FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND OF PRIVATE STUDENTS. BY WILLIAM SPALDING, A. M., PROFESSOR OF LOGIC, RHETORIC, AND METAPHYSICS, IN THE UNIVERSITY OF SAINT ANDREWS. NEW-YORK: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. M.DCCC.LXII. Brock 124 13.3 1/22 188. 123 136 422007 1345:1361.133 HARVARD 57/37° Red. 167 182 16 LIBRARY LUNIVERSITY LIBRARY/33 8.7 107. 116 /0) 647*1733%. 116 Shut 103 102 10g 102 1 122 17 22. 1731, 1708, 173-3-1714. 1741. 1999. 1892. 1967. 1907. 1913. 1893. 1908:1870 321.711 V33070 ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by D. APPLETON & COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of PREFACE. THIS volume is offered, as an Elementary Text-Book, to those who are interested in the instruction of young persons. The tenor of my own pursuits, and my hearty concurrence in the wish to see the systematic study of English Literature occupying a wider place in the course of a liberal education, seemed to justify me in attempting, at the request of the publishers, to frame an unambitious Manual, which should relate and explain some of the leading facts in the Intellectual History of our Nation. Those youthful students, for whose benefit the book is intended, will, I would fain hope, find it not ill calculated to serve, whether in the class-room or in the closet, as an incitement to the perusal, and a clue through the details, of works possessing higher pretensions, and imparting fuller information. It is for others to decide whether, in ushering young readers into the field of Literary History, I have been able to make the study interesting or attractive to them. I am at least confident that the book does not contain any thing that is beyond their comprehension, either in its manner of describing facts, or in its criticisms of works, or in its incidental suggestion of critical and historical principles. But, on the other hand, having much faith in the vigour of youthful intelligence, and a strong desire to aid in the right guidance of youth ful feeling, I have not shrunk from availing myself freely of the op portunities, furnished profusely by a theme so noble, for endeavour.. ing to prompt active thinking and to awaken refined and elevating sentiments. I have frequently invited the student to reflect, how closely the world of letters is related, in all its regions, to that world of reality and action in the midst of which it comes into being: how Literature is, in its origin, an effusion and perpetuation of human thoughts, and emotions, and wishes; how it is, in its processes, an art which obeys a consistent and philosophical theory; how it is, in its effects, one of the highest and most powerful of those influences, that have been appointed to rule and change the social and moral life of man. The nature of the plan, according to which the materials are disposed, will appear from a glance at the Table of Contents. The History of English Literature being distributed into Two great Sections, the First Part treats the earlier of the two. It describes the Literary Progress of the Nation from its dawn in the Anglo-Saxon Times, to the beginning of the Sixteenth Century, which is taken as the Close of the Middle Ages. In the course of that long period, not only were the foundations of our native speech laid, but its structure may correctly be held to have been in all essential points completed. Accordingly, the Outline of the Origin and Growth of the English Language, which could not conveniently have been incorporated with the earlier literary chapters, seemed to find its fit place in the Second Part. The Third Part, resuming the History of our Literature at the opening of Modern Times, traces its revolutions down to the present day. The changes that have occurred in the language during this most recent period, appearing to be really nothing more than varieties of style, do not require a separate review, but receive incidental notice as they successively present themselves. The Historical Survey of English Literature, announced in the title-page as the principal business of the volume, thus occupies the First and Third Parts. The former of these, dealing with the AngleSaxon Times and the Middle Ages, is short. It is so constructed, likewise, (unless the aim has been missed,) as to introduce the reader gradually and easily to studies of this sort. It contains comparatively little speculation of any kind: and those literary monuments of the period, which were thought to be most worthy of attention, are described with considerable fulness, both in the hope of exciting interest, and because the books fall into the hands of few. In the Summary of Modern Literature which fills the Third Part, more frequent and sustained efforts are made to arouse reflection, both by occasional remarks on the relations between intellectual culture and the other elements of society, and by hints as to the theoretical laws on which criticism should be founded. Modern works, also, while the characteristics of several of the most celebrated are discussed at considerable length, are hardly ever analyzed so fully as were some of the older ones; and, as we approach our own times, it is presumed that particular description of the contents of popular books becomes less and less imperative. In the course of those Literary Chapters, some information is given in regard to a large number of authors and their writings. But, of a great many of these, all that is told amounts to very little; and I may say, generally, that names of minor note, inserted only on account of circumstances marking them off from the vast crowd of names omitted, receive no further scrutiny than such as is required for indicating cursorily the position of those who bore them. On a few of those great men, who have been our guides and masters in the departments of thought and invention that are most widely interesting, there is bestowed an amount of attention which may by some readers be thought excessive, but which to myself seemed likely to make the book both the more readable and the more useful. There must, however, be great diversity of opinion among diverse critics, both as to the selection of names to be commemorated, and as to the comparative prominence due to different authors, and works, and kinds of composition. It is enough for me to say, that, in these matters as in others, I have formed my judgment with due deliberation, and made the best use I could of all the information that is at my command. Many little points have been managed with a view to facilitate the use of the volume in public teaching. Dates, and other particulars, which, though often not to be dispensed with, tend to obstruct reading aloud, are always, where it is possible, thrown into the margin. Bibliographical details are generally avoided, except a few, which illustrate either the works described or the history of the author or his time. Hardly any where, for instance, are successive editions noted, unless when the student is asked to make himself acquainted with the English Translations of the Holy Bible; an exception which is surely not wrong, in a work designed to assist in informing the minds of Christian youth. The Series of Illustrative Extracts is as full as it was found possible to make it: and it is ample enough to throw much light on the narrative and observations furnished by the Text. The selections have been made in obedience to the same considerations, which dictated copious criticisms of a few leading writers. The works quoted from are not many in comparison with those named in the body of the book, being only some of those that are most distinguished as masterpieces of genius or most eminently characteristic as products of their age and the intention was, that every specimen should be large enough to convey a notion, not altogether inadequate, of its author's manner both in thought and in style. No Extracts are given in the First Part. The writers of those ancient times could |