fro+, are only different spellings, which representdifferent functions or uses of the same word; +onion+ and +union+ arethe same word. An +union+[10] comes from the Latin +unus+, one, and itmeant a large single pearl-- a unique jewel; the word was then appliedto the plant, the head of which is of a pearl-shape. 

 [Footnote 10: In Hamlet v. 2. 283, Shakespeare makes the King say--

 “The King shall drink to Hamlet’s better breath; And in the cup an union shall he throw. ”]

51. +Contractions. +-- Contraction has been a pretty fruitful source ofdoublets in English. A long word has a syllable or two cut off; or twoor three are compressed into one. Thus +example+ has become +sample+;+alone+ appears also as +lone+; +amend+ has been shortened into +mend+;+defend+ has been cut down into +fend+ (as in +fender+); +manœuvre+ hasbeen contracted into +manure+ (both meaning originally to work with thehand); +madam+ becomes +’m+ in +yes ’m+[11]; and +presbyter+ has beensqueezed down into +priest+. [12] Other examples of contraction are:+capital+ and +cattle+; +chirurgeon+ (a worker with the hand) and+surgeon+; +cholera+ and +choler+ (from chŏlos, the Greek word for_bile_); +disport+ and +sport+; +estate+ and +state+; +esquire+ and+squire+; +Egyptian+ and +gipsy+; +emmet+ and +ant+; +gammon+ and+game+; +grandfather+ and +gaffer+; +grandmother+ and +gammer+; +iota+(the Greek letter +i+) and +jot+; +maximum+ and +maxim+; +mobile+ and+mob+; +mosquito+ and +musket+; +papa+ and +pope+; +periwig+ and +wig+;+poesy+ and +posy+; +procurator+ and +proctor+; +shallop+ and +sloop+;+unity+ and +unit+. It is quite evident that the above pairs of words, although in reality one, have very different meanings and uses. 

 [Footnote 11: Professor Max Müller gives this as the most remarkable instance of cutting down. The Latin _mea domina_ became in French _madame_; in English _ma’am_; and, in the language of servants, _’m_. ]

 [Footnote 12: Milton says, in one of his sonnets--

 “New Presbyter is but old Priest writ large. ”

 From the etymological point of view, the truth is just the other way about. _Priest_ is old _Presbyter_ writ small. ]

52. +Difference of English Dialects. +-- Another source of doublets is tobe found in the dialects of the English language. Almost every county inEngland has its own dialect; but three main dialects stand out withgreat prominence in our older literature, and these are the +Northern+, the +Midland+, and the +Southern+. The grammar of these dialects[13] wasdifferent; their pronunciation of words was different-- and this hasgiven rise to a splitting of one word into two. In the North, we find ahard +c+, as in the _caster_ of +Lancaster+; in the Midlands, a soft+c+, as in +Leicester+; in the South, a +ch+, as in +Winchester+. Weshall find similar differences of hardness and softness in ordinarywords. Thus we find +kirk+ and +church+; +canker+ and +cancer+; +canal+and +channel+; +deck+ and +thatch+; +drill+ and +thrill+; +fan+ and+van+ (in a winnowing-machine); +fitch+ and +vetch+; +hale+ and +whole+;+mash+ and +mess+; +naught+, +nought+, and +not+; +pike+, +peak+, and+beak+; +poke+ and +pouch+; +quid+ (a piece of tobacco for chewing) and+cud+ (which means the thing _chewed_); +reave+ and +rob+; +ridge+ and+rig+; +scabby+ and +shabby+; +scar+ and +share+; +screech+ and+shriek+; +shirt+ and +skirt+; +shuffle+ and +scuffle+; +spray+ and+sprig+; +wain+ and +waggon+-- and other pairs. All of these are butdifferent modes of pronouncing the same word in different parts ofEngland; but the genius of the language has taken advantage of thesedifferent +ways of pronouncing+ to make different +words+ out of them, and to give them different functions, meanings, and uses. 

 [Footnote 13: See p. 242. ]

CHAPTER III. 

HISTORY OF THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH. 

1. +The Oldest English Synthetic. +-- The oldest English, or Anglo-Saxon, that was brought over here in the fifth century, was a language thatshowed the relations of words to each other by adding different endingsto words, or by +synthesis+. These endings are called +inflexions+. Latin and Greek are highly inflected languages; French and German havemany more inflexions than modern English; and ancient English (orAnglo-Saxon) also possessed a large number of inflexions. 

2. +Modern English Analytic. +-- When, instead of inflexions, a languageemploys small particles-- such as prepositions, auxiliary verbs, andsuchlike words-- to express the relations of words to each other, such alanguage is called +analytic+ or +non-inflexional+. When we say, as weused to say in the oldest English, “God is ealra cyninga cyning, ” wespeak a synthetic language. But when we say, “God is king _of_ allkings, ” then we employ an analytic or uninflected language. 

3. +Short View of the History of English Grammar. +-- From the time whenthe English language came over to this island, it has grown steadily inthe number of its words. On the other hand, it has lost just as steadilyin the number of its inflexions. Put in a broad and somewhat roughfashion, it may be said that--

 (i) +Up to the year 1100-- one generation after the Battle of Senlac-- the English language was a+ SYNTHETIC +Language. +

 (ii) +From the year 1100 or thereabouts, English has been losing its inflexions, and gradually becoming more and more an ANALYTIC Language. +

4. +Causes of this Change. +-- Even before the coming of the Danes andthe Normans, the English people had shown a tendency to get rid of someof their inflexions. A similar tendency can be observed at the presenttime among the Germans of the Rhine Province, who often drop an +n+ atthe end of a word, and show in other respects a carelessness aboutgrammar. But, when a foreign people comes among natives, such a tendencyis naturally encouraged, and often greatly increased. The nativesdiscover that these inflexions are not so very important, if only theycan get their meaning rightly conveyed to the foreigners. Both parties, accordingly, come to see that the +root+ of the word is the mostimportant element; they stick to that, and they come to neglect the mereinflexions. Moreover, the accent in English words always struck theroot; and hence this part of the word always fell on the ear with thegreater force, and carried the greater weight. When the Danes-- whospoke a cognate language-- began to settle in England, the tendency todrop inflexions increased; but when the Normans-- who spoke an entirelydifferent language-- came, the tendency increased enormously, and theinflexions of Anglo-Saxon began to “fall as the leaves fall” in the drywind of a frosty October. Let us try to trace some of these changes andlosses. 

5. +Grammar of the First Period, 450-1100. +-- The English of this periodis called the +Oldest English+ or +Anglo-Saxon+. The gender of nouns wasarbitrary, or-- it may be-- poetical; it did not, as in modern Englishit does, follow the sex. Thus +nama+, a name, was masculine; +tunge+, a tongue, feminine; and +eáge+, an eye, neuter. Like _nama_, the propernames of men ended in _a_; and we find such names as Isa, Offa, Penda, as the names of kings. Nouns at this period had five cases, withinflexions for each; now we possess but one inflexion-- that for thepossessive. --Even the definite article was inflected. --The infinitiveof verbs ended in +an+; and the sign _to_-- which we received from theDanes-- was not in use, except for the dative of the infinitive. Thisdative infinitive is still preserved in such phrases as “a house tolet;” “bread to eat;” “water to drink. ” --The present participle endedin +ende+ (in the North +ande+). This present participle may be saidstill to exist-- in spoken, but not in written speech; for some peopleregularly say _walkin_, _goin_, for _walking_ and _going_. --The pluralof the present indicative ended in +ath+ for all three persons. In theperfect tense, the plural ending was +on+. --There was no future tense;the work of the future was done by the present tense. Fragments of thisusage still survive in the language, as when we say, “He goes up to townnext week. ” --Prepositions governed various cases; and not always theobjective (or accusative), as they do now. 

6. +Grammar of the Second Period, 1100-1250. +-- The English of thisperiod is called +Early English+. Even before the coming of the Normans, the inflexions of our language had-- as we have seen-- begun to dropoff, and it was slowly on the way to becoming an analytic language. Thesame changes-- the same simplification of grammar, has taken place innearly every Low German language. But the coming of the Normans hastenedthese changes, for it made the inflexional endings of words of much lesspractical importance to the English themselves. --Great changes tookplace in the pronunciation also. The hard +c+ or +k+ was softened into+ch+; and the hard guttural +g+ was refined into a +y+ or even into asilent +w+. --A remarkable addition was made to the language. The OldestEnglish or Anglo-Saxon had no indefinite article. They said _ofer stán_for _on_ a _rock_. But, as the French have made the article +un+ out ofthe Latin +unus+, so the English pared down the northern +ane+ (= +one+)into the article +an+ or +a+. The Anglo-Saxon definite article was +se+, +seo+, +þaet+; and in the grammar of this Second Period it became +þe+, +þeo+, +þe+. --The French plural in +es+ took the place of the Englishplural in +en+. But _housen_ and _shoon_ existed for many centuriesafter the Norman coming; and Mr Barnes, the Dorsetshire poet, stilldeplores the ugly sound of _nests_ and _fists_, and would like to beable to say and to write _nesten_ and _fisten_. --The dative plural, which ended in +um+, becomes an +e+ or an +en+. The +um+, however, stillexists in the form of +om+ in +seldom+ (= at few times) and +whilom+(= in old times). --The gender of nouns falls into confusion, and beginsto show a tendency to follow the sex. --Adjectives show a tendency todrop several of their inflexions, and to become as serviceable andaccommodating as they are now-- when they are the same with all numbers, genders, and cases. --The +an+ of the infinitive becomes +en+, andsometimes even the +n+ is dropped. --+Shall+ and +will+ begin to be usedas tense-auxiliaries for the future tense. 

7. +Grammar of the Third Period, 1250-1350. +-- The English of thisperiod is often called +Middle English+. --The definite article stillpreserves a few inflexions. --Nouns that were once masculine or femininebecome neuter, for the sake of convenience. --The possessive in +es+becomes general. --Adjectives make their plural in +e+. --The infinitivenow takes +to+ before it-- except after a few verbs, like _bid_, _see_, _hear_, etc. --The present participle in +inge+ makes its appearanceabout the year 1300. 

8. +Grammar of the Fourth Period, 1350-1485. +-- This may be called+Later Middle English+. An old writer of the fourteenth century pointsout that, in his time-- and before it-- the English language was“a-deled a thre, ” divided into three; that is, that there were threemain dialects, the +Northern+, the +Midland+, and the +Southern+. Therewere many differences in the grammar of these dialects; but the chief ofthese differences is found in the plural of the present indicative ofthe verb. This part of the verb formed its plurals in the followingmanner:--

 NORTHERN. MIDLAND. SOUTHERN. We hopës We hopen We hopeth. You hopës You hopen You hopeth. They hopës They hopen They hopeth. [14]

In time the Midland dialect conquered; and the East Midland form of itbecame predominant all over England. As early as the beginning of thethirteenth century, this dialect had thrown off most of the oldinflexions, and had become almost as flexionless as the English of thepresent day. Let us note a few of the more prominent changes. --Thefirst personal pronoun +Ic+ or +Ich+ loses the guttural, and becomes+I+. --The pronouns +him+, +them+, and +whom+, which are true datives, are used either as datives or as objectives. --The imperative pluralends in +eth+. “Riseth up, ” Chaucer makes one of his characters say, “and stondeth by me!” --The useful and almost ubiquitous letter +e+comes in as a substitute for +a+, +u+, and even +an+. Thus +nama+becomes +name+, +sunu+ (son) becomes +sune+, and +withutan+ changes into+withute+. --The dative of adjectives is used as an adverb. Thus we find+softë+, +brightë+ employed like our +softly+, +brightly+. --The +n+ inthe infinitive has fallen away; but the +ë+ is sounded as a separatesyllable. Thus we find +brekë+, +smitë+ for _breken_ and _smiten_. 

 [Footnote 14: This plural we still find in the famous Winchester motto, “Manners maketh man. ”]

9. +General View. +-- In the time of King Alfred, the West-Saxon speech--the Wessex dialect-- took precedence of the rest, and became theliterary dialect of England. But it had not, and could not have, anyinfluence on the spoken language of other parts of England, for thesimple reason that very few persons were able to travel, and it tookdays-- and even weeks-- for a man to go from Devonshire to Yorkshire. Incourse of time the Midland dialect-- that spoken between the Humber andthe Thames-- became the predominant dialect of England; and the EastMidland variety of this dialect became the parent of modern standardEnglish. This predominance was probably due to the fact that it, soonestof all, got rid of its inflexions, and became most easy, pleasant, andconvenient to use. And this disuse of inflexions was itself probably dueto the early Danish settlements in the east, to the larger number ofNormans in that part of England, to the larger number of thriving towns, and to the greater and more active communication between the easternseaports and the Continent. The inflexions were first confused, thenweakened, then forgotten, finally lost. The result was an extremesimplification, which still benefits all learners of the Englishlanguage. Instead of spending a great deal of time on the learning of alarge number of inflexions, which are to them arbitrary and meaningless, foreigners have only to fix their attention on the words and phrasesthemselves, that is, on the very pith and marrow of the language--indeed, on the language itself. Hence the great German grammarian Grimm, and others, predict that English will spread itself all over the world, and become the universal language of the future. In addition to thisalmost complete sweeping away of all inflexions, -- which made Dr Johnsonsay, “Sir, the English language has no grammar at all, ”-- there wereother remarkable and useful results which accrued from the coming in ofthe Norman-French and other foreign elements. 

10. +Monosyllables. +-- The stripping off of the inflexions of ourlanguage cut a large number of words down to the root. Hundreds, if notthousands, of our verbs were dissyllables, but, by the gradual loss ofthe ending +en+ (which was in Anglo-Saxon +an+), they becamemonosyllables. Thus +bindan+, +drincan+, +findan+, became +bind+, +drink+, +find+; and this happened with hosts of other verbs. Again, theexpulsion of the guttural, which the Normans never could or would taketo, had the effect of compressing many words of two syllables into one. Thus +haegel+, +twaegen+, and +faegen+, became +hail+, +twain+, and+fain+. --In these and other ways it has come to pass that the presentEnglish is to a very large extent of a monosyllabic character. So muchis this the case, that whole books have been written for children inmonosyllables. It must be confessed that the monosyllabic style is oftendull, but it is always serious and homely. We can find in ourtranslation of the Bible whole verses that are made up of words of onlyone syllable. Many of the most powerful passages in Shakespeare, too, are written in monosyllables. The same may be said of hundreds of ourproverbs-- such as, “Cats hide their claws”; “Fair words please fools”;“He that has most time has none to lose. ” Great poets, like Tennyson andMatthew Arnold, understand well the fine effect to be produced from themingling of short and long words-- of the homely English with the moreornate Romance language. In the following verse from Matthew Arnold thewords are all monosyllables, with the exception of _tired_ and_contention_ (which is Latin):--

 “Let the long contention cease; Geese are swans, and swans are geese; Let them have it how they will, Thou art tired. Best be still!”

In Tennyson’s “Lord of Burleigh, ” when the sorrowful husband comes tolook upon his dead wife, the verse runs almost entirely inmonosyllables:--

 “And he came to look upon her, And he looked at her, and said: ‘Bring the dress, and put it on her, That she wore when she was wed. ’”

An American writer has well indicated the force of the Englishmonosyllable in the following sonnet:--

 “Think not that strength lies in the big, _round_ word, Or that the _brief_ and _plain_ must needs be weak. To whom can this be true who once has heard The cry for help, the tongue that all men speak, When want, or fear, or woe, is in the throat, So that each word gasped out is like a shriek _Pressed_ from the sore heart, or a _strange_, wild _note_ Sung by some _fay_ or fiend! There is a strength, Which dies if stretched too far, or spun too fine, Which has more height than breadth, more depth than length; Let but this _force_ of thought and speech be mine, And he that will may take the sleek fat _phrase_, Which glows but burns not, though it beam and shine; Light, but no heat, -- a flash, but not a blaze. ”

It will be observed that this sonnet consists entirely of monosyllables, and yet that the style of it shows considerable power and vigour. Thewords printed in italics are all derived from Latin, with the exceptionof the word _phrase_, which is Greek. 

11. +Change in the Order of Words. +-- The syntax-- or order of words--of the oldest English was very different from that of Norman-French. Thesyntax of an Old English sentence was clumsy and involved; it kept theattention long on the strain; it was rumbling, rambling, and unpleasantto the ear. It kept the attention on the strain, because the verb in asubordinate clause was held back, and not revealed till we had come tothe end of the clause. Thus the Anglo-Saxon wrote (though in differentform and spelling)--

 “When Darius saw, that he overcome be would. ”

The newer English, under French influence, wrote--

 “When Darius saw that he was going to be overcome. ”

This change has made an English sentence lighter and more easy tounderstand, for the reader or hearer is not kept waiting for the verb;but each word comes just when it is expected, and therefore in its“natural” place. The Old English sentence-- which is very like theGerman sentence of the present day-- has been compared to a heavy cartwithout springs, while the newer English sentence is like a modernwell-hung English carriage. Norman-French, then, gave us a brighter, lighter, freer rhythm, and therefore a sentence more easy to understandand to employ, more supple, and better adapted to everyday use. 

12. +The Expulsion of Gutturals. +-- (i) Not only did the Normans help usto an easier and pleasanter kind of sentence, they aided us in gettingrid of the numerous throat-sounds that infested our language. It is aremarkable fact that there is not now in the French language a singleguttural. There is not an +h+ in the whole language. The French _write_an +h+ in several of their words, but they never sound it. Its use ismerely to serve as a fence between two vowels-- to keep two vowelsseparate, as in _la haine_, hatred. No doubt the Normans could utterthroat-sounds well enough when they dwelt in Scandinavia; but, afterthey had lived in France for several generations, they acquired a greatdislike to all such sounds. No doubt, too, many, from long disuse, wereunable to give utterance to a guttural. This dislike they communicatedto the English; and hence, in the present day, there are many people--especially in the south of England-- who cannot sound a guttural at all. The muscles in the throat that help to produce these sounds have becomeatrophied-- have lost their power for want of practice. The purelyEnglish part of the population, for many centuries after the Normaninvasion, could sound gutturals quite easily-- just as the Scotch andthe Germans do now; but it gradually became the fashion in England toleave them out. 

13. +The Expulsion of Gutturals. +-- (ii) In some cases the gutturaldisappeared entirely; in others, it was changed into or represented byother sounds. The +ge+ at the beginning of the passive (or past)participles of many verbs disappeared entirely. Thus +gebróht+, +gebóht+, +geworht+, became +brought+, +bought+, and +wrought+. The +g+at the beginning of many words also dropped off. Thus +Gyppenswich+became +Ipswich+; +gif+ became +if+; +genoh+, +enough+. --The gutturalat the end of words-- hard +g+ or +c+-- also disappeared. Thus +halig+became +holy+; +eordhlic+, +earthly+; +gastlic+, +ghastly+ or +ghostly+. The same is the case in +dough+, +through+, +plough+, etc. --theguttural appearing to the eye but not to the ear. --Again, the gutturalwas changed into quite different sounds-- into labials, into sibilants, into other sounds also. The following are a few examples:--

(_a_) The guttural has been softened, through Norman-French influence, into a +sibilant+. Thus +rigg+, +egg+, and +brigg+ have become +ridge+, +edge+, and +bridge+. 

(_b_) The guttural has become a +labial+-- +f+-- as in +cough+, +enough+, +trough+, +laugh+, +draught+, etc. 

(_c_) The guttural has become an additional syllable, and is representedby a +vowel-sound+. Thus +sorg+ and +mearh+ have become +sorrow+ and+marrow+. 

(_d_) In some words it has disappeared both to eye and ear. Thus +makëd+has become +made+. 

14. +The Story of the GH. +-- How is it, then, that we have in so manywords the two strongest gutturals in the language-- +g+ and +h+-- notonly separately, in so many of our words, but combined? The story is anodd one. Our Old English or Saxon scribes wrote-- not +light+, +might+, and +night+, but +liht+, +miht+, and +niht+. When, however, they foundthat the Norman-French gentlemen would not sound the +h+, and say-- asis still said in Scotland-- _li+ch+t_, &c. , they redoubled the guttural, strengthened the +h+ with a hard +g+, and again presented the dose tothe Norman. But, if the Norman could not sound the +h+ alone, still lesscould he sound the double guttural; and he very coolly let both alone--ignored both. The Saxon scribe doubled the signs for his guttural, justas a farmer might put up a strong wooden fence in front of a hedge; butthe Norman cleared both with perfect ease and indifference. And so itcame to pass that we have the symbol +gh+ in more than seventy of ourwords, and that in most of these we do not sound it at all. The +gh+remains in our language, like a moss-grown boulder, brought down intothe fertile valley in a glacial period, when gutturals were both spokenand written, and men believed in the truthfulness of letters-- but nowpassed by in silence and noticed by no one. 

15. +The Letters that represent Gutturals. +-- The English guttural hasbeen quite Protean in the written or printed forms it takes. It appearsas an +i+, as a +y+, as a +w+, as a +ch+, as a +dge+, as a +j+, and-- inits more native forms-- as a +g+, a +k+, or a +gh+. The following wordsgive all these forms: ha+i+l, da+y+, fo+w+l, tea+ch+, e+dge+, a+j+ar, dra+g+, truc+k+, and trou+gh+. Now _hail_ was _hagol_, _day_ was _daeg_, _fowl_ was _fugol_, _teach_ was _taecan_, _edge_ was _egg_, _ajar_ was_achar_. In +seek+, +beseech+, +sought+-- which are all different formsof the same word-- we see the guttural appearing in three differentforms-- as a hard +k+, as a soft +ch+, as an unnoticed +gh+. In +think+and +thought+, +drink+ and +draught+, +sly+ and +sleight+, +dry+ and+drought+, +slay+ and +slaughter+, it takes two different forms. In+dig+, +ditch+, and +dike+-- which are all the same word in differentshapes-- it again takes three forms. In +fly+, +flew+, and +flight+, it appears as a +y+, a +w+, and a +gh+. But, indeed, the manners of aguttural, its ways of appearing and disappearing, are almost beyondcounting. 

16. +Grammatical Result of the Loss of Inflexions. +-- When we look at aLatin or French or German word, we know whether it is a verb or a nounor a preposition by its mere appearance-- by its face or by its dress, so to speak. But the loss of inflexions which has taken place in theEnglish language has resulted in depriving us of this advantage-- ifadvantage it is. Instead of +looking+ at the +face+ of a word inEnglish, we are obliged to +think+ of its +function+, -- that is, of whatit does. We have, for example, a large number of words that are bothnouns and verbs-- we may use them as the one or as the other; and, tillwe have used them, we cannot tell whether they are the one or the other. Thus, when we speak of “a +cut+ on the finger, ” +cut+ is a +noun+, because it is a name; but when we say, “Harry cut his finger, ” then+cut+ is a +verb+, because it tells something about Harry. Words like+bud+, +cane+, +cut+, +comb+, +cap+, +dust+, +fall+, +fish+, +heap+, +mind+, +name+, +pen+, +plaster+, +punt+, +run+, +rush+, +stone+, andmany others, can be used either as +nouns+ or as +verbs+. Again, +fast+, +quick+, and +hard+ may be used either as +adverbs+ or as +adjectives+;and +back+ may be employed as an +adverb+, as a +noun+, and even as an+adjective+. Shakespeare is very daring in the use of this licence. Hemakes one of his characters say, “But me no buts!” In this sentence, thefirst _but_ is a +verb+ in the imperative mood; the second is a +noun+in the objective case. Shakespeare uses also such verbs as _to glad_, _to mad_, such phrases as _a seldom pleasure_, and _the fairest she_. Dr Abbott says, “In Elizabethan English, almost any part of speech canbe used as any other part of speech. An adverb can be used as a verb, ‘they _askance_ their eyes’; as a noun, ‘the _backward_ and abysm oftime’; or as an adjective, ‘a seldom pleasure. ’ Any noun, adjective, orneuter verb can be used as an active verb. You can ‘happy’ your friend, ‘malice’ or ‘fool’ your enemy, or ‘fall’ an axe upon his neck. ” Even inmodern English, almost any noun can be used as a verb. Thus we can say, “to _paper_ a room”; “to _water_ the horses”; “to _black-ball_ acandidate”; to “_iron_ a shirt” or “a prisoner”; “to _toe_ the line. ” Onthe other hand, verbs may be used as nouns; for we can speak of a_work_, of a beautiful _print_, of a long _walk_, and so on. 

CHAPTER IV. 

SPECIMENS OF ENGLISH OF DIFFERENT PERIODS. 

1. +Vocabulary and Grammar. +-- The oldest English or Anglo-Saxon differsfrom modern English both in vocabulary and in grammar-- in the words ituses and in the inflexions it employs. The difference is oftenstartling. And yet, if we look closely at the words and their dress, weshall most often find that the words which look so strange are the verywords with which we are most familiar-- words that we are in the habitof using every day; and that it is their dress alone that is strange andantiquated. The effect is the same as if we were to dress a modern manin the clothes worn a thousand years ago: the chances are that we shouldnot be able to recognise even our dearest friend. 

2. +A Specimen from Anglo-Saxon. +-- Let us take as an example a versefrom the Anglo-Saxon version of one of the Gospels. The well-knownverse, Luke ii. 40, runs thus in our oldest English version:--

 Sóþlíce ðaet cild weox, and waes gestrangod, wisdómes full; and Godes gyfu waes on him. 

Now this looks like an extract from a foreign language; but it is not:it is our own veritable mother-tongue. Every word is pure ordinaryEnglish; it is the dress-- the spelling and the inflexions-- that isquaint and old-fashioned. This will be plain from a literaltranslation:--

 Soothly that child waxed, and was strengthened, wisdoms full (= full of wisdom); and God’s gift was on him. 

3. +A Comparison. +-- This will become plainer if we compare the Englishof the Gospels as it was written in different periods of our language. The alteration in the meanings of words, the changes in the applicationof them, the variation in the use of phrases, the falling away of theinflexions-- all these things become plain to the eye and to the mind assoon as we thoughtfully compare the different versions. The followingare extracts from the Anglo-Saxon version (995), the version of Wycliffe(1389) and of Tyndale (1526), of the passage in Luke ii. 44, 45:--

 ANGLO-SAXON. WYCLIFFE. TYNDALE. 

 Wéndon ðaet he on heora gefére wáere, ðá comon hig ánes daeges faer, and hine sóhton betweox his magas and his cúðan. 

 Forsothe thei gessinge him to be in the felowschipe, camen the wey of á day, and souȝten him among his cosyns and knowen. 

 For they supposed he had bene in the company, they cam a days iorney, and sought hym amonge their kynsfolke and acquayntaunce. 

 Ða hig hyne ne fúndon, hig gewendon to Hierusalem, hine sécende. 

 And thei not fyndinge, wenten aȝen to Jerusalem, sekynge him. 

 And founde hym not, they went backe agayne to Hierusalem, and sought hym. 

The literal translation of the Anglo-Saxon version is as follows:--

 (They) weened that he on their companionship were (= was), when came they one day’s faring, and him sought betwixt his relations and his couth (folk = acquaintances). 

 When they him not found, they turned to Jerusalem, him seeking. 

4. +The Lord’s Prayer. +-- The same plan of comparison may be applied tothe different versions of the Lord’s Prayer that have come down to us;and it will be seen from this comparison that the greatest changes havetaken place in the grammar, and especially in that part of the grammarwhich contains the inflexions. 

 THE LORD’S PRAYER. 

 +1130. + REIGN OF STEPHEN. +1250. + REIGN OF HENRY III. +1380. + WYCLIFFE’S VERSION. +1526. + TYNDALE’S VERSION. 

 Fader ure, þe art on heofone. Fadir ur, that es in hevene, Our Fadir, that art in hevenys, Our Father which art in heaven;

 Sy gebletsod name þin, Halud thi nam to nevene; Halewid be thi name; Halowed be thy name;

 Cume þin rike. Thou do as thi rich rike; Thi kingdom come to; Let thy kingdom come;

 Si þin wil swa swa on heofone and on eorþan. Thi will on erd be wrought, eek as it is wrought in heven ay. Be thi wil done in erthe, as in hevene. Thy will be fulfilled as well in earth as it is in heven. 

 Breod ure degwamlich geof us to daeg. Ur ilk day brede give us to day. Give to us this day oure breed ovir othir _substaunce_, Geve us this day ur dayly bred, And forgeof us ageltes ura swa swa we forgeofen agiltendum urum. Forgive thou all us dettes urs, als we forgive till ur detturs. And forgive to us our _dettis_, as we forgiven to oure _dettouris_. And forgeve us oure dettes as we forgeve ur detters. 

 And ne led us on costunge. And ledde us in na fandung. And lede us not into _temptacioun_; And leade us not into temptation, Ac alys us fram yfele. Swa beo hit. But sculd us fra ivel thing. Amen. But _delyvere_ us from yvel. Amen. But delyver us from evyll. For thyne is the kyngdom, and the power, and the glorye, for ever. Amen. 

It will be observed that Wycliffe’s version contains five Romanceterms-- _substaunce_, _dettis_, _dettouris_, _temptacioun_, and_delyvere_. 

5. +Oldest English and Early English. +-- The following is a shortpassage from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, under date 1137: first, in theAnglo-Saxon form; second, in Early English, or-- as it has sometimesbeen called-- Broken Saxon; third, in modern English. The breaking-downof the grammar becomes still more strikingly evident from this closejuxtaposition. 

 (i) Hí swencton Þá wreccan menn (ii) Hí swencten the wrecce men (iii) They swinked (harassed) the wretched men

 (i) Þaes landes mid castel-weorcum. (ii) Of-the-land mid castel-weorces. (iii) Of the land with castle-works. 

 (i) Ða Þá castelas waeron gemacod, (ii) Tha the castles waren maked, (iii) When the castles were made, (i) Þá fyldon hí hí mid yfelum mannum. (ii) thá fylden hi hi mid yvele men. (iii) then filled they them with evil men. 

6. +Comparisons of Words and Inflexions. +-- Let us take a few of themost prominent words in our language, and observe the changes that havefallen upon them since they made their appearance in our island in thefifth century. These changes will be best seen by displaying them incolumns:--

 ANGLO-SAXON. EARLY ENGLISH. MIDDLE ENGLISH. MODERN ENGLISH. 

 heom. To heom. To hem. To them. Seó. Heó. Ho, scho. She. Sweostrum. To the swestres. To the swistren. To the sisters. Geboren. Gebore. Iboré. Born. Lufigende. Lufigend. Lovand. Loving. Weoxon. Woxen. Wexide. Waxed. 

7. +Conclusions from the above Comparisons. +-- We can now draw severalconclusions from the comparisons we have made of the passages given fromdifferent periods of the language. These conclusions relate chiefly toverbs and nouns; and they may become useful as a KEY to enable us tojudge to what period in the history of our language a passage presentedto us must belong. If we find such and such marks, the language isAnglo-Saxon; if other marks, it is Early English; and so on. 

 I. -- MARKS OF ANGLO-SAXON. II. -- MARKS OF EARLY ENGLISH (1100-1250). III. -- MARKS OF MIDDLE ENGLISH (1250-1485). 

 VERBS. 

 Infinitive in +an+. Infin. In +en+ or +e+. Infin. With +to+ (the +en+ was dropped about 1400). 

 Pres. Part. In +ende+. Pres. Part. In +ind+. Pres. Part. In +inge+. 

 Past part. With +ge+. +ge+ of past part. Turned into +i+ or +y+. 

 3d plural pres. In +ath+. 3d plural past in +on+. 3d plural in +en+. 3d plural in +en+. 

 Plural of imperatives in +ath+. Imperative in +eth+. 

 NOUNS. 

 Plurals in +an+, +as+, or +a+. Plural in +es+. Plurals in +es+ (separate syllable). 

 Dative plural in +um+. Dative plural in +es+. 

 Possessives in +es+ (separate syllable). 

8. +The English of the Thirteenth Century. +-- In this century there wasa great breaking-down and stripping-off of inflexions. This is seen inthe +Ormulum+ of Orm, a canon of the Order of St Augustine, whoseEnglish is nearly as flexionless as that of Chaucer, although about acentury and a half before him. Orm has also the peculiarity of alwaysdoubling a consonant after a short vowel. Thus, in his introduction, he says:--

 “Þiss boc iss nemmnedd Orrmulum Forr þi þatt Orrm itt wrohhte. ”

That is, “This book is named Ormulum, for the (reason) that Orm wroughtit. ” The absence of inflexions is probably due to the fact that the bookis written in the East-Midland dialect. But, in a song called “The Storyof Genesis and Exodus, ” written about 1250, we find a greater number ofinflexions. Thus we read:--

 “Hunger wex in lond Chanaan; And his x sunes Jacob for-ðan Sente in to Egypt to bringen coren; He bilefe at hom ðe was gungest boren. ”

That is, “Hunger waxed (increased) in the land of Canaan; and Jacob forthat (reason) sent his ten sons into Egypt to bring corn: he remained athome that was youngest born. ”

9. +The English of the Fourteenth Century. +-- The four greatest writersof the fourteenth century are-- in verse, +Chaucer+ and +Langlande+; andin prose, +Mandeville+ and +Wycliffe+. The inflexions continue to dropoff; and, in Chaucer at least, a larger number of French words appear. Chaucer also writes in an elaborate verse-measure that forms a strikingcontrast to the homely rhythms of Langlande. Thus, in the “Man of LawesTale, ” we have the verse:--

 “O queenës, lyvynge in prosperitée, Duchessës, and ladyës everichone, Haveth som routhe on hir adversitée; An emperourës doughter stant allone; She hath no wight to whom to make hir mone. O blood roial! that stondest in this dredë Fer ben thy frendës at thy gretë nedë!”

Here, with the exception of the imperative in _Haveth som routhe_(= have some pity), _stant_, and _ben_ (= _are_), the grammar of Chauceris very near the grammar of to-day. How different this is from thesimple English of Langlande! He is speaking of the great storm of windthat blew on January 15, 1362:--

 “Piries and Plomtres weore passchet to þe grounde, In ensaumple to Men þat we scholde do þe bettre, Beches and brode okes weore blowen to þe eorþe. ”

Here it is the spelling of Langlande’s English that differs most frommodern English, and not the grammar. --Much the same may be said of thestyle of Wycliffe (1324-1384) and of Mandeville (1300-1372). InWycliffe’s version of the Gospel of Mark, v. 26, he speaks of a woman“that hadde suffride many thingis of ful many lechis (doctors), andspendid alle hir thingis; and no-thing profitide. ” Sir John Mandeville’sEnglish keeps many old inflexions and spellings; but is, in otherrespects, modern enough. Speaking of Mahomet, he says: “And ȝee schulleunderstonds that Machamete was born in Arabye, that was first a poreknave that kept cameles, that wenten with marchantes for marchandise. ”_Knave_ for boy, and _wenten_ for went are the two chief differences--the one in the use of words, the other in grammar-- that distinguishthis piece of Mandeville’s English from our modern speech. 

10. +The English of the Sixteenth Century. +-- This, which is also calledTudor-English, differs as regards grammar hardly at all from the Englishof the nineteenth century. This becomes plain from a passage from one ofLatimer’s sermons (1490-1555), “a book which gives a faithful picture ofthe manners, thoughts, and events of the period. ” “My father, ” hewrites, “was a yeoman, and had no lands of his own, only he had a farmof three or four pound a year at the uttermost, and hereupon he tilledso much as kept half a dozen men. He had walk for a hundred sheep; andmy mother milked thirty kine. ” In this passage, it is only theold-fashionedness, homeliness, and quaintness of the English-- not itsgrammar-- that makes us feel that it was not written in our own times. When Ridley, the fellow-martyr of Latimer, stood at the stake, he said, “I commit our cause to Almighty God, which shall indifferently judgeall. ” Here he used _indifferently_ in the sense of _impartially_-- thatis, in the sense of _making no difference between parties_; and this isone among a very large number of instances of Latin words, when they hadnot been long in our language, still retaining the older Latin meaning. 

11. +The English of the Bible+ (i). -- The version of the Bible which weat present use was made in 1611; and we might therefore suppose that itis written in seventeenth-century English. But this is not the case. Thetranslators were commanded by James I. To “follow the Bishops’ Bible”;and the Bishops’ Bible was itself founded on the “Great Bible, ” whichwas published in 1539. But the Great Bible is itself only a revision ofTyndale’s, part of which appeared as early as 1526. When we are readingthe Bible, therefore, we are reading English of the sixteenth century, and, to a large extent, of the early part of that century. It is truethat successive generations of printers have, of their own accord, altered the spelling, and even, to a slight extent, modified thegrammar. Thus we have _fetched_ for the older _fet_, _more_ for _moe_, _sown_ for _sowen_, _brittle_ for _brickle_ (which gives the connectionwith _break_), _jaws_ for _chaws_, _sixth_ for _sixt_, and so on. But westill find such participles as _shined_ and _understanded_; and suchphrases as “they can skill to hew timber” (1 Kings v. 6), “abjects” for_abject persons_, “three days agone” for _ago_, the “captivated Hebrews”for “the captive Hebrews, ” and others. 

12. +The English of the Bible+ (ii). -- We have, again, old wordsretained, or used in the older meaning. Thus we find, in Psalm v. 6, thephrase “them that speak leasing, ” which reminds us of King Alfred’sexpression about “leasum spellum” (lying stories). _Trow_ and _ween_ areoften found; the “champaign over against Gilgal” (Deut. Xi. 30) meansthe _plain_; and a publican in the New Testament is a tax-gatherer, whosent to the Roman Treasury or Publicum the taxes he had collected fromthe Jews. An “ill-favoured person” is an ill-looking person; and“bravery” (Isa. Iii. 18) is used in the sense of finery in dress. --Someof the oldest grammar, too, remains, as in Esther viii. 8, “Write ye, asit liketh you, ” where the _you_ is a dative. Again, in Ezek. Xxx. 2, wefind “Howl ye, Woe worth the day!” where the imperative _worth_ governs_day_ in the dative case. This idiom is still found in modern verse, asin the well-known lines in the first canto of the “Lady of the Lake”:--

 “Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day That cost thy life, my gallant grey!”

CHAPTER V. 

MODERN ENGLISH. 

1. +Grammar Fixed. +-- From the date of 1485-- that is, from thebeginning of the reign of Henry VII. -- the changes in the grammar orconstitution of our language are so extremely small, that they arehardly noticeable. Any Englishman of ordinary education can read a bookbelonging to the latter part of the fifteenth or to the sixteenthcentury without difficulty. Since that time the grammar of our languagehas hardly changed at all, though we have altered and enlarged ourvocabulary, and have adopted thousands of new words. The introduction ofPrinting, the Revival of Learning, the Translation of the Bible, thegrowth and spread of the power to read and write-- these and otherinfluences tended to fix the language and to keep it as it is to-day. Itis true that we have dropped a few old-fashioned endings, like the +n+or +en+ in _silvern_ and _golden_; but, so far as form or grammar isconcerned, the English of the sixteenth and the English of thenineteenth centuries are substantially the same. 

2. +New Words. +-- But, while the grammar of English has remained thesame, the vocabulary of English has been growing, and growing rapidly, not merely with each century, but with each generation. The discovery ofthe New World in 1492 gave an impetus to maritime enterprise in England, which it never lost, brought us into connection with the Spaniards, andhence contributed to our language several Spanish words. In thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Italian literature was largelyread; Wyatt and Surrey show its influence in their poems; and Italianwords began to come in in considerable numbers. Commerce, too, has donemuch for us in this way; and along with the article imported, we have ingeneral introduced also the name it bore in its own native country. Inlater times, Science has been making rapid strides-- has been bringingto light new discoveries and new inventions almost every week; and alongwith these new discoveries, the language has been enriched with newnames and new terms. Let us look a little more closely at the characterof these foreign contributions to the vocabulary of our tongue. 

3. +Spanish Words. +-- The words we have received from the Spanishlanguage are not numerous, but they are important. In addition to theill-fated word +armada+, we have the Spanish for _Mr_, which is +Don+(from Lat. _dominus_, a lord), with its feminine +Duenna+. They gave usalso +alligator+, which is our English way of writing _el lagarto_, thelizard. They also presented us with a large number of words that end in+o+-- such as +buffalo+, +cargo+, +desperado+, +guano+, +indigo+, +mosquito+, +mulatto+, +negro+, +potato+, +tornado+, and others. Thefollowing is a tolerably full list:--

 Alligator. Armada. Barricade. Battledore. Bravado. Buffalo. Cargo. Cigar. Cochineal. Cork. Creole. Desperado. Don. Duenna. Eldorado. Embargo. Filibuster. Flotilla. Galleon (a ship). Grandee. Grenade. Guerilla. Indigo. Jennet. Matador. Merino. Mosquito. Mulatto. Negro. Octoroon. Quadroon. Renegade. Savannah. Sherry (= Xeres). Tornado. Vanilla. 

4. +Italian Words. +-- Italian literature has been read and cultivated inEngland since the time of Chaucer-- since the fourteenth century; andthe arts and artists of Italy have for many centuries exerted a greatdeal of influence on those of England. Hence it is that we owe to theItalian language a large number of words. These relate to poetry, suchas +canto+, +sonnet+, +stanza+; to music, as +pianoforte+, +opera+, +oratorio+, +soprano+, +alto+, +contralto+; to architecture andsculpture, as +portico+, +piazza+, +cupola+, +torso+; and to painting, as +studio+, +fresco+ (an open-air painting), and others. The followingis a complete list:--

 Alarm. Alert. Alto. Arcade. Balcony. Balustrade. Bandit. Bankrupt. Bravo. Brigade. Brigand. Broccoli. Burlesque. Bust. Cameo. Canteen. Canto. Caprice. Caricature. Carnival. Cartoon. Cascade. Cavalcade. Charlatan. Citadel. Colonnade. Concert. Contralto. Conversazione. Cornice. Corridor. Cupola. Curvet. Dilettante. Ditto. Doge. Domino. Extravaganza. Fiasco. Folio. Fresco. Gazette. Gondola. Granite. Grotto. Guitar. Incognito. Influenza. Lagoon. Lava. Lazaretto. Macaroni. Madonna. Madrigal. Malaria. Manifesto. Motto. Moustache. Niche. Opera. Oratorio. Palette. Pantaloon. Parapet. Pedant. Pianoforte. Piazza. Pistol. Portico. Proviso. Quarto. Regatta. Ruffian. Serenade. Sonnet. Soprano. Stanza. Stiletto. Stucco. Studio. Tenor. Terra-cotta. Tirade. Torso. Trombone. Umbrella. Vermilion. Vertu. Virtuoso. Vista. Volcano. Zany. 

5. +Dutch Words. +-- We have had for many centuries commercial dealingswith the Dutch; and as they, like ourselves, are a great seafaringpeople, they have given us a number of words relating to the managementof ships. In the fourteenth century, the southern part of the GermanOcean was the most frequented sea in the world; and the chances ofplunder were so great that ships of war had to keep cruising up and downto protect the trading vessels that sailed between England and the LowCountries. The following are the words which we owe to theNetherlands:--

 Ballast. Boom. Boor. Burgomaster. Hoy. Luff. Reef. Schiedam (gin). Skates. Skipper. Sloop. Smack. Smuggle. Stiver. Taffrail. Trigger. Wear (said of a ship). Yacht. Yawl. 

6. +French Words. +-- Besides the large additions to our language made bythe Norman-French, we have from time to time imported direct from Francea number of French words, without change in the spelling, and withlittle change in the pronunciation. The French have been for centuriesthe most polished nation in Europe; from France the changing fashions indress spread over all the countries of the Continent; French literaturehas been much read in England since the time of Charles II. ; and for along time all diplomatic correspondence between foreign countries andEngland was carried on in French. Words relating to manners and customsare common, such as +soirée+, +etiquette+, +séance+, +élite+; and wehave also the names of things which were invented in France, such as+mitrailleuse+, +carte-de-visite+, +coup d’état+, and others. Some ofthese words are, in spelling, exactly like English; and advantage ofthis has been taken in a well-known epigram:--

 The French have taste in all they do, Which we are quite without; For Nature, which to them gave goût, [15] To us gave only gout. 

The following is a list of French words which have been imported incomparatively recent times:--

 Aide-de-camp. Belle. Bivouac. Blonde. Bouquet. Brochure. Brunette. Brusque. Carte-de-visite. Coup-d’état. Débris. Début. Déjeûner. Depot. Éclat. Ennui. Etiquette. Façade. Goût. Naïve. Naïveté. Nonchalance. Outré. Penchant. Personnel. Précis. Programme. Protégé. Recherché. Séance. Soirée. Trousseau. 

The Scotch have always had a closer connection with the French nationthan England; and hence we find in the Scottish dialect of English anumber of French words that are not used in South Britain at all. A legof mutton is called in Scotland a +gigot+; the dish on which it is laidis an +ashet+ (from _assiette_); a cup for tea or for wine is a +tassie+(from _tasse_); the gate of a town is called the +port+; and a stubbornperson is +dour+ (Fr. _dur_, from Lat. _durus_); while a gentle andamiable person is +douce+ (Fr. _douce_, Lat. _dulcis_). 

 [Footnote 15: _Goût_ (goo) from Latin _gustus_, taste. ]

7. +German Words. +-- It must not be forgotten that English is aLow-German dialect, while the German of books is New High-German. Wehave never borrowed directly from High-German, because we have neverneeded to borrow. Those modern German words that have come into ourlanguage in recent times are chiefly the names of minerals, with a fewstriking exceptions, such as +loafer+, which came to us from the Germanimmigrants to the United States, and +plunder+, which seems to have beenbrought from Germany by English soldiers who had served under GustavusAdolphus. The following are the German words which we have received inrecent times:--

 Cobalt. Felspar. Hornblende. Landgrave. Loafer. Margrave. Meerschaum. Nickel. Plunder. Poodle. Quartz. Zinc. 

8. +Hebrew Words. +-- These, with very few exceptions, have come to usfrom the translation of the Bible, which is now in use in our homes andchurches. +Abbot+ and +abbey+ come from the Hebrew word +abba+, father;and such words as +cabal+ and +Talmud+, though not found in the OldTestament, have been contributed by Jewish literature. The following isa tolerably complete list:--

 Abbey. Abbot. Amen. Behemoth. Cabal. Cherub. Cinnamon. Hallelujah. Hosannah. Jehovah. Jubilee. Gehenna. Leviathan. Manna. Paschal. Pharisee. Pharisaical. Rabbi. Sabbath. Sadducees. Satan. Seraph. Shibboleth. Talmud. 

9. +Other Foreign Words. +-- The English have always been the greatesttravellers in the world; and our sailors always the most daring, intelligent, and enterprising. There is hardly a port or a country inthe world into which an English ship has not penetrated; and ourcommerce has now been maintained for centuries with every people on theface of the globe. We exchange goods with almost every nation and tribeunder the sun. When we import articles or produce from abroad, we ingeneral import the native name along with the thing. Hence it is that wehave +guano+, +maize+, and +tomato+ from the two Americas; +coffee+, +cotton+, and +tamarind+ from Arabia; +tea+, +congou+, and +nankeen+from China; +calico+, +chintz+, and +rupee+ from Hindostan; +bamboo+, +gamboge+, and +sago+ from the Malay Peninsula; +lemon+, +musk+, and+orange+ from Persia; +boomerang+ and +kangaroo+ from Australia;+chibouk+, +ottoman+, and +tulip+ from Turkey. The following are listsof these foreign words; and they are worth examining with the greatestminuteness:--

 AFRICAN DIALECTS. 

 Baobab. Canary. Chimpanzee. Gnu. Gorilla. Guinea. Karoo. Kraal. Oasis. Quagga. Zebra. 

 AMERICAN TONGUES. 

 Alpaca. Buccaneer. Cacique. Cannibal. Canoe. Caoutchouc. Cayman. Chocolate. Condor. Guano. Hammock. Jaguar. Jalap. Jerked (beef). Llama. Mahogany. Maize. Manioc. Moccasin. Mustang. Opossum. Pampas. Pemmican. Potato. Racoon. Skunk. Squaw. Tapioca. Tobacco. Tomahawk. Tomato. Wigwam. 

 ARABIC. 

 (The word _al_ means _the_. Thus _alcohol_ = _the spirit_. )

 Admiral (Milton writes _ammiral_). Alcohol. Alcove. Alembic. Algebra. Alkali. Amber. Arrack. Arsenal. Artichoke. Assassin. Assegai. Attar. Azimuth. Azure. Caliph. Carat. Chemistry. Cipher. Civet. Coffee. Cotton. Crimson. Dragoman. Elixir. Emir. Fakir. Felucca. Gazelle. Giraffe. Harem. Hookah. Koran (or Alcoran). Lute. Magazine. Mattress. Minaret. Mohair. Monsoon. Mosque. Mufti. Nabob. Nadir. Naphtha. Saffron. Salaam. Senna. Sherbet. Shrub (the drink). Simoom. Sirocco. Sofa. Sultan. Syrup. Talisman. Tamarind. Tariff. Vizier. Zenith. Zero. 

 CHINESE. 

 Bohea. China. Congou. Hyson. Joss. Junk. Nankeen. Pekoe. Silk. Souchong. Tea. Typhoon. 

 HINDU. 

 Avatar. Banyan. Brahmin. Bungalow. Calico. Chintz. Coolie. Cowrie. Durbar. Jungle. Lac (of rupees). Loot. Mulligatawny. Musk. Pagoda. Palanquin. Pariah. Punch. Pundit. Rajah. Rupee. Ryot. Sepoy. Shampoo. Sugar. Suttee. Thug. Toddy. 

 HUNGARIAN. 

 Hussar. Sabre. Shako. Tokay. 

 MALAY. 

 Amuck. Bamboo. Bantam. Caddy. Cassowary. Cockatoo. Dugong. Gamboge. Gong. Gutta-percha. Mandarin. Mango. Orang-outang. Rattan. Sago. Upas. 

 PERSIAN. 

 Awning. Bazaar. Bashaw. Caravan. Check. Checkmate. Chess. Curry. Dervish. Divan. Firman. Hazard. Horde. Houri. Jar. Jackal. Jasmine. Lac (a gum). Lemon. Lilac. Lime (the fruit). Musk. Orange. Paradise. Pasha. Rook. Saraband. Sash. Scimitar. Shawl. Taffeta. Turban. 

 POLYNESIAN DIALECTS. 

 Boomerang. Kangaroo. Taboo. Tattoo. 

 PORTUGUESE. 

 Albatross. Caste. Cobra. Cocoa-nut. Commodore. Fetish. Lasso. Marmalade. Moidore. Molasses. Palaver. Port (= Oporto). 

 RUSSIAN. 

 Czar. Drosky. Knout. Morse. Rouble. Steppe. Ukase. Verst. 

 TARTAR. 

 Khan. 

 TURKISH. 

 Bey. Caftan. Chibouk. Chouse. Dey. Janissary. Kiosk. Odalisque. Ottoman. Tulip. Yashmak. Yataghan. 

10. +Scientific Terms. +-- A very large number of discoveries in sciencehave been made in this century; and a large number of inventions haveintroduced these discoveries to the people, and made them useful indaily life. Thus we have _telegraph_ and _telegram_; _photograph_;_telephone_ and even _photophone_. The word _dynamite_ is also modern;and the unhappy employment of it has made it too widely known. Thenpassing fashions have given us such words as _athlete_ and _æsthete_. In general, it may be said that, when we wish to give a name to a newthing-- a new discovery, invention, or fashion-- we have recourse not toour own stores of English, but to the vocabularies of the Latin andGreek languages. 

LANDMARKS IN THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

[Transcriber’s Note:

In the original book, the following chart was laid out much like atypical table of contents, with the +date+ in a separate column alongthe right edge. It has been reformatted for this e-text. The date isrepeated in brackets where appropriate. ]

+450+ 1. +The Beowulf+, an old English epic, “written on the mainland”

+597+ 2. +Christianity+ introduced by St Augustine (and with it many Latin and a few Greek words)

+670+ 3. +Caedmon+-- ‘Paraphrase of the Scriptures, ’-- first English poem

+735+ 4. +Baeda+-- “The Venerable Bede”-- translated into English part of St John’s Gospel

+901+ 5. +King Alfred+ translated several Latin works into English, among others, Bede’s ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation’ (+851+)

+1000+ 6. +Aelfric+, Archbishop of York, turned into English most of the historical books of the Old Testament

+1066+ 7. +The Norman Conquest+, which introduced Norman French words

+1160+ 8. +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle+, said to have been begun by King Alfred, and brought to a close in [1160]

+1200+ 9. +Orm+ or +Orrmin’s Ormulum+, a poem written in the East Midland dialect, about [1200]

+1204+ 10. +Normandy+ lost under King John. Norman-English now have their only home in England, and use our English speech more and more

+1205+ 11. +Layamon+ translates the ‘Brut’ from the French of Robert Wace. This is the first English book (written in _Southern English_) after the stoppage of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

+1220+ 12. +The Ancren Riwle+ (“Rules for Anchorites”) written in the Dorsetshire dialect. “It is the forerunner of a wondrous change in our speech. ” “It swarms with French words”

+1258+ 13. +First Royal Proclamation in English+, issued by Henry III. 

+1300+ 14. +Robert of Gloucester’s+ Chronicle (swarms with foreign terms)

+1303+ 15. +Robert Manning+, “Robert of Brunn, ” compiles the ‘Handlyng Synne. ’ “It contains a most copious proportion of French words”

+1340+ 16. +Ayenbite of Inwit+ (= “Remorse of Conscience”)

+1349+ 17. +The Great Plague+. After this it becomes less and less the fashion to speak French

+1356+ 18. +Sir John Mandeville+, first writer of the newer English Prose-- in his ‘Travels, ’ which contained a large admixture of French words. “His English is the speech spoken at Court in the latter days of King Edward III. ”

+1362+ 19. +English+ becomes the language of the Law Courts

+1380+ 20. +Wickliffe’s+ Bible

+1400+ 21. +Geoffrey Chaucer+, the first great English poet, author of the ‘Canterbury Tales’; born in 1340, died [1400]

+1471+ 22. +William Caxton+, the first English printer, brings out (in the Low Countries) the first English book ever printed, the ‘Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, ’-- “not written with pen and ink, as other books are, to the end that every man may have them at once”

+1474+ 23. +First English Book+ printed in England (by Caxton) the ‘Game and Playe of the Chesse’

+1523+ 24. +Lord Berners’+ translation of Froissart’s Chronicle

+1526-30+ 25. +William Tyndale+, by his translation of the Bible “fixed our tongue once for all. ” “His New Testament has become the standard of our tongue: the first ten verses of the Fourth Gospel are a good sample of his manly Teutonic pith”

+1590+ 26. +Edmund Spenser+ publishes his ‘Faerie Queene. ’ “Now began the golden age of England’s literature; and this age was to last for about fourscore years”

+1611+ 27. +Our English Bible+, based chiefly on Tyndale’s translation. “Those who revised the English Bible in 1611 were bidden to keep as near as they could to the old versions, such as Tyndale’s”

+1616+ 28. +William Shakespeare+ carried the use of the English language to the greatest height of which it was capable. He employed 15, 000 words. “The last act of ‘Othello’ is a rare specimen of Shakespeare’s diction: of every five nouns, verbs, and adverbs, four are Teutonic” (+Born 1564+)

+1667+ 29. +John Milton+, “the most learned of English poets, ” publishes his ‘Paradise Lost, ’-- “a poem in which Latin words are introduced with great skill”

+1661+ 30. +The Prayer-Book+ revised and issued in its final form. “_Are_ was substituted for _be_ in forty-three places. This was a great victory of the North over the South”

+1688+ 31. +John Bunyan+ writes his ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’-- a book full of pithy English idiom. “The common folk had the wit at once to see the worth of Bunyan’s masterpiece, and the learned long afterwards followed in the wake of the common folk” (+Born 1628+)

+1642+ 32. +Sir Thomas Browne+, the author of ‘Urn-Burial’ and other works written in a highly Latinised diction, such as the ‘Religio Medici, ’ written [1642]

+1759+ 33. +Dr Samuel Johnson+ was the chief supporter of the use of “long-tailed words in osity and ation, ” such as his novel called ‘Rasselas, ’ published [1759]

34. +Tennyson, Poet-Laureate+, a writer of the best English-- “a countryman of Robert Manning’s, and a careful student of old Malory, has done much for the revival of pure English among us” (+Born 1809+)

PART IV. 

OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

CHAPTER I. 

OUR OLDEST ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

1. +Literature. +-- The history of English Literature is, in its externalaspect, an account of the best books in prose and in verse that havebeen written by English men and English women; and this account beginswith a poem brought over from the Continent by our countrymen in thefifth century, and comes down to the time in which we live. It covers, therefore, a period of nearly fourteen hundred years. 

2. +The Distribution of Literature. +-- We must not suppose thatliterature has always existed in the form of printed books. Literatureis a living thing-- a living outcome of the living mind; and there aremany ways in which it has been distributed to other human beings. Theoldest way is, of course, by one person repeating a poem or otherliterary composition he has made to another; and thus literature isstored away, not upon book-shelves, but in the memory of living men. Homer’s poems are said to have been preserved in this way to the Greeksfor five hundred years. Father chanted them to son; the sons to theirsons; and so on from generation to generation. The next way ofdistributing literature is by the aid of signs called letters made uponleaves, flattened reeds, parchment, or the inner bark of trees. The nextis by the help of writing upon paper. The last is by the aid of typeupon paper. This has existed in England for more than four hundredyears-- since the year 1474; and thus it is that our libraries containmany hundreds of thousands of valuable books. For the same reason is it, most probably, that as our power of retaining the substance andmultiplying the copies of books has grown stronger, our living memorieshave grown weaker. This defect can be remedied only by education-- thatis, by training the memories of the young. While we possess so manyprinted books, it must not be forgotten that many valuable works existstill in manuscript-- written either upon paper or on parchment. 

3. +Verse, the earliest form of Literature. +-- It is a remarkable factthat the earliest kind of composition in all languages is in the form of+Verse+. The oldest books, too, are those which are written in verse. Thus Homer’s poems are the oldest literary work of Greece; the Sagas arethe oldest productions of Scandinavian literature; and the Beowulf isthe oldest piece of literature produced by the Anglo-Saxon race. It isalso from the strong creative power and the lively inventions of poetsthat we are even now supplied with new thoughts and new language-- thatthe most vivid words and phrases come into the language; just as it isthe ranges of high mountains that send down to the plains the ever freshsoil that gives to them their unending fertility. And thus it happensthat our present English speech is full of words and phrases that havefound their way into the most ordinary conversation from the writings ofour great poets-- and especially from the writings of our greatest poet, Shakespeare. The fact that the life of prose depends for its supplies onthe creative minds of poets has been well expressed by an Americanwriter:--

 “I looked upon a plain of green, Which some one called the Land of Prose, Where many living things were seen In movement or repose. 

 I looked upon a stately hill That well was named the Mount of Song, Where golden shadows dwelt at will, The woods and streams among. 

 But most this fact my wonder bred (Though known by all the nobly wise), It was the mountain stream that fed That fair green plain’s amenities. ”

4. +Our oldest English Poetry. +-- The verse written by our old Englishwriters was very different in form from the verse that appears now fromthe hands of Tennyson, or Browning, or Matthew Arnold. The old Englishor Anglo-Saxon writers used a kind of rhyme called +head-rhyme+ or+alliteration+; while, from the fourteenth century downwards, our poetshave always employed +end-rhyme+ in their verses. 

 “{L}ightly down {l}eaping he {l}oosened his helmet. ”

Such was the rough old English form. At least three words in each longline were alliterative-- two in the first half, and one in the second. Metaphorical phrases were common, such as _war-adder_ for arrow, _war-shirts_ for armour, _whale’s-path_ or _swan-road_ for the sea, _wave-horse_ for a ship, _tree-wright_ for carpenter. Differentstatements of the same fact, different phrases for the same thing-- whatare called +parallelisms+ in Hebrew poetry-- as in the line--

 “Then saw they the sea head-lands-- the windy walls, ”

were also in common use among our oldest English poets. 

5. +Beowulf. +-- The +Beowulf+ is the oldest poem in the Englishlanguage. It is our “old English epic”; and, like much of our ancientverse, it is a war poem. The author of it is unknown. It was probablycomposed in the fifth century-- not in England, but on the Continent--and brought over to this island-- not on paper or on parchment-- but inthe memories of the old Jutish or Saxon vikings or warriors. It was notwritten down at all, even in England, till the end of the ninth century, and then, probably, by a monk of Northumbria. It tells among otherthings the story of how Beowulf sailed from Sweden to the help ofHrothgar, a king in Jutland, whose life was made miserable by amonster-- half man, half fiend-- named Grendel. For about twelve yearsthis monster had been in the habit of creeping up to the banqueting-hallof King Hrothgar, seizing upon his thanes, carrying them off, anddevouring them. Beowulf attacks and overcomes the dragon, which ismortally wounded, and flees away to die. The poem belongs both to theGerman and to the English literature; for it is written in a ContinentalEnglish, which is somewhat different from the English of our own island. But its literary shape is, as has been said, due to a Christian writerof Northumbria; and therefore its written or printed form-- as it existsat present-- is not German, but English. Parts of this poem were oftenchanted at the feasts of warriors, where all sang in turn as they satafter dinner over their cups of mead round the massive oaken table. Thepoem consists of 3184 lines, the rhymes of which are solelyalliterative. 

6. +The First Native English Poem. +-- The Beowulf came to us from theContinent; the first native English poem was produced in Yorkshire. On the dark wind-swept cliff which rises above the little land-lockedharbour of +Whitby+, stand the ruins of an ancient and once famousabbey. The head of this religious house was the Abbess Hild or Hilda:and there was a secular priest in it, -- a very shy retiring man, wholooked after the cattle of the monks, and whose name was +Caedmon+. Tothis man came the gift of song, but somewhat late in life. And it camein this wise. One night, after a feast, singing began, and each of thoseseated at the table was to sing in his turn. Caedmon was very nervous--felt he could not sing. Fear overcame his heart, and he stole quietlyaway from the table before the turn could come to him. He crept off tothe cowshed, lay down on the straw and fell asleep. He dreamed a dream;and, in his dream, there came to him a voice: “Caedmon, sing me a song!”But Caedmon answered: “I cannot sing; it was for this cause that I hadto leave the feast. ” “But you must and shall sing!” “What must I sing, then?” he replied. “Sing the beginning of created things!” said thevision; and forthwith Caedmon sang some lines in his sleep, about Godand the creation of the world. When he awoke, he remembered some of thelines that had come to him in sleep, and, being brought before Hilda, herecited them to her. The Abbess thought that this wonderful gift, whichhad come to him so suddenly, must have come from God, received him intothe monastery, made him a monk, and had him taught sacred history. “Allthis Caedmon, by remembering, and, like a clean animal, ruminating, turned into sweetest verse. ” His poetical works consist of a metricalparaphrase of the Old and the New Testament. It was written about theyear 670; and he died in 680. It was read and re-read in manuscript formany centuries, but it was not printed in a book until the year 1655. 

7. +The War-Poetry of England. +-- There were many poems about battles, written both in Northumbria and in the south of England; but it was onlyin the south that these war-songs were committed to writing; and ofthese written songs there are only two that survive up to the presentday. These are the +Song of Brunanburg+, and the +Song of the Fight atMaldon+. The first belongs to the date 938; the second to 991. The Songof Brunanburg was inscribed in the SAXON CHRONICLE-- a current narrativeof events, written chiefly by monks, from the ninth century to the endof the reign of Stephen. The song tells the story of the fight of KingAthelstan with Anlaf the Dane. It tells how five young kings and sevenearls of Anlaf’s host fell on the field of battle, and lay there“quieted by swords, ” while their fellow-Northmen fled, and left theirfriends and comrades to “the screamers of war-- the black raven, theeagle, the greedy battle-hawk, and the grey wolf in the wood. ” The Songof the Fight at Maldon tells us of the heroic deeds and death of+Byrhtnoth+, an ealdorman of Northumbria, in battle against the Danes atMaldon, in Essex. The speeches of the chiefs are given; the singlecombats between heroes described; and, as in Homer, the names andgenealogies of the foremost men are brought into the verse. 

8. +The First English Prose. +-- The first writer of English prose was+Baeda+, or, as he is generally called, the +Venerable Bede+. He wasborn in the year 672 at Monkwearmouth, a small town at the mouth of theriver Wear, and was, like Caedmon, a native of the kingdom ofNorthumbria. He spent most of his life at the famous monastery ofJarrow-on-Tyne. He spent his life in writing. His works, which werewritten in Latin, rose to the number of forty-five; his chief work beingan +Ecclesiastical History+. But though Latin was the tongue in which hewrote his books, he wrote one book in English; and he may therefore befairly considered the first writer of English prose. This book was a+Translation of the Gospel of St John+-- a work which he laboured atuntil the very moment of his death. His disciple Cuthbert tells thestory of his last hours. “Write quickly!” said Baeda to his scribe, forhe felt that his end could not be far off. When the last day came, allhis scholars stood around his bed. “There is still one chapter wanting, Master, ” said the scribe; “it is hard for thee to think and to speak. ”“It must be done, ” said Baeda; “take thy pen and write quickly. ” Sothrough the long day they wrote-- scribe succeeding scribe; and when theshades of evening were coming on, the young writer looked up from histask and said, “There is yet one sentence to write, dear Master. ” “Writeit quickly!” Presently the writer, looking up with joy, said, “It isfinished!” “Thou sayest truth, ” replied the weary old man; “it isfinished: all is finished. ” Quietly he sank back upon his pillow, and, with a psalm of praise upon his lips, gently yielded up to God hislatest breath. It is a great pity that this translation-- the firstpiece of prose in our language-- is utterly lost. No MS. Of it is atpresent known to be in existence. 

9. +The Father of English Prose. +-- For several centuries, up to theyear 866, the valleys and shores of Northumbria were the homes oflearning and literature. But a change was not long in coming. Hordeafter horde of Danes swept down upon the coasts, ravaged themonasteries, burnt the books-- after stripping the beautiful bindings ofthe gold, silver, and precious stones which decorated them-- killed ordrove away the monks, and made life, property, and thought insecure allalong that once peaceful and industrious coast. Literature, then, wasforced to desert the monasteries of Northumbria, and to seek for a homein the south-- in Wessex, the kingdom over which Alfred the Greatreigned for more than thirty years. The capital of Wessex wasWinchester; and an able writer says: “As Whitby is the cradle of Englishpoetry, so is Winchester of English prose. ” King Alfred foundedcolleges, invited to England men of learning from abroad, and presidedover a school for the sons of his nobles in his own Court. He himselfwrote many books, or rather, he translated the most famous Latin booksof his time into English. He translated into the English of Wessex, forexample, the ‘Ecclesiastical History’ of Baeda; the ‘History ofOrosius, ’ into which he inserted geographical chapters of his own; andthe ‘Consolations of Philosophy, ’ by the famous Roman writer, Boëthius. In these books he gave to his people, in their own tongue, the bestexisting works on history, geography, and philosophy. 

10. +The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. +-- The greatest prose-work of the oldestEnglish, or purely Saxon, literature, is a work-- not by one person, butby several authors. It is the historical work which is known as +TheSaxon Chronicle+. It seems to have been begun about the middle of theninth century; and it was continued, with breaks now and then, down to1154-- the year of the death of Stephen and the accession of Henry II. It was written by a series of successive writers, all of whom weremonks; but Alfred himself is said to have contributed to it a narrativeof his own wars with the Danes. The Chronicle is found in seven separateforms, each named after the monastery in which it was written. It wasthe newspaper, the annals, and the history of the nation. “It is thefirst history of any Teutonic people in their own language; it is theearliest and most venerable monument of English prose. ” This Chroniclepossesses for us a twofold value. It is a valuable storehouse ofhistorical facts; and it is also a storehouse of specimens of thedifferent states of the English language-- as regards both words andgrammar-- from the eighth down to the twelfth century. 

11. +Layamon’s Brut. +-- Layamon was a native of Worcestershire, and apriest of Ernley on the Severn. He translated, about the year 1205, a poem called +Brut+, from the French of a monkish writer named MasterWace. Wace’s work itself is little more than a translation of parts of afamous “Chronicle or History of the Britons, ” written in Latin byGeoffrey of Monmouth, who was Bishop of St Asaph in 1152. But Geoffreyhimself professed only to have translated from a chronicle in theBritish or Celtic tongue, called the “Chronicle of the Kings ofBritain, ” which was found in Brittany-- long the home of most of thestories, traditions, and fables about the old British Kings and theirgreat deeds. Layamon’s poem called the “Brut” is a metrical chronicle ofBritain from the landing of Brutus to the death of King Cadwallader, about the end of the seventh century. Brutus was supposed to be agreat-grandson of Æneas, who sailed west and west till he came to GreatBritain, where he settled with his followers. --This metrical chronicleis written in the dialect of the West of England; and it showseverywhere a breaking down of the grammatical forms of the oldestEnglish, as we find it in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In fact, betweenthe landing of the Normans and the fourteenth century, two things may benoted: first, that during this time-- that is, for three centuries-- theinflections of the oldest English are gradually and surely stripped off;and, secondly, that there is little or no original English literaturegiven to the country, but that by far the greater part consists chieflyof translations from French or from Latin. 

12. +Orm’s Ormulum. +-- Less than half a century after Layamon’s Brutappeared a poem called the +Ormulum+, by a monk of the name of Orm orOrmin. It was probably written about the year 1215. Orm was a monk ofthe order of St Augustine, and his book consists of a series ofreligious poems. It is the oldest, purest, and most valuable specimen ofthirteenth-century English, and it is also remarkable for its peculiarspelling. It is written in the purest English, and not five French wordsare to be found in the whole poem of twenty thousand short lines. Orm, in his spelling, doubles every consonant that has a short vowel beforeit; and he writes _pann_ for _pan_, but _pan_ for _pane_. The followingis a specimen of his poem:--

 Ice hafe wennd inntill Ennglissh Goddspelless hallghe lare, Affterr thatt little witt tatt me Min Drihhtin hafethth lenedd. 

 I have wended (turned) into English Gospel’s holy lore, After the little wit that me My Lord hath lent. 

Other famous writers of English between this time and the appearance ofChaucer were +Robert of Gloucester+ and +Robert of Brunne+, both of whomwrote Chronicles of England in verse. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. The opening of the fourteenth century saw the death of the great andable king, Edward I. , the “Hammer of the Scots, ” the “Keeper of hisword. ” The century itself-- a most eventful period-- witnessed thefeeble and disastrous reign of Edward II. ; the long and prosperousrule-- for fifty years-- of Edward III. ; the troubled times of RichardII. , who exhibited almost a repetition of the faults of Edward II. ; andthe appearance of a new and powerful dynasty-- the House of Lancaster--in the person of the able and ambitious Henry IV. This century saw alsomany striking events, and many still more striking changes. It beheldthe welding of the Saxon and the Norman elements into one-- chieflythrough the French wars; the final triumph of the English language overFrench in 1362; the frequent coming of the Black Death; the victories ofCrecy and Poitiers; it learned the universal use of the mariner’scompass; it witnessed two kings-- of France and of Scotland-- prisonersin London; great changes in the condition of labourers; the invention ofgunpowder in 1340; the rise of English commerce under Edward III. ; andeverywhere in England the rising up of new powers and new ideas. 

2. The first prose-writer in this century is +Sir John Mandeville+ (whohas been called the “Father of English Prose”). King Alfred has alsobeen called by this name; but as the English written by Alfred was verydifferent from that written by Mandeville, -- the latter containing alarge admixture of French and of Latin words, both writers are deservingof the epithet. The most influential prose-writer was +John Wyclif+, whowas, in fact, the first English Reformer of the Church. In poetry, twowriters stand opposite each other in striking contrast-- +GeoffreyChaucer+ and +William Langlande+, the first writing in courtly “King’sEnglish” in end-rhyme, and with the fullest inspirations from theliteratures of France and Italy, the latter writing in head-rhyme, and--though using more French words than Chaucer-- with a style that wasalways homely, plain, and pedestrian. +John Gower+, in Kent, and +JohnBarbour+, in Scotland, are also noteworthy poets in this century. TheEnglish language reached a high state of polish, power, and freedom inthis period; and the sweetness and music of Chaucer’s verse are stillunsurpassed by modern poets. The sentences of the prose-writers of thiscentury are long, clumsy, and somewhat helpless; but the sweet homelyEnglish rhythm exists in many of them, and was continued, throughWyclif’s version, down into our translation of the Bible in 1611. 

3. SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE, (+1300-1372+), “the first prose-writer in formedEnglish, ” was born at St Albans, in Hertfordshire, in the year 1300. Hewas a physician; but, in the year 1322, he set out on a journey to theEast; was away from home for more than thirty years, and died at Liège, in Belgium, in 1372. He wrote his travels first in Latin, next inFrench, and then turned them into English, “that every man of my nationmay understand it. ” The book is a kind of guide-book to the Holy Land;but the writer himself went much further east-- reached Cathay or China, in fact. He introduced a large number of French words into our speech, such as _cause_, _contrary_, _discover_, _quantity_, and many hundredothers. His works were much admired, read, and copied; indeed, hundredsof manuscript copies of his book were made. There are nineteen still inthe British Museum. The book was not printed till the year 1499-- thatis, twenty-five years after printing was introduced into this country. Many of the Old English inflexions still survive in his style. Thus hesays: “Machamete was born in Arabye, that was a pore knave (boy) thatkepte cameles that went_en_ with marchantes for marchandise. ”

4. JOHN WYCLIF (his name is spelled in about forty different ways)--+1324-1384+-- was born at Hipswell, near Richmond, in Yorkshire, in theyear 1324, and died at the vicarage of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, in 1384. His fame rests on two bases-- his efforts as a reformer of theabuses of the Church, and his complete translation of the +Bible+. Thiswork was finished in 1383, just one year before his death. But thetranslation was not done by himself alone; the larger part of the OldTestament version seems to have been made by Nicholas de Hereford. Though often copied in manuscript, it was not printed for severalcenturies. Wyclif’s New Testament was printed in 1731, and the OldTestament not until the year 1850. But the words and the style of histranslation, which was read and re-read by hundreds of thoughtful men, were of real and permanent service in fixing the language in the form inwhich we now find it. 

5. JOHN GOWER (+1325-1408+) was a country gentleman of Kent. AsMandeville wrote his travels in three languages, so did Gower his poems. Almost all educated persons in the fourteenth century could read andwrite with tolerable and with almost equal ease, English, French, andLatin. His three poems are the +Speculum Meditantis+ (“The Mirror of theThoughtful Man”), in French; the +Vox Clamantis+ (“Voice of OneCrying”), in Latin; and +Confessio Amantis+ (“The Lover’s Confession”), in English. No manuscript of the first work is known to exist. He wasburied in St Saviour’s, Southwark, where his effigy is still to beseen-- his head resting on his three works. Chaucer called him “themoral Gower”; and his books are very dull, heavy, and difficult to read. 

6. WILLIAM LANGLANDE (+1332-1400+), a poet who used the old Englishhead-rhyme, as Chaucer used the foreign end-rhyme, was born atCleobury-Mortimer in Shropshire, in the year 1332. The date of his deathis doubtful. His poem is called the +Vision of Piers the Plowman+; andit is the last long poem in our literature that was written in OldEnglish alliterative rhyme. From this period, if rhyme is employed atall, it is the end-rhyme, which we borrowed from the French andItalians. The poem has an appendix called +Do-well, Do-bet, Do-best+--the three stages in the growth of a Christian. Langlande’s writingsremained in manuscript until the reign of Edward VI. ; they were printedthen, and went through three editions in one year. The English used inthe +Vision+ is the Midland dialect-- much the same as that used byChaucer; only, oddly enough, Langlande admits into his English a largeramount of French words than Chaucer. The poem is a distinct landmark inthe history of our speech. The following is a specimen of the lines. There are three alliterative words in each line, with a pause near themiddle--

 “A voice {l}oud in that {l}ight · to {L}ucifer criëd, ‘{P}rinces of this {p}alace · {p}rest[16] undo the gatës, For here {c}ometh with {c}rown · the {k}ing of all glory!’”

 [Footnote 16: Quickly. ]

7. GEOFFREY CHAUCER (+1340-1400+), the “father of English poetry, ” andthe greatest narrative poet of this country, was born in London in orabout the year 1340. He lived in the reigns of Edward III. , Richard II. , and one year in the reign of Henry IV. His father was a vintner. Thename _Chaucer_ is a Norman name, and is found on the roll of BattleAbbey. He is said to have studied both at Oxford and Cambridge; servedas page in the household of Prince Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the thirdson of Edward III. ; served also in the army, and was taken prisonerin one of the French campaigns. In 1367, he was appointedgentleman-in-waiting (_valettus_) to Edward III. , who sent him onseveral embassies. In 1374 he married a lady of the Queen’s chamber; andby this marriage he became connected with John of Gaunt, who afterwardsmarried a sister of this lady. While on an embassy to Italy, he isreported to have met the great poet Petrarch, who told him the story ofthe Patient Griselda. In 1381, he was made Comptroller of Customs in thegreat port of London-- an office which he held till the year 1386. Inthat year he was elected knight of the shire-- that is, member ofParliament for the county of Kent. In 1389, he was appointed Clerk ofthe King’s Works at Westminster and Windsor. From 1381 to 1389 wasprobably the best and most productive period of his life; for it was inthis period that he wrote the +House of Fame+, the +Legend of GoodWomen+, and the best of the +Canterbury Tales+. From 1390 to 1400 wasspent in writing the other +Canterbury Tales+, ballads, and some moralpoems. He died at Westminster in the year 1400, and was the first writerwho was buried in the Poets’ Corner of the Abbey. We see from his life--and it was fortunate for his poetry-- that Chaucer had the most variedexperience as student, courtier, soldier, ambassador, official, andmember of Parliament; and was able to mix freely and on equal terms withall sorts and conditions of men, from the king to the poorest hind inthe fields. He was a stout man, with a small bright face, soft eyes, dazed by long and hard reading, and with the English passion forflowers, green fields, and all the sights and sounds of nature. 

8. +Chaucer’s Works. +-- Chaucer’s greatest work is the +CanterburyTales+. It is a collection of stories written in heroic metre-- that is, in the rhymed couplet of five iambic feet. The finest part of theCanterbury Tales is the +Prologue+; the noblest story is probably the+Knightes Tale+. It is worthy of note that, in 1362, when Chaucer was avery young man, the session of the House of Commons was first openedwith a speech in English; and in the same year an Act of Parliament waspassed, substituting the use of English for French in courts of law, inschools, and in public offices. English had thus triumphed over Frenchin all parts of the country, while it had at the same time becomesaturated with French words. In the year 1383 the Bible was translatedinto English by Wyclif. Thus Chaucer, whose writings were called bySpenser “the well of English undefiled, ” wrote at a time when ourEnglish was freshest and newest. The grammar of his works shows Englishwith a large number of inflexions still remaining. The Canterbury Talesare a series of stories supposed to be told by a number of pilgrims whoare on their way to the shrine of St Thomas (Becket) at Canterbury. Thepilgrims, thirty-two in number, are fully described-- their dress, look, manners, and character in the Prologue. It had been agreed, when theymet at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, that each pilgrim should tell fourstories-- two going and two returning-- as they rode along the grassylanes, then the only roads, to the old cathedral city. But onlyfour-and-twenty stories exist. 

9. +Chaucer’s Style. +-- Chaucer expresses, in the truest and liveliestway, “the true and lively of everything which is set before him;” and hefirst gave to English poetry that force, vigour, life, and colour whichraised it above the level of mere rhymed prose. All the best poems andhistories in Latin, French, and Italian were well known to Chaucer; andhe borrows from them with the greatest freedom. He handles, withmasterly power, all the characters and events in his Tales; and he ishence, beyond doubt, the greatest narrative poet that England everproduced. In the Prologue, his masterpiece, Dryden says, “we have ourforefathers and great-grand-dames all before us, as they were inChaucer’s days. ” His dramatic power, too, is nearly as great as hisnarrative power; and Mr Marsh affirms that he was “a dramatist beforethat which is technically known as the existing drama had beeninvented. ” That is to say, he could set men and women talking as theywould and did talk in real life, but with more point, spirit, _verve_, and picturesqueness. As regards the matter of his poems, it may besufficient to say that Dryden calls him “a perpetual fountain of goodsense;” and that Hazlitt makes this remark: “Chaucer was the mostpractical of all the great poets, -- the most a man of business and ofthe world. His poetry reads like history. ” Tennyson speaks of him thusin his “Dream of Fair Women”:--

 “Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath Preluded those melodious bursts that fill The spacious times of great Elizabeth, With sounds that echo still. ”

10. JOHN BARBOUR (+1316-1396+). -- The earliest Scottish poet of anyimportance in the fourteenth century is John Barbour, who rose to beArchdeacon of Aberdeen. Barbour was of Norman blood, and wrote NorthernEnglish, or, as it is sometimes called, Scotch. He studied both atOxford and at the University of Paris. His chief work is a poem called+The Bruce+. The English of this poem does not differ very greatly fromthe English of Chaucer. Barbour has _fechtand_ for _fighting_; _pressit_for _pressëd_; _theretill_ for _thereto_; but these differences do notmake the reading of his poem very difficult. As a Norman he was proud ofthe doings of Robert de Bruce, another Norman; and Barbour must oftenhave heard stories of him in his boyhood, as he was only thirteen whenBruce died. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. The fifteenth century, a remarkable period in many ways, saw threeroyal dynasties established in England-- the Houses of Lancaster, York, and Tudor. Five successful French campaigns of Henry V. , and the battleof Agincourt; and, on the other side, the loss of all our largepossessions in France, with the exception of Calais, under the rule ofthe weak Henry VI. , were among the chief events of the fifteenthcentury. The Wars of the Roses did not contribute anything to theprosperity of the century, nor could so unsettled and quarrelsome a timeencourage the cultivation of literature. For this among other reasons, we find no great compositions in prose or verse; but a considerableactivity in the making and distribution of ballads. The best of theseare +Sir Patrick Spens+, +Edom o’ Gordon+, +The Nut-Brown Mayde+, andsome of those written about +Robin Hood+ and his exploits. The balladwas everywhere popular; and minstrels sang them in every city andvillage through the length and breadth of England. The famous ballad of+Chevy Chase+ is generally placed after the year 1460, though it did nottake its present form till the seventeenth century. It tells the storyof the Battle of Otterburn, which was fought in 1388. This century wasalso witness to the short struggle of Richard III. , followed by the riseof the House of Tudor. And, in 1498, just at its close, the wonderfulapparition of a new world-- of +The New World+-- rose on the horizon ofthe English mind, for England then first heard of the discovery ofAmerica. But, as regards thinking and writing, the fifteenth century isthe most barren in our literature. It is the most barren in the+production+ of original literature; but, on the other hand, it is, compared with all the centuries that preceded it, the most fertile inthe dissemination and +distribution+ of the literature that alreadyexisted. For England saw, in the memorable year of +1474+, theestablishment of the first printing-press in the Almonry at Westminster, by +William Caxton+. The first book printed by him in this country wascalled ‘The Game and Playe of the Chesse. ’ When Edward IV. And hisfriends visited Caxton’s house and looked at his printing-press, theyspoke of it as a pretty toy; they could not foresee that it was destinedto be a more powerful engine of good government and the spread ofthought and education than the Crown, Parliaments, and courts of law allput together. The two greatest names in literature in the fifteenthcentury are those of +James I. + (of Scotland) and +William Caxton+himself. Two followers of Chaucer, +Occleve+ and +Lydgate+ are alsogenerally mentioned. Put shortly, one might say that the chief poeticalproductions of this century were its +ballads+; and the chief proseproductions, +translations+ from Latin or from foreign works. 

2. JAMES I. OF SCOTLAND (+1394-1437+), though a Scotchman, owed hiseducation to England. He was born in 1394. Whilst on his way to Francewhen a boy of eleven, he was captured, in time of peace, by the order ofHenry IV. , and kept prisoner in England for about eighteen years. It wasno great misfortune, for he received from Henry the best education thatEngland could then give in language, literature, music, and all knightlyaccomplishments. He married Lady Jane Beaufort, the grand-daughter ofJohn of Gaunt, the friend and patron of Chaucer. His best and longestpoem is +The Kings Quair+ (that is, Book), a poem which was inspired bythe subject of it, Lady Jane Beaufort herself. The poem is written in astanza of seven lines (called +Rime Royal+); and the style is a closecopy of the style of Chaucer. After reigning thirteen years in Scotland, King James was murdered at Perth, in the year 1437. A Norman by blood, he is the best poet of the fifteenth century. 

3. WILLIAM CAXTON (+1422-1492+) is the name of greatest importance andsignificance in the history of our literature in the fifteenth century. He was born in Kent in the year 1422. He was not merely a printer, hewas also a literary man; and, when he devoted himself to printing, hetook to it as an art, and not as a mere mechanical device. Caxton inearly life was a mercer in the city of London; and in the course of hisbusiness, which was a thriving one, he had to make frequent journeys tothe Low Countries. Here he saw the printing-press for the first time, with the new separate types, was enchanted with it, and fired by thewonderful future it opened. It had been introduced into Holland aboutthe year 1450. Caxton’s press was set up in the Almonry at Westminster, at the sign of the Red Pole. It produced in all sixty-four books, nearlyall of them in English, some of them written by Caxton himself. One ofthe most important of them was Sir Thomas Malory’s +History of KingArthur+, the storehouse from which Tennyson drew the stories which formthe groundwork of his _Idylls of the King_. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. The Wars of the Roses ended in 1485, with the victory of BosworthField. A new dynasty-- the House of Tudor-- sat upon the throne ofEngland; and with it a new reign of peace and order existed in thecountry, for the power of the king was paramount, and the power of thenobles had been gradually destroyed in the numerous battles of thefifteenth century. Like the fifteenth, this century also is famous forits ballads, the authors of which are not known, but which seem to havebeen composed “by the people for the people. ” They were sung everywhere, at fairs and feasts, in town and country, at going to and coming homefrom work; and many of them were set to popular dance-tunes. 

 “When Tom came home from labour, And Cis from milking rose, Merrily went the tabor, And merrily went their toes. ”

The ballads of +King Lear+ and +The Babes in the Wood+ are perhaps to bereferred to this period. 

2. The first half of the sixteenth century saw the beginning of a newera in poetry; and the last half saw the full meridian splendour of thisnew era. The beginning of this era was marked by the appearance of +SirThomas Wyatt+ (1503-1542), and of the +Earl of Surrey+ (1517-1547). These two eminent writers have been called the “twin-stars of the dawn, ”the “founders of English lyrical poetry”; and it is worthy of especialnote, that it is to Wyatt that we owe the introduction of the +Sonnet+into our literature, and to Surrey that is due the introduction of+Blank Verse+. The most important prose-writers of the first half of thecentury were +Sir Thomas More+, the great lawyer and statesman, and+William Tyndale+, who translated the New Testament into English. In thelatter half of the century, the great poets are +Spenser+ and+Shakespeare+; the great prose-writers, +Richard Hooker+ and +FrancisBacon+. 

3. SIR THOMAS MORE’S (+1480-1535+) chief work in English is the +Lifeand Reign of Edward V+. It is written in a plain, strong, nervousEnglish style. Hallam calls it “the first example of good English-- pureand perspicuous, well chosen, without vulgarisms, and without pedantry. ”His +Utopia+ (a description of the country of _Nowhere_) was written inLatin. 

4. WILLIAM TYNDALE (+1484-1536+)-- a man of the greatest significance, both in the history of religion, and in the history of our language andliterature-- was a native of Gloucestershire, and was educated atMagdalen Hall, Oxford. His opinions on religion and the rule of theCatholic Church, compelled him to leave England, and drove him to theContinent in the year 1523. He lived in Hamburg for some time. With theGerman and Swiss reformers he held that the Bible should be in the handsof every grown-up person, and not in the exclusive keeping of theChurch. He accordingly set to work to translate the Scriptures into hisnative tongue. Two editions of his version of the +New Testament+ wereprinted in 1525-34. He next translated the five books of Moses, and thebook of Jonah. In 1535 he was, after many escapes and adventures, finally tracked and hunted down by an emissary of the Pope’s faction, and thrown into prison at the castle of Vilvoorde, near Brussels. In1536 he was brought to Antwerp, tried, condemned, led to the stake, strangled, and burned. 

5. +The Work of William Tyndale. +-- Tyndale’s translation has, since thetime of its appearance, formed the basis of all the after versions ofthe Bible. It is written in the purest and simplest English; and veryfew of the words used in his translation have grown obsolete in ourmodern speech. Tyndale’s work is indeed, one of the most strikinglandmarks in the history of our language. Mr Marsh says of it:“Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament is the most importantphilological monument of the first half of the sixteenth century, --perhaps I should say, of the whole period between Chaucer andShakespeare.... The best features of the translation of 1611 are derivedfrom the version of Tyndale. ” It may be said without exaggeration that, in the United Kingdom, America, and the colonies, about one hundredmillions of people now speak the English of Tyndale’s Bible; nor isthere any book that has exerted so great an influence on English rhythm, English style, the selection of words, and the build of sentences in ourEnglish prose. 

6. EDMUND SPENSER (+1552-1599+), “The Poet’s Poet, ” and one of thegreatest poetical writers of his own or of any age, was born at EastSmithfield, near the Tower of London, in the year 1552, about nine yearsbefore the birth of Bacon, and in the reign of Edward VI. He waseducated at Merchant Taylors’ School in London, and at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. In 1579, we find him settled in his native city, where hisbest friend was the gallant Sir Philip Sidney, who introduced him to hisuncle, the Earl of Leicester, then at the height of his power andinfluence with Queen Elizabeth. In the same year was published his firstpoetical work, +The Shepheard’s Calendar+-- a set of twelve pastoralpoems. In 1580, he went to Ireland as Secretary to Lord Grey de Wilton, the Viceroy of that country. For some years he resided at KilcolmanCastle, in county Cork, on an estate which had been granted him out ofthe forfeited lands of the Earl of Desmond. Sir Walter Raleigh hadobtained a similar but larger grant, and was Spenser’s near neighbour. In 1590 Spenser brought out the first three books of +The FaerieQueene+. The second three books of his great poem appeared in 1596. Towards the end of 1598, a rebellion broke out in Ireland; it spreadinto Munster; Spenser’s house was attacked and set on fire; in thefighting and confusion his only son perished; and Spenser escaped withthe greatest difficulty. In deep distress of body and mind, he made hisway to London, where he died-- at an inn in King Street, Westminster, atthe age of forty-six, in the beginning of the year 1599. He was buriedin the Abbey, not far from the grave of Chaucer. 

7. +Spenser’s Style. +-- His greatest work is +The Faerie Queene+; butthat in which he shows the most striking command of language is his+Hymn of Heavenly Love+. +The Faerie Queene+ is written in a nine-linedstanza, which has since been called the _Spenserian Stanza_. The firsteight lines are of the usual length of five iambic feet; the last linecontains six feet, and is therefore an Alexandrine. Each stanza containsonly three rhymes, which are disposed in this order: _a b a b b c bc c_. --The music of the stanza is long-drawn out, beautiful, involved, and even luxuriant. --The story of the poem is an allegory, like the‘Pilgrim’s Progress’; and in it Spenser undertook, he says, “torepresent all the moral virtues, assigning to every virtue a knight tobe the patron and defender of the same. ”[17] Only six books werecompleted; and these relate the adventures of the knights who stand for_Holiness_, _Temperance_, _Chastity_, _Friendship_, _Justice_, and_Courtesy_. The +Faerie Queene+ herself is called +Gloriana+, whorepresents _Glory_ in his “general intention, ” and Queen Elizabeth inhis “particular intention. ”

 [Footnote 17: This use of the phrase “the same” is antiquated English. ]

8. +Character of the Faerie Queene. +-- This poem is the greatest of thesixteenth century. Spenser has not only been the delight of nearly tengenerations; he was the study of Shakespeare, the poetical master ofCowley and of Milton, and, in some sense, of Dryden and Pope. Keats, when a boy, was never tired of reading him. “There is something, ” saysPope, “in Spenser that pleases one as strongly in old age as it did inone’s youth. ” Professor Craik says: “Without calling Spenser thegreatest of all poets, we may still say that his poetry is the mostpoetical of all poetry. ” The outburst of national feeling after thedefeat of the Armada in 1588; the new lands opened up by our adventurousDevonshire sailors; the strong and lively loyalty of the nation to thequeen; the great statesmen and writers of the period; the high daringshown by England against Spain-- all these animated and inspired theglowing genius of Spenser. His rhythm is singularly sweet and beautiful. Hazlitt says: “His versification is at once the most smooth and the mostsounding in the language. It is a labyrinth of sweet sounds. ” Nothingcan exceed the wealth of Spenser’s phrasing and expression; there seemsto be no limit to its flow. He is very fond of the Old-English practiceof alliteration or head-rhyme-- “hunting the letter, ” as it was called. Thus he has--

 “In woods, in waves, in wars, she wont to dwell. Gay without good is good heart’s greatest loathing. ”

9. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (+1564-1616+), the greatest dramatist thatEngland ever produced, was born at Stratford-on-Avon, in Warwickshire, on the 23d of April-- St George’s Day-- of the year 1564. His father, John Shakespeare, was a wool dealer and grower. William was educated atthe grammar-school of the town, where he learned “small Latin and lessGreek”; and this slender stock was his only scholastic outfit for life. At the early age of eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, a yeoman’sdaughter. In 1586, at the age of twenty-two, he quitted his native town, and went to London. 

10. +Shakespeare’s Life and Character. +-- He was employed in some menialcapacity at the Blackfriars Theatre, but gradually rose to be actor andalso adapter of plays. He was connected with the theatre for aboutfive-and-twenty years; and so diligent and so successful was he, that hewas able to purchase shares both in his own theatre and in the Globe. As an actor, he was only second-rate: the two parts he is known to haveplayed are those of the _Ghost_ in +Hamlet+, and _Adam_ in +As You LikeIt+. In 1597, at the early age of thirty-three, he was able to purchaseNew Place, in Stratford, and to rebuild the house. In 1612, at the ageof forty-eight, he left London altogether, and retired for the rest ofhis life to New Place, where he died in the year 1616. His old fatherand mother spent the last years of their lives with him, and died underhis roof. Shakespeare had three children-- two girls and a boy. The boy, Hamnet, died at the age of twelve. Shakespeare himself was beloved byevery one who knew him; and “gentle Shakespeare” was the phrase mostoften upon the lips of his friends. A placid face, with a sweet, mildexpression; a high, broad, noble, “two-storey” forehead; bright eyes;a most speaking mouth-- though it seldom opened; an open, frank manner, a kindly, handsome look, -- such seems to have been the externalcharacter of the man Shakespeare. 

11. +Shakespeare’s Works. +-- He has written thirty-seven plays and manypoems. The best of his rhymed poems are his Sonnets, in which hechronicles many of the various moods of his mind. The plays consist oftragedies, historical plays, and comedies. The greatest of his tragediesare probably +Hamlet+ and +King Lear+; the best of his historical plays, +Richard III. + and +Julius Cæsar+; and his finest comedies, +MidsummerNight’s Dream+ and +As You Like It+. He wrote in the reign of Elizabethas well as in that of James; but his greatest works belong to the latterperiod. 

12. +Shakespeare’s Style. +-- Every one knows that Shakespeare is great;but how is the young learner to discover the best way of forming anadequate idea of his greatness? In the first place, Shakespeare has verymany sides; and, in the second place, he is great on every one of them. Coleridge says: “In all points, from the most important to the mostminute, the judgment of Shakespeare is commensurate with his genius--nay, his genius reveals itself in his judgment, as in its most exaltedform. ” He has been called “mellifluous Shakespeare;” “honey-tonguedShakespeare;” “silver-tongued Shakespeare;” “the thousand-souledShakespeare;” “the myriad-minded;” and by many other epithets. He seemsto have been master of all human experience; to have known the humanheart in all its phases; to have been acquainted with all sorts andconditions of men-- high and low, rich and poor; and to have studied thehistory of past ages, and of other countries. He also shows a greaterand more highly skilled mastery over language than any other writer thatever lived. The vocabulary employed by Shakespeare amounts in number ofwords to twenty-one thousand. The vocabulary of Milton numbers onlyseven thousand words. But it is not sufficient to say that Shakespeare’spower of thought, of feeling, and of expression required three times thenumber of words to express itself; we must also say that Shakespeare’spower of expression shows infinitely greater skill, subtlety, andcunning than is to be found in the works of Milton. Shakespeare had alsoa marvellous power of making new phrases, most of which have become partand parcel of our language. Such phrases as _every inch a king_; _witchthe world_; _the time is out of joint_, and hundreds more, show thatmodern Englishmen not only speak Shakespeare, but think Shakespeare. Hisknowledge of human nature has enabled him to throw into Englishliterature a larger number of genuine “characters” that will always livein the thoughts of men, than any other author that ever wrote. And hehas not drawn his characters from England alone and from his own time--but from Greece and Rome, from other countries, too, and also from allages. He has written in a greater variety of styles than any otherwriter. “Shakespeare, ” says Professor Craik, “has invented twentystyles. ” The knowledge, too, that he shows on every kind of humanendeavour is as accurate as it is varied. Lawyers say that he was agreat lawyer; theologians, that he was an able divine, and unequalled inhis knowledge of the Bible; printers, that he must have been a printer;and seamen, that he knew every branch of the sailor’s craft. 

13. +Shakespeare’s contemporaries. +-- But we are not to suppose thatShakespeare stood alone in the end of the sixteenth and the beginning ofthe seventeenth century as a great poet; and that everything else wasflat and low around him. This never is and never can be the case. Greatgenius is the possession, not of one man, but of several in a great age;and we do not find a great writer standing alone and unsupported, justas we do not find a high mountain rising from a low plain. The largestgroup of the highest mountains in the world, the Himalayas, rise fromthe highest table-land in the world; and peaks nearly as high as thehighest-- Mount Everest-- are seen cleaving the blue sky in theneighbourhood of Mount Everest itself. And so we find Shakespearesurrounded by dramatists in some respects nearly as great as himself;for the same great forces welling up within the heart of England thatmade _him_ created also the others. +Marlowe+, the teacher ofShakespeare, +Peele+, and +Greene+, preceded him; +Ben Jonson+, +Beaumont+ and +Fletcher+, +Massinger+ and +Ford+, +Webster+, +Chapman+, and many others, were his contemporaries, lived with him, talked withhim; and no doubt each of these men influenced the work of the others. But the works of these men belong chiefly to the seventeenth century. Wemust not, however, forget that the reign of Queen Elizabeth-- called inliterature the +Elizabethan Period+-- was the greatest that England eversaw, -- greatest in poetry and in prose, greatest in thought and inaction, perhaps also greatest in external events. 

14. CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (+1564-1593+), the first great Englishdramatist, was born at Canterbury in the year 1564, two months beforethe birth of Shakespeare himself. He studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and took the degree of Master of Arts in 1587. After leavingthe university, he came up to London and wrote for the stage. He seemsto have led a wild and reckless life, and was stabbed in a tavern brawlon the 1st of June 1593. “As he may be said to have invented and madethe verse of the drama, so he created the English drama. ” His chiefplays are +Dr Faustus+ and +Edward the Second+. His style is one of thegreatest vigour and power: it is often coarse, but it is always strong. Ben Jonson spoke of “Marlowe’s mighty line”; and Lord Jeffrey says ofhim: “In felicity of thought and strength of expression, he is secondonly to Shakespeare himself. ”

15. BEN JONSON (+1574-1637+), the greatest dramatist of England afterShakespeare, was born in Westminster in the year 1574, just nine yearsafter Shakespeare’s birth. He received his education at WestminsterSchool. It is said that, after leaving school, he was obliged to assisthis stepfather as a bricklayer; that he did not like the work; and thathe ran off to the Low Countries, and there enlisted as a soldier. On hisreturn to London, he began to write for the stage. Jonson was a friendand companion of Shakespeare’s; and at the Mermaid, in Fleet Street, they had, in presence of men like Raleigh, Marlowe, Greene, Peele, andother distinguished Englishmen, many “wit-combats” together. Jonson’sgreatest plays are +Volpone+ or the Fox, and the +Alchemist+-- bothcomedies. In 1616 he was created Poet-Laureate. For many years he was inreceipt of a pension from James I. And from Charles I. ; but so carelessand profuse were his habits, that he died in poverty in the year 1637. He was buried in an upright position in Westminster Abbey; and the stoneover his grave still bears the inscription, “O rare Ben Jonson!” He hasbeen called a “robust, surly, and observing dramatist. ”

16. RICHARD HOOKER (+1553-1600+), one of the greatest of Elizabethanprose-writers, was born at Heavitree, a village near the city of Exeter, in the year 1553. By the kind aid of Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, he wassent to Oxford, where he distinguished himself as a hard-workingstudent, and especially for his knowledge of Hebrew. In 1581 he enteredthe Church. In the same year he made an imprudent marriage with anignorant, coarse, vulgar, and domineering woman. He was appointed Masterof the Temple in 1585; but, by his own request, he was removed from thatoffice, and chose the quieter living of Boscombe, near Salisbury. Herehe wrote the first four books of his famous work, +The Laws ofEcclesiastical Polity+, which were published in the year 1594. In 1595he was translated to the living of Bishopsborne, near Canterbury. Hisdeath took place in the year 1600. The complete work, which consisted ofeight books, was not published till 1662. 

17. +Hooker’s Style. +-- His writings are said to “mark an era in Englishprose. ” His sentences are generally very long, very elaborate, but fullof “an extraordinary musical richness of language. ” The order is oftenmore like that of a Latin than of an English sentence; and he is fond ofLatin inversions. Thus he writes: “That which by wisdom he saw to berequisite for that people, was by as great wisdom compassed. ” Thefollowing sentences give us a good example of his sweet and musicalrhythm. “Of law there can be no less acknowledged, than that her seat isthe bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world. All things inheaven and earth do her homage; the very least as feeling her care, andthe greatest as not exempted from her power: both angels and men, andcreatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort andmanner, yet all, with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother oftheir peace and joy. ”

18. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY (+1554-1586+), a noble knight, a statesman, andone of the best prose-writers of the Elizabethan age, was born atPenshurst, in Kent, in the year 1554. He was educated at ShrewsburySchool, and then at Christ Church, Oxford. At the age of seventeen hewent abroad for three years’ travel on the Continent; and, while inParis, witnessed, from the windows of the English Embassy, the horribleMassacre of St Bartholomew in the year 1572. At the early age oftwenty-two he was sent as ambassador to the Emperor of Germany; andwhile on that embassy, he met William of Orange-- “William the Silent”--who pronounced him one of the ripest statesmen in Europe. This was saidof a young man “who seems to have been the type of what was noblest inthe youth of England during times that could produce a statesman. ” In1580 he wrote the +Arcadia+, a romance, and dedicated it to his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. The year after, he produced his +Apologie forPoetrie+. His policy as a statesman was to side with Protestant rulers, and to break the power of the strongest Catholic kingdom on theContinent-- the power of Spain. In 1585 the Queen sent him to theNetherlands as governor of the important fortress of Flushing. He wasmortally wounded in a skirmish at Zutphen; and as he was being carriedoff the field, handed to a private the cup of cold water that had beenbrought to quench his raging thirst. He died of his wounds on the 17thof October 1586. One of his friends wrote of him:--

 “Death, courage, honour, make thy soul to live!-- Thy soul in heaven, thy name in tongues of men!”

19. +Sidney’s Poetry. +-- In addition to the +Arcadia+ and the +Apologiefor Poetrie+, Sidney wrote a number of beautiful poems. The best ofthese are a series of sonnets called +Astrophel+ and +Stella+, of whichhis latest critic says: “As a series of sonnets, the +Astrophel+ and+Stella+ poems are second only to Shakespeare’s; as a series oflove-poems, they are perhaps unsurpassed. ” Spenser wrote an elegy uponSidney himself, under the title of +Astrophel+. Sidney’s prose is amongthe best of the sixteenth century. “He reads more modern than any otherauthor of that century. ” He does not use “ink-horn terms, ” or cram hissentences with Latin or French or Italian words; but both his words andhis idioms are of pure English. He is fond of using personifications. Such phrases as, “About the time that the candles began to inherit thesun’s office;” “Seeing the day begin to disclose her comfortablebeauties, ” are not uncommon. The rhythm of his sentences is alwaysmelodious, and each of them has a very pleasant close. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. +The First Half. +-- Under the wise and able rule of Queen Elizabeth, this country had enjoyed a long term of peace. The Spanish Armada hadbeen defeated in 1588; the Spanish power had gradually waned before thegrowing might of England; and it could be said with perfect truth, inthe words of Shakespeare:--

 “In her days every man doth eat in safety Under his own vine what he plants, and sing The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours. ”

The country was at peace; and every peaceful art and pursuit prospered. As one sign of the great prosperity and outstretching enterprise ofcommerce, we should note the foundation of the East India Company on thelast day of the year 1600. The reign of James I. (1603-1625) was alsopeaceful; and the country made steady progress in industries, incommerce, and in the arts and sciences. The two greatest prose-writersof the first half of the seventeenth century were +Raleigh+ and +Bacon+;the two greatest poets were +Shakespeare+ and +Ben Jonson+. 

2. SIR WALTER RALEIGH (+1552-1618+). -- +Walter Raleigh+, soldier, statesman, coloniser, historian, and poet, was born in Devonshire, inthe year 1552. He was sent to Oriel College, Oxford; but he left at theearly age of seventeen to fight on the side of the Protestants inFrance. From that time his life is one long series of schemes, plots, adventures, and misfortunes-- culminating in his execution atWestminster in the year 1618. He spent “the evening of a tempestuouslife” in the Tower, where he lay for thirteen years; and during thisimprisonment he wrote his greatest work, the +History of the World+, which was never finished. His life and adventures belong to thesixteenth; his works to the seventeenth century. Raleigh was probablythe most dazzling figure of his time; and is “in a singular degree therepresentative of the vigorous versatility of the Elizabethan period. ”Spenser, whose neighbour he was for some time in Ireland, thought highlyof his poetry, calls him “the summer’s nightingale, ” and says of him--

 “Yet æmuling[18] my song, he took in hand My pipe, before that æmulëd of many, And played thereon (for well that skill he conn’d), Himself as skilful in that art as any. ”

Raleigh is the author of the celebrated verses, “Go, soul, the body’sguest;” “Give me my scallop-shell of quiet;” and of the lines which werewritten and left in his Bible on the night before he was beheaded:--

 “Even such is time, that takes in trust Our youth, our joys, our all we have, And pays us but with age and dust; Who, in the dark and silent grave, When we have wandered all our ways, Shuts up the story of our days: But from this earth, this grave, this dust, The Lord shall raise me up, I trust!”

Raleigh’s prose has been described as “some of the most flowing andmodern-looking prose of the period;” and there can be no doubt that, ifhe had given himself entirely to literature, he would have been one ofthe greatest poets and prose-writers of his time. His style is calm, noble, and melodious. The following is the last sentence of the +Historyof the World+:--

 “O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast persuaded; what none hath dared, thou hast done; and whom all the world hath flattered, thou only hast cast out of the world and despised; thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words _Hic jacet_. ”

 [Footnote 18: Emulating. ]

3. FRANCIS BACON (+1561-1626+), one of the greatest of English thinkers, and one of our best prose-writers, was born at York House, in theStrand, London, in the year 1561. He was a grave and precocious child;and Queen Elizabeth, who knew him and liked him, used to pat him andcall him her “young Lord Keeper”-- his father being Lord Keeper of theSeals in her reign. At the early age of twelve he was sent to TrinityCollege, Cambridge, and remained there for three years. In 1582 he wascalled to the bar; in 1593 he was M. P. For Middlesex. But his greatestrise in fortune did not take place till the reign of James I. ; when, inthe year 1618, he had risen to be Lord High Chancellor of England. Thetitle which he took on this occasion-- for the Lord High Chancellor ischairman of the House of Lords-- was +Baron Verulam+; and a few yearsafter he was created +Viscount St Albans+. His eloquence was famous inEngland; and Ben Jonson said of him: “The fear of every man that heardhim was lest he should make an end. ” In the year 1621 he was accused oftaking bribes, and of giving unjust decisions as a judge. He had notreally been unconscientious, but he had been careless; was obliged toplead guilty; and he was sentenced to pay a fine of £40, 000, and to beimprisoned in the Tower during the king’s pleasure. The fine wasremitted; Bacon was set free in two days; a pension was allowed him; buthe never afterwards held office of any kind. He died on Easter-day ofthe year 1626, of a chill which he caught while experimenting on thepreservative properties of snow. 

4. His chief prose-works in English-- for he wrote many in Latin-- arethe +Essays+, and the +Advancement of Learning+. His +Essays+ make oneof the wisest books ever written; and a great number of English thinkersowe to them the best of what they have had to say. They are written in aclear, forcible, pithy, and picturesque style, with short sentences, anda good many illustrations, drawn from history, politics, and science. Itis true that the style is sometimes stiff, and even rigid; but thestiffness is the stiffness of a richly embroidered cloth, into whichthreads of gold and silver have been worked. Bacon kept what he called a+Promus+ or Commonplace-Book; and in this he entered striking thoughts, sentences, and phrases that he met with in the course of his reading, orthat occurred to him during the day. He calls these sentences“salt-pits, that you may extract salt out of, and sprinkle as you will. ”The following are a few examples:--

 “That that is Forced is not Forcible. ”

 “No Man loveth his Fetters though they be of Gold. ”

 “Clear and Round Dealing is the Honour of Man’s Nature. ”

 “The Arch-flatterer, with whom all the petty Flatterers have intelligence, is a Man’s Self. ”

 “If Things be not tossed upon the Arguments of Counsell, they will be tossed upon the Waves of Fortune. ”

The following are a few striking sentences from his +Essays+:--

 “Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set. ”

 “A man’s nature runs either to herbs or weeds; therefore, let him seasonably water the one, and destroy the other. ”

 “A crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, when there is no love. ”

No man could say wiser things in pithier words; and we may well say ofhis thoughts, in the words of Tennyson, that they are--

 “Jewels, five words long, That on the stretched forefinger of all time Sparkle for ever. ”

5. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (+1564-1616+) has been already treated of in thechapter on the sixteenth century. But it may be noted here that hisfirst two periods-- as they are called-- fall within the sixteenth, andhis last two periods within the seventeenth century. His first periodlies between 1591 and 1596; and to it are ascribed his early poems, hisplay of +Richard II. +, and some other historical plays. His secondperiod, which stretches from 1596 to 1601 holds the Sonnets, the+Merchant of Venice+, the +Merry Wives of Windsor+, and a few historicaldramas. But his third and fourth periods were richer in production, andin greater productions. The third period, which belongs to the years1601 to 1608, produced the play of +Julius Cæsar+, the great tragediesof +Hamlet+, +Othello+, +Lear+, +Macbeth+, and some others. To thefourth period, which lies between 1608 and 1613, belong the calmer andwiser dramas, -- +Winter’s Tale+, +The Tempest+, and +Henry VIII+. Threeyears after-- in 1616-- he died. 

6. +The Second Half. +-- The second half of the great and uniqueseventeenth century was of a character very different indeed from thatof the first half. The Englishmen born into it had to face a new world!New thoughts in religion, new forces in politics, new powers in socialmatters had been slowly, steadily, and irresistibly rising intosupremacy ever since the Scottish King James came to take his seat uponthe throne of England in 1603. These new forces had, in fact, become sostrong that they led a king to the scaffold, and handed over thegovernment of England to a section of Republicans. Charles I. Wasexecuted in 1649; and, though his son came back to the throne in 1660, the face, the manners, the thoughts of England and of Englishmen hadundergone a complete internal and external change. The Puritan party waseverywhere the ruling party; and its views and convictions, in religion, in politics, and in literature, held unquestioned sway in almost everypart of England. In the Puritan party, the strongest section was formedby the Independents-- the “root and branch men”-- as they were called;and the greatest man among the Independents was Oliver Cromwell, inwhose government +John Milton+ was Foreign Secretary. Milton wascertainly by far the greatest and most powerful writer, both in proseand in verse, on the side of the Puritan party. The ablest verse-writeron the Royalist or Court side was +Samuel Butler+, the unrivalledsatirist-- the Hogarth of language, -- the author of +Hudibras+. Thegreatest prose-writer on the Royalist and Church side was +JeremyTaylor+, Bishop of Down, in Ireland, and the author of +Holy Living+, +Holy Dying+, and many other works written with a wonderful eloquence. The greatest philosophical writer was +Thomas Hobbes+, the author of the+Leviathan+. The most powerful writer for the people was +John Bunyan+, the immortal author of +The Pilgrim’s Progress+. When, however, we cometo the reigns of Charles II. And James II. , and the new influences whichtheir rule and presence imparted, we find the greatest poet to be +JohnDryden+, and the most important prose-writer, +John Locke+. 

7. +The Poetry of the Second Half. +-- The poetry of the second half ofthe seventeenth century was not an outgrowth or lineal descendant of thepoetry of the first half. No trace of the strong Elizabethan poeticalemotion remained; no writer of this half-century can claim kinship withthe great authors of the Elizabethan period. The three most remarkablepoets in the latter half of this century are +John Milton+, +SamuelButler+, and +John Dryden+. But Milton’s culture was derived chieflyfrom the great Greek and Latin writers; and his poems show few or nosigns of belonging to any age or generation in particular of Englishliterature. Butler’s poem, the +Hudibras+, is the only one of its kind;and if its author owes anything to other writers, it is to France andnot to England that we must look for its sources. Dryden, again, showsno sign of being related to Shakespeare or the dramatic writers of theearly part of the century; he is separated from them by a great gulf; heowes most, when he owes anything, to the French school of poetry. 

8. JOHN MILTON (+1608-1674+), the second greatest name in Englishpoetry, and the greatest of all our epic poets, was born in BreadStreet, Cheapside, London, in the year 1608-- five years after theaccession of James I. To the throne, and eight years before the death ofShakespeare. He was educated at St Paul’s School, and then at Christ’sCollege, Cambridge. He was so handsome-- with a delicate complexion, clear blue eyes, and light-brown hair flowing down his shoulders-- thathe was known as the “Lady of Christ’s. ” He was destined for the Church;but, being early seized with a strong desire to compose a great poeticalwork which should bring honour to his country and to the English tongue, he gave up all idea of becoming a clergyman. Filled with his secretpurpose, he retired to Horton, in Buckinghamshire, where his father hadbought a small country seat. Between the years 1632 and 1638 he studiedall the best Greek and Latin authors, mathematics, and science; and healso wrote +L’Allegro+ and +Il Penseroso+, +Comus+, +Lycidas+, and someshorter poems. These were preludes, or exercises, towards the greatpoetical work which it was the mission of his life to produce. In1638-39 he took a journey to the Continent. Most of his time was spentin Italy; and, when in Florence, he paid a visit to Galileo in prison. It had been his intention to go on to Greece; but the troubled state ofpolitics at home brought him back sooner than he wished. The next tenyears of his life were engaged in teaching and in writing his proseworks. His ideas on teaching are to be found in his +Tractate onEducation+. The most eloquent of his prose-works is his +Areopagitica, a Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing+ (1644)-- a plea for thefreedom of the press, for relieving all writings from the criticism ofcensors. In 1649-- the year of the execution of Charles I. -- Milton wasappointed Latin or Foreign Secretary to the Government of OliverCromwell; and for the next ten years his time was taken up with officialwork, and with writing prose-volumes in defence of the action of theRepublic. In 1660 the Restoration took place; and Milton was at lengthfree, in his fifty-third year, to carry out his long-cherished scheme ofwriting a great Epic poem. He chose the subject of the fall and therestoration of man. +Paradise Lost+ was completed in 1665; but, owing tothe Plague and the Fire of London, it was not published till the year1667. Milton’s young Quaker friend, Ellwood, said to him one day: “Thouhast said much of Paradise Lost, what hast thou to say of ParadiseFound?” +Paradise Regained+ was the result-- a work which was written in1666, and appeared, along with +Samson Agonistes+, in the year 1671. Milton died in the year 1674-- about the middle of the reign of CharlesII. He had been three times married. 

9. +L’Allegro+ (or “The Cheerful Man”) is a companion poem to +IlPenseroso+ (or “The Meditative Man”). The poems present two contrastedviews of the life of the student. They are written in an irregular kindof octosyllabic verse. The +Comus+-- mostly in blank verse-- is alyrical drama; and Milton’s work was accompanied by a musicalcomposition by the then famous musician Henry Lawes. +Lycidas+-- a poemin irregular rhymed verse-- is a threnody on the death of Milton’s youngfriend, Edward King, who was drowned in sailing from Chester to Dublin. This poem has been called “the touchstone of taste;” the man who cannotadmire it has no feeling for true poetry. The +Paradise Lost+ is thestory of how Satan was allowed to plot against the happiness of man; andhow Adam and Eve fell through his designs. The style is the noblest inthe English language; the music of the rhythm is lofty, involved, sustained, and sublime. “In reading ‘Paradise Lost, ’” says Mr Lowell, “one has a feeling of spaciousness such as no other poet gives. ”+Paradise Regained+ is, in fact, the story of the Temptation, and ofChrist’s triumph over the wiles of Satan. Wordsworth says: “‘ParadiseRegained’ is most perfect in execution of any written by Milton;” andColeridge remarks that “it is in its kind the most perfect poem extant, though its kind may be inferior in interest. ” +Samson Agonistes+(“Samson in Struggle”) is a drama, in highly irregular unrhymed verse, in which the poet sets forth his own unhappy fate--

 “Eyeless, in Gaza, at the mill with slaves. ”

It is, indeed, an autobiographical poem-- it is the story of the lastyears of the poet’s life. 

10. SAMUEL BUTLER (+1612-1680+), the wittiest of English poets, was bornat Strensham, in Worcestershire, in the year 1612, four years after thebirth of Milton, and four years before the death of Shakespeare. He waseducated at the grammar-school of Worcester, and afterwards atCambridge-- but only for a short time. At the Restoration he was madesecretary to the Earl of Carbery, who was then President of thePrincipality of Wales, and steward of Ludlow Castle. The first part ofhis long poem called +Hudibras+ appeared in 1662; the second part in1663; the third in 1678. Two years after, Butler died in the greatestpoverty in London. He was buried in St Paul’s, Covent Garden; but amonument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey. Upon this fact Wesleywrote the following epigram:--

 “While Butler, needy wretch, was yet alive, No generous patron would a dinner give; See him, when starved to death, and turned to dust, Presented with a monumental bust. The poet’s fate is here in emblem shown, -- He asked for bread, and he received a stone. ”

11. The +Hudibras+ is a burlesque poem, -- a long lampoon, a labouredcaricature, -- in mockery of the weaker side of the great Puritan party. It is an imaginary account of the adventures of a Puritan knight and hissquire in the Civil Wars. It is choke-full of all kinds of learning, ofthe most pungent remarks-- a very hoard of sentences and saws, “ofvigorous locutions and picturesque phrases, of strong, sound sense, androbust English. ” It has been more quoted from than almost any book inour language. Charles II. Was never tired of reading it and quoting fromit--

 “He never ate, nor drank, nor slept, But Hudibras still near him kept”--

says Butler himself. 

The following are some of his best known lines:--

 “And, like a lobster boil’d, the morn From black to red began to turn. ”

 “For loyalty is still the same, Whether it win or lose the game: True as the dial to the sun, Altho’ it be not shin’d upon. ”

 “He that complies against his will, Is of his own opinion still. ”

12. JOHN DRYDEN (+1631-1700+), the greatest of our poets in the secondrank, was born at Aldwincle, in Northamptonshire, in the year 1631. Hewas descended from Puritan ancestors on both sides of his house. He waseducated at Westminster School, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. London became his settled abode in the year 1657. At the Restoration, in1660, he became an ardent Royalist; and, in the year 1663, he marriedthe daughter of a Royalist nobleman, the Earl of Berkshire. It was not ahappy marriage; the lady, on the one hand, had a violent temper, and, onthe other, did not care a straw for the literary pursuits of herhusband. In 1666 he wrote his first long poem, the +Annus Mirabilis+(“The Wonderful Year”), in which he paints the war with Holland, and theFire of London; and from this date his life is “one long literarylabour. ” In 1670, he received the double appointment ofHistoriographer-Royal and Poet-Laureate. Up to the year 1681, his worklay chiefly in writing plays for the theatre; and these plays werewritten in rhymed verse, in imitation of the French plays; for, from thedate of the Restoration, French influence was paramount both inliterature and in fashion. But in this year he published the first partof +Absalom and Achitophel+-- one of the most powerful satires in thelanguage. In the year 1683 he was appointed Collector of Customs in theport of London-- a post which Chaucer had held before him. (It is worthyof note that Dryden “translated” the Tales of Chaucer into modernEnglish. ) At the accession of James II. , in 1685, Dryden became a RomanCatholic; most certainly neither for gain nor out of gratitude, but fromconviction. In 1687, appeared his poem of +The Hind and the Panther+, inwhich he defends his new creed. He had, a few years before, brought outanother poem called +Religio Laici+ (“A Layman’s Faith”), which was adefence of the Church of England and of her position in religion. In+The Hind and the Panther+, the Hind represents the Roman CatholicChurch, “a milk-white hind, unspotted and unchanged, ” the Panther theChurch of England; and the two beasts reply to each other in all thearguments used by controversialists on these two sides. When theRevolution of 1688 took place, and James II. Had to flee the kingdom, Dryden lost both his offices and the pension he had from the Crown. Nothing daunted, he set to work once more. Again he wrote for the stage;but the last years of his life were spent chiefly in translation. Hetranslated passages from Homer, Ovid, and from some Italian writers; buthis most important work was the translation of the whole of Virgil’s+Æneid+. To the last he retained his fire and vigour, action and rush ofverse; and some of his greatest lyric poems belong to his later years. His ode called +Alexander’s Feast+ was written at the age of sixty-six;and it was written at one sitting. At the age of sixty-nine he wasmeditating a translation of the whole of Homer-- both the Iliad and theOdyssey. He died at his house in London, on May-day of 1700, and wasburied with great pomp and splendour in Poets’ Corner in WestminsterAbbey. 

13. His best satire is the +Absalom and Achitophel+; his best specimenof reasoning in verse is +The Hind and the Panther+. His best ode is his+Ode to the Memory of Mrs Anne Killigrew+. Dryden’s style isdistinguished by its power, sweep, vigour, and “long majestic march. ” Noone has handled the heroic couplet-- and it was this form of verse thathe chiefly used-- with more vigour than Dryden; Pope was more correct, more sparkling, more finished, but he had not Dryden’s magnificent marchor sweeping impulsiveness. “The fire and spirit of the ‘AnnusMirabilis, ’” says his latest critic, “are nothing short of amazing, whenthe difficulties which beset the author are remembered. The gloriousdash of the performance is his own. ” His prose, though full of faults, is also very vigorous. It has “something of the lightning zigzag vigourand splendour of his verse. ” He always writes clear, homely, and pureEnglish, -- full of force and point. 

Many of his most pithy lines are often quoted:--

 “Men are but children of a larger growth. ”

 “Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; He that would search for pearls must dive below. ”

 “The greatest argument for love is love. ”

 “The secret pleasure of the generous act, Is the great mind’s great bribe. ”

The great American critic and poet, Mr Lowell, compares him to “anostrich, to be classed with flying things, and capable, what with leapand flap together, of leaving the earth for a longer or a shorter space, but loving the open plain, where wing and foot help each other tosomething that is both flight and run at once. ”

14. JEREMY TAYLOR (+1613-1667+), the greatest master of ornate andmusical English prose in his own day, was born at Cambridge in the year1613-- just three years before Shakespeare died. His father was abarber. After attending the free grammar-school of Cambridge, heproceeded to the University. He took holy orders and removed to London. When he was lecturing one day at St Paul’s, Archbishop Laud was so takenby his “youthful beauty, pleasant air, ” fresh eloquence, and exuberantstyle, that he had him created a Fellow of All Souls’ College, Oxford. When the Civil War broke out, he was taken prisoner by the Parliamentaryforces; and, indeed, suffered imprisonment more than once. After theRestoration, he was presented with a bishopric in Ireland, where he diedin 1667. 

15. Perhaps his best works are his +Holy Living+ and +Holy Dying+. Hisstyle is rich, even to luxury, full of the most imaginativeillustrations, and often overloaded with ornament. He has been called“the Shakespeare of English prose, ” “the Spenser of divinity, ” and byother appellations. The latter title is a very happy description; for hehas the same wealth of style, phrase, and description that Spenser has, and the same boundless delight in setting forth his thoughts in athousand different ways. The following is a specimen of his writing. Heis speaking of a shipwreck:--

 “These are the thoughts of mortals, this is the end and sum of all their designs. A dark night and an ill guide, a boisterous sea and a broken cable, a hard rock and a rough wind, dash in pieces the fortune of a whole family; and they that shall weep loudest for the accident are not yet entered into the storm, and yet have suffered shipwreck. ”

His writings contain many pithy statements. The following are a few ofthem:--

 “No man is poor that does not think himself so. ”

 “He that spends his time in sport and calls it recreation, is like him whose garment is all made of fringe, and his meat nothing but sauce. ”

 “A good man is as much in awe of himself as of a whole assembly. ”

16. THOMAS HOBBES (+1588-1679+), a great philosopher, was born atMalmesbury in the year 1588. He is hence called “the philosopher ofMalmesbury. ” He lived during the reigns of four English sovereigns--Elizabeth, James I. , Charles I. , and Charles II. ; and he wastwenty-eight years of age when Shakespeare died. He is in many respectsthe type of the hard-working, long-lived, persistent Englishman. He wasfor many years tutor in the Devonshire family-- to the first Earl ofDevonshire, and to the third Earl of Devonshire-- and lived for severalyears at the family seat of Chatsworth. In his youth he was acquaintedwith Bacon and Ben Jonson; in his middle age he knew Galileo in Italy;and as he lived to the age of ninety-two, he might have conversed withJohn Locke or with Daniel Defoe. His greatest work is the +Leviathan+;or, +The Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth+. His style is clear, manly, and vigorous. He tried to write poetry too. At the advanced ageof eighty-five, he wrote a translation of the whole of Homer’s Iliad andOdyssey into rhymed English verse, using the same quatrain and the samemeasure that Dryden employed in his ‘Annus Mirabilis. ’ Two lines arestill remembered of this translation: speaking of a child and hismother, he says--

 “And like a star upon her bosom lay His beautiful and shining golden head. ”

17. JOHN BUNYAN (+1628-1688+), one of the most popular of ourprose-writers, was born at Elstow, in Bedfordshire, in the year 1628--just three years before the birth of Dryden. He served, when a youngman, with the Parliamentary forces, and was present at the siege ofLeicester. At the Restoration, he was apprehended for preaching, indisobedience to the Conventicle Act, “was had home to prison, and therelay complete twelve years. ” Here he supported himself and his family bymaking tagged laces and other small-wares; and here, too, he wrote theimmortal +Pilgrim’s Progress+. After his release, he became pastor ofthe Baptist congregation at Bedford. He had a great power of bringingpersons who had quarrelled together again; and he was so popular amongthose who knew him, that he was generally spoken of as “Bishop Bunyan. ”On a journey, undertaken to reconcile an estranged father and arebellious son, he caught a severe cold, and died of fever in London, inthe year 1688. Every one has read, or will read, the +Pilgrim’sProgress+; and it may be said, without exaggeration, that to him who hasnot read the book, a large part of English life and history is dumb andunintelligible. Bunyan has been called the “Spenser of the people, ” and“the greatest master of allegory that ever lived. ” His power ofimagination is something wonderful; and his simple, homely, and vigorousstyle makes everything so real, that we seem to be reading a narrativeof everyday events and conversations. His vocabulary is not, as Macaulaysaid, “the vocabulary of the common people;” rather should we say thathis English is the English of the Bible and of the best religiouswriters. His style is, almost everywhere, simple, homely, earnest, andvernacular-- without being vulgar. Bunyan’s books have, along withShakespeare and Tyndale’s works, been among the chief supports of anidiomatic, nervous, and simple English. 

18. JOHN LOCKE (+1632-1704+), a great English philosopher, was born atWrington, near Bristol, in the year 1632. He was educated at Oxford; buthe took little interest in the Greek and Latin classics, his chiefstudies lying in medicine and the physical sciences. He became attachedto the famous Lord Shaftesbury, under whom he filled several publicoffices-- among others, that of Commissioner of Trade. When Shaftesburywas obliged to flee to Holland, Locke followed him, and spent severalyears in exile in that country. All his life a very delicate man, heyet, by dint of great care and thoughtfulness, contrived to live to theage of seventy-two. His two most famous works are +Some Thoughtsconcerning Education+, and the celebrated +Essay on the HumanUnderstanding+. The latter, which is his great work, occupied his timeand thoughts for eighteen years. In both these books, Locke exhibits thevery genius of common-sense. The purpose of education is, in hisopinion, not to make learned men, but to maintain “a sound mind in asound body;” and he begins the education of the future man even from hiscradle. In his philosophical writings, he is always simple; but, as heis loose and vacillating in his use of terms, this simplicity is oftenpurchased at the expense of exactness and self-consistency. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. +The Age of Prose. +-- The eighteenth century was an age of prose intwo senses. In the first place, it was a prosaic age; and, in the secondplace, better prose than poetry was produced by its writers. Oneremarkable fact may also be noted about the chief prose-writers of thiscentury-- and that is, that they were, most of them, not merely ablewriters, not merely distinguished literary men, but also men ofaffairs-- men well versed in the world and in matters of the highestpractical moment, while some were also statesmen holding high office. Thus, in the first half of the century, we find Addison, Swift, andDefoe either holding office or influencing and guiding those who heldoffice; while, in the latter half, we have men like Burke, Hume, andGibbon, of whom the same, or nearly the same, can be said. The poets, onthe contrary, of this eighteenth century, are all of them-- with thevery slightest exceptions-- men who devoted most of their lives topoetry, and had little or nothing to do with practical matters. It mayalso be noted here that the character of the eighteenth century becomesmore and more prosaic as it goes on-- less and less under the influenceof the spirit of poetry, until, about the close, a great reaction makesitself felt in the persons of Cowper, Chatterton, and Burns, of Crabbeand Wordsworth. 

2. +The First Half. +-- The great prose-writers of the first half of theeighteenth century are +Addison+ and +Steele+, +Swift+ and +Defoe+. Allof these men had some more or less close connection with the rise ofjournalism in England; and one of them, Defoe, was indeed the founder ofthe modern newspaper. By far the most powerful intellect of these fourwas Swift. The greatest poets of the first half of the eighteenthcentury were +Pope+, +Thomson+, +Collins+, and +Gray+. Pope towers aboveall of them by a head and shoulders, because he was much more fertilethan any, and because he worked so hard and so untiringly at the labourof the file-- at the task of polishing and improving his verses. But thevein of poetry in the three others-- and more especially in Collins--was much more pure and genuine than it was in Pope at any time of hislife-- at any period of his writing. Let us look at each of thesewriters a little more closely. 

3. DANIEL DEFOE (+1661-1731+), one of the most fertile writers thatEngland ever saw, and one who has been the delight of many generationsof readers, was born in the city of London in the year 1661. He waseducated to be a Dissenting minister; but he turned from that professionto the pursuit of trade. He attempted several trades, -- was a hosier, a hatter, a printer; and he is said also to have been a brick and tilemaker. In 1692 he failed in business; but, in no long time after, hepaid every one of his creditors to the uttermost farthing. Through allhis labours and misfortunes he was always a hard and careful reader, --an omnivorous reader, too, for he was in the habit of reading almostevery book that came in his way. He made his first reputation by writingpolitical pamphlets. One of his pamphlets brought him into high favourwith King William; another had the effect of placing him in the pilloryand lodging him in prison. But while in Newgate, he did not idle awayhis time or “languish”; he set to work, wrote hard, and started anewspaper, +The Review+, -- the earliest genuine newspaper England hadseen up to his time. This paper he brought out two or three timesa-week; and every word of it he wrote himself. He continued to carry iton single-handed for eight years. In 1706, he was made a member of theCommission for bringing about the union between England and Scotland;and his great knowledge of commerce and commercial affairs were ofsingular value to this Commission. In 1715 he had a dangerous illness, brought on by political excitement; and, on his recovery, he gave upmost of his political writing, and took to the composition of storiesand romances. Although now a man of fifty-four, he wrote with the vigourand ease of a young man of thirty. His greatest imaginative work waswritten in 1719-- when he was nearly sixty-- +The Life and StrangeSurprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner, ... Writtenby Himself+. Within six years he had produced twelve works of a similarkind. He is said to have written in all two hundred and fifty books inthe course of his lifetime. He died in 1731. 

4. His best known-- and it is also his greatest-- work is +RobinsonCrusoe+; and this book, which every one has read, may be compared with‘Gulliver’s Travels, ’ for the purpose of observing how imaginativeeffects are produced by different means and in different ways. Anothervigorous work of imagination by Defoe is the +Journal of the Plague+, which appeared in 1722. There are three chief things to be notedregarding Defoe and his writings. These are: first, that Defoe possessedan unparalleled knowledge-- a knowledge wider than even Shakespeare’s--of the circumstances and details of human life among all sorts, ranks, and conditions of men; secondly, that he gains his wonderful realisticeffects by the freest and most copious use of this detailed knowledge inhis works of imagination; and thirdly, that he possessed a vocabulary ofthe most wonderful wealth. His style is strong, homely, and vigorous, but the sentences are long, loose, clumsy, and sometimes ungrammatical. Like Sir Walter Scott, he was too eager to produce large and broadeffects to take time to balance his clauses or to polish his sentences. Like Sir Walter Scott, again, he possesses in the highest degree the artof _particularising_. 

5. JONATHAN SWIFT (+1667-1745+), the greatest prose-writer, in his ownkind, of the eighteenth century, and the opposite in most respects--especially in style-- of Addison, was born in Dublin in the year 1667. Though born in Ireland, he was of purely English descent-- his fatherbelonging to a Yorkshire family, and his mother being a Leicestershirelady. His father died before he was born; and he was educated by thekindness of an uncle. After being at a private school at Kilkenny, hewas sent to Trinity College, Dublin, where he was plucked for his degreeat his first examination, and, on a second trial, only obtained his B. A. “by special favour. ” He next came to England, and for eleven years actedas private secretary to Sir William Temple, a retired statesman andambassador, who lived at Moor Park, near Richmond-on-Thames. In 1692 hepaid a visit to Oxford, and there obtained the degree of M. A. In 1700 hewent to Ireland with Lord Berkeley as his chaplain, and while in thatcountry was presented with several livings. He at first attached himselfto the Whig party, but stung by this party’s neglect of his labours andmerits, he joined the Tories, who raised him to the Deanery ofSt Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. But, though nominally resident inDublin, he spent a large part of his time in London. Here he knew andmet everybody who was worth knowing, and for some time he was the mostimposing figure, and wielded the greatest influence in all the bestsocial, political, and literary circles of the capital. In 1714, on thedeath of Queen Anne, Swift’s hopes of further advancement died out; andhe returned to his Deanery, settled in Dublin, and “commenced Irishmanfor life. ” A man of strong passions, he usually spent his birthday inreading that chapter of the Book of Job which contains the verse, “Letthe day perish in which I was born. ” He died insane in 1745, and lefthis fortune to found a lunatic asylum in Dublin. One day, when taking awalk with a friend, he saw a blasted elm, and, pointing to it, he said:“I shall be like that tree, and die first at the top. ” For the lastthree years of his life he never spoke one word. 

6. Swift has written verse; but it is his prose-works that give him hishigh and unrivalled place in English literature. His most powerful work, published in 1704, is the +Tale of a Tub+-- a satire on the disputesbetween the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian Churches. Hisbest known prose-work is the +Gulliver’s Travels+, which appeared in1726. This work is also a satire; but it is a satire on men and women, --on humanity. “The power of Swift’s prose, ” it has been said by an ablecritic, “was the terror of his own, and remains the wonder of aftertimes. ” His style is strong, simple, straightforward; he uses theplainest words and the homeliest English, and every blow tells. Swift’sstyle-- as every genuine style does-- reflects the author’s character. He was an ardent lover and a good hater. Sir Walter Scott describes himas “tall, strong, and well made, dark in complexion, but with brightblue eyes (Pope said they were “as azure as the heavens”), black andbushy eyebrows, aquiline nose, and features which expressed the stern, haughty, and dauntless turn of his mind. ” He grew savage under theslightest contradiction; and dukes and great lords were obliged to paycourt to him. His prose was as trenchant and powerful as were hismanners: it has been compared to “cold steel. ” His own definition of agood style is “proper words in proper places. ”

7. JOSEPH ADDISON (+1672-1719+), the most elegant prose-writer-- as Popewas the most polished verse-writer-- of the eighteenth century, was bornat Milston, in Wiltshire, in the year 1672. He was educated atCharterhouse School, in London, where one of his friends and companionswas the celebrated Dick Steele-- afterwards Sir Richard Steele. He thenwent to Oxford, where he made a name for himself by his beautifulcompositions in Latin verse. In 1695 he addressed a poem to KingWilliam; and this poem brought him into notice with the Government ofthe day. Not long after, he received a pension of £300 a-year, to enablehim to travel; and he spent some time in France and Italy. The chiefresult of this tour was a poem entitled +A Letter from Italy+ to LordHalifax. In 1704, when Lord Godolphin was in search of a poet who shouldcelebrate in an adequate style the striking victory of Blenheim, Addisonwas introduced to him by Lord Halifax. His poem called +The Campaign+was the result; and one simile in it took and held the attention of allEnglish readers, and of “the town. ” A violent storm had passed overEngland; and Addison compared the calm genius of Marlborough, who was ascool and serene amid shot and shell as in a drawing-room or at thedinner-table, to the Angel of the Storm. The lines are these:--

 “So when an Angel by divine command With rising tempests shakes a guilty land, Such as of late o’er pale Britannia passed, Calm and serene he drives the furious blast; And, pleased the Almighty’s orders to perform, Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm. ”

For this poem Addison was rewarded with the post of Commissioner ofAppeals. He rose, successively, to be Under Secretary of State;Secretary for Ireland; and, finally, Secretary of State for England-- anoffice which would correspond to that of our present Home Secretary. Hemarried the Countess of Warwick, to whose son he had been tutor; but itwas not a happy marriage. Pope says of him in regard to it, that--

 “He married discord in a noble wife. ”

He died at Holland House, Kensington, London, in the year 1719, at theage of forty-seven. 

8. But it is not at all as a poet, but as a prose-writer, that Addisonis famous in the history of literature. While he was in Ireland, hisfriend Steele started +The Tatler+, in 1709; and Addison sent numerouscontributions to this little paper. In 1711, Steele began a still morefamous paper, which he called +The Spectator+; and Addison’s writings inthis morning journal made its reputation. His contributions aredistinguishable by being signed with some one of the letters of the name_Clio_-- the Muse of History. A third paper, +The Guardian+, appeared afew years after; and Addison’s contributions to it are designated by ahand ([->]) at the foot of each. In addition to his numerousprose-writings, Addison brought out the tragedy of +Cato+ in 1713. Itwas very successful; but it is now neither read nor acted. Some of hishymns, however, are beautiful, and are well known. Such are the hymnbeginning, “The spacious firmament on high;” and his version of the 23dPsalm, “The Lord my pasture shall prepare. ”

9. Addison’s prose style is inimitable, easy, graceful, full of humour--full of good humour, delicate, with a sweet and kindly rhythm, andalways musical to the ear. He is the most graceful of social satirists;and his genial creation of the character of +Sir Roger de Coverley+ willlive for ever. While his work in verse is never more than second-rate, his writings in prose are always first-rate. Dr Johnson said of hisprose: “Whoever wishes to attain an English style-- familiar but notcoarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, -- must give his days andnights to the study of Addison. ” Lord Lytton also remarks: “His stylehas that nameless urbanity in which we recognise the perfection ofmanner; courteous, but not courtier-like; so dignified, yet so kindly;so easy, yet high-bred. It is the most perfect form of English. ” Hisstyle, however, must be acknowledged to want force-- to be easy ratherthan vigorous; and it has not the splendid march of Jeremy Taylor, orthe noble power of Savage Landor. 

10. RICHARD STEELE (+1671-1729+), commonly called “Dick Steele, ” thefriend and colleague of Addison, was born in Dublin, but of Englishparents, in the year 1671. The two friends were educated at Charterhouseand at Oxford together; and they remained friends, with some slightbreaks and breezes, to the close of life. Steele was a writer of plays, essays, and pamphlets-- for one of which he was expelled from the Houseof Commons; but his chief fame was earned in connection with the SocietyJournals, which he founded. He started many-- such as +Town-Talk+, +TheTea-Table+, +Chit-Chat+; but only the +Tatler+ and the +Spectator+ roseto success and to fame. The strongest quality in his writing is hispathos: the source of tears is always at his command; and, althoughhimself of a gay and even rollicking temperament, he seems to havepreferred this vein. The literary skill of Addison-- his happy art inthe choosing of words-- did not fall to the lot of Steele; but he ismore hearty and more human in his description of character. He died in1729, ten years after the departure of his friend Addison. 

11. ALEXANDER POPE (+1688-1744+), the greatest poet of the eighteenthcentury, was born in Lombard Street, London, in the year of theRevolution, 1688. His father was a wholesale linendraper, who, havingamassed a fortune, retired to Binfield, on the borders of WindsorForest. In the heart of this beautiful country young Pope’s youth wasspent. On the death of his father, Pope left Windsor and took up hisresidence at Twickenham, on the banks of the Thames, where he remainedtill his death in 1744. His parents being Roman Catholics, it wasimpossible for young Pope to go either to a public school or to one ofthe universities; and hence he was educated privately. At the early ageof eight, he met with a translation of Homer in verse; and this volumebecame his companion night and day. At the age of ten, he turned some ofthe events described in Homer into a play. The poems of Spenser, thepoets’ poet, were his next favourites; but the writer who made thedeepest and most lasting impression upon his mind was Dryden. LittlePope began to write verse very early. He says of himself--

 “As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame, I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. ”

His +Ode to Solitude+ was written at the age of twelve; his +Pastorals+when he was fifteen. His +Essay on Criticism+, which was composed in histwentieth year, though not published till 1711, established hisreputation as a writer of neat, clear, sparkling, and elegant verse. The+Rape of the Lock+ raised his reputation still higher. Macaulaypronounced it his best poem. De Quincey declared it to be “the mostexquisite monument of playful fancy that universal literature offers. ”Another critic has called it the “perfection of the mock-heroic. ” Pope’smost successful poem-- if we measure it by the fame and the money itbrought him-- was his translation of the +Iliad+ of Homer. A greatscholar said of this translation that it was “a very pretty poem, butnot Homer. ” The fact is that Pope did not translate directly from theGreek, but from a French or a Latin version which he kept beside him. Whatever its faults, and however great its deficiency as arepresentation of the powerful and deep simplicity of the originalGreek, no one can deny the charm and finish of its versification, or therapidity, facility, and melody of the flow of the verse. These qualitiesmake this work unique in English poetry. 

12. After finishing the +Iliad+, Pope undertook a translation of the+Odyssey+ of Homer. This was not so successful; nor was it so well done. In fact, Pope translated only half of it himself; the other half waswritten by two scholars called Broome and Fenton. His next great poemwas the +Dunciad+, -- a satire upon those petty writers, carping critics, and hired defamers who had tried to write down the reputation of Pope’sHomeric work. “The composition of the ‘Dunciad’ revealed to Pope wherehis true strength lay, in blending personalities with moralreflections. ”

13. Pope’s greatest works were written between 1730 and 1740; and theyconsist of the +Moral Essays+, the +Essay on Man+, and the +Epistles andSatires+. These poems are full of the finest thoughts, expressed in themost perfect form. Mr Ruskin quotes the couplet--

 “Never elated, while one man’s oppressed; Never dejected, whilst another’s blessed, ”--

as “the most complete, concise, and lofty expression of moral temperexisting in English words. ” The poem of Pope which shows his best andmost striking qualities in their most characteristic form, is probablythe +Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot+ or +Prologue to the Satires+. In this poemoccur the celebrated lines about Addison-- which make a perfectportrait, although it is far from being a true likeness. 

His pithy lines and couplets have obtained a permanent place inliterature. Thus we have:--

 “True wit is nature to advantage dressed, What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed. ”

 “Good-nature and good-sense must ever join. To err is human, to forgive divine. ”

 “All seems infected that the infected spy, As all looks yellow to the jaundic’d eye. ”

 “Fear not the anger of the wise to raise; Those best can bear reproof who merit praise. ”

The greatest conciseness is visible in his epigrams and in hiscompliments:--

 “A vile encomium doubly ridicules: There’s nothing blackens like the ink of fools. ”

 “And not a vanity is given in vain. ”

 “Would ye be blest? despise low joys, low gains, Disdain whatever Cornbury disdains, Be virtuous, and be happy for your pains. ”

14. Pope is the foremost literary figure of his age and century; and heis also the head of a school. He brought to perfection a style ofwriting verse which was followed by hundreds of clever writers. Cowpersays of him:--

 “But Pope-- his musical finesse was such, So nice his ear, so delicate his touch, -- Made poetry a mere mechanic art, And every warbler has his tune by heart. ”

Pope was not the poet of nature or of humanity; he was the poet of “thetown, ” and of the Court. He was greatly influenced by the neatness andpolish of French verse; and, from his boyhood, his great ambition was tobe “a correct poet. ” He worked and worked, polished and polished, untileach idea had received at his hands its very neatest and mostepigrammatic expression. In the art of condensed, compact, pointed, andyet harmonious and flowing verse, Pope has no equal. But, as a vehiclefor poetry-- for the love and sympathy with nature and man which everytrue poet must feel, Pope’s verse is artificial; and its style ofexpression has now died out. It was one of the chief missions ofWordsworth to drive the Popian second-hand vocabulary out of existence. 

15. JAMES THOMSON (+1700-1748+), the poet of +The Seasons+, was born atEdnam in Roxburghshire, Scotland, in the year 1700. He was educated atthe grammar-school of Jedburgh, and then at the University of Edinburgh. It was intended that he should enter the ministry of the Church ofScotland; but, before his college course was finished, he had given upthis idea: poetry proved for him too strong a magnet. While yet a youngman, he had written his poem of +Winter+; and, with that in his pocket, he resolved to try his fortune in London. While walking about thestreets, looking at the shops, and gazing at the new wonders of the vastmetropolis, his pocket was picked of his pocket-handkerchief and hisletters of introduction; and he found himself alone in London-- thrownentirely on his own resources. A publisher was, however, in time foundfor +Winter+; and the poem slowly rose into appreciation and popularity. This was in 1726. Next year, +Summer+; two years after, +Spring+appeared; while +Autumn+, in 1730, completed the +Seasons+. The +Castleof Indolence+-- a poem in the Spenserian stanza-- appeared in 1748. Inthe same year he was appointed Surveyor-General of the Leeward Islands, though he never visited the scene of his duty, but had his work done bydeputy. He died at Kew in the year 1748. 

16. Thomson’s place as a poet is high in the second rank. His +Seasons+have always been popular; and, when Coleridge found a well-thumbed andthickly dog’s-eared copy lying on the window-sill of a country inn, heexclaimed “This is true fame!” His +Castle of Indolence+ is, however, a finer piece of poetical work than any of his other writings. The firstcanto is the best. But the +Seasons+ have been much more widely read;and a modern critic says: “No poet has given the special pleasure whichpoetry is capable of giving to so large a number of persons in so largea measure as Thomson. ” Thomson is very unequal in his style. Sometimeshe rises to a great height of inspired expression; at other times hesinks to a dull dead level of pedestrian prose. His power of describingscenery is often very remarkable. Professor Craik says: “There is noother poet who surrounds us with so much of the truth of nature;” and hecalls the +Castle of Indolence+ “one of the gems of the language. ”

17. THOMAS GRAY (+1716-1771+), the greatest elegiac poet of the century, was born in London in 1716. His father was a “money-scrivener, ” as itwas called; in other words, he was a stock-broker. His mother’s brotherwas an assistant-master at Eton; and at Eton, under the care of thisuncle, Gray was brought up. One of his schoolfellows was the famousHorace Walpole. After leaving school, Gray proceeded to Cambridge; but, instead of reading mathematics, he studied classical literature, history, and modern languages, and never took his degree. After someyears spent at Cambridge, he entered himself of the Inner Temple; but henever gave much time to the study of law. His father died in 1741; andGray, soon after, gave up the law and went to live entirely atCambridge. The first published of his poems was the +Ode on a DistantProspect of Eton College+. The +Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard+was handed about in manuscript before its publication in 1750; and itmade his reputation at once. In 1755 the +Progress of Poesy+ waspublished; and the ode entitled +The Bard+ was begun. In 1768 he wasappointed Professor of Modern History at Cambridge; but, though hestudied hard, he never lectured. He died at Cambridge, at the age offifty-four, in the year 1771. Gray was never married. He was said bythose who knew him to be the most learned man of his time in Europe. Literature, history, and several sciences-- all were thoroughly known tohim. He had read everything in the world that was best worth reading;while his knowledge of botany, zoology, and entomology was both wide andexact. 

18. Gray’s +Elegy+ took him seven years to write; it contains thirty-twostanzas; and Mr Palgrave says “they are perhaps the noblest stanzas inthe language. ” General Wolfe, when sailing down to attack Quebec, recited the Elegy to his officers, and declared, “Now, gentlemen, I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec. ” Lord Byroncalled the Elegy “the corner-stone of Gray’s poetry. ” Gray ranks withMilton as the most finished workman in English verse; and certainly hespared no pains. Gray said himself that “the style he aimed at wasextreme conciseness of expression, yet pure, perspicuous, and musical;”and this style, at which he aimed, he succeeded fully in achieving. Oneof the finest stanzas in the whole Elegy is the last, which the writeromitted in all the later editions:--

 “There scattered oft, the earliest of the year, By hands unseen, are showers of violets found; The red-breast loves to build and warble there, And little footsteps lightly print the ground. ”

19. WILLIAM COLLINS (+1721-1759+), one of the truest lyrical poets ofthe century, was born at Chichester on Christmas-day, 1721. He waseducated at Winchester School; afterwards at Queen’s, and also atMagdalen College, Oxford. Before he left school he had written a set ofpoems called +Persian Eclogues+. He left the university with areputation for ability and for indolence; went to London “with manyprojects in his head and little money in his pocket;” and there found akind and fast friend in Dr Johnson. His +Odes+ appeared in 1747. Thevolume fell stillborn from the press: not a single copy was sold; no onebought, read, or noticed it. In a fit of furious despair, the unhappyauthor called in the whole edition and burnt every copy with his ownhands. And yet it was, with the single exception of the songs of Burns, the truest poetry that had appeared in the whole of the eighteenthcentury. A great critic says: “In the little book there was hardly asingle false note: there was, above all things, a purity of music, a clarity of style, to which I know of no parallel in English verse fromthe death of Andrew Marvell to the birth of William Blake. ” Soon afterthis great disappointment he went to live at Richmond, where he formed afriendship with Thomson and other poets. In 1749 he wrote the +Ode onthe Death of Thomson+, beginning--

 “In yonder grave a Druid lies”--

one of the finest of his poems. Not long after, he was attacked by adisease of the brain, from which he suffered, at intervals, during theremainder of his short life. He died at Chichester in 1759, at the ageof thirty-eight. 

20. Collins’s best poem is the +Ode to Evening+; his most elaborate, the+Ode on the Passions+; and his best known, the +Ode+ beginning--

 “How sleep the brave, who sink to rest By all their country’s wishes blessed!”

His latest and best critic says of his poems: “His range of flight wasperhaps the narrowest, but assuredly the highest, of his generation. Hecould not be taught singing like a finch, but he struck straight upwardfor the sun like a lark.... The direct sincerity and purity of theirpositive and straightforward inspiration will always keep his poemsfresh and sweet in the senses of all men. He was a solitary song-birdamong many more or less excellent pipers and pianists. He could put morespirit of colour into a single stroke, more breath of music into asingle note, than could all the rest of his generation into all thelabours of their lives. ”

CHAPTER VII. 

THE SECOND HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. +Prose-Writers. +-- The four greatest prose-writers of the latter halfof the eighteenth century are +Johnson+, +Goldsmith+, +Burke+, and+Gibbon+. Dr Johnson was the most prominent literary figure in London atthis period; and filled in his own time much the same position thatCarlyle lately held in literary circles. He wrote on many subjects-- butchiefly on literature and morals; and hence he was called “The GreatMoralist. ” Goldsmith stands out clearly as the writer of the mostpleasant and easy prose; his pen was ready for any subject; and it hasbeen said of him with perfect truth, that he touched nothing that he didnot adorn. Burke was the most eloquent writer of his time, and by farthe greatest political thinker that England has ever produced. He isknown by an essay he wrote when a very young man-- on “The Sublime andBeautiful”; but it is to his speeches and political writings that wemust look for his noblest thoughts and most eloquent language. Gibbon isone of the greatest historians and most powerful writers the world hasever seen. 

2. SAMUEL JOHNSON (+1709-1784+), the great essayist and lexicographer, was born at Lichfield in the year 1709. His father was a bookseller; andit was in his father’s shop that Johnson acquired his habit ofomnivorous reading, or rather devouring of books. The mistress of thedame’s school, to which he first went, declared him to be the bestscholar she ever had. After a few years at the free grammar-school ofLichfield, and one year at Stourbridge, he went to Pembroke College, Oxford, at the age of nineteen. Here he did not confine himself to thestudies of the place, but indulged in a wide range of miscellaneousreading. He was too poor to take a degree, and accordingly left Oxfordwithout graduating. After acting for some time as a bookseller’s hack, he married a Mrs Porter of Birmingham-- a widow with £800. With thismoney he opened a boarding-school, or “academy” as he called it; but hehad never more than three scholars-- the most famous of whom was thecelebrated player, David Garrick. In 1737 he went up to London, and forthe next quarter of a century struggled for a living by the aid of hispen. During the first ten years of his London life he wrote chiefly forthe ‘Gentleman’s Magazine. ’ In 1738 his +London+-- a poem in heroicmetre-- appeared. In 1747 he began his famous +Dictionary+; it wascompleted in 1755; and the University of Oxford conferred on him thehonorary degree of M. A. In 1749 he wrote another poem-- also in heroicmetre-- the ‘Vanity of Human Wishes. ’ In 1750 he had begun theperiodical that raised his fame to its full height-- a periodical towhich he gave the name of +The Rambler+. It appeared twice a-week; andDr Johnson wrote every article in it for two years. In 1759 he publishedthe short novel called +Rasselas+: it was written to defray the expensesof his mother’s funeral; and he wrote it “in the evenings of a week. ”The year 1762 saw him with a pension from the Government of £300 a-year;and henceforth he was free from heavy hack-work and literary drudgery, and could give himself up to the largest enjoyment of that for which hecared most-- social conversation. He was the best talker of his time;and he knew everybody worth knowing-- Burke, Goldsmith, Gibbon, thegreat painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, and many other able men. In 1764 hefounded the “Literary Club, ” which still exists and meets in London. Oddly enough, although a prolific writer, it is to another person-- toMr James Boswell, who first met him in 1763-- that he owes his greatestand most lasting fame. A much larger number of persons read +Boswell’sLife of Johnson+-- one of the most entertaining books in allliterature-- than Johnson’s own works. Between the years 1779 and 1781appeared his last and ablest work, +The Lives of the Poets+, which werewritten as prefaces to a collective edition of the English Poets, published by several London booksellers. He died in 1784. 

3. Johnson’s earlier style was full of Latin words; his later style ismore purely English than most of the journalistic writing of the presentday. His Rambler is full of “long-tailed words in _osity_ and _ation_;”but his ‘Lives of the Poets’ is written in manly, vigorous, andidiomatic English. In verse, he occupies a place between Pope andGoldsmith, and is one of the masters in the “didactic school” of Englishpoetry. His rhythm and periods are swelling and sonorous; and here andthere he equals Pope in the terseness and condensation of his language. The following is a fair specimen:--

 “Of all the griefs that harass the distressed, Sure the most bitter is a scornful jest; Fate never wounds more deep the generous heart, Than when a blockhead’s insult points the dart. ”

4. OLIVER GOLDSMITH (+1728-1774+), poet, essayist, historian, anddramatist, was born at Pallas, in the county of Longford, Ireland, inthe year 1728. His father was an Irish clergyman, careless, good-hearted, and the original of the famous Dr Primrose, in +The Vicarof Wakefield+. He was also the original of the “village preacher” in+The Deserted Village+. 

 “A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a-year. ”

Oliver was educated at Trinity College, Dublin; but he left it with nofixed aim. He thought of law, and set off for London, but spent all hismoney in Dublin. He thought of medicine, and resided two years inEdinburgh. He started for Leyden, in Holland, to continue what he calledhis medical studies; but he had a thirst to see the world-- and so, witha guinea in his pocket, one shirt, and a flute, he set out on histravels through the continent of Europe. At length, on the 1st ofFebruary 1756, he landed at Dover, after an absence of two years, without a farthing in his pocket. London reached, he tried many ways ofmaking a living, as assistant to an apothecary, physician, reader forthe press, usher in a school, writer in journals. His first work was ‘AnInquiry into the State of Polite Learning in Europe, ’ in 1759; but itappeared without his name. From that date he wrote books of all kinds, poems, and plays. He died in his chambers in Brick Court, Temple, London, in 1774. 

5. Goldsmith’s best poems are +The Traveller+ and +The DesertedVillage+, -- both written in the Popian couplet. His best play is +SheStoops to Conquer+. His best prose work is +The Vicar of Wakefield+, “the first genuine novel of domestic life. ” He also wrote histories ofEngland, of Rome, of Animated Nature. All this was done as professional, nay, almost as hack work; but always in a very pleasant, lively, andreadable style. Ease, grace, charm, naturalness, pleasant rhythm, purityof diction-- these were the chief characteristics of his writings. “Almost to all things could he turn his hand”-- poem, essay, play, story, history, natural science. Even when satirical, he wasgood-natured; and his +Retaliation+ is the friendliest and pleasantestof satires. In his poetry, his words seem artless, but are indeeddelicately chosen with that consummate art which conceals and effacesitself: where he seems most simple and easy, there he has taken mostpains and given most labour. 

6. EDMUND BURKE (+1730-1797+) was born at Dublin in the year 1730. Hewas educated at Trinity College, Dublin; and in 1747 was entered of theMiddle Temple, with the purpose of reading for the Bar. In 1766 he wasso fortunate as to enter Parliament as member for Wendover, inBuckinghamshire; and he sat in the House of Commons for nearly thirtyyears. While in Parliament, he worked hard to obtain justice for thecolonists of North America, and to avert the separation of them from themother country; and also to secure good government for India. At theclose of his life, it was his intention to take his seat in the House ofPeers as Earl Beaconsfield-- the title afterwards assumed byMr Disraeli; but the death of his son, and only child-- for whom thehonour was really meant and wished-- quite broke his heart, and he nevercarried out his purpose. He died at Beaconsfield in the year 1797. Thelines of Goldsmith on Burke, in his poem of “Retaliation, ” are wellknown:--

 “Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such We scarcely can praise it or blame it too much; Who, born for the universe, narrowed his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind; Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining, And thought of convincing while they thought of dining. ”

7. Burke’s most famous writings are +Thoughts on the Cause of thepresent Discontents+, published in 1773; +Reflections on the TrenchRevolution+ (1790); and the +Letters on a Regicide Peace+ (1797). His“Thoughts” is perhaps the best of his works in point of style; his“Reflections, ” are full of passages of the highest and most nobleeloquence. Burke has been described by a great critic as “the supremewriter of the century;” and Macaulay says, that “in richness ofimagination, he is superior to every orator ancient and modern. ” In thepower of expressing thought in the strongest, fullest, and most vividmanner, he must be classed with Shakespeare and Bacon-- and with thesewriters when at their best. He indulges in repetitions; but therepetitions are never monotonous; they serve to place the subject inevery possible point of view, and to enable us to see all sides of it. He possessed an enormous vocabulary, and had the fullest power over it;“never was a man under whose hands language was more plastic andductile. ” He is very fond of metaphor, and is described by an ablecritic as “the greatest master of metaphor that the world has everseen. ”

8. EDWARD GIBBON (+1737-1794+), the second great prose-writer of thesecond half of the eighteenth century, was born at Putney, London, in1737. His father was a wealthy landowner. Young Gibbon was a very sicklychild-- the only survivor of a delicate family of seven; he was left topass his time as he pleased, and for the most part to educate himself. But he had the run of several good libraries; and he was an eager andnever satiated reader. He was sent to Oxford at the early age offifteen; and so full was his knowledge in some directions, and sodefective in others, that he went there, he tells us himself, “with astock of knowledge that might have puzzled a doctor, and a degree ofignorance of which a schoolboy would have been ashamed. ” He was veryfond of disputation while at Oxford; and the Dons of the University wereastonished to see the pathetic “thin little figure, with a large head, disputing and arguing with the greatest ability. ” In the course of hisreading, he lighted on some French and English books that convinced himfor the time of the truth of the Roman Catholic faith; he openlyprofessed his change of belief; and this obliged him to leave theUniversity. His father sent him to Lausanne, and placed him under thecare of a Swiss clergyman there, whose arguments were at lengthsuccessful in bringing him back to a belief in Protestantism. On hisreturn to England in 1758, he lived in his father’s house in Hampshire;read largely, as usual; but also joined the Hampshire militia as captainof a company, and the exercises and manœuvres of his regiment gave himan insight into military matters which was afterwards useful to him whenhe came to write history. He published his first work in 1761. It was anessay on the study of literature, and was written in French. In 1770 hisfather died; he came into a fortune, entered Parliament, where he satfor eight years, but never spoke; and, in 1776, he began his history ofthe +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire+. This, by far the greatest ofhis works, was not completed till 1787, and was published in 1788, onhis fifty-first birthday. His account of the completion of the work-- itwas finished at Lausanne, where he had lived for six years-- is full ofbeauty: “It was on the day, or rather night, of June 27, 1787, betweenthe hours of eleven and twelve, that I wrote the last lines of the lastpage in a summer-house in my garden. After laying down my pen, I tookseveral turns in a covered walk of acacias, which commands a prospect ofthe country, the lake, and the mountains. The air was temperate, the skywas serene. The silver orb of the moon was reflected from the waters, and all nature was silent. I will not describe the first emotion of joyon the recovery of my freedom, and perhaps the establishment of my fame. But my pride was soon humbled, and a sober melancholy was spread over mymind by the idea that I had taken an everlasting leave of an old andagreeable companion, and that, whatever might be the future fate of myhistory, the life of the historian must be short and precarious. ” Gibbondied in 1794, about one year before the birth of another greathistorian, Grote, the author of the ‘History of Greece. ’

9. Gibbon’s book is one of the great historical works of the world. Itcovers a space of about thirteen centuries, from the reign of Trajan(98), to the fall of the Eastern Empire in 1453; and the amount ofreading and study required to write it, must have been almost beyond thepower of our conceiving. The skill in arranging and disposing theenormous mass of matter in his history is also unparalleled. His styleis said by a critic to be “copious, splendid, elegantly rounded, distinguished by supreme artificial skill. ” It is remarkable for theproportion of Latin words employed. While some parts of our translationof the Bible contain as much as 96 per cent of pure English words, Gibbon has only 58 per cent: the rest, or 42 per cent, are words ofLatin origin. In fact, of all our great English writers, Gibbon standslowest in his use of pure English words; and the two writers who comenearest him in this respect are Johnson and Swift. The great Greekscholar, Professor Porson, said of Gibbon’s style, that “there could notbe a better exercise for a schoolboy than to turn a page of it intoEnglish. ”

10. +Poets. +-- The chief poets of the latter half of the eighteenthcentury belong to a new world, and show very little trace in theirwritings of eighteenth-century culture, ideas, or prejudices. Most ofthe best poets who were born in this half of the eighteenth century andbegan to write in it-- such as Crabbe and Wordsworth-- are truedenizens, in the character of their minds and feelings, of thenineteenth. The greatest poets of the period are +Cowper+, +Crabbe+, and+Burns+; and along with these may be mentioned as little inferior, +Chatterton+ and +Blake+, two of the most original poets that haveappeared in any literature. 

11. WILLIAM COWPER (+1731-1800+), one of the truest, purest, andsweetest of English poets, was born at Great Berkhampstead, inHertfordshire, in 1731. His father, Dr Cowper, who was a nephew of LordChancellor Cowper, was rector of the parish, and chaplain to George II. Young Cowper was educated at Westminster School; and “the greatproconsul of India, ” Warren Hastings, was one of his schoolfellows. After leaving Westminster, he was entered of the Middle Temple, and wasalso articled to a solicitor. At the age of thirty-one he was appointedone of the Clerks to the House of Lords; but he was so terribly nervousand timid, that he threw up the appointment. He was next appointed Clerkof the Journals-- a post which even the shyest man might hold; but, whenhe found that he would have to appear at the bar of the House of Lords, he went home and attempted to commit suicide. When at school, he hadbeen terribly and persistently bullied; and, about this time, his mindhad been somewhat affected by a disappointment in love. The form of hisinsanity was melancholia; and he had several long and severe attacks ofthe same disease in the after-course of his life. He had to be placed inthe keeping of a physician; and it was only after fifteen months’seclusion that he was able to face the world. Giving up all idea ofprofessional or of public life, he went to live at Huntingdon with theUnwins; and, after the death of Mr Unwin, he removed with Mrs Unwin toOlney, in Buckinghamshire. Here, in 1773, another attack of melancholiacame upon him. In 1779, Cowper joined with Mr Newton, the curate of theparish, in publishing the +Olney Hymns+, of which he wrote sixty-eight. But it was not till he was past fifty years of age that he betookhimself seriously to the writing of poetry. His first volume, whichcontained +Table-Talk+, +Conversation+, +Retirement+, and other poems inheroic metre, appeared in 1782. His second volume, which included +TheTask+ and +John Gilpin+, was published in 1785. His translation of the+Iliad+ and +Odyssey+ of Homer-- a translation into blank verse, whichhe wrote at the regular rate of forty lines a-day-- was published in1791. Mrs Unwin now had a shock of paralysis; Cowper himself was againseized with mental illness; and from 1791 till his death in 1800, hiscondition was one of extreme misery, depression, and despair. He thoughthimself an outcast from the mercy of God. “I seem to myself, ” he wroteto a friend, “to be scrambling always in the dark, among rocks andprecipices, without a guide, but with an enemy ever at my heels, prepared to push me headlong. ” The cloud never lifted; gloom anddejection enshrouded all his later years; a pension of £300 a-year fromGeorge III. Brought him no pleasure; and he died insane, at EastDereham, in Norfolk, in the year 1800. In the poem of +The Castaway+ hecompares himself to a drowning sailor:--

 “No voice divine the storm allayed, No light propitious shone, When, far from all effectual aid, We perished-- each alone-- But I beneath a rougher sea, And whelmed in blacker gulfs than he. ”

12. His greatest work is +The Task+; and the best poem in it is probably“The Winter Evening. ” His best-known poem is +John Gilpin+, which, like“The Task, ” he wrote at the request of his friend, Lady Austen. His mostpowerful poem is +The Castaway+. He always writes in clear, crisp, pleasant, and manly English. He himself says, in a letter to a friend:“Perspicuity is always more than half the battle... A meaning that doesnot stare you in the face is as bad as no meaning;” and this directionhe himself always carried out. Cowper’s poems mark a new era in poetry;his style is new, and his ideas are new. He is no follower of Pope;Southey compared Pope and Cowper as “formal gardens in comparison withwoodland scenery. ” He is always original, always true-- true to his ownfeeling, and true to the object he is describing. “My descriptions, ” hewrites of “The Task, ” “are all from nature; not one of themsecond-handed. My delineations of the heart are from my own experience. ”Everywhere in his poems we find a genuine love of nature; humour andpathos in his description of persons; and a purity and honesty of stylethat have never been surpassed. Many of his well-put lines have passedinto our common stock of everyday quotations. Such are--

 “God made the country, and man made the town. ”

 “Variety’s the very spice of life That gives it all its flavour. ”

 “The heart May give a useful lesson to the head, And Learning wiser grow without his books. ”

 “Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day, Live till to-morrow, will have passed away. ”

13. GEORGE CRABBE (+1754-1832+), the poet of the poor, was born atAldborough, in Suffolk, on Christmas Eve of the year 1754. He standsthus midway between Goldsmith and Wordsworth-- midway between the oldand the new school of poetry. His father was salt-master-- or collectorof salt duties-- at the little seaport. After being taught a little atseveral schools, it was agreed that George should be made a surgeon. Hewas accordingly apprenticed; but he was fonder of writing verses than ofattending cases. His memory for poetry was astonishing; he had begun towrite verses at the age of fourteen; and he filled the drawers of thesurgery with his poetical attempts. After a time he set up for himselfin practice at Aldborough; but most of his patients were poor people andpoor relations, who paid him neither for his physic nor his advice. In1779 he resolved “to go to London and venture all. ” Accordingly, he tooka berth on board of a sailing-packet, carrying with him a little moneyand a number of manuscript poems. But nothing succeeded with him; he wasreduced to his last eightpence. In this strait, he wrote to the greatstatesman, Edmund Burke; and, while the answer was coming, he walked allnight up and down Westminster Bridge. Burke took him in to his own houseand found a publisher for his poems. 

14. In 1781 +The Library+ appeared; and in the same year Crabbe enteredthe Church. In 1783 he published +The Village+-- a poem which Dr Johnsonrevised for him. This work won for him an established reputation; but, for twenty-four years after, Crabbe gave himself up entirely to the careof his parish, and published only one poem-- +The Newspaper+. In 1807appeared +The Parish Register+; in 1810, +The Borough+; in 1812, +Talesin Verse+; and, in 1819, his last poetical work, +Tales of the Hall+. From this time, till his death in 1832-- thirteen years after-- heproduced no other poem. Personally, he was one of the noblest andkindest of men; he was known as “the gentleman with the sour name andthe sweet countenance;” and he spent most of his income on the wants ofothers. 

15. Crabbe’s poetical work forms a prominent landmark in Englishliterature. His style is the style of the eighteenth century-- with astrong admixture of his own; his way of thinking, and the objects heselects for description, belong to the nineteenth. While Pope depicted“the town, ” politics, and abstract moralities, Crabbe describes thecountry and the country poor, social matters, real life-- the lowest andpoorest life, and more especially, the intense misery of the villagepopulation of his time in the eastern counties--

 “the wild amphibious race With sullen woe displayed in every face. ”

He does not paint the lot of the poor with the rose-coloured tints usedby Goldsmith; he boldly denies the existence of such a village asAuburn; he groups such places with Eden, and says--

 “Auburn and Eden can be found no more;”

he shows the gloomy, hard, despairing side of English country life. Hehas been called a “Pope in worsted stockings, ” and “the Hogarth, ofsong. ” Byron describes him as

 “Nature’s sternest painter, yet the best. ”

Now and then his style is flat, and even coarse; but there is everywherea genuine power of strong and bold painting. He is also an excellentmaster of easy dialogue. 

All of his poems are written in the Popian couplet of two ten-syllabledlines. 

16. ROBERT BURNS (+1759-1796+), the greatest poet of Scotland, was bornin Ayrshire, two miles from the town of Ayr, in 1759. The only educationhe received from his father was the schooling of a few months; but thefamily were fond of reading, and Robert was the most enthusiastic readerof them all. Every spare moment he could find-- and they were not many--he gave to reading; he sat at meals “with a book in one hand and a spoonin the other;” and in this way he read most of the great English poetsand prose-writers. This was an excellent education-- one a great dealbetter than most people receive; and some of our greatest men have hadno better. But, up to the age of sixteen, he had to toil on his father’sfarm from early morning till late at night. In the intervals of his workhe contrived, by dint of thrift and industry, to learn French, mathematics, and a little Latin. On the death of his father, he took asmall farm, but did not succeed. He was on the point of embarking forJamaica, where a post had been found for him, when the news of thesuccessful sale of a small volume of his poems reached him; and he atonce changed his mind, and gave up all idea of emigrating. His friendsobtained for him a post as exciseman, in which his duty was to gauge thequantity and quality of ardent spirits-- a post full of dangers to a manof his excitable and emotional temperament. He went a great deal intowhat was called society, formed the acquaintance of many booncompanions, acquired habits of intemperance that he could not shake off, and died at Dumfries in 1796, in his thirty-seventh year. 

17. His best poems are lyrical, and he is himself one of the foremostlyrical poets in the world. His songs have probably been more sung, andin more parts of the globe, than the songs of any other writer that everlived. They are of every kind-- songs of love, war, mirth, sorrow, labour, and social gatherings. Professor Craik says: “One characteristicthat belongs to whatever Burns has written is that, of its kind and inits own way, it is a perfect production. His poetry is, throughout, realemotion melodiously uttered, instinct with passion, but not less so withpower of thought, -- full of light as well as of fire. ” Most of his poemsare written in the North-English, or Lowland-Scottish, dialect. The mostelevated of his poems is +The Vision+, in which he relates how theScottish Muse found him at the plough, and crowned him with a wreath ofholly. One of his longest, as well as finest poems, is +The Cottar’sSaturday Night+, which is written in the Spenserian stanza. Perhaps hismost pathetic poem is that entitled +To Mary in Heaven+. It is of asingular eloquence, elevation, and sweetness. The first verse runsthus--

 “Thou lingering star, with lessening ray, That lov’st to greet the early morn, Again thou usher’st in the day My Mary from my soul was torn. O Mary! dear departed shade! Where is thy place of blissful rest? See’st thou thy lover lowly laid? Hear’st thou the groans that rend his breast?”

He is, as his latest critic says, “the poet of homely human nature;” andhis genius shows the beautiful elements in this homeliness; and thatwhat is homely need not therefore be dull and prosaic. 

18. THOMAS CHATTERTON and WILLIAM BLAKE are two minor poets, of whomlittle is known and less said, but whose work is of the most poeticaland genuine kind. --Chatterton was born at Bristol in the year 1752. Hewas the son of a schoolmaster, who died before he was born. He waseducated at Colston’s Blue-Coat School in Bristol; and, while at school, read his way steadily through every book in three circulating libraries. He began to write verses at the age of fifteen, and in two years hadproduced a large number of poems-- some of them of the highest value. In1770, he came up to London, with something under five pounds in hispocket, and his mind made up to try his fortune as a literary man, resolved, though he was only a boy of seventeen, to live by literatureor to die. Accordingly, he set to work and wrote every kind ofproductions-- poems, essays, stories, political articles, songs forpublic singers; and all the time he was half starving. A loaf of breadlasted him a week; and it was “bought stale to make it last longer. ” Hehad made a friend of the Lord Mayor, Beckford; but before he had time tohold out a hand to the struggling boy, Beckford died. The strugglebecame harder and harder-- more and more hopeless; his neighboursoffered a little help-- a small coin or a meal-- he rejected all; and atlength, on the evening of the 24th August 1770, he went up to hisgarret, locked himself in, tore up all his manuscripts, took poison, anddied. He was only seventeen. 

19. Wordsworth and Coleridge spoke with awe of his genius; Keatsdedicated one of his poems to his memory; and Coleridge copied some ofhis rhythms. One of his best poems is the +Minstrel’s Roundelay+--

 “O sing unto my roundelay, O drop the briny tear with me, Dance no more on holy-day, Like a running river be. My love is dead, Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. 

 “Black his hair as the winter night, White his skin as the summer snow, Red his face as the morning light, Cold he lies in the grave below. My love is dead, Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree. ”

20. WILLIAM BLAKE (+1757-1827+), one of the most original poets thatever lived, was born in London in the year 1757. He was brought up as anengraver; worked steadily at his business, and did a great deal ofbeautiful work in that capacity. He in fact illustrated his own poems--each page being set in a fantastic design of his own invention, which hehimself engraved. He was also his own printer and publisher. The firstvolume of his poems was published in 1783; the +Songs of Innocence+, probably his best, appeared in 1787. He died in Fountain Court, Strand, London, in the year 1827. 

21. His latest critic says of Blake: “His detachment from the ordinarycurrents of practical thought left to his mind an unspoiled anddelightful simplicity which has perhaps never been matched in Englishpoetry. ” Simplicity-- the perfect simplicity of a child-- beautifulsimplicity-- simple and childlike beauty, -- such is the chief note ofthe poetry of Blake. “Where he is successful, his work has the freshperfume and perfect grace of a flower. ” The most remarkable point aboutBlake is that, while living in an age when the poetry of Pope-- and thatalone-- was everywhere paramount, his poems show not the smallest traceof Pope’s influence, but are absolutely original. His work, in fact, seems to be the first bright streak of the golden dawn that heralded theapproach of the full and splendid daylight of the poetry of Wordsworthand Coleridge, of Shelley and Byron. His best-known poems are those fromthe ‘Songs of Innocence’-- such as +Piping down the valleys wild+; +TheLamb+; +The Tiger+, and others. Perhaps the most remarkable element inBlake’s poetry is the sweetness and naturalness of the rhythm. It seemscareless, but it is always beautiful; it grows, it is not made; it islike a wild field-flower thrown up by Nature in a pleasant green field. Such are the rhythms in the poem entitled +Night+:--

 “The sun descending in the west, The evening star does shine; The birds are silent in their nest, And I must seek for mine. The moon, like a flower In heaven’s high bower, With silent delight Sits and smiles on the night. 

 “Farewell, green fields and happy grove, Where flocks have ta’en delight; Where lambs have nibbled, silent move The feet of angels bright: Unseen they pour blessing, And joy without ceasing, On each bud and blossom, On each sleeping bosom. ”

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

1. +New Ideas. +-- The end of the eighteenth and the beginning of thenineteenth century are alike remarkable for the new powers, new ideas, and new life thrown into society. The coming up of a high flood-tide ofnew forces seems to coincide with the beginning of the French Revolutionin 1789, when the overthrow of the Bastille marked the downfall of theold ways of thinking and acting, and announced to the world of Europeand America that the old _régime_-- the ancient mode of governing-- wasover. Wordsworth, then a lad of nineteen, was excited by the eventalmost beyond the bounds of self-control. He says in his “Excursion”--

 “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very Heaven!”

It was, indeed, the dawn of a new day for the peoples of Europe. Theideas of freedom and equality-- of respect for man as man-- were throwninto popular form by France; they became living powers in Europe; and inEngland they animated and inspired the best minds of the time-- Burns, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, and Byron. Along with this high tide ofhope and emotion, there was such an outburst of talent and genius inevery kind of human endeavour in England, as was never seen beforeexcept in the Elizabethan period. Great events produced great powers;and great powers in their turn brought about great events. The war withAmerica, the long struggle with Napoleon, the new political ideas, greatvictories by sea and land, -- all these were to be found in the beginningof the nineteenth century. The English race produced great men innumbers-- almost, it might be said, in groups. We had great leaders, like Nelson and Wellington; brilliant generals, like Sir Charles Napierand Sir John Moore; great statesmen, like Fox and Pitt, like Washingtonand Franklin; great engineers, like Stephenson and Brunel; and greatpoets, like Wordsworth and Byron. And as regards literature, an ablecritic remarks: “We have recovered in this century the Elizabethan magicand passion, a more than Elizabethan sense of the beauty and complexityof nature, the Elizabethan music of language. ”

2. +Great Poets. +-- The greatest poets of the first half of thenineteenth century may be best arranged in groups. There were+Wordsworth+, +Coleridge+, and +Southey+-- commonly, but unnecessarily, described as the Lake Poets. In their poetic thought and expression theyhad little in common; and the fact that two of them lived most of theirlives in the Lake country, is not a sufficient justification for the useof the term. There were +Scott+ and +Campbell+-- both of them Scotchmen. There were +Byron+ and +Shelley+-- both Englishmen, both brought up atthe great public schools and the universities, but both carried away bythe influence of the new revolutionary ideas. Lastly, there were+Moore+, an Irishman, and young +Keats+, the splendid promise of whoseyouth went out in an early death. Let us learn a little more about each, and in the order of the dates of their birth. 

3. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (+1770-1850+) was born at Cockermouth, a town inCumberland, which stands at the confluence of the Cocker and theDerwent. His father, John Wordsworth, was law agent to Sir JamesLowther, who afterwards became Earl of Lonsdale. William was a boy of astiff, moody, and violent temper; and as his mother died when he was avery little boy, and his father when he was fourteen, he grew up withvery little care from his parents and guardians. He was sent to schoolat Hawkshead, in the Vale of Esthwaite, in Lancashire; and, at the ageof seventeen, proceeded to St John’s College, Cambridge. After takinghis degree of B. A. In 1791, he resided for a year in France. He tooksides with one of the parties in the Reign of Terror, and left thecountry only in time to save his head. He was designed by his uncles forthe Church; but a friend, Raisley Calvert, dying, left him £900; and henow resolved to live a plain and frugal life, to join no profession, butto give himself wholly up to the writing of poetry. In 1798, hepublished, along with his friend, S. T. Coleridge, the +LyricalBallads+. The only work of Coleridge’s in this volume was the “AncientMariner. ” In 1802 he married Mary Hutchinson, of whom he speaks in thewell-known lines--

 “Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair, Like Twilight’s, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the cheerful dawn. ”

He obtained the post of Distributor of Stamps for the county ofWestmoreland; and, after the death of Southey, he was created+Poet-Laureate+ by the Queen. --He settled with his wife in the Lakecountry; and, in 1813, took up his abode at Rydal Mount, where he livedtill his death in 1850. He died on the 23d of April-- the death-day ofShakespeare. 

4. His longest works are the +Excursion+ and the +Prelude+-- both beingparts of a longer and greater work which he intended to write on thegrowth of his own mind. His best poems are his shorter pieces, such asthe poems on +Lucy+, +The Cuckoo+, the +Ode to Duty+, the +Intimationsof Immortality+, and several of his +Sonnets+. He says of his own poetrythat his purpose in writing it was “to console the afflicted; to addsunshine to daylight by making the happy happier; to teach the young andthe gracious of every age to see, to think, and feel, and therefore tobecome more actively and securely virtuous. ” His poetical work is thenoble landmark of a great transition-- both in thought and in style. Hedrew aside poetry from questions and interests of mere society and thetown to the scenes of Nature and the deepest feelings of man as man. Instyle, he refused to employ the old artificial vocabulary which Pope andhis followers revelled in; he used the simplest words he could find;and, when he hits the mark in his simplest form of expression, his styleis as forcible as it is true. He says of his own verse--

 “The moving accident is not my trade, To freeze the blood I have no ready arts; ’Tis my delight, alone, in summer shade, To pipe a simple song for _thinking hearts_. ”

If one were asked what four lines of his poetry best convey the feelingof the whole, the reply must be that these are to be found in his “Songat the Feast of Brougham Castle, ”-- lines written about “the good LordClifford. ”

 “Love had he found in huts where poor men lie, His daily teachers had been woods and rills, -- The silence that is in the starry sky, The sleep that is among the lonely hills. ”

5. WALTER SCOTT (+1771-1832+), poet and novelist, the son of a Scotchattorney (called in Edinburgh a W. S. Or Writer to H. M. ’s Signet), wasborn there in the year 1771. He was educated at the High School, andthen at the College-- now called the University-- of Edinburgh. In 1792he was called to the Scottish Bar, or became an “advocate. ” During hisboyhood, he had had several illnesses, one of which left him lame forlife. Through those long periods of sickness and of convalescence, heread Percy’s ‘Reliques of Ancient Poetry, ’ and almost all the romances, old plays, and epic poems that have been published in the Englishlanguage. This gave his mind and imagination a set which they never lostall through life. 

6. His first publications were translations of German poems. In the year1805, however, an original poem, the +Lay of the Last Minstrel+, appeared; and Scott became at one bound the foremost poet of the day. +Marmion+, the +Lady of the Lake+, and other poems, followed with greatrapidity. But, in 1814, Scott took it into his head that his poeticalvein was worked out; the star of Byron was rising upon the literaryhorizon; and he now gave himself up to novel-writing. His first novel, +Waverley+, appeared anonymously in 1814. +Guy Mannering+, +OldMortality+, +Rob Roy+, and others, quickly followed; and, though thesecret of the authorship was well kept both by printer and publisher, Walter Scott was generally believed to be the writer of these works, andhe was frequently spoken of as “the Great Unknown. ” He was made abaronet by George IV. In 1820. 

7. His expenses in building Abbotsford, and his desire to acquire land, induced him to go into partnership with Ballantyne, his printer, andwith Constable, his publisher. Both firms failed in the dark year of1826; and Scott found himself unexpectedly liable for the large sum of£147, 000. Such a load of debt would have utterly crushed most men; butScott stood clear and undaunted in front of it. “Gentlemen, ” he said tohis creditors, “time and I against any two. Let me take this good allyinto my company, and I believe I shall be able to pay you everyfarthing. ” He left his beautiful country house at Abbotsford; he gave upall his country pleasures; he surrendered all his property to hiscreditors; he took a small house in Edinburgh; and, in the short spaceof five years, he had paid off £130, 000. But the task was too terrible;the pace had been too hard; and he was struck down by paralysis. Buteven this disaster did not daunt him. Again he went to work, and againhe had a paralytic stroke. At last, however, he was obliged to give up;the Government of the day placed a royal frigate at his disposal; hewent to Italy; but his health had utterly broken down, he felt he couldget no good from the air of the south, and he turned his face towardshome to die. He breathed his last breath at Abbotsford, in sight of hisbeloved Tweed, with his family around him, on the 21st of September1832. 

8. His poetry is the poetry of action. In imaginative power he ranksbelow no other poet, except Homer and Shakespeare. He delighted in war, in its movement, its pageantry, and its events; and, though lame, he wasquartermaster of a volunteer corps of cavalry. On one occasion he rodeto muster one hundred miles in twenty-four hours, composing verses bythe way. Much of “+Marmion+” was composed on horseback. “I had many agrand gallop, ” he says, “when I was thinking of ‘+Marmion+. ’” His twochief powers in verse are his narrative and his pictorial power. Hisboyhood was passed in the Borderland of Scotland-- “a district in whichevery field has its battle and every rivulet its song;” and he was athome in every part of the Highlands and the Lowlands, the Islands andthe Borders, of his native country. But, both in his novels and hispoems, he was a painter of action rather than of character. 

9. His prose works are now much more read than his poems; but both arefull of life, power, literary skill, knowledge of men and women, andstrong sympathy with all past ages. He wrote so fast that his sentencesare often loose and ungrammatical; but they are never unidiomatic orstiff. The rush of a strong and large life goes through them, andcarries the reader along, forgetful of all minor blemishes. His bestnovels are +Old Mortality+ and +Kenilworth+; his greatest romance is+Ivanhoe+. 

10. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (+1772-1834+), a true poet, and a writer ofnoble prose, was born at Ottery St Mary, in Devonshire, in 1772. Hisfather, who was vicar of the parish, and master of the grammar-school, died when the boy was only nine years of age. He was educated atChrist’s Hospital, in London, where his most famous schoolfellow wasCharles Lamb; and from there he went to Jesus College, Cambridge. In1793 he had fallen into debt at College; and, in despair, leftCambridge, and enlisted in the 15th Light Dragoons, under the name ofSilas Tomkins Comberbatch. He was quickly discovered, and his dischargesoon obtained. While on a visit to his friend Robert Southey, atBristol, the plan of emigrating to the banks of the Susquehanna, inPennsylvania, was entered on; but, when all the friends andfellow-emigrants were ready to start, it was discovered that no one ofthem had any money. --Coleridge finally became a literary man andjournalist. His real power, however, lay in poetry; but by poetry hecould not make a living. His first volume of poems was published atBristol, in the year 1796; but it was not till 1798 that the +Rime ofthe Ancient Mariner+ appeared in the ‘Lyrical Ballads. ’ His nextgreatest poem, +Christabel+, though written in 1797, was not publishedtill the year 1816. His other best poems are +Love+; +Dejection--anOde+; and some of his shorter pieces. His best poetry was written aboutthe close of the century: “Coleridge, ” said Wordsworth, “was in blossomfrom 1796 to 1800. ” --As a critic and prose-writer, he is one of thegreatest men of his time. His best works in prose are +The Friend+ andthe +Aids to Reflection+. He died at Highgate, near London, in the year1834. 

11. His style, both in prose and in verse, marks the beginning of themodern era. His prose style is noble, elaborate, eloquent, and full ofsubtle and involved thought; his style in verse is always musical, andabounds in rhythms of the most startling and novel-- yet alwaysgenuine-- kind. +Christabel+ is the poem that is most full of these finemusical rhythms. 

12. ROBERT SOUTHEY (+1774-1843+), poet, reviewer, historian, but, aboveall, man of letters, -- the friend of Coleridge and Wordsworth, -- wasborn at Bristol in 1774. He was educated at Westminster School and atBalliol College, Oxford. After his marriage with Miss Edith Fricker--a sister of Sara, the wife of Coleridge-- he settled at Greta Hall, nearKeswick, in 1803; and resided there until his death in 1843. In 1813 hewas created +Poet-Laureate+ by George III. --He was the mostindefatigable of writers. He wrote poetry before breakfast; historybetween breakfast and dinner; reviews between dinner and supper; and, even when taking a constitutional, he had always a book in his hand, andwalked along the road reading. He began to write and to publish at theage of nineteen; he never ceased writing till the year 1837, when hisbrain softened from the effects of perpetual labour. 

13. Southey wrote a great deal of verse, but much more prose. His proseworks amount to more than one hundred volumes; but his poetry, such asit is, will probably live longer than his prose. His best-known poemsare +Joan of Arc+, written when he was nineteen; +Thalaba theDestroyer+, a poem in irregular and unrhymed verse; +The Curse ofKehama+, in verse rhymed, but irregular; and +Roderick, the last of theGoths+, written in blank verse. He will, however, always be bestremembered by his shorter pieces, such as +The Holly Tree+, +Stanzaswritten in My Library+, and others. --His most famous prose work is the+Life of Nelson+. His prose style is always firm, clear, compact, andsensible. 

14. THOMAS CAMPBELL (+1777-1844+), a noble poet and brilliant reviewer, was born in Glasgow in the year 1777. He was educated at the High Schooland the University of Glasgow. At the age of twenty-two, he publishedhis +Pleasures of Hope+, which at once gave him a place high among thepoets of the day. In 1803 he removed to London, and followed literatureas his profession; and, in 1806, he received a pension of £200 a-yearfrom the Government, which enabled him to devote the whole of his timeto his favourite study of poetry. His best long poem is the +Gertrude ofWyoming+, a tale written in the Spenserian stanza, which he handles withgreat ease and power. But he is best known, and will be longestremembered, for his short lyrics-- which glow with passionate and fieryeloquence-- such as +The Battle of the Baltic+, +Ye Mariners ofEngland+, +Hohenlinden+, and others. He was twice Lord Rector of theUniversity of Glasgow. He died at Boulogne in 1844, and was buried inPoets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. 

15. THOMAS MOORE (+1779-1852+), poet, biographer, and historian-- butmost of all poet-- was born in Dublin in the year 1779. He began toprint verses at the age of thirteen, and may be said, like Pope, to have“lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. ” He came to London in 1799, and was quickly received into fashionable society. In 1803 he was madeAdmiralty Registrar at Bermuda; but he soon gave up the post, leaving adeputy in his place, who, some years after, embezzled the Governmentfunds, and brought financial ruin upon Moore. The poet’s friends offeredto help him out of his money difficulties; but he most honourablydeclined all such help, and, like Sir W. Scott, resolved to clear offall claims against him by the aid of his pen alone. For the next twentyyears of his life he laboured incessantly; and volumes of poetry, history, and biography came steadily from his pen. His best poems arehis +Irish Melodies+, some fifteen or sixteen of which are perfect andimperishable; and it is as a writer of songs that Moore will live in theliterature of this country. He boasted, and with truth, that it was hewho awakened for this century the long-silent harp of his native land--

 “Dear Harp of my Country! in darkness I found thee, The cold chain of silence had hung o’er thee long, When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee, And gave all thy chords to light, freedom, and song. ”

His best long poem is +Lalla Rookh+. --His prose works are little readnowadays. The chief among them are his +Life of Sheridan+, and his +Lifeof Lord Byron+. --He died at Sloperton, in Wiltshire, in 1852, two yearsafter the death of Wordsworth. 

16. GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON (+1788-1824+), a great English poet, wasborn in London in the year 1788. He was the only child of a reckless andunprincipled father and a passionate mother. He was educated at HarrowSchool, and afterwards at Trinity College, Cambridge. His first volume--+Hours of Idleness+-- was published in 1807, before he was nineteen. A critique of this juvenile work which appeared in the ‘EdinburghReview’ stung him to passion; and he produced a very vigorous poeticalreply in +English Bards and Scotch Reviewers+. After the publication ofthis book, Byron travelled in Germany, Spain, Greece, and Turkey for twoyears; and the first two cantos of the poem entitled +Childe Harold’sPilgrimage+ were the outcome of these travels. This poem at once placedhim at the head of English poets; “he woke one morning, ” he said, “andfound himself famous. ” He was married in the year 1815, but left hiswife in the following year; left his native country also, never toreturn. First of all he settled at Geneva, where he made theacquaintance of the poet Shelley, and where he wrote, among other poems, the third canto of +Childe Harold+ and the +Prisoner of Chillon+. In1817 he removed to Venice, where he composed the fourth canto of +ChildeHarold+ and the +Lament of Tasso+; his next resting-place was Ravenna, where he wrote several plays. Pisa saw him next; and at this place hespent a great deal of his time in close intimacy with Shelley. In 1821the Greek nation rose in revolt against the cruelties and oppression ofthe Turkish rule; and Byron’s sympathies were strongly enlisted on theside of the Greeks. He helped the struggling little country withcontributions of money; and, in 1823, sailed from Geneva to take apersonal share in the war of liberation. He died, however, of fever, atMissolonghi, on the 19th of April 1824, at the age of thirty-six. 

17. His best-known work is +Childe Harold+, which is written in theSpenserian stanza. His plays, the best of which are +Manfred+ and+Sardanapālus+, are written in blank verse. --His style is remarkablefor its strength and elasticity, for its immensely powerful sweep, tireless energy, and brilliant illustrations. 

18. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (+1792-1822+), -- who has, like Spenser, beencalled “the poet’s poet, ”-- was born at Field Place, near Horsham, inSussex, in the year 1792. He was educated at Eton, and then atUniversity College, Oxford. A shy, diffident, retiring boy, with sweet, gentle looks and manners-- like those of a girl-- but with a spirit ofthe greatest fearlessness and the noblest independence, he took littleshare in the sports and pursuits of his schoolfellows. Obliged to leaveOxford, in consequence of having written a tract of which theauthorities did not approve, he married at the very early age ofnineteen. The young lady whom he married died in 1816; and he soon aftermarried Mary, daughter of William Godwin, the eminent author of‘Political Justice. ’ In 1818 he left England for Italy, -- like hisfriend, Lord Byron, for ever. It was at Naples, Leghorn, and Pisa thathe chiefly resided. In 1822 he bought a little boat-- “a perfectplaything for the summer, ” he calls it; and he used often to make shortvoyages in it, and wrote many of his poems on these occasions. WhenLeigh Hunt was lying ill at Leghorn, Shelley and his friend Williamsresolved on a coasting trip to that city. They reached Leghorn insafety; but, on the return journey, the boat sank in a sudden squall. Captain Roberts was watching the vessel with his glass from the top ofthe Leghorn lighthouse, as it crossed the Bay of Spezzia: a black cloudarose; a storm came down; the vessels sailing with Shelley’s boat werewrapped in darkness; the cloud passed; the sun shone out, and all wasclear again; the larger vessels rode on; but Shelley’s boat haddisappeared. The poet’s body was cast on shore, but the quarantine lawsof Italy required that everything thrown up on the coast should beburned: no representations could alter the law; and Shelley’s ashes wereplaced in a box and buried in the Protestant cemetery at Rome. 

19. Shelley’s best long poem is the +Adonaïs+, an elegy on the death ofJohn Keats. It is written in the Spenserian stanza. But this true poetwill be best remembered by his short lyrical poems, such as +The Cloud+, +Ode to a Skylark+, +Ode to the West Wind+, +Stanzas written inDejection+, and others. --Shelley has been called “the poet’s poet, ”because his style is so thoroughly transfused by pure imagination. Hehas also been called “the master-singer of our modern race and age; forhis thoughts, his words, and his deeds all sang together. ” He isprobably the greatest lyric poet of this century. 

20. JOHN KEATS (+1795-1821+), one of our truest poets, was born inMoorfields, London, in the year 1795. He was educated at a privateschool at Enfield. His desire for the pleasures of the intellect and theimagination showed itself very early at school; and he spent many ahalf-holiday in writing translations from the Roman and the Frenchpoets. On leaving school, he was apprenticed to a surgeon at Edmonton--the scene of one of John Gilpin’s adventures; but, in 1817, he gave upthe practice of surgery, devoted himself entirely to poetry, and broughtout his first volume. In 1818 appeared his +Endymion+. The ‘QuarterlyReview’ handled it without mercy. Keats’s health gave way; the seeds ofconsumption were in his frame; and he was ordered to Italy in 1820, asthe last chance of saving his life. But it was too late. The air ofItaly could not restore him. He settled at Rome with his friend Severn;but, in spite of all the care, thought, devotion, and watching of hisfriend, he died in 1821, at the age of twenty-five. He was buried in theProtestant cemetery at Rome; and the inscription on his tomb, composedby himself, is, “_Here lies one whose name was writ in water_. ”

21. His greatest poem is +Hyperion+, written, in blank verse, on theoverthrow of the “early gods” of Greece. But he will most probably bebest remembered by his marvellous odes, such as the +Ode to aNightingale+, +Ode on a Grecian Urn+, +To Autumn+, and others. His styleis clear, sensuous, and beautiful; and he has added to our literaturelines that will always live. Such are the following:--

 “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. ”

 “Silent, upon a peak in Darien. ”

 “Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken. ”

 “Perhaps the self-same song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, She stood in tears amid the alien corn. ”

22. +Prose-Writers. +-- We have now to consider the greatestprose-writers of the first half of the nineteenth century. First comes+Walter Scott+, one of the greatest novelists that ever lived, and whowon the name of “The Wizard of the North” from the marvellous power hepossessed of enchaining the attention and fascinating the minds of hisreaders. Two other great writers of prose were +Charles Lamb+ and+Walter Savage Landor+, each in styles essentially different. +JaneAusten+, a young English lady, has become a classic in prose, becauseher work is true and perfect within its own sphere. +De Quincey+ isperhaps the writer of the most ornate and elaborate English prose ofthis period. +Thomas Carlyle+, a great Scotsman, with a style ofoverwhelming power, but of occasional grotesqueness, like a greatprophet and teacher of the nation, compelled statesmen andphilanthropists to think, while he also gained for himself a high placein the rank of historians. +Macaulay+, also of Scottish descent, was oneof the greatest essayists and ablest writers on history that GreatBritain has produced. A short survey of each of these great men may beuseful. Scott has been already treated of. 

23. CHARLES LAMB (+1775-1834+), a perfect English essayist, was born inthe Inner Temple, in London, in the year 1775. His father was clerk to abarrister of that Inn of Court. Charles was educated at Christ’sHospital, where his most famous schoolfellow was S. T. Coleridge. Brought up in the very heart of London, he had always a strong feelingfor the greatness of the metropolis of the world. “I often shed tears, ”he said, “in the motley Strand, for fulness of joy at so much life. ” Hewas, indeed, a thorough Cockney and lover of London, as were alsoChaucer, Spenser, Milton, and Lamb’s friend Leigh Hunt. Entering theIndia House as a clerk in the year 1792, he remained there thirty-threeyears; and it was one of his odd sayings that, if any one wanted to seehis “works, ” he would find them on the shelves of the India House. --Heis greatest as a writer of prose; and his prose is, in its way, unequalled for sweetness, grace, humour, and quaint terms, among thewritings of this century. His best prose work is the +Essays of Elia+, which show on every page the most whimsical and humorous subtleties, a quick play of intellect, and a deep sympathy with the sorrows and thejoys of men. Very little verse came from his pen. “Charles Lamb’snosegay of verse, ” says Professor Dowden, “may be held by the small handof a maiden, and there is not in it one flaunting flower. ” Perhaps thebest of his poems are the short pieces entitled +Hester+ and +The OldFamiliar Faces+. --He retired from the India House, on a pension, in1825, and died at Edmonton, near London, in 1834. His character was assweet and refined as his style; Wordsworth spoke of him as “Lamb thefrolic and the gentle;” and these and other fine qualities endeared himto a large circle of friends. 

24. WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR (+1775-1864+), the greatest prose-writer in hisown style of the nineteenth century, was born at Ipsley Court, inWarwickshire, on the 30th of January 1775-- the anniversary of theexecution of Charles I. He was educated at Rugby School and at Oxford;but his fierce and insubordinate temper-- which remained with him, andinjured him all his life-- procured his expulsion from both of theseplaces. As heir to a large estate, he resolved to give himself upentirely to literature; and he accordingly declined to adopt anyprofession. Living an almost purely intellectual life, he wrote a greatdeal of prose and some poetry; and his first volume of poems appearedbefore the close of the eighteenth century. His life, which began in thereign of George III. , stretched through the reigns of George IV. AndWilliam IV. , into the twenty-seventh year of Queen Victoria; and, in thecourse of this long life, he had manifold experiences, many loves andhates, friendships and acquaintanceships, with persons of every sort andrank. He joined the Spanish army to fight Napoleon, and presented theSpanish Government with large sums of money. He spent about thirty yearsof his life in Florence, where he wrote many of his works. He died atFlorence in the year 1864. His greatest prose work is the +ImaginaryConversations+; his best poem is +Count Julian+; and the character ofCount Julian has been ranked by De Quincey with the Satan of Milton. Some of his smaller poetic pieces are perfect; and there is one, +RoseAylmer+, written about a dear young friend, that Lamb was never tired ofrepeating:--

 “Ah! what avails the sceptred race! Ah! what the form divine! What every virtue, every grace! Rose Aylmer, all were thine!

 “Rose Aylmer, whom these wakeful eyes Shall weep, but never see! A night of memories and sighs I consecrate to thee. ”

25. JANE AUSTEN (+1775-1817+), the most delicate and faithful painter ofEnglish social life, was born at Steventon, in Hampshire, in 1775-- inthe same year as Landor and Lamb. She wrote a small number of novels, most of which are almost perfect in their minute and true painting ofcharacter. Sir Walter Scott, Macaulay, and other great writers, areamong her fervent admirers. Scott says of her writing: “The big bow-wowstrain I can do myself, like any now going; but the exquisite touchwhich renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me. ”She works out her characters by making them reveal themselves in theirtalk, and by an infinite series of minute touches. Her two best novelsare +Emma+ and +Pride and Prejudice+. The interest of them depends onthe truth of the painting; and many thoughtful persons read through thewhole of her novels every year. 

26. THOMAS DE QUINCEY (+1785-1859+), one of our most brilliantessayists, was born at Greenhays, Manchester, in the year 1785. He waseducated at the Manchester grammar-school and at Worcester College, Oxford. While at Oxford he took little share in the regular studies ofhis college, but read enormous numbers of Greek, Latin, and Englishbooks, as his taste or whim suggested. He knew no one; he hardly knewhis own tutor. “For the first two years of my residence in Oxford, ” hesays, “I compute that I did not utter one hundred words. ” After leavingOxford, he lived for about twenty years in the Lake country; and therehe became acquainted with Wordsworth, Hartley Coleridge (the son ofS. T. Coleridge), and John Wilson (afterwards known as Professor Wilson, and also as the “Christopher North” of ‘Blackwood’s Magazine’). Suffering from repeated attacks of neuralgia, he gradually formed thehabit of taking laudanum; and by the time he had reached the age ofthirty, he drank about 8000 drops a-day. This unfortunate habit injuredhis powers of work and weakened his will. In spite of it, however, hewrote many hundreds of essays and articles in reviews and magazines. Inthe latter part of his life, he lived either near or in Edinburgh, andwas always employed in dreaming (the opium increased his power both ofdreaming and of musing), or in studying or writing. He died in Edinburghin the year 1859. --Many of his essays were written under the signatureof “The English Opium-Eater. ” Probably his best works are +TheConfessions of an Opium-Eater+ and +The Vision of Sudden Death+. Thechief characteristics of his style are majestic rhythm and elaborateeloquence. Some of his sentences are almost as long and as sustained asthose of Jeremy Taylor; while, in many passages of reasoning that glowsand brightens with strong passion and emotion, he is not inferior toBurke. He possessed an enormous vocabulary-- in wealth of words andphrases he surpasses both Macaulay and Carlyle; and he makes a verylarge-- perhaps even an excessive-- use of Latin words. He is also veryfond of using metaphors, personifications, and other figures of speech. It may be said without exaggeration that, next to Carlyle’s, DeQuincey’s style is the most stimulating and inspiriting that a youngreader can find among modern writers. 

27. THOMAS CARLYLE (+1795-1881+), a great thinker, essayist, andhistorian, was born at Ecclefechan, in Dumfriesshire, in the year 1795. He was educated at the burgh school of Annan, and afterwards at theUniversity of Edinburgh. Classics and the higher mathematics were hisfavourite studies; and he was more especially fond of astronomy. He wasa teacher for some years after leaving the University. For a few yearsafter this he was engaged in minor literary work; and translating fromthe German occupied a good deal of his time. In 1826 he married JaneWelsh, a woman of abilities only inferior to his own. His first originalwork was +Sartor Resartus+ (“The Tailor Repatched”), which appeared in1834, and excited a great deal of attention-- a book which has proved tomany the electric spark which first woke into life their powers ofthought and reflection. From 1837 to 1840 he gave courses of lectures inLondon; and these lectures were listened to by the best and mostthoughtful of the London people. The most striking series afterwardsappeared in the form of a book, under the title of +Heroes andHero-Worship+. Perhaps his most remarkable book-- a book that is uniquein all English literature-- is +The French Revolution+, which appearedin 1837. In the year 1845, his +Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches+ werepublished, and drew after them a large number of eager readers. In 1865he completed the hardest piece of work he had ever undertaken, his+History of Frederick II. , commonly called the Great+. This work is sohighly regarded in Germany as a truthful and painstaking history thatofficers in the Prussian army are obliged to study it, as containing thebest account of the great battles of the Continent, the fields on whichthey were fought, and the strategy that went to win them. One of thecrowning external honours of Carlyle’s life was his appointment as LordRector of the University of Edinburgh in 1866; but at the very time thathe was delivering his famous and remarkable Installation Address, hiswife lay dying in London. This stroke brought terrible sorrow on the oldman; he never ceased to mourn for his loss, and to recall the virtuesand the beauties of character in his dead wife; “the light of his life, ”he said, “was quite gone out;” and he wrote very little after her death. He himself died in London on the 5th of February 1881. 

28. +Carlyle’s Style. +-- Carlyle was an author by profession, a teacherof and prophet to his countrymen by his mission, and a student ofhistory by the deep interest he took in the life of man. He was alwaysmore or less severe in his judgments-- he has been called “The Censor ofthe Age, ”-- because of the high ideal which he set up for his ownconduct and the conduct of others. --He shows in his historic writings asplendour of imagery and a power of dramatic grouping second only toShakespeare’s. In command of words he is second to no modern Englishwriter. His style has been highly praised and also energetically blamed. It is rugged, gnarled, disjointed, full of irregular force-- shot acrossby sudden lurid lights of imagination-- full of the most striking andindeed astonishing epithets, and inspired by a certain grim Titanicforce. His sentences are often clumsily built. He himself said of them:“Perhaps not more than nine-tenths stand straight on their legs; theremainder are in quite angular attitudes; a few even sprawl outhelplessly on all sides, quite broken-backed and dismembered. ” There isno modern writer who possesses so large a profusion of figurativelanguage. His works are also full of the pithiest and most memorablesayings, such as the following:--

 “Genius is an immense capacity for taking pains. ”

 “Do the duty which lies nearest thee! Thy second duty will already have become clearer. ”

 “History is a mighty drama, enacted upon the theatre of time, with suns for lamps, and eternity for a background. ”

 “All true work is sacred. In all true work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divineness. Labour, wide as the earth, has its summit in heaven. ”

 “Remember now and always that Life is no idle dream, but a solemn reality based upon Eternity, and encompassed by Eternity. Find out your task: stand to it: the night cometh when no man can work. ”

29. THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY (+1800-1859+), the most popular of modernhistorians, -- an essayist, poet, statesman, and orator, -- was born atRothley Temple, in Leicestershire, in the year 1800. His father was oneof the greatest advocates for the abolition of slavery; and received, after his death, the honour of a monument in Westminster Abbey. YoungMacaulay was educated privately, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied classics with great diligence and success, but detestedmathematics-- a dislike the consequences of which he afterwards deeplyregretted. In 1824 he was elected Fellow of his college. His firstliterary work was done for Knight’s ‘Quarterly Magazine’; but theearliest piece of writing that brought him into notice was his famousessay on +Milton+, written for the ‘Edinburgh Review’ in 1825. Severalyears of his life were spent in India, as Member of the Supreme Council;and, on his return, he entered Parliament, where he sat as M. P. ForEdinburgh. Several offices were filled by him, among others that ofPaymaster-General of the Forces, with a seat in the Cabinet of Lord JohnRussell. In 1842 appeared his +Lays of Ancient Rome+, poems which havefound a very large number of readers. His greatest work is his +Historyof England from the Accession of James II+. To enable himself to writethis history he read hundreds of books, Acts of Parliament, thousands ofpamphlets, tracts, broadsheets, ballads, and other flying fragments ofliterature; and he never seems to have forgotten anything he ever read. In. 1849 he was elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow; and in1857 was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Macaulay ofRothley-- the first literary man who was ever called to the House ofLords. He died at Holly Lodge, Kensington, in the year 1859. 

30. +Macaulay’s Style. +-- One of the most remarkable qualities in hisstyle is the copiousness of expression, and the remarkable power ofputting the same statement in a large number of different ways. Thisenormous command of expression corresponded with the extraordinary powerof his memory. At the age of eight he could repeat the whole of Scott’spoem of “Marmion. ” He was fond, at this early age, of big words andlearned English; and once, when he was asked by a lady if his toothachewas better, he replied, “Madam, the agony is abated!” He knew the wholeof Homer and of Milton by heart; and it was said with perfect truththat, if Milton’s poetical works could have been lost, Macaulay wouldhave restored every line with complete exactness. Sydney Smith said ofhim: “There are no limits to his knowledge, on small subjects as ongreat; he is like a book in breeches. ” His style has been called“abrupt, pointed, and oratorical. ” He is fond of the arts of surprise--of antithesis-- and of epigram. Sentences like these are of frequentoccurrence:--

 “Cranmer could vindicate himself from the charge of being a heretic only by arguments which made him out to be a murderer. ”

 “The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators. ”

Besides these elements of epigram and antithesis, there is a vast wealthof illustration, brought from the stores of a memory which never seemedto forget anything. He studied every sentence with the greatest care andminuteness, and would often rewrite paragraphs and even whole chapters, until he was satisfied with the variety and clearness of the expression. “He could not rest, ” it was said, “until the punctuation was correct toa comma; until every paragraph concluded with a telling sentence, andevery sentence flowed like clear running water. ” But, above all things, he strove to make his style perfectly lucid and immediatelyintelligible. He is fond of countless details; but he so masters andmarshals these details that each only serves to throw more light uponthe main statement. His prose may be described as pictorial prose. Thecharacter of his mind was, like Burke’s, combative and oratorical; andhe writes with the greatest vigour and animation when he is attacking apolicy or an opinion. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

1. +Science. +-- The second half of the nineteenth century isdistinguished by the enormous advance made in science, and in theapplication of science to the industries and occupations of the people. Chemistry and electricity have more especially made enormous strides. Within the last twenty years, chemistry has remade itself into a newscience; and electricity has taken a very large part of the labour ofmankind upon itself. It carries our messages round the world-- under thedeepest seas, over the highest mountains, to every continent, and toevery great city; it lights up our streets and public halls; it drivesour engines and propels our trains. But the powers of imagination, thegreat literary powers of poetry, and of eloquent prose, -- especially inthe domain of fiction, -- have not decreased because science has grown. They have rather shown stronger developments. We must, at the same time, remember that a great deal of the literary work published by the writerswho lived, or are still living, in the latter half of this century, waswritten in the former half. Thus, Longfellow was a man of forty-three, and Tennyson was forty-one, in the year 1850; and both had by that timedone a great deal of their best work. The same is true of theprose-writers, Thackeray, Dickens, and Ruskin. 

2. +Poets and Prose-Writers. +-- The six greatest poets of the latterhalf of this century are +Longfellow+, a distinguished American poet, +Tennyson+, +Mrs Browning+, +Robert Browning+, +William Morris+, and+Matthew Arnold+. Of these, Mrs Browning and Longfellow are dead--Mrs Browning having died in 1861, and Longfellow in 1882. --The fourgreatest writers of prose are +Thackeray+, +Dickens+, +George Eliot+, and +Ruskin+. Of these, only Ruskin is alive. 

3. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW (+1807-1882+), the most popular ofAmerican poets, and as popular in Great Britain as he is in the UnitedStates, was born at Portland, Maine, in the year 1807. He was educatedat Bowdoin College, and took his degree there in the year 1825. Hisprofession was to have been the law; but, from the first, the whole bentof his talents and character was literary. At the extraordinary age ofeighteen the professorship of modern languages in his own college wasoffered to him; it was eagerly accepted, and in order to qualify himselffor his duties, he spent the next four years in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. His first important prose work was +Outre-Mer+, or a+Pilgrimage beyond the Sea+. In 1837 he was offered the Chair of ModernLanguages and Literature in Harvard University, and he again paid avisit to Europe-- this time giving his thoughts and study chiefly toGermany, Denmark, and Scandinavia. In 1839 he published the proseromance called +Hyperion+. But it was not as a prose-writer thatLongfellow gained the secure place he has in the hearts of theEnglish-speaking peoples; it was as a poet. His first volume of poemswas called +Voices of the Night+, and appeared in 1841; Evangeline waspublished in 1848; and +Hiawatha+, on which his poetical reputation isperhaps most firmly based, in 1855. Many other volumes of poetry-- bothoriginal and translations-- have also come from his pen; but these arethe best. The University of Oxford created him Doctor of Civil Law in1869. He died at Harvard in the year 1882. A man of singularly mild andgentle character, of sweet and charming manners, his own lines may beapplied to him with perfect appropriateness--

 “His gracious presence upon earth Was as a fire upon a hearth; As pleasant songs, at morning sung, The words that dropped from his sweet tongue Strengthened our hearts, or-- heard at night-- Made all our slumbers soft and light. ”

4. +Longfellow’s Style. +-- In one of his prose works, Longfellow himselfsays, “In character, in manners, in style, in all things, the supremeexcellence is simplicity. ” This simplicity he steadily aimed at, and inalmost all his writings reached; and the result is the sweet luciditywhich is manifest in his best poems. His verse has been characterised as“simple, musical, sincere, sympathetic, clear as crystal, and pure assnow. ” He has written in a great variety of measures-- in more, perhaps, than have been employed by Tennyson himself. His “Evangeline” is writtenin a kind of dactylic hexameter, which does not always scan, but whichis almost always musical and impressive--

 “Fair was she and young, when in hope began the long journey; Faded was she and old, when in disappointment it ended. ”

The “Hiawatha, ” again, is written in a trochaic measure-- each versecontaining four trochees--

 “‘Farewell!’ said he, ‘Minnehaha, Farewell, O my laughing water! All my heart is buried with you, All´ my | thou´ghts go | on´ward | wi´th you!’”

He is always careful and painstaking with his rhythm and with thecadence of his verse. It may be said with truth that Longfellow hastaught more people to love poetry than any other English writer, howevergreat. 

5. ALFRED TENNYSON, a great English poet, who has written beautifulpoetry for more than fifty years, was born at Somersby, in Lincolnshire, in the year 1809. He is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom arepoets. He was educated at Cambridge, and some of his poems have shown, in a striking light, the forgotten beauty of the fens and flats ofCambridge and Lincolnshire. In 1829 he obtained the Chancellor’s medalfor a poem on “Timbuctoo. ” In 1830 he published his first volume, withthe title of +Poems chiefly Lyrical+-- a volume which contained, amongother beautiful verses, the “Recollections of the Arabian Nights” and“The Dying Swan. ” In 1833 he issued another volume, called simply+Poems+; and this contained the exquisite poems entitled “The Miller’sDaughter” and “The Lotos-Eaters. ” +The Princess+, a poem as remarkablefor its striking thoughts as for its perfection of language, appeared in1847. The +In Memoriam+, a long series of short poems in memory of hisdear friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, the son of Hallam the historian, waspublished in the year 1850. When Wordsworth died in 1850, Tennyson wasappointed to the office of Poet-Laureate. This office, from the timewhen Dryden was forced to resign it in 1689, to the time when Southeyaccepted it in 1813, had always been held by third or fourth ratewriters; in the present day it is held by the man who has done thelargest amount of the best poetical work. +The Idylls of the King+appeared in 1859. This series of poems-- perhaps his greatest-- containsthe stories of “Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. ” Many othervolumes of poems have been given by him to the world. In his old age hehas taken to the writing of ballads and dramas. His ballad of +TheRevenge+ is one of the noblest and most vigorous poems that England hasever seen. The dramas of +Harold+, +Queen Mary+, and +Becket+, areperhaps his best; and the last was written when the poet had reached theage of seventy-four. In the year 1882 he was created Baron Tennyson, andcalled to the House of Peers. 

6. +Tennyson’s Style. +-- Tennyson has been to the last two generationsof Englishmen the national teacher of poetry. He has tried many newmeasures; he has ventured on many new rhythms; and he has succeeded inthem all. He is at home equally in the slowest, most tranquil, and mostmeditative of rhythms, and in the rapidest and most impulsive. Let uslook at the following lines as an example of the first. The poem iswritten on a woman who is dying of a lingering disease--

 “Fair is her cottage in its place, Where yon broad water sweetly slowly glides: It sees itself from thatch to base Dream in the sliding tides. 

 “And fairer she: but, ah! how soon to die! Her quiet dream of life this hour may cease: Her peaceful being slowly passes by To some more perfect peace. ”

The very next poem, “The Sailor Boy, ” in the same volume, is-- thoughwritten in exactly the same measure-- driven on with the most rapidmarch and vigorous rhythm--

 “He rose at dawn and, fired with hope, Shot o’er the seething harbour-bar, And reached the ship and caught the rope And whistled to the morning-star. ”

And this is a striking and prominent characteristic of all Tennyson’spoetry. Everywhere the sound is made to be “an echo to the sense”; thestyle is in perfect keeping with the matter. In the “Lotos-Eaters, ” wehave the sense of complete indolence and deep repose in--

 “A land of streams! Some, like a downward smoke, Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go. ”

In the “Boädicea, ” we have the rush and the shock of battle, the closingof legions, the hurtle of arms and the clash of armed men--

 “Phantom sound of blows descending, moan of an enemy massacred, Phantom wail of women and children, multitudinous agonies. ”

Many of Tennyson’s sweetest and most pathetic lines have gone right intothe heart of the nation, such as--

 “But oh for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still!”

All his language is highly polished, ornate, rich-- sometimes Spenserianin luxuriant imagery and sweet music, sometimes even Homeric inmassiveness and severe simplicity. Thus, in the “Morte d’Arthur, ” hespeaks of the knight walking to the lake as--

 “Clothed with his breath, and looking as he walked, Larger than human on the frozen hills. ”

Many of his pithy lines have taken root in the memory of the Englishpeople, such as these--

 “Tis better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all. ”

 “For words, like Nature, half reveal, And half conceal, the soul within. ”

 “Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood. ”

7. ELIZABETH BARRETT BARRETT, afterwards MRS BROWNING, the greatestpoetess of this century, was born in London in the year 1809. She wroteverses “at the age of eight-- and earlier, ” she says; and her firstvolume of poems was published when she was seventeen. When still a girl, she broke a blood-vessel upon the lungs, was ordered to a warmer climatethan that of London; and her brother, whom she loved very dearly, tookher down to Torquay. There a terrible tragedy was enacted before hereyes. One day the weather and the water looked very tempting; herbrother took a sailing-boat for a short cruise in Torbay; the boat wentdown in front of the house, and in view of his sister; the body wasnever recovered. This sad event completely destroyed her already weakhealth; she returned to London, and spent several years in a darkenedroom. Here she “read almost every book worth reading in almost everylanguage, and gave herself heart and soul to that poetry of which sheseemed born to be the priestess. ” This way of life lasted for manyyears: and, in the course of it, she published several volumes of nobleverse. In 1846 she married Robert Browning, also a great poet. In 1856she brought out +Aurora Leigh+, her longest, and probably also hergreatest, poem. Mr Ruskin called it “the greatest poem which the centuryhas produced in any language;” but this is going too far. --Mrs Browningwill probably be longest remembered by her incomparable sonnets and byher lyrics, which are full of pathos and passion. Perhaps her two finestpoems in this kind are the +Cry of the Children+ and +Cowper’s Grave+. All her poems show an enormous power of eloquent, penetrating, andpicturesque language; and many of them are melodious with a rich andwonderful music. She died in 1861. 

 [Transcriber’s Note: The above paragraph is given as printed. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born Elizabeth Barrett Moulton, later Moulton-Barrett, in 1806. Her year of birth was universally given as 1809 until some time after Robert Browning’s death. Her brother’s fatal accident took place in 1840. ]

8. ROBERT BROWNING, the most daring and original poet of the century, was born in Camberwell, a southern suburb of London, in the year 1812. He was privately educated. In 1836 he published his first poem+Paracelsus+, which many wondered at, but few read. It was the story ofa man who had lost his way in the mazes of thought about life, -- aboutits why and wherefore, -- about this world and the next, -- about himselfand his relations to God and his fellow-men. Mr Browning has writtenmany plays, but they are more fit for reading in the study than foracting on the stage. His greatest work is +The Ring and the Book+; andit is most probably by this that his name will live in future ages. Ofhis minor poems, the best known and most popular is +The Pied Piper ofHamelin+-- a poem which is a great favourite with all young people, fromthe picturesqueness and vigour of the verse. The most deeply pathetic ofhis minor poems is +Evelyn Hope+:--

 “So, hush, -- I will give you this leaf to keep-- See, I shut it inside the sweet cold hand, There! that is our secret! go to sleep; You will wake, and remember, and understand. ”

9. +Browning’s Style. +-- Browning’s language is almost always very hardto understand; but the meaning, when we have got at it, is well worthall the trouble that may have been taken to reach it. His poems are morefull of thought and more rich in experience than those of any otherEnglish writer except Shakspeare. The thoughts and emotions which thronghis mind at the same moment so crowd upon and jostle each other, becomeso inextricably intermingled, that it is very often extremely difficultfor us to make out any meaning at all. Then many of his thoughts are sosubtle and so profound that they cannot easily be drawn up from thedepths in which they lie. No man can write with greater directness, greater lyric vigour, fire, and impulse, than Browning when he chooses--write more clearly and forcibly about such subjects as love and war; butit is very seldom that he does choose. The infinite complexity of humanlife and its manifold experiences have seized and imprisoned hisimagination; and it is not often that he speaks in a clear, free voice. 

10. MATTHEW ARNOLD, one of the finest poets and noblest stylists of theage, was born at Laleham, near Staines, on the Thames, in the year 1822. He is the eldest son of the great Dr Arnold, the famous Head-master ofRugby. He was educated at Winchester and Rugby, from which latter schoolhe proceeded to Balliol College, Oxford. The Newdigate prize for Englishverse was won by him in 1843-- the subject of his poem being +Cromwell+. His first volume of poems was published in 1848. In the year 1851 he wasappointed one of H. M. Inspectors of Schools; and he held that office upto the year 1885. In 1857 he was elected Professor of Poetry in theUniversity of Oxford. In 1868 appeared a new volume with the simpletitle of +New Poems+; and, since then, he has produced a large number ofbooks, mostly in prose. He is no less famous as a critic than as a poet;and his prose is singularly beautiful and musical. 

11. +Arnold’s Style. +-- The chief qualities of his verse are clearness, simplicity, strong directness, noble and musical rhythm, and a certainintense calm. His lines on +Morality+ give a good idea of his style:--

 “We cannot kindle when we will The fire that in the heart resides: The spirit bloweth and is still In mystery our soul abides: But tasks in hours of insight willed Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled. 

 With aching hands and bleeding feet We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day, and wish ’twere done. Not till the hours of light return, All we have built do we discern. ”

His finest poem in blank verse is his +Sohrab and Rustum+-- a tale ofthe Tartar wastes. One of his noblest poems, called +Rugby Chapel+, describes the strong and elevated character of his father, theHead-master of Rugby. --His prose is remarkable for its lucidity, itspleasant and almost conversational rhythm, and its perfection oflanguage. 

12. WILLIAM MORRIS, a great narrative poet, was born near London in theyear 1834. He was educated at Marlborough and at Exeter College, Oxford. In 1858 appeared his first volume of poems. In 1863 he began a businessfor the production of artistic wall-paper, stained glass, and furniture;he has a shop for the sale of these works of art in Oxford Street, London; and he devotes most of his time to drawing and designing forartistic manufacturers. His first poem, +The Life and Death of Jason+, appeared in 1867; and his magnificent series of narrative poems-- +TheEarthly Paradise+-- was published in the years from 1868 and 1870. ‘TheEarthly Paradise’ consists of twenty-four tales in verse, set in aframework much like that of Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales. ’ The poeticpower in these tales is second only to that of Chaucer; and Morris hasalways acknowledged himself to be a pupil of Chaucer’s--

 “Thou, my Master still, Whatever feet have climbed Parnassus’ hill. ”

Mr Morris has also translated the Æneid of Virgil, and several worksfrom the Icelandic. 

13. +Morris’s Style. +-- Clearness, strength, music, picturesqueness, andeasy flow, are the chief characteristics of Morris’s style. Of the monthof April he says:--

 “O fair midspring, besung so oft and oft, How can I praise thy loveliness enow? Thy sun that burns not, and thy breezes soft That o’er the blossoms of the orchard blow, The thousand things that ’neath the young leaves grow The hopes and chances of the growing year, Winter forgotten long, and summer near. ”

His pictorial power-- the power of bringing a person or a scene fullyand adequately before one’s eyes by the aid of words alone-- is as greatas that of Chaucer. The following is his picture of Edward III. Inmiddle age:--

 “Broad-browed he was, hook-nosed, with wide grey eyes No longer eager for the coming prize, But keen and steadfast: many an ageing line, Half-hidden by his sweeping beard and fine, Ploughed his thin cheeks; his hair was more than grey, And like to one he seemed whose better day Is over to himself, though foolish fame Shouts louder year by year his empty name. Unarmed he was, nor clad upon that morn Much like a king: an ivory hunting-horn Was slung about him, rich with gems and gold, And a great white ger-falcon did he hold Upon his fist; before his feet there sat A scrivener making notes of this and that As the King bade him, and behind his chair His captains stood in armour rich and fair. ”

Morris’s stores of language are as rich as Spenser’s; and he has muchthe same copious and musical flow of poetic words and phrases. 

14. WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY (+1811-1863+), one of the most originalof English novelists, was born at Calcutta in the year 1811. The son ofa gentleman high in the civil service of the East India Company, he wassent to England to be educated, and was some years at CharterhouseSchool, where one of his schoolfellows was Alfred Tennyson. He then wenton to the University of Cambridge, which he left without taking adegree. Painting was the profession that he at first chose; and hestudied art both in France and Germany. At the age of twenty-nine, however, he discovered that he was on a false tack, gave up painting, and took to literary work as his true field. He contributed manypleasant articles to ‘Fraser’s Magazine, ’ under the name of +MichaelAngelo Titmarsh+; and one of his most beautiful and most patheticstories, +The Great Hoggarty Diamond+, was also written under this name. He did not, however, take his true place as an English novelist of thefirst rank until the year 1847, when he published his first serialnovel, +Vanity Fair+. Readers now began everywhere to class him withCharles Dickens, and even above him. His most beautiful work is perhaps+The Newcomes+; but the work which exhibits most fully the wonderfulpower of his art and his intimate knowledge of the spirit and thedetails of our older English life is +The History of Henry Esmond+--a work written in the style and language of the days of Queen Anne, andas beautiful as anything ever done by Addison himself. He died in theyear 1863. 

15. CHARLES DICKENS (+1812-1870+), the most popular writer of thiscentury, was born at Landport, Portsmouth, in the year 1812. Hisdelicate constitution debarred him from mixing in boyish sports, andvery early made him a great reader. There was a little garret in hisfather’s house where a small collection of books was kept; and, hiddenaway in this room, young Charles devoured such books as the ‘Vicar ofWakefield, ’ ‘Robinson Crusoe, ’ and many other famous English books. Thiswas in Chatham. The family next removed to London, where the father wasthrown into prison for debt. The little boy, weakly and sensitive, wasnow sent to work in a blacking manufactory at six shillings a-week, hisduty being to cover the blacking-pots with paper. “No words canexpress, ” he says, “the secret agony of my soul, as I compared these myeveryday associates with those of my happier childhood, and felt myearly hopes of growing up to be a learned and distinguished man crushedin my breast.... The misery it was to my young heart to believe that, day by day, what I had learned, and thought, and delighted in, andraised my fancy and my emulation up by, was passing away from me, neverto be brought back any more, cannot be written. ” When his father’saffairs took a turn for the better, he was sent to school; but it was toa school where “the boys trained white mice much better than the mastertrained the boys. ” In fact, his true education consisted in his eagerperusal of a large number of miscellaneous books. When he came to thinkof what he should do in the world, the profession of reporter took hisfancy; and, by the time he was nineteen, he had made himself thequickest and most accurate-- that is, the best reporter in the Galleryof the House of Commons. His first work, +Sketches by Boz+, waspublished in 1836. In 1837 appeared the +Pickwick Papers+; and this workat once lifted Dickens into the foremost rank as a popular writer offiction. From this time he was almost constantly engaged in writingnovels. His +Oliver Twist+ and +David Copperfield+ contain reminiscencesof his own life; and perhaps the latter is his most powerful work. “Likemany fond parents, ” he wrote, “I have in my heart of hearts a favouritechild; and his name is _David Copperfield_. ” He lived with all thestrength of his heart and soul in the creations of his imagination andfancy while he was writing about them; he says himself, “No one can everbelieve this narrative, in the reading, more than I believed it in thewriting;” and each novel, as he wrote it, made him older and leaner. Great knowledge of the lives of the poor, and great sympathy with them, were among his most striking gifts; and Sir Arthur Helps goes so far asto say, “I doubt much whether there has ever been a writer of fictionwho took such a real and living interest in the world about him. ” Hedied in the year 1870, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. 

16. +Dickens’s Style. +-- His style is easy, flowing, vigorous, picturesque, and humorous; his power of language is very great; and, when he is writing under the influence of strong passion, it rises intoa pure and noble eloquence. The scenery-- the external circumstances ofhis characters, are steeped in the same colours as the charactersthemselves; everything he touches seems to be filled with life and tospeak-- to look happy or sorrowful, -- to reflect the feelings of thepersons. His comic and humorous powers are very great; but his tragicpower is also enormous-- his power of depicting the fiercest passionsthat tear the human breast, -- avarice, hate, fear, revenge, remorse. Thegreat American statesman, Daniel Webster, said that Dickens had donemore to better the condition of the English poor than all the statesmenGreat Britain had ever sent into the English Parliament. 

17. JOHN RUSKIN, the greatest living master of English prose, anart-critic and thinker, was born in London in the year 1819. In hisfather’s house he was accustomed “to no other prospect than that of thebrick walls over the way; he had no brothers, nor sisters, norcompanions. ” To his London birth he ascribes the great charm that thebeauties of nature had for him from his boyhood: he felt the contrastbetween town and country, and saw what no country-bred child could haveseen in sights that were usual to him from his infancy. He was educatedat Christ Church, Oxford, and gained the Newdigate prize for poetry in1839. He at first devoted himself to painting; but his true andstrongest genius lay in the direction of literature. In 1843 appearedthe first volume of his +Modern Painters+, which is perhaps his greatestwork; and the four other volumes were published between that date andthe year 1860. In this work he discusses the qualities and the merits ofthe greatest painters of the English, the Italian, and other schools. In1851 he produced a charming fairy tale, ‘The King of the Golden River, or the Black Brothers. ’ He has written on architecture also, onpolitical economy, and on many other social subjects. He is the founderof a society called “The St George’s Guild, ” the purpose of which is tospread abroad sound notions of what true life and true art are, andespecially to make the life of the poor more endurable and better worthliving. 

18. +Ruskin’s Style. +-- A glowing eloquence, a splendid and full-flowingmusic, wealth of phrase, aptness of epithet, opulence of ideas-- allthese qualities characterise the prose style of Mr Ruskin. His similesare daring, but always true. Speaking of the countless statues that fillthe innumerable niches of the cathedral of Milan, he says that “it is asthough a flight of angels had alighted there and been struck to marble. ”His writings are full of the wisest sayings put into the most musicaland beautiful language. Here are a few:--

 “Every act, every impulse, of virtue and vice, affects in any creature, face, voice, nervous power, and vigour and harmony of invention, at once. Perseverance in rightness of human conduct renders, after a certain number of generations, human art possible; every sin clouds it, be it ever so little a one; and persistent vicious living and following of pleasure render, after a certain number of generations, all art impossible. ”

 “In mortals, there is a care for trifles, which proceeds from love and conscience, and is most holy; and a care for trifles, which comes of idleness and frivolity, and is most base. And so, also, there is a gravity proceeding from dulness and mere incapability of enjoyment, which is most base. ”

His power of painting in words is incomparably greater than that of anyother English author: he almost infuses colour into his words andphrases, so full are they of pictorial power. It would be impossible togive any adequate idea of this power here; but a few lines may sufficefor the present:--

 “The noonday sun came slanting down the rocky slopes of La Riccia, and its masses of enlarged and tall foliage, whose autumnal tints were mixed with the wet verdure of a thousand evergreens, were penetrated with it as with rain. I cannot call it colour; it was conflagration. Purple, and crimson, and scarlet, like the curtains of God’s tabernacle, the rejoicing trees sank into the valley in showers of light, every separate leaf quivered with buoyant and burning life; each, as it turned to reflect or to transmit the sunbeam, first a torch and then an emerald. ”

19. GEORGE ELIOT (the literary name for +Marian Evans, 1819-1880+), oneof our greatest writers, was born in Warwickshire in the year 1819. Shewas well and carefully educated; and her own serious and studiouscharacter made her a careful thinker and a most diligent reader. Forsome time the famous Herbert Spencer was her tutor; and under his careher mind developed with surprising rapidity. She taught herself German, French, Italian-- studied the best works in the literature of theselanguages; and she was also fairly mistress of Greek and Latin. Besidesall these, she was an accomplished musician. --She was for some timeassistant-editor of the ‘Westminster Review. ’ The first of her workswhich called the attention of the public to her astonishing skill andpower as a novelist was her +Scenes of Clerical Life+. Her most popularnovel, +Adam Bede+, appeared in 1859; +Romola+ in 1863; and+Middlemarch+ in 1872. She has also written a good deal of poetry, amongother volumes that entitled +The Legend of Jubal, and other Poems+. Oneof her best poems is +The Spanish Gypsy+. She died in the year 1880. 

20. +George Eliot’s Style. +-- Her style is everywhere pure and strong, of the best and most vigorous English, not only broad in its power, butoften intense in its description of character and situation, and alwayssingularly adequate to the thought. Probably no novelist knew theEnglish character-- especially in the Midlands-- so well as she, orcould analyse it with so much subtlety and truth. She is entirelymistress of the country dialects. In humour, pathos, knowledge ofcharacter, power of putting a portrait firmly upon the canvas, no writersurpasses her, and few come near her. Her power is sometimes almostShakespearian. Like Shakespeare, she gives us a large number of wisesayings, expressed in the pithiest language. The following are a few:--

 “It is never too late to be what you might have been. ”

 “It is easy finding reasons why other people should be patient. ”

 “Genius, at first, is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline. ”

 “Things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs. ”

 “Nature never makes men who are at once energetically sympathetic and minutely calculating. ”

 “To the far woods he wandered, listening, And heard the birds their little stories sing In notes whose rise and fall seem melted speech-- Melted with tears, smiles, glances-- that can reach More quickly through our frame’s deep-winding night, And without thought raise thought’s best fruit, delight. ”

TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

[Transcriber’s Note:

In the original book, the following table-- spanning 14 pages-- waslaid out in four columns: Writers; Works; Contemporary Events; Centuries(through 1500) or Decades (beginning 1550). 

Missing punctuation has been silently supplied. ]

+Centuries/Decades+ WRITERS Works Contemporary Events

+500+

 (_Author unknown. _) +Beowulf+ (brought over by Saxons and Angles from the Continent). 

+600+

 CAEDMON. A secular monk of Whitby. Died about +680+. +Poems+ on the Creation and other subjects taken from the Old and the New Testament. 

 Edwin (of Deira), King of the Angles, baptised 627. 

+700+

 BAEDA. +672-735+. “The Venerable Bede, ” a monk of Jarrow-on-Tyne. An +Ecclesiastical History+ in Latin. A translation of +St John’s Gospel+ into English (lost). 

 First landing of the Danes, 787. 

+800+

 ALFRED THE GREAT. +849-901+. King; translator; prose-writer. Translated into the English of Wessex, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History and other Latin works. Is said to have begun the +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle+. 

 The University of Oxford is said to have been founded in this reign. 

 Compiled by monks in various monasteries. +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle+, 875-1154. 

+900+

 ASSER. Bishop of Sherborne. Died +910+. +Life of King Alfred+. 

+1000+

 (_Author unknown. _) A poem entitled +The Grave+. 

+1100+

 LAYAMON. +1150-1210+. A priest of Ernley-on-Severn. +The Brut+ (1205), a poem on Brutus, the supposed first settler in Britain. 

 John ascended the throne in 1199. 

 ORM or ORMIN. +1187-1237+. A canon of the Order of St Augustine. +The Ormulum+ (1215), a set of religious services in metre. 

+1200+

 ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER. +1255-1307+. +Chronicle of England+ in rhyme (1297). 

 Magna Charta, 1215. Henry III. Ascends the throne, 1216. 

 ROBERT OF BRUNNE. (Robert Manning of Brun. ) +1272-1340+. +Chronicle of England+ in rhyme; _Handlyng Sinne_ (1303). 

 University of Cambridge founded, 1231. Edward I. Ascends the throne, 1272. Conquest of Wales, 1284. 

+1300+

 SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE. +1300-1372+. Physician; traveller; prose-writer. +The Voyaige and Travaile+. Travels to Jerusalem, India, and other countries, written in Latin French and English (1356). The first writer “in formed English. ”

 Edward II ascends the throne, 1307. Battle of Bannockburn, 1314. 

 JOHN BARBOUR. Archdeacon of Aberdeen. +1316-1396+. +The Bruce+ (1377), a poem written in the Northern English or “Scottish” dialect. 

 Edward III. Ascends the throne, 1327. 

+1350+

 JOHN WYCLIF. +1324-1384+. Vicar of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire. Translation of the +Bible+ from the Latin version; and many tracts and pamphlets on Church reform. 

 Hundred Years’ War begins, 1338. Battle of Crecy, 1346. 

 JOHN GOWER. +1325-1408+. A country gentleman of Kent; probably also a lawyer. +Vox Clamantis+, +Confessio Amantis+, +Speculum Meditantis+ (1393); and poems in French and Latin. 

 The Black Death, 1349, 1361, 1369. 

 WILLIAM LANGLANDE. +1332-1400+. Born in Shropshire. +Vision concerning Piers the Plowman+-- three editions (1362-78). 

 Battle of Poitiers, 1356. First law-pleadings in English, 1362. 

 GEOFFREY CHAUCER +1340-1400+. Poet; courtier; soldier; diplomatist; Comptroller of the Customs: Clerk of the King’s Works; M. P. +The Canterbury Tales+ (1384-98), of which the best is the +Knightes Tale+. Dryden called him “a perpetual fountain of good sense. ”

 Richard II. Ascends the throne, 1377. Wat Tyler’s insurrection, 1381. 

 JAMES I. OF SCOTLAND. +1394-1437+. Prisoner in England, and educated there, in 1405. +The King’s Quair+ (= _Book_), a poem in the style of Chaucer. 

 Henry IV. Ascends the throne, 1399. 

+1400+

 WILLIAM CAXTON. +1422-1492+. Mercer; printer; translator; prose-writer. +The Game and Playe of the Chesse+ (1474)-- the first book printed in England; +Lives of the Fathers+, “finished on the last day of his life;” and many other works. 

 Henry V. Ascends the throne, 1415. Battle of Agincourt, 1415. Henry VI. Ascends the throne, 1422. Invention of Printing, 1438-45. 

+1450+

 WILLIAM DUNBAR. +1450-1530+. Franciscan or Grey Friar; Secretary to a Scotch embassy to France. +The Golden Terge+ (1501); the +Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins+ (1507); and other poems. He has been called “the Chaucer of Scotland. ”

 Jack Cade’s insurrection, 1450. End of the Hundred Years’ War, 1453. 

 GAWAIN DOUGLAS. +1474-1522+. Bishop of Dunkeld, in Perthshire. +Palace of Honour+ (1501); translation of +Virgil’s Æneid+ (1513)-- the first translation of any Latin author into verse. Douglas wrote in Northern English. 

 Wars of the Roses, 1455-86. Edward IV. Ascends the throne, 1461. 

 WILLIAM TYNDALE. +1477-1536+. Student of theology; translator. Burnt at Antwerp for heresy. +New Testament+ translated (1525-34); the +Five Books of Moses+ translated (1530). This translation is the basis of the Authorised Version. 

 Edward V. King, 1483. 

 SIR THOMAS MORE. +1480-1535+. Lord High Chancellor; writer on social topics; historian. +History of King Edward V. , and of his brother, and of Richard III+. (1513); +Utopia+ (= “The Land of Nowhere”), written in Latin; and other prose works. 

 Richard III. Ascends the throne, 1483. Battle of Bosworth, 1485. 

 SIR DAVID LYNDESAY. +1490-1556+. Tutor of Prince James of Scotland (James V. ); “Lord Lyon King-at-Arms;” poet. +Lyndesay’s Dream+ (1528); +The Complaint+ (1529); +A Satire of the Three Estates+ (1535)-- a “morality-play. ”

 Henry VII. Ascends the throne, 1485. Greek began to be taught in England about 1497. 

+1500+

 ROGER ASCHAM. +1515-1568+. Lecturer on Greek at Cambridge; tutor to Edward VI. , Queen Elizabeth, and Lady Jane Grey. +Toxophilus+ (1544), a treatise on shooting with the bow; +The Scholemastre+ (1570). “Ascham is plain and strong in his style, but without grace or warmth. ”

 Henry VIII. Ascends the throne, 1509. Battle of Flodden, 1513. Wolsey Cardinal and Lord High Chancellor, 1515. 

 JOHN FOXE. +1517-1587+. An English clergyman. Corrector for the press at Basle; Prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral; prose-writer. +The Book of Martyrs+ (1563), an account of the chief Protestant martyrs. 

 Sir Thomas More first layman who was Lord High Chancellor, 1529. Reformation in England begins about 1534. 

 EDMUND SPENSER. +1552-1599+. Secretary to Viceroy of Ireland; political writer; poet. +Shepheard’s Calendar+ (1579): +Faerie Queene+, in six books (1590-96). 

 Edward VI. Ascends the throne, 1547. Mary Tudor ascends the throne, 1553. 

+1550+

 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. +1552-1618+. Courtier; statesman; sailor; coloniser; historian. +History of the World+ (1614), written during the author’s imprisonment in the Tower of London. 

 Cranmer burnt 1556. 

 RICHARD HOOKER. +1553-1600+. English clergyman; Master of the Temple; Rector of Boscombe, in the diocese of Salisbury. +Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity+ (1594). This book is an eloquent defence of the Church of England. The writer, from his excellent judgment, is generally called “the judicious Hooker. ”

 Elizabeth ascends the throne, 1558. 

 SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. +1554-1586+. Courtier; general; romance-writer. +Arcadia+, a romance (1580). +Defence of Poesie+, published after his death (in 1595). +Sonnets+. 

+1560+

 FRANCIS BACON. +1561-1626+. Viscount St Albans; Lord High Chancellor of England; lawyer; philosopher; essayist. +Essays+ (1597); +Advancement of Learning+ (1605); +Novum Organum+ (1620); and other works on methods of inquiry into nature. 

 Hawkins begins slave trade in 1562. Rizzio murdered, 1566. 

 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. +1564-1616+. Actor; owner of theatre; play-writer; poet. Born and died at Stratford-on-Avon. Thirty-seven plays. His greatest +tragedies+ are _Hamlet_, _Lear_, and _Othello_. His best +comedies+ are _Midsummer Night’s Dream_, _The Merchant of Venice_, and _As You Like It_. His best +historical plays+ are _Julius Cæsar_ and _Richard III_. Many _minor poems_-- chiefly +sonnets+. He wrote no prose. 

 Marlowe, Dekker, Chapman, Beaumont and Fletcher, Ford, Webster, Ben Johnson, and other dramatists, were contemporaries of Shakspeare. 

+1570+

 BEN JONSON. +1574-1637+. Dramatist; poet; prose-writer. +Tragedies+ and +comedies+. Best plays: _Volpone or the Fox_; _Every Man in his Humour_. 

 Drake sails round the world, 1577. Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, 1578. 

+1580+

 WILLIAM DRUMMOND (“of Hawthornden”). +1585-1649+. Scottish poet; friend of Ben Jonson. +Sonnets+ and +poems+. 

 Raleigh in Virginia, 1584. Babington’s Plot, 1586. Spanish Armada, 1588. 

+1590+

 THOMAS HOBBES. +1588-1679+. Philosopher; prose-writer; translator of Homer. +The Leviathan+ (1651), a work on politics and moral philosophy. 

 Battle of Ivry, 1590. 

+1600+

 SIR THOMAS BROWNE. +1605-1682+. Physician at Norwich. +Religio Medici+ (= “The Religion of a Physician”); +Urn-Burial+; and other prose works. 

 Australia discovered, 1601. James I. Ascends the throne in 1603. 

 JOHN MILTON. +1608-1674+. Student; political writer; poet; Foreign (or “Latin”) Secretary to Cromwell. Became blind from over-work in +1654+. _Minor Poems_; +Paradise Lost+; +Paradise Regained+; +Samson Agonistes+. Many prose works, the best being +Areopagitica+, a speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing. 

 Hampton Court Conference for translation of Bible, 1604-11. Gunpowder Plot, 1605. 

+1610+

 SAMUEL BUTLER. +1612-1680+. Literary man; secretary to the Earl of Carbery. +Hudibras+, a mock-heroic poem, written to ridicule the Puritan and Parliamentarian party. 

 Execution of Raleigh, 1618. 

 JEREMY TAYLOR. +1613-1667+. English clergyman; Bishop of Down and Connor in Ireland. +Holy Living+ and +Holy Dying+ (1649); and a number of other religious books. 

+1620+

 JOHN BUNYAN. +1628-1688+. Tinker and traveling preacher. +The Pilgrim’s Progress+ (1678); the +Holy War+; and other religious works. 

 Charles I. Ascends the throne in 1625. Petition of Right, 1628. 

+1630+

 JOHN DRYDEN. +1631-1700+. Poet-Laureate and Historiographer-Royal; playwright; poet; prose-writer. +Annus Mirabilis+ (= “The Wonderful Year, ” 1665-66, on the Plague and the Fire of London); +Absalom and Achitophel+ (1681), a poem on political parties; +Hind and Panther+ (1687), a religious poem. He also wrote many plays, some odes and a translation of Virgil’s +Æneid+. His prose consists chiefly of prefaces and introductions to his poems. 

 No Parliament from 1629-40. Scottish National Covenant, 1638. 

+1640+

 Long Parliament, 1640-53. Marston Moor, 1644. Execution of Charles I. , 1649. 

+1650+

 JOHN LOCKE. +1632-1704+. Diplomatist; Secretary to the Board of Trade; philosopher; prose-writer. +Essay concerning the Human Understanding+ (1690); +Thoughts on Education+; and other prose works. 

 The Commonwealth, 1649-60. Cromwell Lord Protector, 1653-58. 

+1660+

 DANIEL DEFOE. +1661-1731+. Literary man; pamphleteer; journalist; member of Commission on Union with Scotland. +The True-born Englishman+ (1701); +Robinson Crusoe+ (1719); +Journal of the Plague+ (1722); and more than a hundred books in all. 

 Restoration, 1660. First standing army, 1661. First newspaper in England, 1663. 

 JONATHAN SWIFT. +1667-1745+. English clergyman; literary man; satirist; prose-writer; poet; Dean of St Patrick’s, in Dublin. +Battle of the Books+; +Tale of a Tub+ (1704), an allegory on the Churches of Rome, England, and Scotland; +Gulliver’s Travels+ (1726); a few poems; and a number of very vigorous political pamphlets. 

 Plague of London, 1665. Fire of London, 1666. 

+1670+

 SIR RICHARD STEELE. +1671-1729+. Soldier; literary man; courtier; journalist; M. P. Steele founded the ‘Tatler, ’ ‘Spectator, ’ ‘Guardian, ’ and other small journals. He also wrote some plays. 

 Charles II. Pensioned by Louis XIV. Of France, 1674. 

 JOSEPH ADDISON. +1672-1719+. Essayist; poet; Secretary of State for the Home Department. +Essays+ in the ‘Tatler, ’ ‘Spectator, ’ and ‘Guardian. ’ Cato, a Tragedy (1713). Several _Poems_ and _Hymns_. 

 The Habeas Corpus Act, 1679. 

+1680+

 ALEXANDER POPE. +1688-1744+. Poet. +Essay on Criticism+ (1711); +Rape of the Lock+ (1714); Translation of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, finished in 1726; +Dunciad+ (1729); +Essay on Man+ (1739). A few prose _Essays_, and a volume of _Letters_. 

 James II. Ascends the throne in 1685. Revolution of 1688. William III. And Mary II. Ascend the throne, 1689. 

+1690+

 Battle of the Boyne, 1690. 

 JAMES THOMSON. +1700-1748+. Poet. +The Seasons+; a poem in blank verse (1730); +The Castle of Indolence+; a mock-heroic poem in the Spenserian stanza (1748). 

 Censorship of the Press abolished, 1695. Queen Anne ascends the throne in 1702. 

+1700+

 HENRY FIELDING. +1707-1754+. Police-magistrate, journalist; novelist. +Joseph Andrews+ (1742); +Amelia+ (1751). He was “the first great English novelist. ”

 Battle of Blenheim, 1704. Gibraltar taken, 1704. 

 DR SAMUEL JOHNSON. +1709-1784+. Schoolmaster; literary man; essayist; poet; dictionary-maker. +London+ (1738); +The Vanity of Human Wishes+ (1749); +Dictionary of the English Language+ (1755); +Rasselas+ (1759); +Lives of the Poets+ (1781). He also wrote +The Idler+, +The Rambler+, and a play called +Irene+. 

 Union of England and Scotland, 1707. 

+1710+

 DAVID HUME. +1711-1776+. Librarian; Secretary to the French Embassy; philosopher; literary man. +History of England+ (1754-1762); and a number of philosophical _Essays_. His prose is singularly clear, easy, and pleasant. 

 George I. Ascends the throne in 1714. 

 THOMAS GRAY. +1716-1771+. Student; poet; letter-writer; Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge. +Odes+; +Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard+ (1750)-- one of the most perfect poems in our language. He was a great stylist, and an extremely careful workman. 

 Rebellion in Scotland in 1715. 

+1720+

 TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT. +1721-1771+. Doctor; pamphleteer; literary hack; novelist. +Roderick Random+ (1748); +Humphrey Clinker+ (1771). He also continued +Hume’s History of England+. He published also some _Plays_ and _Poems_. 

 South-Sea Bubble bursts, 1720. 

 OLIVER GOLDSMITH. +1728-1774+. Literary man; play-writer; poet. +The Traveller+ (1764); +The Vicar of Wakefield+ (1766); +The Deserted Village+ (1770); +She Stoops to Conquer+--a Play (1773); and a large number of books, pamphlets, and compilations. 

 George II. Ascends the throne, 1727. 

 ADAM SMITH. +1723-1790+. Professor in the University of Glasgow. +Theory of Moral Sentiments+ (1759); +Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations+ (1776). He was the founder of the science of political economy. 

+1730+

 EDMUND BURKE. +1730-1797+. M. P. ; statesman; “the first man in the House of Commons;” orator; writer on political philosophy. +Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful+ (1757); +Reflections on the Revolution of France+ (1790); +Letters on a Regicide Peace+ (1797); and many other works. “The greatest philosopher in practice the world ever saw. ”

 WILLIAM COWPER. +1731-1800+. Commissioner in Bankruptcy; Clerk of the Journals of the House of Lords; poet. +Table Talk+ (1782); +John Gilpin+ (1785); +A Translation of Homer+ (1791); and many other _Poems_. His Letters, like Gray’s, are among the best in the language. 

+1740+

 EDWARD GIBBON. +1737-1794+. Historian; M. P. +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire+ (1776-87). “Heavily laden style and monotonous balance of every sentence. ”

 Rebellion in Scotland, 1745, commonly called “The ’Forty-five. ”

+1750+

 ROBERT BURNS. +1759-1796+. Farm-labourer; ploughman; farmer; excise-officer; lyrical poet. _Poems and Songs_ (1786-96). His prose consists chiefly of Letters. “His pictures of social life, of quaint humour, come up to nature; and they cannot go beyond it. ”

 Clive in India, 1750-60. Earthquake at Lisbon, 1755. Black Hole of Calcutta, 1756. 

+1760+

 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. +1770-1850+. Distributor of Stamps for the county of Westmoreland; poet; poet-laureate. +Lyrical Ballads+ (with Coleridge, 1798); +The Excursion+ (1814); +Yarrow Revisited+ (1835), and many poems. +The Prelude+ was published after his death. His prose, which is very good, consists chiefly of Prefaces and Introductions. 

 George III. Ascends the throne in 1760. Napoleon and Wellington born, 1769. 

+1770+

 SIR WALTER SCOTT. +1771-1832+. Clerk to the Court of Session in Edinburgh; Scottish barrister; poet; novelist. +Lay of the Last Minstrel+ (1805); +Marmion+ (1808); +Lady of the Lake+ (1810); +Waverley+-- the first of the “Waverley Novels”-- was published in 1814. The “Homer of Scotland. ” His prose is bright and fluent, but very inaccurate. 

 Warren Hastings in India, 1772-85. 

 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. +1772-1834+. Private soldier; journalist; literary man; philosopher; poet. +The Ancient Mariner+ (1798); +Christabel+ (1816); +The Friend+-- a Collection of Essays (1812); +Aids to Reflection+ (1825). His prose is very full both of thought and emotion. 

 ROBERT SOUTHEY. +1774-1843+. Literary man; Quarterly Reviewer; historian; poet-laureate. +Joan of Arc+ (1796); +Thalaba the Destroyer+ (1801); +The Curse of Kehama+ (1810); +A History of Brazil+; +The Doctor+-- a Collection of Essays; +Life of Nelson+. He wrote more than a hundred volumes. He was “the most ambitious and and most voluminous author of his age. ”

 American Declaration of Independence, 1776. 

 CHARLES LAMB. +1775-1834+. Clerk in the East India House; poet; prose-writer. _Poems_ (1797); +Tales from Shakespeare+ (1806); +The Essays of Elia+ (1823-1833). One of the finest writers of writers of prose in the English language. 

 WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. +1775-1864+. Poet; prose-writer. +Gebir+ (1798); +Count Julian+ (1812); +Imaginary Conversations+ (1824-1846); +Dry Sticks Faggoted+ (1858). He wrote books for more than sixty years. His style is full of vigour and sustained eloquence. 

 Alliance of France and America, 1778. 

 THOMAS CAMPBELL. +1777-1844+. Poet; literary man; editor. +The Pleasures of Hope+ (1799); +Poems+ (1803); +Gertrude of Wyoming+, +Battle of the Baltic+, +Hohenlinden+, etc. (1809). He also wrote some _Historical Works_. 

 Encyclopædia Britannica founded in 1778. 

 HENRY HALLAM. +1778-1859+. Historian. +View of Europe during the Middle Ages+ (1818); +Constitutional History of England+ (1827); +Introduction to the Literature of Europe+ (1839). 

 THOMAS MOORE. +1779-1852+. Poet; prose-writer. +Odes and Epistles+ (1806); +Lalla Rookh+ (1817); +History of Ireland+ (1827); +Life of Byron+ (1830); +Irish Melodies+ (1834); and many prose works. 

+1780+

 THOMAS DE QUINCEY. +1785-1859+. Essayist. +Confessions of an English Opium-Eater+ (1821). He wrote also on many subjects-- philosophy, poetry, classics, history, politics. His writings fill twenty volumes. He was one of the finest prose-writers of this century. 

 French Revolution begun in 1789. 

 LORD BYRON (George Gordon). +1788-1824+. Peer; poet; volunteer to Greece. +Hours of Idleness+ (1807); +English Bards and Scotch Reviewers+ (1809); +Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage+ (1812-1818); +Hebrew Melodies+ (1815); and many _Plays_. His prose, which is full of vigour and animal spirits, is to be found chiefly in his Letters. 

 Bastille overthrown, 1789. 

+1790+

 PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. +1792-1822+. Poet. +Queen Mab+ (1810); +Prometheus Unbound+--a Tragedy (1819); +Ode to the Skylark+, +The Cloud+ (1820); +Adonaïs+ (1821), and many other poems; and several prose works. 

 Cape of Good Hope Hope taken, 1795. Bonaparte in Italy, 1796. Battle of the Nile, 1798. 

+1800+

 JOHN KEATS. +1795-1821+. Poet. +Poems+ (1817); +Endymion+ (1818); +Hyperion+ (1820). “Had Keats lived to the ordinary age of man, he would have been one of the greatest of all poets. ”

 Union of Great Britain and Ireland, 1801. Trafalgar and Nelson, 1805. 

+1810+

 Peninsular War, 1808-14. Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia; Moscow burnt, 1812. 

+1820+

 THOMAS CARLYLE. +1795-1881+. Literary man; poet; translator; essayist; reviewer; political writer; historian. +German Romances+-- a set of Translations (1827); +Sartor Resartus+-- “The Tailor Repatched” (1834); +The French Revolution+ (1837); +Heroes and Hero-Worship+ (1840); +Past and Present+ (1843); +Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches+ (1845); +Life of Frederick the Great+ (1858-65). “With the gift of song, Carlyle would have been the greatest of epic poets since Homer. ”

 War with United States, 1812-14. Battle of Waterloo, 1815. 

+1830+

 George IV. Ascends the throne, 1820. Greek War of Freedom, 1822-29. Byron in Greece, 1823-24. Catholic Emancipation, 1829. 

 LORD MACAULAY (Thomas Babington). +1800-1859+. Barrister; Edinburgh Reviewer; M. P. ; Member of the Supreme Council of India; Cabinet Minister; poet; essayist; historian; peer. +Milton+ (in the ‘Edinburgh Review, ’ 1825); +Lays of Ancient Rome+ (1842); +History of England+-- unfinished (1849-59). “His pictorial faculty is amazing. ”

 William IV. Ascends the throne, 1830. The Reform Bill, 1832. Total Abolition of Slavery, 1834. 

 LORD LYTTON (Edward Bulwer). +1805-1873+. Novelist; poet; dramatist; M. P. ; Cabinet Minister; peer. +Ismael and Other Poems+ (1825); +Eugene Aram+ (1831); +Last Days of Pompeii+ (1834); +The Caxtons+ (1849); +My Novel+ (1853); +Poems+ (1865). 

 Queen Victoria ascends the throne, 1837. 

+1840+

 Irish Famine, 1845. 

 JOHN STUART MILL. +1806-1873+. Clerk in the East India House; philospher; political writer; M. P. ; Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews. +System of Logic+ (1843); +Principles of Political Economy+ (1848); +Essay on Liberty+ (1858); +Autobiography+ (1873); “For judicial calmness, elevation of tone, and freedom from personality, Mill is unrivalled among the writers of his time. ”

 Repeal of the Corn Laws, 1846. 

+1850+

 Revolution in Paris, 1851. Death of Wellington, 1852. 

 HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. +1807-1882+. Professor of Modern Languages and Literature in Harvard University, U. S. ; poet; prose-writer. +Outre-Mer+--a Story (1835); +Hyperion+--a Story (1839); +Voices of the Night+ (1841); +Evangeline+ (1848) +Hiawatha+ (1855); +Aftermath+ (1873). “His tact in the use of language is probably the chief cause of his success. ”

 Napoleon III. Emperor of the French, 1852. Russian War, 1854-56. 

 LORD TENNYSON (Alfred Tennyson). +1809----+. Poet; poet-laureate; peer. +Poems+ (1830) +In Memoriam+ (1850); +Maud+ (1855); +Idylls of the King+ (1859-73); +Queen Mary+--a Drama (1875); +Becket+--a Drama (1884). He is at present our greatest living poet. 

 Franco-Austrian War, 1859. 

+1860+

 Emancipation of Russian serfs, 1861. 

 ELIZABETH B. BARRETT (afterwards Mrs Browning). +1809-1861+. Poet; prose-writer; translator. +Prometheus Bound+-- translated from the Greek of Æschylus (1833); +Poems+ (1844); +Aurora Leigh+ (1856); and _Essays_ contributed to various magazines. 

 Austro-Prussian “Seven Weeks’ War”, 1866. Suez canal finished, 1869. 

+1870+

 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY. +1811-1863+. Novelist; writer in ‘Punch’; artist. +The Paris Sketch-Book+ (1840); +Vanity Fair+ (1847); +Esmond+ (1852); +The Newcomes+(1855); +The Virginians+ (1857). The greatest novelist and one of the most perfect stylists of this century. “The classical English humorist and satirist of the reign of Queen Victoria. ”

 Franco-Prussian War 1870-71. Third French Republic, 1870. William I. Of Prussia made Emperor of the Germans at Versailles, 1871. 

 CHARLES DICKENS. +1812-1870+. Novelist. +Sketches by Boz+ (1836); +The Pickwick Papers+ (1837); +Oliver Twist+ (1838); +Nicholas Nickleby+ (1838); and many other novels and works; +Great Expectations+ (1868). The most popular writer that ever lived. 

 Rome the new capital of Italy, 1871. Russo-Turkish War 1877-78. Berlin Congress and Treaty, 1878. 

 ROBERT BROWNING. +1812----+. Poet. +Pauline+ (1833); +Paracelsus+ (1836); _Poems_ (1865); +The Ring and the Book+ (1869); and many other volumes of poetry. 

 Leo XIII. Made Pope in 1878. 

+1880+

 JOHN RUSKIN. +1819----+. Art-critic; essayist; teacher; literary man. +Modern Painters+ (1843-60); +The Stones of Venice+ (1851-53); +The Queen of the Air+ (1869); +An Autobiography+ (1885); and very many other works. “He has a deep, serious, and almost fanatical reverence for art. ”

 Assassination of Alexander II. , 1881. Arabi Pasha’s Rebellion 1882-83. War in the Soudan, 1884. 

 GEORGE ELIOT. +1819-1880+. Novelist; poet; essayist. +Scenes of Clerical Life+ (1858); +Adam Bede+ (1859); and many other novels down to +Daniel Deronda+ (1876); +Spanish Gypsy+ (1868); +Legend of Jubal+ (1874). 

 Murder of Gordon, 1884. New Reform Bill, 1885. 

INDEX. 

 [Spellings in the Index are sometimes different from those used in the main text, as with the names “Shakespeare” and “Wycliffe”, or the use of ligatures in names such as “Bæda” and “Cædmon”. Paragraph references given in {braces} were added by the transcriber. Parts III and IV are separately indexed. ]

PART III. 

 +African+ words in English, 263. +American+ words in English, 263. +Analytic+ English (= modern), 239 {III. 2}. +Ancient+ English, 199 {I. 4}. Synthetic, 239 {III. 1}. +Anglo-Saxon+, specimen from, 250 {IV. 2}. Contrasted with English of Wyclif and Tyndale, 251 {IV. 3}. +Arabic+ words in English, 263. +Aryan+ family of languages, 195 {intro. 7}. 

 +Bible+, English of the, 256 {IV. 11}. +Bilingualism+, 222 {II. 33}. 

 +Changes+ of language, never sudden, 198 {I. 2}. +Chinese+ words in English, 264. 

 +Dead+ and living languages, 198 {I. 1}. +Dialects+ of English, 238 {II. 52}. +Doublets+, English and other, 236-238 {II. 47-II. 51}. Greek, 233 {II. 45}. Latin, 230-233 {II. 41-II. 43}. +Dutch+ and Welsh contrasted, 197 {intro. 10}. Words in English, 260 {V. 5}. 

 +English+, 194 {intro. 4}. A Low-German tongue, 196 {intro. 9}. Diagram of, 203. Dialects of, 238 {II. 52}. Early and oldest, compared, 252 {IV. 5}. Elements of, characteristics of the two, 234-236 {II. 46-II. 47}. English element in, 202 {II. 2}. Foreign elements in, 204 {II. 5}. Grammar of, its history, 239-249 {III. 1-III. 16}. Its spread over Britain, 197 {intro. 11}. Modern, 258-265 {V. 1-V. 10}. Nation, 202 {II. 1}. Of the Bible, 256 {IV. 11}. Of the thirteenth century, 254 {IV. 8}. Of the fourteenth century, 255 {IV. 9}. Of the sixteenth century, 256 {IV. 10}. On the Continent, 194 {intro. 5}. Periods of, 198-201 {I. 3-I. 8}. Marks which distinguish, 254. Syntax of, changed, 245 {III. 11}. The family to which it belongs, 195 {intro. 7}. The group to which it belongs, 195 {intro. 8}, 196. Vocabulary of, 202-238 {II. 1-II. 52}. 

 +Foreign+ elements in English, 204 {II. 5}. +French+ (new) words in English, 261 {V. 6}. (Norman), see Norman-French. 

 +German+ words in English, 262 {V. 7}. +Grammar+ of English, 239-249 {III. 1-III. 16}. Comparatively fixed (since 1485), 258 {V. 1}. First Period, 240 {III. 5}. General view of its history, 243 {III. 9}. Second Period, 241 {III. 6}. Short view of its history, 239-243 {III. 3-III. 8}. Third Period, 242 {III. 7}. Fourth Period, 242 {III. 8}. +Greek+ doublets, 233 {II. 45}. +Gutturals+, expulsion of, 246-248 {III. 12-III. 14}. 

 +Hebrew+ words in English, 262 {V. 8}. +Hindu+ words in English, 264. +History+ of English, landmarks in, 266. +Hungarian+ words in English, 264. 

 +Indo-European+ family, 195 {intro. 7}. +Inflexions+ in different periods, compared, 253 {IV. 6}. Loss of, 239 {III. 3}, 240 {III. 4}. Grammatical result of loss, 248 {III. 16}. +Italian+ words in English, 259 {V. 4}. 

 +Keltic+ element in English, 204-206 {II. 6-II. 9}. 

 +Landmarks+ in the history of English, 266. +Language+, 193 {intro. 1}. Changes of, 198 {I. 2}. Growth of, 193 {intro. 3}. Living and dead, 198 {I. 1}. Spoken and written, 203 {II. 3}. Written, 193 {intro. 2}. +Latin+ contributions and their dates, 209 {II. 16}. Doublets, 230-233 {II. 41-II. 43}. Element in English, 208-233 {II. 15-II. 44}. Of the eye and ear, 230 {II. 41}. Of the First Period, 210 {II. 17}. Second Period, 211 {II. 19}, 212 {II. 21}. Third Period, 212-227 {II. 22-II. 36}. Fourth Period, 227-230 {II. 37-II. 39}. Triplets, 233 {II. 44}. +Lord’s Prayer+, in four versions, 251 {IV. 4}, 252. 

 +Malay+ words in English, 264. +Middle+ English, 200 {I. 6}. +Modern+ English, 201 {I. 8}, 258-265 {V. 1-V. 10}. Analytic, 239 {III. 2}. +Monosyllables+, 244 {III. 10}. 

 +New words+ in English, 258-265 {V. 2-V. 10}. +Norman-French+, 212 {II. 22}. Bilingualism caused by, 222 {II. 33}. Contributions, general character of, 220 {II. 30}. Dates of, 213-215 {II. 23-II. 24}. Element in English, 212-227 {II. 22-II. 36}. Gains to English from, 221-224 {II. 31-II. 33}. Losses to English from, 225-227 {II. 34-II. 36}. Synonyms, 222 {II. 32}. Words, 216-220 {II. 24-II. 29}. 

 +Oldest+ and early English compared, 252 {IV. 5}. +Order+ of words in English, changed, 245 {III. 11}. 

 +Periods+ of English, 198-201 {I. 3-I. 8}. Ancient, 199 {I. 4}. Early, 199 {I. 5}. Middle, 200 {I. 6}. Tudor, 201 {I. 7}. Modern, 201 {I. 8}. Grammar of the different, 239-249 {III. 1-III. 16}. Marks indicating different, 254. Specimens of different, 250-257 {IV. 1-IV. 12}. +Persian+ words in English, 264. +Polynesian+ words in English, 264. +Portuguese+ words in English, 264. 

 +Renascence+ (Revival of Learning), 227 {II. 37}. +Russian+ words in English, 264. 

 +Scandinavian+ element in English, 206-208 {II. 10-II. 14}. +Scientific+ terms in English, 265 {V. 10}. +Spanish+ words in English, 259 {V. 3}. +Specimens+ of English of different periods, 250-257 {IV. 1-IV. 12}. +Spoken+ and written language, 203 {II. 3}. +Syntax+ of English, change in, 245 {III. 11}. +Synthetic+ English (= ancient), 239 {III. 1}. 

 +Tartar +words in English, 264. +Teutonic+ group, 195 {intro. 8}. +Tudor+ English, 201 {I. 7}. +Turkish+ words in English, 264. +Tyndale’s+ English, compared with Anglo-Saxon and Wyclif, 251 {IV. 3}. 

 +Vocabulary+ of the English language, 202-238 {II. 1-II. 52}. 

 +Welsh+ and Dutch contrasted, 197 {intro. 10}. +Words+ and inflexions in different periods, compared, 253 {IV. 6}. New, in English, 258-265 {V. 2-V. 10}. +Written+ language, 193 {intro. 2}. And spoken, 203 {II. 3}. +Wyclif’s+ English, compared with Tyndale’s and Anglo-Saxon, 251 {IV. 3}. 

PART IV. 

 +Addison+, Joseph, 315 {VI. 7}. +Alfred+, 276 {I. 9}. _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 276 {I. 10}. +Arnold+, Matthew, 359 {IX. 10}. +Austen+, Jane, 348 {VIII. 25}. 

 +Bacon+, Francis, 299 {V. 3}. +Bæda+ (Venerable Bede), 275 {I. 8}. +Barbour+, John, 285 {II. 10}. _Beowulf_, 273 {I. 5}. +Blake+, William, 334 {VII. 20}. +Browning+, Robert, 358 {IX. 8}. +Browning+, Mrs. , 357 {IX. 7}. _Brunanburg, Song of_, 275 {I. 7}. +Brunne+, Robert of, 279 {I. 12}. _Brut_, 277 {I. 11}. +Bunyan+, John, 309 {V. 17}. +Burke+, Edmund, 326 {VII. 6}. +Burns+, Robert, 332 {VII. 16}. +Butler+, Samuel, 304 {V. 10}. +Byron+, George Gordon, Lord, 343 {VIII. 16}. 

 +Cædmon+, 274 {I. 6}. +Campbell+, Thomas, 342 {VIII. 14}. +Carlyle+, Thomas, 349 {VIII. 27}. +Caxton+, William, 288 {III. 3}. +Chatterton+, Thomas, 333 {VII. 18}. +Chaucer+, Geoffrey, 283 {II. 7}. Followers of, 287 {III. 1}. +Coleridge+, Samuel Taylor, 340 {VIII. 10}. +Collins+, William, 321 {VI. 19}. +Cowper+, William, 329 {VII. 11}. +Crabbe+, George, 331 {VII. 13}. 

 +Defoe+, Daniel, 312 {VI. 3}. +De Quincey+, Thomas, 348 {VIII. 26}. +Dickens+, Charles, 361 {IX. 15}. +Dryden+, John, 305 {V. 12}. 

 +Eliot+, George, 364 {IX. 19}. 

 +Gibbon+, Edward, 327 {VII. 8}. +Gloucester+, Robert of, 279 {I. 12}. +Goldsmith+, Oliver, 325 {VII. 4}. +Gower+, John, 282 {II. 5}. +Gray+, Thomas, 320 {VI. 17}. 

 +Hobbes+, Thomas, 308 {V. 16}. +Hooker+, Richard, 296 {IV. 16}. 

 +James I. + (of Scotland), 287 {III. 2}. +Johnson+, Samuel, 323 {VII. 2}. +Jonson+, Ben, 295 {IV. 15}. 

 +Keats+, John, 345 {VIII. 20}. 

 +Lamb+, Charles, 346 {VIII. 23}. +Landor+, Walter Savage, 347 {VIII. 24}. +Langlande+, William, 282 {II. 6}. +Layamon+, 277 {I. 11}. +Locke+, John, 309 {V. 18}. +Longfellow+, Henry Wadsworth, 354 {IX. 3}. 

 +Macaulay+, Thomas Babington, 351 {VIII. 29}. _Maldon_, Song of the Fight at, 275 {I. 7}. +Mandeville+, Sir John, 281 {II. 3}. +Marlowe+, Christopher, 295 {IV. 14}. +Milton+, John, 303 {V. 8}. +Moore+, Thomas, 342 {VIII. 15}. +More+, Sir Thomas, 290 {IV. 3}. +Morris+, William, 360 {IX. 12}. 

 +Orm’s+ _Ormulum_, 278 {I. 12}. 

 +Pope+, Alexander, 317 {VI. 11}, 319 {VI. 14}. 

 +Raleigh+, Sir Walter, 298 {V. 2}. +Ruskin+, John, 363 {IX. 17}. 

 +Scott+, Sir Walter, 339 {VIII. 5}. +Shakespeare+, William, 292 {IV. 9}, 301 {V. 5}. Contemporaries of, 294 {IV. 13}. +Shelley+, Percy Bysshe, 344 {VIII. 18}. +Sidney+, Sir Philip, 297 {IV. 18}. +Southey+, Robert, 341 {VIII. 12}. +Spenser+, Edmund, 291 {IV. 6}. +Steele+, Richard, 316 {VI. 10}. +Surrey+, Earl of, 289 {IV. 2}. +Swift+, Jonathan, 313 {VI. 5}. 

 +Taylor+, Jeremy, 307 {V. 14}. +Tennyson+, Alfred, 355 {IX. 5}. +Thackeray+, William Makepeace, 361 {IX. 14}. +Thomson+, James, 319 {VI. 15}, 320 {VI. 16}. +Tyndale+, William, 290 {IV. 4}. 

 +Wordsworth+, William, 337 {VIII. 3}. +Wyatt+, Sir Thomas, 289 {IV. 2}. +Wyclif+, John, 282 {II. 4}. 

 * * * * * * * * *

_ENGLISH LITERATURE. _

“+_The chief glory of every people arises from its authors. _+”

_An Introduction to the Study of Robert Browning’s Poetry. _

 By HIRAM CORSON, LL. D. , Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the Cornell University. 5¼ by 7½ inches. × + 338 pages. Cloth. Price by mail, $1. 50; Introduction price, $1. 40. 

The purpose of this volume is to afford some aid and guidance to thestudy of Robert Browning’s Poetry, which being the most complexlysubjective of all English poetry, is, for that reason alone, the mostdifficult. And then the poet’s favorite art form, the dramatic, orrather psychologic, monologue, which is quite original with himself, andpeculiarly adapted to the constitution of his genius, and to therevelation of themselves by the several “dramatis personæ, ” presentscertain structural difficulties, but difficulties which, with anincreased familiarity, grew less and less. The exposition presented inthe Introduction, of its constitution and skilful management, and theArguments given to the several poems included in the volume, will, it ishoped, reduce, if not altogether remove, the difficulties of this kind. In the same section of the Introduction certain peculiarities of thepoet’s diction, which sometimes give a check to the reader’sunderstanding of a passage, are presented and illustrated. 

It is believed that the notes to the poems will be found to cover allpoints and features of the texts which require explanation andelucidation. At any rate, no real difficulties have been wittinglypassed by. 

The following Table of Contents will give a good idea of the plan andscope of the work:--

 I. The Spiritual Ebb and Flow exhibited in English Poetry from Chaucer to Tennyson and Browning. 

 II. The Idea of Personality and of Art as an intermediate agency of Personality, as embodied in Browning’s Poetry. (Read before the Browning Society of London in 1882. )

 III. Browning’s Obscurity. 

 IV. Browning’s Verse. 

 V. Arguments of the Poems. 

 VI. Poems. (Under this head are thirty-three representative poems, the Arguments of which are given in the preceding section. )

 VII. List of criticisms of Browning’s works, selected from Dr. Furnivall’s “Bibliography of Robert Browning” contained in the Browning Society’s Papers. 

_From +Albert S. Cook+, Professor of English Literature in theUniversity of California_:--

 Among American expositors of Browning, Professor Corson is easily first. He has not only satisfied the English organization which devotes itself to the study of the poet, but, what is perhaps a severer test, he attracts the reader to whom Browning is only a name, and, in the compass of one small volume, educates him into the love and appreciation of the poet. If Browning is to be read in only a single volume, this, in my opinion, is the best; if he is to be studied zealously and exhaustively, Professor Corson’s book is an excellent introduction to the complete series of his works. 

_From +The Critic+:--

 Ruskin, Browning, and Carlyle all have something in common: a vast message to deliver, a striking way of delivering it, and an over-mastering spirituality. In none of them is there mere smooth, smuck surface: all are filled with the fine wrinkles of thought wreaking itself on expression with many a Delphic writhing. A priest with a message cares little for the vocal vehicle; and yet the utterances of all three men are beautifully melodious. Chiefest of them all in his special poetic sphere appears to be Browning, and to him Professor Corson thinks our special studies should be directed. This book is a valuable contribution to Browning lore, and will doubtless be welcomed by the Browning clubs of this country and England. It is easy to see that Professor Corson is more than an annotator: he is a poet himself, and on this account he is able to interpret Browning so sympathetically. 

_From +The Unitarian Review+, Boston, March, 1887_:--

 More than almost any other poet, Browning-- at least, his reader-- needs the help of a believing, cheery, and enthusiastic guide, to beguile the weary pilgrimage. 

 There is, as we have intimated, a fast-growing esoteric literature of exposition and comment, -- part of it simply the expression of the disciple’s loyal homage, part of it designed to win and educate the reluctant Philistine intellect to the comforts of a true faith. In the latter class we reckon the excellent work of Professor Corson, of Cornell University. More than half of it is, as it should be, made up of a selection from the shorter poems, giving each complete; while these include what is perhaps the most readable and one of the most characteristic of the narrative pieces, “The Flight of the Duchess, ” with which a beginner may well make his first attempt. 

_From +The Christian Union+, New York_:--

 Browning, like every other great original artist, has been compelled to wait upon the slow processes by which his own public has been educated. 

 It is doubtful if any other single work on Browning deserves to rank with this, with the exception of Professor Dowden’s striking comparative study of Browning and Tennyson. Professor Corson’s elucidation of the idea of personality in art as embodied in Mr. Browning’s poetry is the most luminous, the most adequate, and the most thoroughly helpful article that has ever been written on Browning’s poetry. Those who study it carefully will discern in it a rare insight into the workings of one of the most subtle of modern minds, and a singularly clear and complete statement of the philosophy of life at which that mind has arrived. The chapters on Browning’s obscurity and on his use of the dramatic monologue are also extremely suggestive and helpful; the selections from Browning’s poems are admirably chosen, and, with the notes, make the best of all possible introductions to the study of Browning. 

_From +Rev. Francis Tiffany+, in “The Boston Herald, ” Nov. 30, 1886_:--

 The volume is well worthy the serious study of thinking men and women, for it embodies the results of years, not only of thorough investigation, but of the finest poetical appreciation. From beginning to end, it is pervaded with a fervid feeling that not to know Robert Browning is to lose something. 

 Professor Corson, in his chapter on “Browning’s Obscurity, ” has done his best to smooth the path of the reader by explaining, and so removing from his way, those grammatical obstructions, habits of word inversion and baffling ellipses that stand as a lion in the path to so many of the poet’s untried readers. This chapter is exceedingly well wrought out, and, once carefully studied, with the illustrations given, can hardly fail to banish many a perplexity. 

_From +The American+, Philadelphia_:--

 Can Browning be made intelligible to the common mind? Ten years ago it was assumed that he could not. But of late years a different view has begun to prevail. And as all those who have addressed themselves seriously to the study of Browning report themselves as having found him repay the trouble he gave them, there has arisen very naturally an ambition to share in their fruitful experience. Hence the rise of Browning Societies on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the publication of analyses and discussions of his poems, and the preparation of such manuals as this of Professor Hiram Corson’s. 

 Professor Corson is a Browningite of the first era. He owes nothing but encouragement to the new enthusiasm which has gathered around the writings of the Master, whom he recognized as such long before he had begun to attain any general recognition of his masterfulness. Browning has helped him to a deeper sense of the spiritual life present in the older current of English poetry. He finds in him the “subtlest assertor of the soul in song, ” and the noblest example of the spiritual element in our modern verse. He thinks that no greater mistake has been made with regard to him, than to treat him merely as the most intellectual of our poets. He is that, but far more; he is the most spiritual of our poets also. 

 All or nearly all his poems are character-studies of the deeper sort, and hence the naturalness with which they fall into the form of dramatic monologues. It is true, as Mr. Corson says, that the liberties our poet takes in the collocation of words, the complexity of constructions, and some of his verbal liberties, are of a nature to increase the difficulty the careless reader finds. But there are poems and passages of his which present none of these minor stumbling-blocks, but of which no reader will make anything until he has acquired the poet’s interest in personality, its God-given mission as a force for the world’s regeneration, and its innate intimacy with divine forces. But we believe that with Mr. Corson’s aids-- notes as well as preliminary analyses-- they can be mastered by any earnest student; and certainly few things in literature so well repay the trouble. 

 +F. A. March+, _Prof. In Lafayette Coll_. : Let me congratulate you on having brought out so eloquent a book, and acute, as Professor Corson’s Browning. I hope it pays as well in money as it must in good name. 

 +Rev. Joseph Cook+, _Boston_: Professor Corson’s Introduction to Robert Browning’s Poetry appears to me to be admirably adapted to its purposes. It forms an attractive porch to a great and intricate cathedral. (_Feb. 21, 1887. _)

 +Louise M. Hodgkins+, _Prof. Of English Literature, Wellesley Coll. _: I consider it the most illuminating textbook which has yet been published on Browning’s poems. (_March 12, 1887. _)

 +F. H. Giddings+, in _“The Paper World, ” Springfield, Mass. _: It is a stimulating, wisely helpful book. The arguments of the poems are explained in luminous prose paragraphs that take the reader directly into the heart of the poet’s meaning. Chapters on Browning’s obscurity and Browning’s verse clear away, or rather show the reader how to overcome by his own efforts, the admitted difficulties presented by Browning’s style. These chapters bear the true test; they enable the attentive reader to see, as Professor Corson sees, that such features of Browning’s diction are seldom to be condemned, but often impart a peculiar crispness to the expressions in which they occur. 

 The opening chapter of the book is the finest, truest introduction to the study of English literature, as a whole, that any American writer has yet produced. 

 This chapter leads naturally to a profound and noble essay, of which it would be impossible to convey any adequate conception in a paragraph. It prepares the reader for an appreciation of Browning’s loftiest work. (_March, 1887. _)

 +Melville B. Anderson+, _Prof. Of English Literature, Purdue Univ. , in “The Dial, ” Chicago_: The arguments to the poems are made with rare judgment. Many mature readers have hitherto been repelled from Browning by real difficulties such as obstruct the way to the inner sanctuary of every great poet’s thought. Such readers may well be glad of some sort of a path up the rude steeps the poet has climbed and whither he beckons all who can to follow him. (_January, 1887. _)

 +Queries+, _Buffalo, N. Y. _: It is the most noteworthy treatise on the poetry of Browning yet published. Professor Corson is well informed upon the poetic literature of the age, is an admirably clear writer, and brings to the subject he has in hand ample knowledge and due-- we had almost said undue-- reverence. It has been a labor of love, and he has performed it well. The book will be a popular one, as readers who are not familiar with or do not understand Browning’s poetry either from incompetency, indolence, or lack of time, can here gain a fair idea of Browning’s poetical aims, influence, and works without much effort, or the expense of intellectual effort. Persons who have made a study of Browning’s poetry will welcome it as a matter of course. (_December, 1886. _)

 +Education+, _Boston_: Any effort to aid and guide the young in the study of Robert Browning’s poetry is to be commended. But when the editor is able to grasp the hidden meaning and make conspicuous the poetic beauties of so famous an author, and, withal, give such clever hints, directions, and guidance to the understanding and the enjoyment of the poems, he lays us all under unusual obligations. It is to be hoped that this book will come into general use in the high schools, academies, and colleges of America. It is beautifully printed, in clear type, on good paper, and is well bound. (_February, 1887. _)

_THE STUDY OF ENGLISH. _

_Practical Lessons in the Use of English. _

 For Primary and Grammar Schools. By MARY F. HYDE, Teacher of Composition in the State Normal School, Albany, N. Y. 

This work consists of a series of _Practical Lessons_, designed to aidthe pupil in his own use of English, and to assist him in understandingits use by others. No topic is introduced for study that does not havesome practical bearing upon one or the other of these two points. 

The pupil is first led to observe certain facts about the language, andthen he is required to apply those facts in various exercises. At everystep in his work he is compelled to think. 

The Written Exercises are a distinctive feature of this work. Theseexercises not only give the pupil daily practice in using the knowledgeacquired, but lead him to form the habit of independent work. 

Simple exercises in composition are given from the first. In theseexercises the aim is not to train the pupil to use any set form ofwords, but so to interest him in his subject, that, when writing, hewill think simply of what he is trying to say. 

Special prominence is given to letter-writing and to written formsrelating to the ordinary business of life. 

The work will aid teachers as well as pupils. It is so arranged thateven the inexperienced teacher will have no difficulty in awakening aninterest in the subjects presented. 

This series consists of three parts (in two volumes), the lessons beingcarefully graded throughout:--

 +_Part First. For Primary Schools. --Third Grade. _+ [_Ready. _ +_Part Second. For Primary Schools. --Fourth Grade. _+ (Part Second will be bound with Part First. ) [_Ready soon. _ +_Part Third. For Grammar Schools. _+ [_Ready in September. _

_The English Language; Its Grammar, History, and Literature. _

 By Prof. J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN, of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. One volume. Viii + 388 pages. Introduction price, $1. 30. Price by mail, $1. 40. Also bound in two parts. 

Readable in style. Omits insignificant details. Treats all salientfeatures with a master’s skill, and with the utmost clearness andsimplicity. Contains:--

 I. A concise and accurate _resumé_ of the principles and rules of _English Grammar_, with some interesting chapters on _Word-Building and Derivation_, including an historical dictionary of _Roots and Branches_, of _Words Derived from Names of Persons or of Places_, and of _Words Disguised in Form_, and _Words Greatly Changed in Meaning_. 

 II. Thirty pages of practical instruction in _Composition_, _Paraphrasing_, _Versification_, and _Punctuation_. 

 III. A _History of the English Language_, giving the sources of its vocabulary and the story of its grammatical changes, with a table of the _Landmarks_ in the history, from the Beowulf to Tennyson. 

 IV. An _Outline of the History of English Literature_, embracing _Tabular Views_ which give in parallel columns, (_a_) the name of an author; (_b_) his chief works; (_c_) notable contemporary events; (_d_) the century, or decade. 

The Index is complete, and is in the most helpful form for the studentor the general reader. 

The book will prove invaluable to the teacher as a basis for his courseof lectures, and to the student as a compact and reliable statement ofall the essentials of the subject. [_Ready August 15th. _

_Wordsworth’s Prelude; an Autobiographical Poem. _

 Annotated by A. J. GEORGE, Acting Professor of English Literature in Boston University, and Teacher of English Literature, Newton (Mass. ) High School. [_Text ready in September. Notes later. _

This work is prepared as an introduction to the life and poetry ofWordsworth, and although never before published apart from the author’scomplete works, has long been considered as containing the key to thatpoetic philosophy which was the characteristic of the “New Brotherhood. ”

_The Disciplinary Value of the Study of English. _

 By F. C. WOODWARD, Professor of English and Latin, Wofford College, Spartanburg, S. C. 

The author restricts himself to the examination of the arguments for thestudy of English as a means of discipline, and shows that such study, both in schools and in colleges, can be made the medium of as soundtraining as the ancient languages or the other modern languages wouldgive; and that the study of English forms, idioms, historical grammar, etc. , is the only linguistic discipline possible to the great masses ofour pupils, and that it is entirely adequate to the results required ofit as such. He dwells especially on the disciplinary value of theanalytical method as applied to the elucidation of English syntax, andthe striking adaptation of English constructions to the exact methods oflogical analysis. This Monograph discusses English teaching in theentire range of its disciplinary uses from primary school to highcollegiate work. [_Ready in August. _

_English in the Preparatory Schools. _

 By ERNEST W. HUFFCUT, Instructor in Rhetoric in the Cornell University. 

The aim of this Monograph is to present as simply and practically aspossible some of the advanced methods of teaching English grammar andEnglish composition in the secondary schools. The author has keptconstantly in mind the needs of those teachers who, while not givingundivided attention to the teaching of English, are required to takecharge of that subject in the common schools. The defects in existingmethods and the advantages of fresher methods are pointed out, and theplainest directions given for arousing and maintaining an interest inthe work and raising it to its true place in the school curriculum. [_Ready in August. _

_The Study of Rhetoric in the College Course. _

 By J. F. GENUNG, Professor of Rhetoric in Amherst College. 

This book is the outcome of the author’s close and continued inquiryinto the scope and limits of rhetorical study as pursued byundergraduates, and of his application of his ideas to the organizationof a progressive rhetorical course. The first part defines the place ofrhetoric among the college studies, and the more liberal estimate of itsscope required by the present state of learning and literature. This isfollowed by a discussion of what may and should be done, as the mosteffective practical discipline of students toward the making ofliterature. Finally, a systematized and progressive course in rhetoricis sketched, being mainly the course already tried and approved in theauthor’s own classes. [_Ready. _

_Methods of Teaching and Studying History. _

 Edited by G. STANLEY HALL, Professor of Psychology and Pedagogy in Johns Hopkins University. 12mo. 400 pages. Mailing price, $1. 40; Introduction price, $1. 30. 

This book gathers together, in the form most likely to be of directpractical utility to teachers, and especially students and readers ofhistory, generally, the opinions and modes of instruction, actual orideal, of eminent and representative specialists in each department. Thefollowing Table of Contents will give a good idea of the plan and scopeof this valuable book:--

 +Introduction. + By the Editor. 

 +Methods of Teaching American History. + By Dr. A. B. Hart, Harvard University. 

 +The Practical Method in Higher Historical Instruction. + By Professor Ephraim Emerton, of Harvard University. 

 +On Methods of Teaching Political Economy. + By Dr. Richard T. Ely, Johns Hopkins University. 

 +Historical Instruction in the Course of History and Political Science at Cornell University. + By President Andrew D. White, Cornell University. 

 +Advice to an Inexperienced Teacher of History. + By W. C. Collar, A. M. , Head Master of Roxbury Latin School. 

 +A Plea for Archæological Instruction. + By Joseph Thacher Clarke, Director of the Assos Expedition. 

 +The Use of a Public Library in the Study of History. + By William E. Foster, Librarian of the Providence Public Library. 

 +Special Methods of Historical Study. + By Professor Herbert B. Adams, Johns Hopkins University. 

 +The Philosophy of the State and of History. + By Professor George S. Morris, Michigan and Johns Hopkins Universities. 

 +The Courses of Study in History, Roman Law, and Political Economy at Harvard University. + By Dr. Henry E. Scott, Harvard University. 

 +The Teaching of History. + By Professor J. R. Seeley, Cambridge University, England. 

 +On Methods of Teaching History+. By Professor C. K. Adams, Michigan University. 

 +On Methods of Historical Study and Research in Columbia University. + By Professor John W. Burgess, Columbia University. 

 +Physical Geography and History. +

 +Why do Children Dislike History?+ By Thomas Wentworth Higginson. 

 +Gradation and the Topical Method of Historical Study; Historical Literature and Authorities; Books for Collateral Reading. + By Professor W. F. Allen, Wisconsin University. 

 +Bibliography of Church History. + By Rev. John Alonzo Fisher, Johns Hopkins University. 

+D. C. HEATH & CO. , Publishers, +

Boston, New York, and Chicago. 

THE STUDENT’S OUTLINE HISTORICAL MAP OF ENGLAND. 

By T. C. RONEY, Instructor in History, Denison University, Granville, Ohio. 

+INTRODUCTION PRICE, 25 CENTS. +

_The attention of teachers is invited to the following features of thisMap:_

 1. It emphasizes the vital connection (too often neglected) between History and Geography. 

 2. It leads the student through “the eye gate” into the fair fields of English History. 

 3. It gives a local habitation to his often vague ideas of time and place. 

 4. It serves as an historical laboratory, in which he makes practical application of acquired facts, in accordance with the most approved method of teaching History. 

 5. It presents a _few_ prominent facts, to which he is to add others _singly_ and _consecutively_. 

_In particular:_

 1. The exhibition, side by side, of different periods illustrates by the approximate identity of boundaries a real historical unity of development. 

 2. The student’s attention is called to the culmination of Saxon England, and the overweening power and disintegrating tendencies of the great earldoms just before the Norman conquest, as marking the turning-point of English History. 

 3. The water-shed has been sufficiently indicated by the insertion of a few rivers. 

 4. As an aid to the memory, the modern counties are grouped under the divisions of Saxon England. 

 5. Special attention is called to the insertion of Cathedral towns, as touching upon the ecclesiastical history of England. 

 6. This Map can be used effectively with a class in English Literature, to record an author’s birthplace, the scene of a story, poem, or drama, etc. 

+D. C. HEATH & CO. , Publishers, +

Boston, New York, and Chicago. 

_SCIENCE. _

_Organic Chemistry:_

 _An Introduction to the Study of the Compounds of Carbon. _ By IRA REMSEN, Professor of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. X + 364 pages. Cloth. Price by mail, $1. 30; Introduction price, $1. 20. 

_The Elements of Inorganic Chemistry:_

 _Descriptive and Qualitative. _ By JAMES H. SHEPARD, Instructor in Chemistry in the Ypsilanti High School, Michigan. Xxii + 377 pages. Cloth. Price by mail, $1. 25; Introduction price, $1. 12. 

_The Elements of Chemical Arithmetic:_

 _With a Short System of Elementary Qualitative Analysis_. By J. MILNOR COIT, M. A. , Ph. D. , Instructor in Chemistry, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N. H. Iv + 89 pages. Cloth. Price by mail, 55 cts. ; Introduction price, 50 cts. 

_The Laboratory Note-Book. _

 _For Students using any Chemistry. _ Giving printed forms for “taking notes” and working out formulæ. Board covers. Cloth back. 192 pages. Price by mail, 40 cts. ; Introduction price, 35 cts. 

_Elementary Course in Practical Zoölogy. _

 By B. P. COLTON, A. M. , Instructor in Biology, Ottawa High School. 

_First Book of Geology. _

 By N. S. SHALER, Professor of Palæontology, Harvard University. 272 pages, with 130 figures in the text. 74 pages additional in Teachers’ Edition. Price by mail, $1. 10; Introduction price, $1. 00. 

_Guides for Science-Teaching. _

 Published under the auspices of the +Boston Society of Natural History+. For teachers who desire to practically instruct classes in Natural History, and designed to supply such information as they are not likely to get from any other source. 26 to 200 pages each. Paper. 

 I. HYATT’S ABOUT PEBBLES, 10 cts. II. GOODALE’S FEW COMMON PLANTS, 15 cts. III. HYATT’S COMMERCIAL AND OTHER SPONGES, 20 cts. IV. AGASSIZ’S FIRST LESSON IN NATURAL HISTORY, 20 cts. V. HYATT’S CORALS AND ECHINODERMS, 20 cts. VI. HYATT’S MOLLUSCA, 25 cts. VII. HYATT’S WORMS AND CRUSTACEA, 25 cts. XII. CROSBY’S COMMON MINERALS AND ROCKS, 40 cts. Cloth, 60 cts. XIII. RICHARDS’ FIRST LESSONS IN MINERALS, 10 cts. 

_The Astronomical Lantern. _

 By REV. JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. Intended to familiarize students with the constellations by comparing them with fac-similes on the lantern face. Price of the Lantern, in improved form, with seventeen slides and a copy of “HOW TO FIND THE STARS, ” $4. 50. 

_How to Find the Stars. _

 By REV. JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. Designed to aid the beginner in becoming better acquainted, in the easiest way, with the visible starry heavens. 

+D. C. HEATH & CO. , Publishers, +

3 Tremont Place, Boston. 

_MODERN LANGUAGES. _

_Sheldon’s Short German Grammar. _

 +Irving J. Manatt+, _Prof. Of Modern Languages, Marietta College, Ohio_: I can say, after going over every page of it carefully in the class-room, that it is admirably adapted to its purpose. 

 +Oscar Howes+, _Prof. Of German, Chicago University_: For beginners, it is superior to any grammar with which I am acquainted. 

 +Joseph Milliken+, _formerly Prof. Of Modern Languages, Ohio State University_: There is nothing in English equal to it. 

_Deutsch’s Select German Reader. _

 +Frederick Lutz+, _recent Prof. Of German, Harvard University_: After having used it for nearly one year, I can _conscientiously_ say that it is an _excellent_ book, and well adapted to beginners. 

 +H. C. G. Brandt+, _Prof. Of German, Hamilton College_: I think it an excellent book. I shall use it for a beginner’s reader. 

 +Henry Johnson+, _Prof. Of Modern Languages, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me. _: Use in the class-room has proved to me the excellence of the book. 

 +Sylvester Primer+, _Prof. Of Modern Languages, College of Charleston, S. C. _: I beg leave to say that I consider it an excellent little book for beginners. 

_Boisen’s Preparatory German Prose. _

 +Hermann Huss+, _Prof. Of German, Princeton College_: I have been using it, and it gives me a great deal of satisfaction. 

 +A. H. Mixer+, _Prof. Of Modern Languages, University of Rochester, N. Y. _: It answers to my idea of an elementary reader better than any I have yet seen. 

 +C. Woodward Hutson+, _Prof. Of Modern Languages, University of Mississippi_: I have been using it. I have never met with so good a first reading-book in any language. 

 +Oscar Faulhaber+, _Prof. Of Modern Languages, Phillips Exeter Academy, N. H. _: A professional teacher and an intelligent mind will regard the Reader as unexcelled. 

_Grimm’s Märchen. _

 +Henry Johnson+, _Prof. Of Mod. Lang. , Bowdoin Coll. _: It has excellent work in it. 

 +Boston Advertiser+: Teachers and students of German owe a debt of thanks to the editor. 

 +The Beacon+, _Boston_: A capital book for beginners. The editor has done his work remarkably well. 

_Hauff’s Märchen: Das Kalte Herz. _

 +G. H. Horswell+, _Prof. Of Modern Languages, Northwestern Univ. Prep. School, Evanston, Ill. _: It is prepared with critical scholarship and judicious annotation. I shall use it in my classes next term. 

 +The Academy+, _Syracuse, N. Y. _: The notes seem unusually well prepared. 

 +Unity+, _Chicago_: It is decidedly better than anything we have previously seen. Any book so well made must soon have many friends among teachers and students. 

_Hodge’s Course in Scientific German. _

 +Albert C. Hale+, _recent President of School of Mines, Golden, Col. _: We have never been better pleased with any book we have used. 

_Ybarra’s Practical Spanish Method. _

 +B. H. Nash+, _Prof. Of the Spanish and Italian Languages, Harvard Univ. _: The work has some very marked merits. The author evidently had a well-defined plan, which he carries out with admirable consistency. 

 +Alf. Hennequin+, _Dept. Of Mod. Langs. , University of Michigan_: The method is thoroughly practical, and quite original. The book will be used by me in the University. 

For Terms for Introduction apply to

+D. C. HEATH & CO. , Publishers, +

Boston, New York, and Chicago. 

_HISTORY. _

Students and Teachers of History will find the following to beinvaluable aids:--

_Studies in General History. _

 (1000 B. C. To 1880 A. D. ) _An Application of the Scientific Method to the Teaching of History. _ BY MARY D. SHELDON, formerly Professor of History in Wellesley College. This book has been prepared in order that the general student may share in the advantages of the Seminary Method of Instruction. It is a collection of historic material, interspersed with problems whose answers the student must work out for himself from original historical data. In this way he is trained to deal with the original historical data of his own time. In short, it may be termed _an exercise book in history and politics_. Price by mail, $1. 75. 

 +THE TEACHER’S MANUAL+ contains the continuous statement of the results which should be gained from the History, and embodies the teacher’s part of the work, being made up of summaries, explanations, and suggestions for essays and examinations. Price by mail, 85 cents. 

_Sheldon’s Studies in Greek and Roman History. _

 Meets the needs of students preparing for college, of schools in which Ancient History takes the place of General History, and of students who have used an ordinary manual, and wish to make a spirited and helpful review. Price by mail, $1. 10. 

_Methods of Teaching and Studying History. _

 Edited by G. STANLEY HALL, Professor of Psychology and Pedagogy in Johns Hopkins University. Contains, in the form most likely to be of direct practical utility to teachers, as well as to students and readers of history, the opinions and modes of instruction, actual or ideal, of eminent and representative specialists in leading American and English universities. Price by mail, $1. 40. 

_Select Bibliography of Church History. _

 By J. A. FISHER, Johns Hopkins University. Price by mail, 20 cents. 

_History Topics for High Schools and Colleges. _

 _With an Introduction upon the Topical Method of Instruction in History. _ By WILLIAM FRANCIS ALLEN, Professor in the University of Wisconsin. Price by mail, 30 cents. 

_Large Outline Map of the United States. _

 Edited by EDWARD CHANNING, PH. D. , and ALBERT B. HART, PH. D. , Instructors in History in Harvard University. For the use of Classes in History, in Geography, and in Geology. Price by mail, 60 cents. 

_Small Outline Map of the United States. _

 _For the Desk of the Pupil. _ Prepared by EDWARD CHANNING, PH. D. , and ALBERT B. HART, PH. D. , Instructors in Harvard University. Price, 2 cents each, or $1. 50 per hundred. 

We publish also small Outline Maps of North America, South America, Europe, Central and Western Europe, Asia, Africa, Great Britain, and theWorld on Mercator’s Projection. These maps will be found invaluable toclasses in history, for use in locating prominent historical points, andfor indicating physical features, political boundaries, and the progressof historical growth. Price, 2 cents each, or $1. 50 per hundred. 

_Political and Physical Wall Maps. _

We handle both the JOHNSTON and STANFORD series, and can always supplyteachers and schools at the lowest rates. Correspondence solicited. 

+D. C. HEATH & CO. , Publishers, +

Boston, New York, and Chicago. 

_NEW BOOKS ON EDUCATION. _

 I do not think that you have ever printed a book on education that is not worthy to go on any “Teacher’s Reading List, ” and _the best_ list. --DR. WILLIAM T. HARRIS. 

_Compayré’s History of Pedagogy. _

 Translated by Professor W. H. PAYNE, University of Michigan. Price by mail, $1. 75. The best and most comprehensive history of education in English. --Dr. G. S. HALL. 

_Gill’s Systems of Education. _

 An account of the systems advocated by eminent educationists. Price by mail, $1. 10. 

 I can say truly that I think it eminently worthy of a place on the Chautauqua Reading List, because it treats ably of the Lancaster and Bell movement in Education, -- a _very important_ phase. --Dr. WILLIAM T. HARRIS. 

_Radestock’s Habit in Education. _

 With an Introduction by Dr. G. STANLEY HALL. Price by mail, 65 cents. 

 It will prove a rare “find” to teachers who are seeking to ground themselves in philosophy of their art. --E. H. RUSSELL, Prin. Of Normal School, Worcester, Mass. 

_Rousseau’s Émile. _

 Price by mail, 85 cents. 

 There are fifty pages of Émile that should be bound in velvet and gold. --VOLTAIRE. 

 Perhaps the most influential book ever written on the subject of education. --R. H. QUICK. 

_Pestalozzi’s Leonard and Gertrude. _

 With an Introduction by Dr. G. STANLEY HALL. Price by mail, 85 cents. 

 If we except Rousseau’s “Émile” only, no more important educational book has appeared for a century and a half than Pestalozzi’s “Leonard and Gertrude. ” --_The Nation. _

_Richter’s Levana; The Doctrine of Education. _

 A book that will tend to build up that department of education which is most neglected, and yet needs most care-- home training. Price by mail, $1. 35. 

 A spirited and scholarly book. --Prof. W. H. PAYNE, University of Michigan. 

_Rosmini’s Method in Education. _

 Price by mail, $1. 75. 

 The best of the Italian books on education. --_Editor London Journal of Education. _

_Hall’s Methods of Teaching History. _

 A symposium of eminent teachers of history. Price by mail, $1. 40. 

 Its excellence and helpfulness ought to secure it many readers. --_The Nation. _

_Bibliography of Pedagogical Literature. _

 Carefully selected and annotated by Dr. G. STANLEY HALL. Price by mail, $1. 75. 

_Lectures to Kindergartners. _

 By ELIZABETH P. PEABODY. Price by mail, $1. 10. 

_Monographs on Education. _ (25 cents each. )

+D. C. HEATH & CO. , Publishers, +

Boston, New York, and Chicago. 

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

ERRATA

Myhneer Calf _spelling unchanged: probably error for “Mynheer”_

Plurals in +es+ (separate syllable). _printed in Verbs column_

died of fever in London, in the year 1688. _text reads “1698”_

the most polished verse-writer _text reads “mose polished”_

he entered himself of the Inner Temple _text unchanged_

Punctuation and Presentation:

17. +Latin of the First Period+ (i). -- _originally formatted as:_ 17. +Latin of the First Period. +--(i)

(The word _al_ means _the_. Thus _alcohol_ = _the spirit_. ) _close parenthesis missing_

homely, plain, and pedestrian. _period (full stop) invisible_

“Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; _open quote missing_

 and his meat nothing but sauce. ” _close quote missing_

“A good man is as much in awe of himself as of a whole assembly. ” _close quote missing_

designated by a hand ([->]) at the foot of each _printed text has drawing of hand with pointing finger_

Wordsworth and Coleridge spoke with awe of his genius; _semicolon invisible_

“‘Farewell!’ said he, ‘Minnehaha, _text has double quote for single before “Minnehaha”_

All´ my | thou´ghts go | on´ward | wi´th you! _all ´ marks are as in original text_

Index

+Grammar+ of English... General view of its history, 243. Short view of its history, 239-243. _each line indented as if a subentry to preceding line_

language, living and dead 198 _text reads “168”_

Chaucer, Geoffrey. 283 _text reads “383”_

Spenser, Edmund. 291 _text reads “261”_