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by the careful reading of which he ought to fill up in his mind the ele mentary outline here presented to him.

The History of English Literature, in all its periods and kinds, is given, with many specimens and valuable criticisms, in two popular text-books: Chambers" Cyclopædia of English Literature," 2 vols. large 8vo, 184344; and Craik's "Sketches of the History of Literature and Learning in England," 6 vols. 12mo, 1844-45. The leading facts are related, with very full and able remarks on some of the principal writers, in Shaw's "Outlines of English Literature," 1 vol. 8vo, 1849.

All the other books to be named are confined either to particular periods or to particular classes of writings, or in both ways.

The Anglo-Saxon period and that which is nearest to it have been illustrated, in our own day, by a very large number of instructive publications, of which the only one falling within the scope of this short list is Wright's "Biographia Britannica Literaria," 2 vols. 8vo: Anglo-Saxon Period, 1842; Anglo-Norman Period, 1846.

For our Poetical Literature, from the infancy of the English language till near the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the leading authority is still Warton's "History of English Poetry," 1774-1781, now in 3 volumes, 8vo, with corrections and supplements. Coming much farther down, embracing in its masterly review all departments of intellectual effort, and especially interesting for its history of letters in England, is Hallam's standard work, the "Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries," first published in 1839, and now in 3 volumes, 8vo.

A sketch of our poetical history, and criticisms written in the fine spirit of a poet, accompany the beautiful series of extracts in Thomas Campbell's "Specimens of the British Poets," which first appeared in 1819, and is now in one volume, 8vo. The early Literature of Scotland is admirably treated in Irving's "Lives of the Scottish Poets," 2 vols. 1804, and the more recent learning of the country in the same author's "Lives of Scottish Writers," 2 vols. 1839.

PART FIRST.

LITERATURE IN THE DARK AND MIDDLE AGES.

A. D. 449-A. D. 1509.

CHAPTER I.

THE ANGLO-SAXON TIMES

A. D. 449-A. D. 1066.

SECTION FIRST: LITERATURE IN THE CELTIC AND LATIN TONGUES.

1. The Four Languages used in Literature-Latin and Anglo-Saxon-The two Celtic Tongues-The Welsh-The Irish and Scottish Gaelic.-CELTIC LITERATURE.-2. Gaelic Literature-Irish Metrical Relics and Prose Chronicles-Scottish Metrical Relics-Ossian.-3. Welsh Literature-The Triads-Supposed Fragments of the Bards-Romances-Legends of King Arthur.-LATIN LITERATURE.-4. Introduc tion of Christianity-Saint Patrick-Columba-Augustine.-5. Learned Men-Superiority of Ireland-Intercourse with the Continent-The Anglo-Saxons in Rome.-6. The Four Great Names of the Times-Alcuin and Erigena-Bede and Alfred-Latin Learning among the Anglo-Saxons.

1. DURING the Anglo-Saxon times, four languages were used, for literary communication, in the British islands.

Latin was the organ of the church and of learning, here as elsewhere, throughout the Dark and Middle Ages. Accordingly, till we reach Modern Times, we cannot altogether overlook the literature which was expressed in it, if we would acquire a full idea of the progress of intellectual culture.

Of the other three languages, all of which were national and living, one was the Anglo-Saxon, the monuments of which, with its history, will soon call for close scrutiny. The second and third were Celtic tongues, spoken by the nations of that race who still possessed large parts of the country. These, with their scanty stock of literary remains, must receive some attention at present; although they will be left out of view when we pass to those later periods, in which the Germanic population became decisively predominant in Great Britain.

The first of the Celtic tongues has oftenest been called Erse or Gaelic. It was common, with dialectic varieties only, to the Celts of Ireland and those of Scotland. Ireland was wholly occupied by tribes of this stock, except some small Norse settlements on the seacoast. Whether Scotland, beyond the Forth and Clyde, was so likewise, is a question not to be answered, until it shall have been determined whether the Picts, the early inhabitants of the eastern Scottish counties, were Celts or Goths. It is certain, at least, that either before the Norman conquest, or soon afterwards, the Celtic Scots were confined within limits corresponding nearly with those which now bound their descendants.

And here, while we are looking beyond the Anglo-Saxon frontiers, it is to be noted that the Romans did not conquer any part of Ireland, and that their hold on the north and west of Scotland had been so slight as to leave hardly any appreciable effects.

The second Celtic tongue, that of the Cymrians or ancient Britons, has been preserved in the Welsh. Its seats, during the Anglo-Saxon period, were the provinces which were still held by Britons, quite independent or imperfectly subdued. Accordingly, it was universally used in Wales, and, for a long time, in Cornwall; and, for several centuries, it kept its hold in the petty kingdoms of Cumbria and Strathclyde, extending to the Clyde from the middle of Lancashire, and thus covering the north-west of England and the south-west of Scotland.

We have not time to study the history of Galloway, situated in Strathclyde, but long occupied chiefly by Gaelic Celts; nor that of the Hebrides and other islands, disputed for centuries between the Gaelic Celts and the Northmen.

CELTIC LITERATURE.

2. Of the two Celtic nations whose living tongue was the Erse, Ireland had immeasurably the advantage, in the success with which its vernacular speech was applied to uses that may be called literary.

To others must be left the task of estimating rightly the genuineness, as well as the poetical merit, of the ancient metrical relics still extant in the Irish language. They consist of many Bardic Songs and Historical Legends. Some of these are asserted to be much older than the ninth century, the close of which was the date of the legendary collection called the Psalter of Cashel, still surviving, and probably in its genuine shape. Competent critics have admitted the great historical value of the

Prose Chronicles, preserved to this day, which grew up, by the successive additions of many generations, in the monasteries of the "Island of Saints." In the form in which these now exist, none of them seems to be so ancient as the Annals compiled by Tigernach, who died in the close of the eleventh century; but it is believed, on good grounds, that, both in this work, in the Annals of the Five Masters, and in several such local records as the Annals of Ulster and Innisfallen, there are incorporated the substance, and often the very words, of many chronicles composed much earlier. It does not thus appear rash to say, that the Irish possess contemporary histories of their country, written in the language of the people, and authentic though meagre, from the fifth century or little later. No other nation of modern Europe is able to make a similar boast.

Nor does it appear that the Scottish Celts can point to literary monuments of any kind, having an antiquity at all comparable to this. Indeed their social position was, in all respects, much below that of their western kinsmen. All the earliest relics of their language are metrical. Such is the Albanic Duan, an historical poem, described as possessing a bardic and legendary character, and said to belong to the eleventh century. The poems which bear the name of Ossian are professedly celebrations, by an eye-witness, of events occurring in the third century. But, though we were to throw out of view the modern patchwork which disguises the original from the English reader, and though likewise we should hesitate to assert positively that the Fingalic tales were really borrowed from Ireland, it is still impossible to satisfy oneself that any pieces, now exhibited as the groundwork of the poems, have a just claim to so remote an origin. All such productions seem to be merely attempts, some of them exceedingly imaginative and spirited, to invest with poetical and mythical glory the legends of generations which had passed away long before the poet's time.

3. The literature of the Cymric Celts becomes an object of lively interest, through our familiarity with circumstances relating to it, which occurred in the Middle Ages. We seek eagerly, among the fallen fragments of British poetry and history, for the foundations of the magnificent legend, which, in the days of chivalry, was built up to immortalize King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. We desire to trace upward, till the dim distance hides it, the memory of those Welsh bards, who, in the decay of their race, were the champions, and at last the martyrs, of national freedom.

Ancient Welsh writings, still extant, are described as dealing

intelligently, both in prose and verse, with a wonderful variety of topics. It is not universally admitted that any of these were composed earlier than the twelfth century; but it is probable, from evidence both external and internal, that some are much older.

There is a marked character of primitive antiquity in the sin gular pieces called the Triads. They are collections of historical facts, maxims ethical and legal, mythological doctrines and traditions, and rules for the structure of verse: all of them are expressed with extreme brevity, and regularly disposed in groupe of three. Among the Welsh Metrical pieces, those of the times succeeding the Norman Conquest are very numerous; but a few are to be found which have plausibly been assigned to celebrated bards of the sixth century. It is pleasant to believe that the great Taliessin still speaks to us from his grave; that we read the poems of Aneurin, the heroic and unfortunate prince of Cumbria and Strathclyde; and that, in the verses of Merdhin, the Caledonian, we possess relics of the sage and poet, whom the reverence of later ages transformed into the enchanter Merlin. The romantic impression is strengthened by the earnest simplicity, and the spirit of pathetic lamentation, with which some of these irregular lyrics chant the calamities of the Cymrians. There. exists likewise a considerable stock of old Welsh Romances, the most remarkable of which are contained in the series called the Mabinogi or Tales of Youth. Most of those that have been translated into English, such as Peredur and the Lady of the Fountain, are merely versions from some of the finest of the Norman-French romances. But several others, as the stories of Prince Pwyll and Math the Enchanter, are very similar to the older Norse sagas; and these, if not very ancient in their present shape, must have sprung from the traditions of an exceedingly rude and early generation.

Frequently, both in the triads and in the bardic songs, allusions are made to the heroic Arthur. A Cymric prince of Wales or Cumbria, surrounded by patriotic warriors like himself, and valiantly resisting the alien enemies of his country, had in many a battle triumphantly carried the Dragon-flag of his race into the heart of the hosts amidst whom floated the Pale Horse of the Saxon standard. At length, we are told, he died by domestic treason; and the flower of the British nobles perished with him. His name was cherished with melancholy pride, and his heroism magnified with increasingly fond exaggeration, alike among those Welsh Britons who still guarded the valleys of Snowdon, and among those who, having sought a foreign seat of liberty.

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