A G U ID E T O E N G LIS H

LIT E R A T U R E

A ND

ES S A Y O N G RA Y

BY MA TT HE W A R N OLD

ON T HE S TUD Y OF
LIT E R A T U R E

BY ! O HN MO R LEY

3 0t h
th 5
M AC M ILLAN A ND

1 8 96

A ll nklz ts r es e rv ed
A G U I D E TO E NG LI SH LITE RA
TUR E

1 7 03 6 5
A G UI D E TO E N G LI SH LI TE RA
TU R E

B O PL E repeat till one is almost

,

tire d of hearing it the sto ry of the

,

Frenc h M inister of Instruction who

took out hi s watch and said com
p la c e ntly to a foreigner that ,at that
moment in all the public grammar
,

schools of France all boys of the same

,

class were saying the same lesson In .

E nglan d the story has been eagerly

use d to d isparage State me dd ling with
-

schools I have never been able to

.

see that it was in itself so very lament

able a thing that all these French boys
should be saying the same lesson at

3
4 A GUIDE TO

the same time Everything surely .

, ,

depen d s upon what the lesson was .

O nce secure what i s excellent to be

taught and you can h ar d ly teach it
,

wi th too much insistence punctuality , ,

universality The m ore one sees of

.

the young the more one is str uck with

,

two things : how limite d i s the amount

which they can really learn how worth ,

less is much of what goes to make up

this amount now M r G rant Du ff . .
,

misled by his own accomplishments

an d intelligence is I am convinced , , ,

far too encyclop aedic in his require

ments from young learners But the .

he art breaking thing is that what they

-

ca n be taught and do learn is often so

!
ill chosen
-
An apple has a stalk
.
,

peel pulp core pips and j uice ; it

, , , ,

is o d orous an d opaque an d is used ,

f or making a pleasant drink calle d

 ENGLISH LITE RATURE 5

ci d er
. There is the pedant s fashion ’

of using the brief lesson time the -

soon tired attention of little ch i ldren

, .

How much how far too much of all

, ,

o ur course of tuition, e a rly an d late ,

is of like value !
For myself I lament nothing more
,

in our actual instruction than its mul

ti fo rmi ty — a multiformi ty too often
, , ,

of false direction and useless labour .

I d esire nothing so much for it as

greater uniformi ty — but uniformi ty
,

in good . Nothing is taught well

except what is known familiarly an d
ta ught often .The Greeks use d to
say : A 2; !! r pls 1 5 xw\of
-
. Give us a
,

fine thing two an d three times Over !

And they were right .

In l iterature we have present an d ,

waiting ready to form us the best ,

which has been thought an d sai d in

6 A cv mn ro '

the worl d O ur business i s to get at

.

this best an d to kno w it well B ut .

even to understan d the thing we are

dealing with an d to choose the best
,

i n i t we need a gui d e a clue

, , The .

literature most accessible to all of us ,

touching us most nearly is our own ,

literature E nglish li terature To get

, .

at the best in E nglish literature an d

to know that best well nothing can be
,

more help ful to us than a guide who

will show us in cle ar view the growth
, ,

of our literature i ts series o f produc

,

tions an d their relative value

, If .

such a gui d e i s goo d and trustw orthy ,

hi s instructions cannot be too widely

brought into use too diligently s tudie d
, ,

too thoroughly fixed in the mind .

But to d eserve such universal accept

ance an d such hee d ful attention our

g ui d e ought to ha ve spe c ial qua li fi c a

 ENGLIS H LITERATURE 7

tions He ought to be clear He

. .

ought to be brief — as brie f as is con

,

sistent with not being dry F or dry .

he m ust not be ; but we shoul d be

made to f eel in listening to him as
, ,

much as possible of the power and

charm o f the literature to which he
introduces us His discourse finally
.
, ,

ought to observe strict proportion an d

to observe str i c t sobriety He shoul d.

have one scale and shoul d keep to it .

And he should severely eschew all vio

lence an d e xaggeration ; he shoul d
avoi d in hi s ju dgments even the
, ,

least appearance of what i s arb itrary ,

personal fanta stic

, .

Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke has pub lishe d

.

a little b ook entitled A Pr i me r of

En gli sh Li ter a tu re I have . rea d i t
with the most lively interest and
pleasure .I have j ust been saying
8 A GUID E TO

how ve ry d esirable is a good guide

to English literature and what are ,

a good guide s qualifications

’
Mr . .

Sto p fo rd Brooke seems to me to pos

sess them all True he has some of
.
,

them in a higher degr ee than others .

He is never dry never violent ; but ,

occasionally he might I think be , ,

clearer shorter in more perfect pro

, ,

portion more thoroughly true of j udg

,

ment To say this is merely to say

.

that in a most di ffi cult task that of ,

prod ucing a book to serve as a gui d e

to English literature a man d oes not ,

reach perfection all at once The .

great thing was to produce a primer

so good as M r Sto p fo rd Brooke s
.
’
.

It is easy to criticise it when it has

once b een produced easy to see how ,

in some points it might have b een

mad e better To produce it at all so
. ,
 ENGLISH LITERATUR E 9

good as it is was not easy O n the

, .

whole and compared with other work

,

men i n the same field M r Sto p f o rd , .

Brooke has been clear short interest , ,

ing observant of proportion free from

, ,

exaggeration and free from arbitrari

ness Yet with the book lying before
one as a whole one can see I think
, , ,

that wi th respect to some of these

merits the work might be brought to a
point of excell ence higher than that at
which it now stands Mr Sto pfo rd . .

'

B ro o ke w i ll not I am sure take it

o
, ,

amiss If an attentive and gratified

reader of his book convinced of the ,

great importance of what it attempts ,

convinced of its merits desirous to se e ,

it in eve ry one s hands he will not

’
,
-

ta ke it ill I say if such a reader asks

, ,

his leave to go rapidly through the

book with him to point out what ,
I0 A GUID E TO

seem imperfections to suggest what

,

might b ring his b ook yet nearer

towards the ideal of what such a
b ook should be .

I will begin at the be ginning, an d

will suggest that M r Sto p fo rd Brooke
.

should leave out his first two pages ,

the pages in which he lays down what

literature is and what its two main
,

d i v isions (as he calls them ) prose and ,

poetry are His primer is somewhat

, .

long longer than most primers It

, .

is a gain to shorten it by e x punging

anything superfl uous And the reader
.

d oes not require to be told what litera

ture is and what prose and poetry are
, .

For all practical purposes he knows

this su fficiently we ll already O r even .

i f he were in doubt about it Mr Stop , .

f ord Brooke s tw o pages would not

’
 EN GLISH LITERATURE I I

make the matter much clearer to him ;

they are a little embarrassed them
selves and tend to embarrass the
,

attentive reader And a primer at

.
,

any rate should be above all things

,

quite plain and clear ; it should con

tain nothing to embarrass its reader ,

nothing not perfectly thought out and

lucidly laid down So I wish M r . .

Sto p fo rd Brooke would begin his

primer with what is now the fou rth
section : The history of English litera
t ure is the sto ry of what English men
and women thought and felt and then ,

wrote down in good prose or beautiful

poetry in the English lan guage The .

sto ry is a long one It begins about

.

the year 6 70 and it is still going on in

the year 1 8 75 Into this little book
.
,

then is to be put the story of

,

”
years . Nothing can be better .
 A G UID E TO

The sentence which follows is ques

ti o nab le

No p e o pl e tha t have ev er b eeni nthe wo rl d

ca n l o o k b a ck so fa r as w e E n glish canto the
b e ginni ngs o f o ur lite ra ture ; no p eo pl e ca n
po i nt to so lo ng a nd spl e ndid a trai n o f po e ts
an d p ro se w rit e rs no na ti o n ha s o n the who l e
-

writte nso much and so well .

The first part of this sentence makes

'

an assertion of ve ry doubtful truth ;

the second part is too much to the
tune of R ule B r i ta nni a Bo th parts .

o ff end against sobriety The four .

cardinal virtues which are as I have ,

said to be required in the writer of a

,

primer of E nglish literature are these :

clearness brevity proportion sobri
, , ,

e ty. So briety needs to be insisted

upon perhaps the most because in
, , ,

things meant and rightly meant to

, ,

be popular there i s such danger o f

,
14 A GUIDE TO

fore fathe rs i n pro se and po e try Every o ne .

w ho ca n writ e a go o d b o o k o r a go o d so ng

ma y say to hi mse lf : I b el o ng to a gre a t co m

pa ny whi ch has b e e n t ea c hi ng a nd d elighting
me n fo r mo re tha n a tho usa nd y e ars A nd .
’

tha t i s a fa c t i n whi ch those w ho write and

tho se w ho rea d o ught to fe e l a no bl e pri d e ”
.

This is unquestionable and it is ,

su ffi cient .

Nothing in a task like Mr Sto p f o rd

,
.

Brooke s is more di ffi cult than the

’
,

start and it was natural therefore

, , ,

that his first page or two should be

peculiarly open to criticism O nce .

started M r Sto p f o rd Brooke proceeds

, .

safely and smoothly and page after ,

page is read with nothing but ac qui es

cence Hi s first chapter i s excellent
.
,

and has that great merit for which hi s

primer is as I have said conspicuous
, ,

the merit of so touching men and

works of which the young reader and ,
 ENGLISH LITERATURE I 5

the general reader knows and can be

,

expected to know very little as to ,

make them cease to be mere names ;

—as to give a real sense of their
power and charm His manner o f
.

dealing with C a dmo n and Bede is a

signal insta nce of this I shall not
.

quote the passage because I wish

,

to quote presently another passage

with the like merit in which M r
,
.

Sto p fo rd Brooke is even happier

the passage where he treats of
Chaucer .

In the second chapter there is in

several places a want of clearness due ,

to a manner of writing which leaves

something to be filled out and com
p le te d by the reader himself This.

ta sk should not be thrown upon

read ers of a primer The last mem
.

oranda of the Peterborough Chron icle

 DO
'
A GUID E

are o f the year 1 1 54 the last English

,

Charter can sc arcely be earlier than

Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke give s
.

these words as a quota tion but it i s ,

not fully clear how they relate them

selves to the conte x t or exactly what
,

is to b e d educe d from them In .

another instance the want of clear

,

ness arises from an attempt to give a

piece of i nformation by the way an d ,

because the piece of information

seems to be a part o f the argument ,

but is no t !
The first f riars were
.

foreigners and they necessar ily use d

,

many F rench words in their English

teaching and Normans as well as
,

E nglish now began to write religious

”
works in E ngli sh The point to be
.

made out is that E nglish came into

g reater use because even foreigner s

had for certa in purposes to ad op t i t .

 ENGLISH LITERATURE 1 7

Mr Sto pfo rd Brooke wishes to inform

.

by the way his young reader that the,

foreigners in doing so used many

French words But the manner in
.

which he throws this in must cause

puz z le ; for the young reader imagines
it to lead up somehow to the main
point that E nglish came into more
general use and it does not O r the
, .

wa nt of c le a mess arises from some

thing b eing put forward about which
,

Mr Sto p f o rd Brooke after he has put

.
,

i t f orward feels hesita tion

, The .
!

poem marks the close o f the religious

influence of the friars They had.

been attacked before in a poem o f

1 32 0 ; but in this poem there is not a

word said against them It is true

.
,

the author livi ng far in the country

may not hav e been throw n much with
”
them . Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke means
.

c
1 8 A GUIDE To

here so far as I understand him to

, ,

imply that there no t being a word said

against the friars in the poem in ques
tion marks the close of their religious
influence That is rather a subtle
.

inference for a young reader to fol

low Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke however
. .
, ,

seems to feel (for I am really not

quite sure that I understa nd him ) that
he may have been too subtle ; and he
adds : It is true the author living
!
,

far in the country may not have been

”
thrown much with them That is to .

!
say : If you consider the thing more
subtly perhaps you had better not
,

make theinference I have suggested ”

.

A subtlety requiring immediately to

be relieved by another subtlety is ,

rather too much for a young reader .

The writer of a primer should a ttempt

to convey nothing but what can be
 ENGLIS H LITE RATUR E I
9

conveyed in a quite plain and straight

f orward fashion .

But presently we come to Laya

mon s B r ut and here we see how
’
,

admirably M r Sto p fo rd Brooke under

.

sta nds his business It is not di ffi cult

.

to be dull in speaking of Laya mo n s ’

B ru t or even in quoting from it

, .

But what Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke says of

.

Layamon and his work is just what

eve ry one will feel interested in hear
ing of them ; and what he quotes i s
exactly what will complete and enhance
this feeling of interest :

The re w as a pri est i n the land ,

’
Layamo n
write s o f hi mself who se
, na me w as Layamo n;
he w as so n o f Le o v e nath ; ma y the Lo r d b e
gra cio us unto hi m ! He dwe lt a t Earnle y a ,

no bl e c hurch o n the b a nk o f S e v ern n a r ,

e

R a d sto ne w he re he re a d b o o ks
, It came i n
.

mind to hi m a nd i n hi s chi e fest tho ught tha t

 A G UID E TO

he wo ul d te ll the no b le d e e ds o f England ,

wha t the me n were name d and whe nce the y ,

c a me w ho firs t ha d E nglish la nd ’
, .

Freshness o f touch a treatment ,

always the ve ry opposite of the

pedant s treatment of things make
’
,

the great charm of Mr Sto p fo rd .

Brooke s work He owes them no

’
.
,

doubt to his genuine love f or nature

,

and poetry :
In 1 300 w e me e t with a few lyri c p o e ms,
full o f c ha rm They sing o f spri ng time with
.
-

i ts blo sso ms wo o ds ringi ng with the

, of the

thrush and nightingal e o f the flo we rs and ,

the se e mly sun o f co untry wo rk o f the w o e s

, ,

an d jo y o f l ove and many o the r d e lightful

,

thi ngs .

No such secret of freshness as delight

in all these delightful things and
” !

in the poetry which tells of them !

This second chapter giving the ,
2 2 A GUID E TO

fill e d the i d ea! he ha d o f marriage He lived .

i n a risto cra ti c so ci e ty a nd y e t he tho ught hi m

,

the gre a t est g e ntl e ma n w ho w as mos t v e rtu

o us a lwa y Pri é a nd p e rt
,
v
( o p e n) a nd m o st ,

en te nde th a y e To do the ge nt i l d e d es tha t he

ca n .
’
He live d fra nkly a mo ng me n a nd as , ,

w e ha v e se e n sa w ma ny d i ffe re nt typ es o f
,

me n and i n hi s o w n time fille d many p a rts as

,

a ma n o f the w o rl d a n d o f b usi ne ss Ye t with .

all t his a cti v e a nd o bse r a nt life he w as co m

v ,

mo uly ve ry qui e t a nd k e pt much to himse lf .

The H o st i n the Ta l es j a pes a t hi m fo r his

lo nely a bstrac te d a i r
, Tho u l o o k est as tho u
.
‘

wo ul de st fi nd a b are A nd e ve r o n the gro und

,

I se e the e stare B e ing a go o d scho lar he

.
’
,

re a d mo rn i ng a nd night a lo ne and he says ,

tha t a fte r hi s o m c e wo rk he w o ul d go ho me
-

a nd si t a t a n o t he r boo k as d umb as a sto n e ,

till his lo o k w as daz e d W hi l e a t study a nd .

whe n he w as ma ki ng o f so ngs and d itties ,

‘
no thi ng e lse tha t G o d ha d ma d e ha d any ’

i nte re st fo r hi m The re w as but o ne thing

.

tha t ro use d hi m then a nd tha t to o he lik e d to

,

en j o y a lo ne It w as the b e a uty o f the mo m

.

i ng a nd the fi e l ds the wo o ds the stre ams the

, , ,
 NGLISH LITE RATURE
E 2 3

fl o wers a nd the si ngi ng o f the littl e b i rds

, .

This mad e hi s he a rt full o f reve l a nd so la ce ,

an d w he n sp ri ng ca me a fte r wi nt er he ro se
.
,

with the lark a nd c ri e d Fare we ll my bo o k ,

‘

an d my d e vo ti o n He w as the first w ho
.
’

ma de the l o ve o f na ture a di sti nct e l e me nt i n

o ur p o e t ry .He w as the first w ho i nsp e nd i ng ,

the who l e day gaz i ng al o ne o n the d a isy se t ,

go i ng tha t lo ne ly de light i n natura l sce ne ry

whi ch i s so sp e cial a mark o f o ur l a te r po e ts .

He live d thus a do ubl e life i n a nd o ut o f the ,

wo rl d b ut neve r a gl o o my o ne Fo r he w as
, .

fo nd o f mirth and go o d li vi ng and whe n he -

,

gre w to wards age w as p o rtly o f waist no ,

p o pp e t to e mbrace B ut he k e pt to the e nd
.
’

hi s e lfish co unte na nc e the shy d e li c at e hal f

, , ,

mischi evo us fa ce which l o o k e d o n me n fro m

i ts gre y ha i r a nd fo rk e d b e a rd a nd w as se t o ff ,

by hi s light gre y co l o ure d d ress a nd ho o d A

-
.

k nife and i nkhorn hung o n hi s d re ss w e se e a ,

ro sa ry i n hi s ha n d a nd whe n he w as al o ne he
,

walk e d swiftly ”
.

I coul d not bring myself to make the

quotation shorter although Mr Stop ,
.
2 4 A GUIDE To

ford Brooke may ask me ind ee d, ,

why I d o not observe in a review

the proportion which I d eman d in a
primer .

The third and fourth chapters b ring

us to the R enascence and the E li z a
bethan age Spenser i s touche d by
.

M r Sto pfo rd Brooke almost as charm

.

i ngly as Chaucer The pages on

.

Sha kspeare are full of interest an d ,

the great poet gains by the mod e in

which we are led up to him Mr . .

S to pfo rd Brooke has remembere d that

Sha kspe are is as Goethe sai d not
, ,

truly seen when he i s regarde d as a

great single mountain rising straight
out of the plain ; he is truly seen when
seen among the hills of his R i esen
Hei ma tlz, his giant home among,

them though towering high above them

, .

O nly one or two sentences I coul d

 EN GLISH LITERATURE 2
5

wish otherwise M r Sto pfo rd Brooke

. .

says of Shakspe are s last plays : ’

All these be l o ng to a nd p ra ise fo rgive ness ,

an d it see ms if w e may co n
, j e cture that loo k
,

i ng b a ck o n all the wro ng he ha d suffe re d a nd

o n all t ha t he ha d d o ne Sha k speare co ul d say
,

i n the fo rgive ness he ga ve to me n a nd i n the

fo rgive ness he so ught o f heave n the wo rd s he
ha d writt e n i n e arli e r days : The qua li ty of
mer cy i s not str a i ned .
”

Perhaps that might not b e out of

place in a volume of lectures on
Shaksp eare But it is certainly some
.

what far fetche d and fanciful ; too

-

fanciful for our primer Nor is it .

quite sound and sober criticism ,

again to say o f Shakspeare : He was

,
!

altogether, f rom en d to en d, an artist ,

an d the greatest artist the mod ern

”
worl d has known O r again :
. In !

the unchangeableness of pure art

power Shakspeare stan d s entirely
2 6 A GUIDE To

alone .There is a peculiarity in

Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke s use of the
.
’

wor d s a r t a r ti st He means by an
, .

artist one whose a i m in writing is

not to reveal himself but to give ,

pleasure ; he says most truly that

Shaksp e are s aim was to please that
’
,

Shaksp e are
!
made men an d women
whose dramatic action on each other
an d toward s a catastrophe was i n
ten d e d to please the public not to ,

”
reveal himself This is indee d the
.

true temper of the artist But when .

we call a man emphatically a r ti s t a ,

r e a t a r ti st we mean something more

g ,

than thi s temper in which he works ;

we mean by art not merely an aim to ,

please but also an d more a law o f

m
, , , ,

pure an d flawless work anship As .

living always un d er the sway of thi s

law an d as therefore a perfect artist
, , , ,
 ENGLISH LITERATURE 2 7

we d o not conceive of Shaksp eare .

His workmanship is often far from

being pure an d flawless .

!
Till tha t B ello na s brid e gro o m lapp d i npro o f
’
,
’
,

Co nfro nte d hi m w ith self co mp ariso ns

-

There is but one name for such writ

ing as that if Shaksp e are had signed
,

it a thousand times it is detestable

, .

And it is too frequent in Shakspe are .

In a book therefore where every se n

, ,

tence should be sure simple and , ,

soli d not requiring mental reserva

,

tions nor raising questions w e ought ,

not to speak of Shakspe are as alto !

”
gether from en d to end an artist ;
, ,

!
as standing entirely alone in the
”
unchangeableness of pure art power -
.

He is the richest the most wonderful

, ,

the most powerful the most delight ,

ful of poets ; he is not altogether, nor

even eminently an artist , .
2 8 A GUIDE TO

In the fifth chapter we reach Milton .

M r Sto pfo rd Brooke characterises Mil

m
.

ton s poe s well when he speaks of

’
,

!
their maj estic movement their grand ,
”
style an d their grave poet ry
, But I .

wonder at his designating M i lton our

gr ea te s t p o e t Nor
. does the criticism
of Pa ra di se Lost quite satisfy me I .

!
do not think that as we read the
great ep ic we feel that the lightness
,

and grace of Milton s youthful time ’

”
are gone . True the poet of Pa ra
,

di se Lost di ffers from the poet of

L A llegr o an d 1 1 Pe nse r oso but the
’

feeling raised by Pa ra di se Lost i s not

a feeling that lightness and grace are
gone That would be a negative fe el
.

ing a feeling of disappointment ; an d

,

the feeling raised by Pa r a di se Lost is

far other Yet neither is i t a feeling
.

which j ustifies Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke in

.
30 A GUIDE To

worth , or Scott or K eats than his

, ,

L A llegr o an d 1 1 Pe nseroso L A lle

’ ’
.

g r o an d 1 1 Pe nser o so are charming b ut ,

'

they are not pure poetry of natural

description in the sense in which the
Highla nd R eaper is, or the Ode to
A utumn The poems d o not touch
the same chord s or b elong to the
same ord er Scott is altogether out
.

of place in the comparison His .

natural d escription in verse has the

merits of his natural d escription in
prose which are ve ry consi d erab le
, .

But it never has the grace an d fe

li c i ty o f Milton or the natural magic
,

of Word sworth an d K eats As poeti .

cal work i t is not to be even name d

,

with theirs .

Sha ksp e are an d Milton are such

prominent obj ects in a primer of
E nglish literature that one dwells on
 ENGLISH e ERATURE 31

them strives to have them presente d

,

quite aright A fter M ilton we come

.

to a century whose literature has no

figures of this grandeur The literary .

importance of the eighteenth century

lies mainly in its having wrought out
a revolution begun in the seventeenth ,

—no less a revolution than the estab

li shme nt of what Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke .

well calls the secon d period of E ng

!

lish prose in which the sty le is easy

, ,

unaffected moulded to the subj ect

, ,

and the proper words are put in their °

”
proper places Wi th his strong love
.

of poetry M r Sto pf o rd Brooke could

, .

not perhaps feel the same sympathy

, ,

and delight in dealing with this prose

century as in dealing with the times
of Chaucer or E lizabeth Still his .

account of its writers d oes not fail in

interest and is in ge neral j ust But
, .
32 A GUID E TO

hi s arrangement is here not quite satis

factory The periods o f time covered
.

by his chapters should be l iterary

periods not merely perio d s in poli ti
,

cal histo ry His sixth chapter ha s

.

for its title : Fr o m the R esto r a ti on to

G eo rge [I! The period from the
.

R estoration to George the Third is

a period in political history only .

George the Third has nothing to do

with literature ; his accession marks
no epoch in our civilisation or in our
literature such as is marke d by the
,

Conquest or by the reign of E lizabeth .

I wish that Mr Sto p f o rd Brooke would

.

change the title of this chapter and ,

make it : Fr o m the R es to r a ti o n to the

D ea th of Pope a nd S w ift Pope died
.

in 1 744, Swift in 1 74 5 The follo w.

ing chapter should be : Fro m 1 74 5 to

the Fr ench R evoluti o n The next an d
.
 ENGLISH LITERATUR E 33

last Fr o m the Fr e nch R evoluti o n to

the D f ea th o S co tt .

These are real periods in our litera

ture .M r Sto pfo rd Brooke enume r
.

ates, at the beginning of his seventh

chapter causes which from the early
,

part of the eighteenth century were at

work to influence literature .

The lo ng p e ace a fte r io n o f the

the a c c ess

H o use o f H a no ve r ha d l e ft Engla nd at rest

an d give n it w e a lth The re cl a imi ng o f waste
.

tracts the i ncre ase d we alth and tra d e mad e

, ,

b e tt e r co mmuni ca tio n ne cessa ry ; and the

c o untry w as so o n c o v e re d with a n e two rk o f

highw ays The l e isure ga ve time to me n to

.

think and w rite ; the qui ck e r inte rchange

b e twe e n the capital and the co untry spre a d
o ve r E n gla nd the lite rat ure o f the c apital ,

an d stirre d me n eve rywhere to w rit e The .

c o a chi n g se rvi c e s and the po st carri e d the

ne w b o o k and the lit e ra ry c ritic ism to the
vill a ge s Co mmuni ca ti o n with the Co ntine nt
.

D
34 A GUIDE To

ha d i ncre ase d d ur ing the p e ace able ti mes of

Walp o l e .
”

By the midd le of the century by a ,

time well marked by the death of Pope

and Swift these influences had been
,

in operation long enough to form a

second period in the eighteenth cen
tury su ffi ciently distinguishable from
,

the period of Addison and Pope and ,

lasting down to a period of far more

decisive change the period of the ,

French R evolution .

Prose and poetry within these ,

periods should not have each their

,

separate chapter ; it i s unnecessary ,

and leads to some confusi on Sir .

Walter Scott is at present noticed in

one of Mr Sto p f o rd Brooke s chapters
.
’

as a poet in another as a prose w riter

, .

An d the limits of each period should

be observed ; au thors and works should
 ENGLIS H e ERATURE 35

not be mentioned out of their order of

date At present M r StO p fo rd Brooke
. .

mentions the R i va ls and S chool f o r

S ca nda l of Sheridan in his sixth chap
ter a cha pter which professes to go
,

from the R estoration to the accession

of George the Third At the very .

beginning of the following chapter ,

which goes from 1 76 0 to 1 8 37 he ,

introduces his mention of the Mo r n

ing C h r o ni cle the
, Post the H e ra ld , ,

and the Ti mes of the E di nburgh and

, ,

the Q ua r terly R evi ew and of B la ck ,

w oo d s Maga z i ne By being freed

’
.

from all such defects in lucid a nd

orderly arrangement the pri mer would ,

gain in clearness .

It would gain in brevity an d propor

tion by ending with the death of Scott
in 1 8 32 I wish I might prevail upon
.

Mr Stopfo rd Brooke to bring hi s

.
36 A GUIDE To

primer to an end with Scott s d eath ’

in that year I wish he woul d leave

.

out every wor d about his c o ntempo ra

ries and about publications which
,

have appeared since 1 8 32 .The d eath

of Sir Walter Scott is a real epoch ; it
marks the end of one period an d the
beginning of another , of the period
in which we are ourselves now living .

N 0 man can trust himself to speak of

his own time and his o w n contem
p o r ar i e s with the sa m e sureness of
j u d gment an d the sa me proportion as
of times and men gone by ; and in a
primer of literature we should avoid ,

so far as we can all hin d rances to sure

,

ness of j udgment and to proportion .

The readers of the primer also are , ,

not likely to hear too little of contem

p o ra ry literature, if its praises are
u nrehearsed in their primer ; they are
38 A GUIDE To

woul d abri dge it by another page ; the

omission of the first pages of the vol
ume by two more O ur primer short .

ened by eight pages ! no small ga i n

in a work of this character .

The last three chapters of the book ,

therefore I could wish recast and one

, ,

or two phrases in hi s criticism M r .

S to p fo rd Brooke might perhaps revise

at the same tim e He says most truly
.

!
of Addison that his Specta to r gave a
better tone to manners and a gentler
one to political and literary c ri ti
c i sm
”
He says truly too of Addi
.
, ,

son s best papers :

’
No humour is
more fine a nd tender ; and like ,

”
Chaucer s it is ne ver bitter
’
, He .

has a right to the conclusion there ,

fore that Addison s work was a great

,
’

”
one lightly d one
, But to say of .

A dd i sons style, that i n i ts var ie d

’
 ENGLISH LITERATURE 39

cadence and subtle ease it ha s never

been surpassed seems to me to be
,

going a little too far O ne could not

.

say more of Plato s Whateve r his

’
.

services to his time Addison is for us

,

now a w riter whose range and force of

thought are not considerable enough

to make him interesting ; and his style

cannot equal in varied cadence and
subtle ease the style of a man like
Plato because without range and force
,

of thought all the resources of style ,

whether in cadence or in subtle ty are ,

not and cannot be brought out .

Is it an entirely accurate j udgment ,

again on the poems of G ray and

,

Collins to call them

, exquisite
!

examples of perfectly E nglish work

”
wrought in the spirit of classic art !
I confess this l anguage seems to me
,

to be too strong Much as I ad mire

.
40 A GUIDE To

Gray one feels I think in read ing

, , ,

his poetry never quite secure against

the false poetical s tyle of the eigh
te e nth century It is always near at
.

hand sometimes it breaks in ; and

,

the sense of this prev ents the security

one enj oys with truly classic work the ,

fulness of pleasure the cordial satis,

faction .

Thy j o ys no glitte ring fe mal e me e ts

or even things in the E 149

He gave to mise ry all he ha d a te ar ; -

He gai nd fro m H e ave n ( twas all he w i sh d)

’ ’ ’

a fri e nd
are instances of the sort of drawback
I mean And the false style wh i ch
.
,

here comes to the surface we are ,

never very far from in G ray There

’

fore to ca ll his poems exquisite

,

e xamples of pe rfectly English work

 E NGLISH LI TERATURE 4 1

wrought in the spirit of classic art

seems to me an e xaggeration .

Mr Sto pfo rd Brooke s Cowper is

.
’

e x cellent but again there seems to me

,

to be some want of sobrie ty in the

praise given Philanthropy no doubt
.
, ,

animate d Cowper s heart an d shows ’

itself in his poetry But it is too .

much to say of the apparition of Cow

per and of his philanthropy i n English
!
poetry : It is a wonderful change a ,

change so won d erful that it is like a

new world It is in fact the concon
.
, ,

tra ti o n into our retired poet s work o f

’

all the new thought upon the subj ect

of mankind which was soon to take
”
so fierce a form in Paris Co wper .
,

with his morbid religion and lumber

ing mo vement w as no precursor as
, ,

Mr Sto pfo rd Brooke woul d thus make

.

him of Byron an d Shelley His true

, .
4 2 A GUIDE To

praise is that by hi s simple a ff ections

,

and genuine love of Nature he was a

precursor of Wordsworth .

O f Words w orth s philosophy of ’

Nature Mr Sto p fo rd Brooke draws

.

out I think a more elaborate account

, ,

than we require in a primer No one .

will be much helped by Wordsworth s ’

philosophy of Na ture as a scheme in ,

itself and d isj oined from his poems .

Nor shall we be led to enj oy the

poems the more by having a phi lo so
phy of Nature abstracted from them
and presented to us in its nakedness .

O f the page and a quarter which Mr .

S to p fo rd Brooke ha s given to Words

worth s philosophy of Nature all
’
,

might with advantage perhaps be , ,

dropped but this

!
N a t ure
p e rso n to Wo rdswo rth di s
w as a ,

tinct fro m hi mse lf a nd capable o f b e i ng l o ve d

, .
 ENGLISH LITERATUR E

He co u l d b ro o d o n he r characte r he r ways , ,

her wo rds he r life ,

H e nce a ro se hi s mi nute
.

a nd l o v i ng o bserv ati o n o f he r a nd hi s p assi o n

,

a te d e scripti o n o f all her fo rms

”
.

There might be some condensation ,

too in the criticism of Byron as the

,

poet of D o njua n and as the poet of

Nature But some touches in the
.

criticism of Byro n are admirable .

!
We feel naturally great interest in
this strong personality put before us ,

with such obstinate power ; but it

wearies at last Fi na lly i t w ea r i ed
.

hi mself
!
O r again : It i s his colos
.

sal power and the case which comes

from i t in which he resembles D ry
,

den that marks him specially

, .

Nothing could be better .

O n Shelley also Mr Sto pfo rd

, , .

Brooke has an excellent sentence .

!
He says of his lyrics : They form
44 A GUIDE To

together the most sensitive the most ,

imaginative and the most musical

, ,

but the least ta ngible lyrical poetry

”
we possess But in the pages on
.

Shelley yet more than in those on

,

Byron con d ensatio n is d esirable

, .

Shelley is a most interesting and

attractive personage ; but in a work
of the dimensions of this primer ,

neither his Q ueen Ma h nor his ,

A la sto r nor hi s R evolt of I sla m nor

, ,

his Pr o me the us Unbound deserve the ,

space which Mr Sto pf o rd Brooke gi ves

.

to them And finally as the sentence

.
,

which I have last quoted is just a sen

tence of the right stamp for a primer ,

so a pas sage such as the following is

just of the sort which is unsuitable :
She ll ey wa nts the l
c o se ness of grasp of

na t ure whi ch Wo rd sw o rth and K e ats had but ,

he ha d the p o w e r i n a fa r gre a t e r d e gree than

T HO MA S G RAY
 THO MA S G RAY 1

A ME S B R O WN Master of Pe m ,

broke Hall at Cambridge Gray s ,

’

friend an d executor in a letter written

,

a fortnight after Gray s death to a n ’

other o f hi s friends D r Wharton of , .

O ld Park Durham has the following

, ,
'

passage
E ve rything is now dark an d mel
!

an c ho ly in Mr G ray s room not a ’

,
.

trace of him remains there ; it looks

as if it had b e en fo r some time unin
'

habited and the room bespoke for

,

another inhabita nt The thoughts I

have of him will last and will be use ,

1 Pr fix e d to
e the S e le cti o n fro m G ra y i n

W a rd s En
gli sh Poets,
’
vo l . iv . 1 880 .

E 49
50 HOMAS GRAY
T

ful to me the few years I can expect

to live He never spoke out but I
.
,

belie ve from some little e xpressions I

now remember to have d ropped from
him that for some time past he
,

thought himself nearer his en d than

”
those about him apprehended .

He never spoke o ut In these four

.

words is contained the whole histo ry

of G ray both a s a man and as a poet
, .

The words fell naturally and as i t ,

were by c hance from their writer s

,
’

pen ; but let us dwell upon them and ,

press into their meaning for in fol ,

lowing i t we shall co me to understand

Gray .

He was in his fi fty fi fth year when

-

he d ie d and he li v ed in case and

,

leisure yet a few pages hold all his

,

poetry ; he never spoke o ut in poetry .

Still the reputation which he has

,
 T HOMAS GRAY 5 I

achieve d by his few a es is y

high True Johnson speaks of him
.
,

with coldness and disparagement .

Gray disl i ked Johnson and refused ,

to make his acquaintance ; one might

fancy that Johnson wrote with some
irrita tion from this cause But John .

son w a s not by nature fitted to do

j ust i ce to G ray and to his poetry ; this
by itself is a su ffi ci ent explanation of
the deficiencies of his criticism of
G ray We may add a further explana
.

tion of them which i s supplie d by M r .

Cole s papers
’
When Johnson w a s
.
!

”
publishing hi s Life of Gray says ,

M r Cole
. I gave him several a ne c
,

d otes but he w a s very a nx i ous a s soo n

,

as p o ssi ble to ge t to the e nd of hi s

”
la bo ur sJohnson w as not na turally
.

in sympathy with G ray whose life he ,

had to write an d when he w rote it

,
5 2 T HOMAS GRAY

he was in a hurry besides He did .

Gray inj ustice but even Johnson s

,
’

authori ty failed to make inj ustice in ,

this case prevail, Lord M acaulay .

calls the Li fe of Gray the worst

of Johnson s Lives and it had
’
,

found many censurers before M acau

lay Gray s poetical reputa tion grew
.
’

and flourished in spite of it The

poet M ason his first biographer i n
, ,

his epita ph equalled him with Pind ar .

Brita in has know n says Mason , ,

a H o me r s fire ’
i n M ilt o ns ’
t ins
s ra ,

A Pi ndar s ra pture
’
i n the lyre o f G ray
”
.

The imme n se vogue of Pope an d of

his style of v e rsi fic a ti o n had at first
prevente d the frank reception of Gray
by the readers of poetry The E legy .

please d ; it coul d not but please : but

’
Gray s poetry on the whole aston
, ,

i she d his conte mporaries at first more

 54 HOMAS GRAY
T

been reading Gray s works and thi nk

’
,

him the only poet since Shaksp e are

entitled to the character of sublime .

Perhaps you will remember that I once

had a di fferent opinion of him I .

was prejudiced Ad a m Smith says

.

Gray j oins to the sublimity of M ilton

!

the elegance and harmony of Pope ;

and nothing is wanting to render him ,

! perhaps the first poet in the E nglish

,
1

language but to have written a little

,

”
more . And to come n e arer to o ur
,

own times Sir James M ackintosh

,

speaks of Gray thus : O f a ll E nglish

!

p oets he was the most finished artist .

d c attained the highest degree of

splendour of which poetical style
seemed to be capable .

In a poet of such magnitude how ,

shall we explain his scantiness of

! p roduction ! Shall we explain it by
 HOMAS GRAY
T 55

saying that to make of Gray a poet

of this magni tude is absurd ; that his
genius and resources were small and ,

that his production therefore was , ,

small also but that the popularity of

,

a single piece the E legy — a po p u

, ,

lari ty due in great measure to the sub

je c t, created for Gray a reputation

to which he has really no right ! He
himself was not deceived by the favour
!
shown to the E legy Gray told me
.

”
with a good deal of acrimony writes ,

D r Gregory that the E legy owed its

.
,
!

popularity entirely to the subj ect and ,

/

that the public would have received i t

as well if it had been written in pro se Q
”
.

This is too much to sa y ; the E legy is

a beautiful poem an d in admiring i t
,

the public showed a true feel ing for

poetry But it is true that the E legy
.

owed much of its success to its sub

56 HOMA S GRAY
T

j
e c t, and that it has received a too
unmeasured a nd unbounded praise .

Gray himself however maintained

, ,

that the E leg w a s not his best work

in poetry and he w a s right High as
, .

is the praise due to the E legy it is ,

yet true that in other productions of

Gray he e x hibits poetical qualities
even higher than those exhibited in
the E legy He deserves therefore
.
, ,

his extremely high re putation as a

poet although his critics and the
,

public may not always have praised

him with perfect j udgment We are .

brought back then to the question :

, ,

How in a poet so really considerable

, ,

are we to explain his scantiness of

production !
Scanty Gray s pro duction indeed
’
, ,

i s ; so scanty that to supplement our

knowledge of it by a knowledge of the
 HOMAS GRAY
T 57

man i s in this case of peculiar interest

and service . Gray s letters and the
’

records of him by his friends have

happily made it possible for us thus
to know him and to appreciate hi s ,
,

high qualities of mind and soul Le t

us see these in the man first and then ,

obse rve how they appear in hi s poetry ;

and why they cannot enter into it more
freely and inspire it with more strength ,

render it more abundant .

We will begin with his acquire

ments .
!
M r Gray was w rites his
.
,

friend Temple perhaps the most

,
!

learned man in Euro p e l He knew

every branch of history bo th natural
and civil ; had read all the original
historians of England France and , ,

Italy ; and was a great antiquarian .

Criticism meta physics morals poli

, , ,

tics made a principal part of his

,
58 HOMAS GRAY
T

study . Voyages and travels of all

.

sorts were his favourite amusements ;

and he had a fine taste in painting ,

”
prints architecture an d gardening
, , .

The notes in his interleaved copy of

Linnaeus remained to Show the extent
and accuracy of his knowledge in the
natural sciences particularly in bot ,

any zoology and entomology E nto

, ,
.

mo lo gi sts testified that his account of

E nglis h i ns ects was more perfect than
any that had then appeare d His .

notes an d papers of which some have ,

been published others remain still in ,

manuscript give evidence besides of

, , ,

his knowledge of literature ancient and

modern geography and topography
, ,

painting architecture and antiquities

, ,

and of his curious researches in her

a ldry . He was an excellent musician .

Sir James M ackintos h remin d s us ,

 TH O MAS GRAY 59

moreover that to all the other ac c o m

,

p li shme n ts and meri ts of Gray we are

to add this : That he was the first
discoverer of the beauties of nature
in England and ha s marked out the
,

course of every picturesque j ourney

”
that can be made in it .

Acquirements take all their value

and character from the power of the
individual storing them Le t us take .
,

from amongst Gray s obse rvations on

’

what he read enough to show us his

,

power Here are criticisms on three

.

very di ff erent authors criticisms with

,

out any study o r pretension but j ust ,

thrown out in chance letters to his

friends F irst on Aristotle
.
,

In the first pla ce he i s the hard e st a utho r

by fa r I e v e r me dd le d wi th The n he ha s a
.

dry co nc ise ne ss tha t ma k es o ne ima gine o ne

i s p erusing a ta ble o f co nte nts ra the r than a
60 T HOMAS GRAY

bo o k ; it tast es fo r wo rl d li k e cho ppe d

all the

ha y o r ra the r lik e cho pp e d l o gic ; fo r he has

,

a vi o l e n t aff e c ti o n to tha t a rt be i ng i n so me
,

so rt hi s o w n i nve n tio n; so that he o fte n lo se s

himse lf i n littl e trifli ng d isti nc ti o ns a nd v erb al
nice ti es a nd wha t i s w o rse l eav e s y o u to
, ,

e x tri ca te yo urse lf a s y o u c a n Thi rd ly he

.
,

has suffe re d v astly b y hi s tra nscri b ers as a ll ,

a utho rs o f gre at bre vity ne ce ssarily must .

Fo urthly a nd lastly he has a b und a nce o f fine

, ,

un co mmo n thi n gs which ma ke hi m we ll wo rth

,

the p ai n s he gi ves o n e Yo u se e what y o u

.

ha ve to e x pe ct .

Ne x t on Isocrates
,

It wo uld be t
g if I sho ul d find fa ult
s ra n e

wi th yo u fo r re a di ng I so cra te s I di d so myse l f
twe nty y e a rs ago a nd i n a n e d iti o n a t l e ast as
,

b a d a s yo urs The Pa ne gy ri c the D e Pac e

.
,

Are o pa giti c a nd Adv i ce to Philip are by far

, ,

the no bl e st re ma i ns w e ha ve o f thi s writ er a nd ,

e qual to most thi ngs e x tant i n the G ree k

to ngue ; b ut it d e p e nds o n y o ur j udgme nt to
d isti nguish b e twe e n hi s re al a nd o cca sio nal
62 T HOMAS GRAY

of Gray s mind hi s power to com

’
,

mand and use his learning But Gray .

was a poet ; let us hear him on a poet ,

on Shaksp ea re We must place our.

selves i n the full midst of the eigh

te e nth century and of its criticism .

Gray s frien d West had praised

’
, ,

R acine for using in his dramas the !

language of the times and that of the

purest sort and he had added :
I will not decide what style is fit for
our English stage but I shoul d rather ,

choose one that bordered upon Cato ,

”
than upon Shakspeare Gray re .

plies

!
A s to ma tt e r o f s tyl e I
, have thi s to say

The l anguage o f the a ge i s ne v e r the language

o f p o e t ry ; e x ce pt a mo ng the Fre nc h w ho se ,

v ers e , whe re the tho ught do es no t suppo rt

i t d i ff e rs i n no t hi ng fro m p ro se
, O ur po e t ry .
,

o n the c o n trary has a l anguage p e culiar to

,
 HOMAS GRAY
T 63

itself to whi ch almost ev ery o ne that has

,

writte n has a dde d so me thi ng . In truth ,

Sha ksp e are s l a ngua g e i s o ne o f hi s p ri nc ipa l

’

b e a uti es ; a nd he has no le ss a dva nta ge o ve r

y o ur Add iso ns a nd R o wes i n this than i n ,

tho se o the r gre a t e x ce ll e nces y o u me nti o n .

Every wo rd i n hi m i s a picture Pray put me

.

the fo ll o wi ng li nes i nto the to ngue o f o ur

mo d e rn dramati cs
B ut I tha t a m no t sha p e d for S p o rtive tri cks
, ,

N o r ma d e to c o urt an a mo ro us l o o ki ng
glass
a ndwha t follo ws ! To me the y a pp ear un

transl a ta bl e ; a nd if this b e the case , o ur

l a nguage i s gre a tly d e ge ne ra te d .

It i s impossible for a poet to lay

down the rules of his own art with
more insight soundness and cer
, ,

tainty Y et at that moment in E ng

.

land there w a s perhaps not one other

man besides Gray capable of wr i ting
, ,

the pas sa ge j ust quoted .

 T HOMAS GRAY

Gray s quali ty of mind then we

’
, ,

see ; hi s quali ty of soul will no less

bear inspection His rese rve his .

,

delicacy his distaste for many of the

,

persons and things surrounding him

in the Cambridge of that day this ,

”
silly dirty place as he calls i t
, , ,

have produced an impression of Gray

as being a man falsely fastidious ,

fi ni c a l e ff eminate
, But we have .

already had that grave testimony to

him from the M aster of Pembroke
Hall : The thoughts I have of him
!

will last and will be useful to me the

,

”
few years I can expect to live And .

here is another to the same e ffect from

a younger man from Gray s friend ,
’

N icholls
Yo u k no w he write s to hi s mo the r fro m
,
”
,

a b ro a d w he n he he ard o f G ra y s d e a th tha t ’ !
, ,

I co nsi d e re d Mr G ray as a se co nd pare nt

.
,
 T HOMAS GRAY

tha t I tho ught o nly of hi m, bui lt all my happi

ne ss o n hi m,talk e d o f hi m fo r e v e r wi she d ,

hi m wit h me whe ne ve r I p art o o k o f a ny

pl e asure a nd fle w to hi m fo r re fuge whe ne ve r
,

I fe lt a ny une asine ss To who m no w shall I

.

ta lk o f all I have se e n here ! W ho will te ach

me to re a d to thi nk to fe e l ! I p ro t e st to
, ,

y o u, t ha t w h a t eve r I d i d o r t ho ug ht ha d a

re fe re nc e to hi m If I me t w ith a ny cha gri ns

.
,

I c o mfo rte d myse lf tha t I ha d a tre asure

a t ho me ; if a ll the w o rl d ha d d e spi se d a n d
ha t e d me I sho ul d hav e tho ught myse lf p e r
,

fe ctly re co mp e nse d i n hi s fri e ndship The re .

re ma i n s on ly o ne lo ss mo re ; if I l o se yo u I ,

a m l e ft al o ne i n the w o rl d At prese nt I fe e l
.

tha t I have lo st half o f myself .

Testimonies such as these are not

called forth by a fastidious e ffeminate
weakling ; they are not called forth ,

even by mere qualities of mind ; they

,

are called forth by qualities of soul .

And of Gray s high qualities of soul of

’
,

hi s mrovsa tdr qs his e x cellent serious

'

F
66 T HOMAS GRAY

ness we may gather abundant proo f

,

from his letters Writing to M ason w ho

.

had j ust lost hi s fa ther he sa ys : ,

I ha v e se e n the sc e ne y o u d e sc ri be a nd
,

k no w ho w dr ea d ful it i s ; I kno w to o I a m the

b e tte r fo r it W e are all i dle a nd tho ughtless
.

things and hav e no se nse no use i n the w o rl d

, ,

an y l o ng e r th a n t ha t sa d i mp res si o n las ts ; the

d e e p e r it i s e ngra ve d the be tt e r.
”

And again on a like occasion to

,

another friend
He w ho b e st k no ws o ur nature (fo r he
ma d e us w ha t w e are ) by such aflli cti o ns re
ca lls a s fro m o ur wa n de ring tho ughts a nd idle
me rri me nt fro m the i nso l e nc e o f y o uth a nd
,

pro sp e rity to serio us re fl e cti o n to o ur d uty

, , ,

an d to hi mse lf ; no r ne e d w e hast e nto ge t ri d

o f the se i mp re ss i o ns .Ti me (by appo intme nt
o f the sa me P o w e r ) will c ure the sma rt a n d in
so me he arts so o n b l o t o ut a ll the t ra ces o f so r

ro w ; b ut such as p re se rve the m l o n ge st (fo r it

i s p artly l e ft i n o ur o w n p o w e r) do p e rha ps
best acquiesce i nthe will o f the chastise r ”
.
 T HOMAS GRAY

And once more to M ason in the ,

very hour of hi s wife s death ; Gray ’

was not sure whe ther or not his letter

would reach M ason before the end
If the wo rst b e no t ye t p ast y o u will ,

negl e c t and p ardo n me ; bu t if the last strug

g le b e o ver if th e p o or o bj e c t o f y o ur l o n
,
g
an xi e ti es b e no lo n ge r se nsibl e to yo ur kind
ne ss o r to he r o w n sufle ri ngs all o w me at
'

, ,

l east a n i de a (fo r what co ul d I do w e re I ,

pre se nt mo re than
,
to si t by y o u i n

sil e n ce a nd pity fro m my he a rt n o t he r w ho i s ,

a t re st b ut y o u w ho l o se he r
, , May he w ho .
,

ma d e us the M aste r o f o ur pl e asure s and o f

,

o ur p a i n s supp o rt y o u ! Ad i e u ”
, .

Seriousness character was the

, ,

foundation of things with him ; where

this w a s lacking he was always severe ,

whatever m i ght be o ff ered to him in

its stead Voltaire s literary genius
.
’

charmed him but the faults of Vo l ,

tai t e s nature he felt so s trongly that

’
68 T HOMAS GRAY

when his you ng friend N icholls was

going abroad in 1 771 ju st before ,

Gray s death he said to him :

’
, I !

hav e o ne thing to beg of you which

you must not refuse N icholls a n.

sw ere d : You know you hav e only to

!

command ; what is it ! — D o not !

”
go to see Volta ire said Gray ; and,

then added : N 0 one knows the mis

chi e f that ma n will do ”
N icholls .

promised compliance with Gray s ’

! ”
injunction ; But what he asked , ,

! ”
could a visit from me signify !
Every tribute to such a man si gni
”
fies , G ray answered He admired .

D ryden admired him even too

, , ,

much ; had too much felt his i nflu

ence as a poet He told Beattie
.

!
that if there was any excellence in
his o w n numbers he had learned i t
”
wholly from that great poet ; and
 T HOMAS GRAY

unhappily been ta ught to read and

write
And with all this strenuous serious
ness a pathetic sentiment and an
, ,

element likewise of spo rtive and

, ,

charming humour At K eswick by .

,

the lakeside on an autumn ev ening ,

he has the accent of the R eve r i es or ,

of O bermann or Wordsworth :,

In the i ng walk e d do wn alo ne to the

ev e n

l ak e by the sid e o f Cro w Park a fte r sunse t a nd

sa w the so l e mn c o l o uri ng o f light draw o n the ,

l ast gle a m o f sunshi ne fadi ng away o n the hill

to ps the d e e p sere ne o f the wa te rs a nd the
, ,

l o ng sha d o ws o f the mo unta ins thro wn acro ss

the m till the y ne arly to uche d the hithe rmo st
,

sho re A t d i st a nc e he a rd the murmur o f

.

ma ny wa te rfalls no t a ud i bl e i n the daytime

, .

Wi she d fo r the M o o n b ut she w as da r k to me

,

”
a nd si le nt, hi d i nher va ca nt i nter lu na r ca ve .

O f his humour and sportiveness his

delightful letters are full ; his humour
 T HOMAS GRAY

appears in his poetry too and is by ,

no means to be passed ov er there .

Horace Walpole said that Gray never

wrote anythi ng easily but things of
humour ; humour was his natural and
”
original turn .

K nowledge , penetration Serious ,

ness sentiment humour G ray had

, , ,

them all ; he had the equipment and

endowment for the o ffi ce of poet .

But very soon in his life appear traces

of something obstructing something ,

disabling ; of spirits failing and health ,

not sound ; and the evil increases with

years He writes to W est in 1 737
.

Lo w spirits a re my true a nd fa ithful co m

p a nio ns ; the y ge t up with me go to b e d with
,

me ma k e j o urne ys a nd re tu rns a s I do ; nay

, ,

an d pa y v isits a nd will e v e n a ff e ct to b e j o c o se
an d fo rc e a fee b l e l a ugh wi th me ; b ut most
c o mmo n ly w e si t al o ne to ge ther a nd a re the
,

p re ttiest insipi d co mpa ny i nthe worl d ”

.
72 HOMAS
T GR AY

The to ne i s pla yful Gra y w as no t ,

y e t tw e nty o ne -
Mine
.
”
h e te lls ,
!
W e st f our or fi ve yea rs later mine , ,

y o u a re t o kno w i s a w hite
, Mel a n
c ho ly or rather Le ucocholy , for the
,

mo st part ; which though it se l d om ,

laugh s or danc e s no r ev er amounts to

,

w ha t one c all s j oy or plea sure , yet i s

”
a go o d e asy so rt of a sta te But, he .

add s in thi s sa m e l ette r :

B ut there i s a no ther so rt, black i nde e d,

i
w h ch I have no w the n fe l t that has
a nd ,

so methi n i n i lik T lli n l f f it

’
g t e e rtu a s r u e o a h ,

Cr edo gui a i mpossi bi le est fo r it b e li eves na y , ,

i s sure o f eve rythi ng tha t i s unli ke ly so i t be ,

b ut frightful ; a nd o n the o ther hand excl udes

an d shuts i ts eyes to the most possi ble ho p es ,

an d ev erythi ng tha t i s pl easurab l e from this

the Lo rd d eli ve r us ! fo r n on e b ut he an d sun
shi n y weather cando it ”
.

Si x or seve n ears
y pass, and w e find
 HOMAS GRAY
T 73

hi m w riting to Wharton from Cam

bridge thus
The pirit o f laz ine ss (the spirit o f this
s

pl ac e ) b e gi ns to po ssess e ve n me tha t hav e ,

so l o n g d e clai me d aga i nst it Y e t has it no t .

so p re va il e d b ut tha t I fe e l tha t d isc o n

, te nt
with myself tha t ennu i tha t ev er acc o mpa nie s
, ,

it i n i ts b e ginni ngs Time will se ttle my co n

.

sc i e nce , time will re co nc il e my l a ngui d co m

panio n to me ; w e sha ll smo k e w e sha ll tipple , ,

w e shall d o z e t o ge the r w e sha ll ha v e o ur littl e

,

jo k e s
, lik e o the r p e o pl e a nd o ur l o n
,g s t o ri e s .

B ra ndy will fi nish w ha t p o rt b e ga n; a nd a ,

mo nth a ft e r the ti me yo u will se e i n so me

,

c o rn e r o f a Lo n d o n Eve ni ng Po st Y e ster ,

day d i e d the R ev Mr ! o hn G ray S e nio r

. .
,

Fe ll o w o f Cla re H all a fac e tio us co mp a ni o n

, ,

an d we ll re sp e c t e d by a ll w ho k ne w hi m ’
-
.

The humorous adverti sement ends ,

in the original letter with a Hogarth ,

ian touch which I must not quote .

Is i t Leucocholy or i s it M elancholy
 74 T HOMAS GRAY

which predominates here ! at any rate ,

this entry in his diary six years later , ,

is black enough :
I nsomni a cr ebr a , a to e ex n p e rgi sce nti su r

dus qu i da m dolor i s sensus f re

qu e ns eti a m in
r egi o ne ster ni opp r essi o , et ca r di a
lg g
i i
‘
a r a v s,

[er e mp i ter na
se .
”

And in 1 757 he writes to Hurd

!
To b e mpl o ye d i s
e to b e ha ppy . This
p ri nciple o f mi ne (a n a m co n
d I vi nce d o f i ts

truth) ha s as usual no infl ue nce o n my pra c

, ,

tice I a m a lo ne a nd ennuy to the last

.
,
'

d egre e y e t do no thi ng I nd e e d I hav e o ne

, .

e x c use ; my he alt h w i h h v e so ki nd ly
( h c y o u a

i nquire d a fte r) i s no t e x tra o rdi nary It i s no .

‘

gre a t mala dy b ut sev e ral littl e o nes tha t se e m

, ,

bre wi ng no go o d to me ”
.

From thence to the end his languor

and d e pression though still often ,

relieved by occupation and travel ,

keep fatally gaining on him At last .

 HOMA S GRAY
T 75

the d epression b ecame consta nt, b e

” !
came mechanical Travel I must
.
,

he writes to D r W harton or cease

.
,

to exist Till thi s year I hardly knew

.

what mecha ni ca l low spirits were ; but

”
now I even tremb le at an east wind .

Two months afterwards he died .

What wonder that with this tro ub

,

lous cloud throughout the whole term

‘ '

of his manhood brooding over him ,

and weighing him down Gray fine , ,

endowed though he w a s richly stored ,

with knowledge though he was yet ,

produced so little found no full and ,

su ffi cient utterance never a s the , ,

M aster of Pembroke Hall sai d spoke !

,
”
o ut . He knew wel l enough himself , ,

how it was with him .

!
M y verv e i s at best you know ,

( ) d !
he writes to Mason of so elicate ,

a constitution and has such weak

,
76 T HOMA S GRAY

nerves as not to stir out of its cham

,

ber above three days in a year And

to Horace Walpole he says : A s to
what you sa y to me ci v illy that I ,

ought to write more I will be candid , ,

and avow to you that till fourscore ,

and upward whenever the humour

,

ta kes me I will write ; because I like

,

it and because I like myself better

,

when I do so If I do not write .

much it is because I cannot

,
”
How .

simply said and how truly also ! Fain

,

would a man like Gray speak out if

! ”
he could he likes himself bet ter
,

when he speaks out ; if he does not

! ”
speak out it is because I cannot
, .

Bonstetten that mercurial Sw iss

,

who died in 1 8 32 at the age of

eighty seven having been younger
-

and livelier from hi s sixtieth year to

hi s eightieth than at any other time in
 78 HOMAS GRAY
T

Gray s life was poisoned by an unsat

’

i sfi e d sensibility was withered by his

,

hav ing never loved ; by his days being

passed in the dismal cloisters of Cam
bridge i n the company of a se t of
,

monastic book worms -

whose exist
,

ence no honest woman ever came to

”
cheer . Sainte Beuve who was much
-

attracted and interested by Gray ,

doubts whether Bo nste tten s e xplana ’

!tion of him is admissible ; the secret

lo f G ray s melancholy he finds rather
’

li e the sterility of his poetic ta lent ,

I so distin uished
!
so rare but
g so
'

, ,

ted i n the poet s despair at hi s

’

o w n unproductiveness .

But to explain Gray we must do ,

more than allege his sterility as we ,

must look further than to his rec lu

Sion at Cambridge What caused his .

sterili ty ! Was it his ill health his -

,
 HOMAS GRAY
T 79

here d itary gout ! Certa inly we will

pay all respect to the powers of
hereditary gout for aflli c ti ng us poor
‘

mortals But G oethe after pointing

.
,

out that Schiller who was so produc

,

! ”
tive was almost constantly ill adds
, ,

the true remark that it i s incredible

how much the spirit can do in these ,

cases to keep up the body Pope s

, .
’

animation and activity through all the

course of what he pathetically calls
!
that long disease my life ,is an ,

example presenting itself signally in ,

G ray s own country and time to con

’
,

firm what Goethe here says W hat .

gave the power to Gray s reclusion ’

an d ill health to induce hi s sterili ty !

-

The reason the indubita ble reason

,

as I cannot but think it I have already ,

given elsewhere Gray a born poet

.
, ,

fell upon an age of prose He fell .

80 T HOMAS GRAY

upon an age whose task was such as to

call forth in general men s powers of ’

understanding wit and cleverness

, , ,

rather than their deepest powers of

mind and soul As regards literary
.

production the task of the eighteenth

,

centu ry in E ngland was not the

tic interpretation of the world its ,

task was to create a plain clear , ,

straightforward e ffi cient prose Po e

, .

try obeyed the bent o f mind requi

site for the due fulfilment of thi s task
of the cen tury It w a s intellec tual
.
,

argumenta tive ingenious ; not s eeing

, .

things in their truth and beauty not ,

'

interpretative Gray with the quali

.
,

ties of mind and soul of a genuine

poet w a s isolated in his century
, .

M aintaining and fortifyi ng them by

lofty studies he yet could not fully
,

e duce and enj oy them ; the want of

 T HOMAS GRAY 81

a genia l atmosphere the failure of ,

sympathy in his contemporaries were ,

too great Born in the same year

.

with M ilton Gray would have been

,

another man ; born in the same year

with Burns he would have been
,

another man A man born in 1 60 8

.

could profit by the larger and more

poetic scope of the E nglish spirit in
the E lizabethan age ; a man born in
1 759 could profit by that European
renewing of men s minds of which the
’

g reat historical manifestation is the

French R evolution ! Gray s alert and

.
’

brilliant young friend Bonstetten who, ,

would explain the void in the life of

G ray by his having never loved Bon ,

stetten himself loved married and , ,

had children Yet at the age of fifty

.

he w a s bidding fair to grow old dis ,

mal and torpid like the rest o f us

, ,

G
82 T HOMAS GRAY

when he was roused and made young

agai n for some thirty years says M , .

Sainte Beuve by the events of 1 78 9

-

, .

If G ray like Burns had been j ust

, ,

thirty years old when the French

R evolution broke out he would have ,

shown probably productiveness and

, ,

animation in plenty Coming when .

he did and endowed as he w a s he

, ,

was a man born out of date a man ,

whose full spiri tual flowering was

impossible The same thing i s to be
.

said of his great contemporary Butler , ,

the author of the A na logy In the .

sphere of religion which touches that

,

of poetry Butler was impe lled by the

,

endowment of his nature to strive for

a profound and adequate conception
of religious things which was not ,

pursued by hi s contemporaries and ,

which at that time and in that ,

 HOMAS GRAY
T

atmosphere of mind w as not fully ,

attainable . Hence in Butler too a , ,

dissatisfaction a weariness as in
, ,
!
Gray ; great labour and weariness ,

great disappointment pain and even ,

”
vexation of mind A sort of spiritual
.

east wind was at that time blowing ;

nei ther Butler nor Gray coul d flower .

They never sp oke ou t .

Gray s poetr y was not only stinted

’

in quanti ty by reason of the age

wherein he lived it su ffered some
,

what i n quality also w e hav e seen .

under what obligation to D ryden G ray

professed himself to be if there
w as any excellence in his numbers he ,

had learned it wholly from that great

”
poet. It w as not for nothing that
he came when D ryden had lately
”
embellished as Johnson says E ng
, ,

!
lish poetry ; had f ound it brick and
84 T HOMAS GRAY

le f t i t marble . It was not f or no thing

!
that he came j ust when the E nglish
!
ear to quote Johnson a gain
, had ,

been accustome d to the me lli flue nc e

of Pope s numbers an d the diction
’
,
”
of poetr y had grown more splendid .

O f the intellectualities ingenuities , ,

p e r s o ni fi c a ti o ns,of the movement and

diction of D ryden and Pope Gray ,

caught something caught too much , .

We have little of Gray s poetry and ’

,

that little is not free from the faults

of his age Therefore it was impor
.

ta nt to go for aid as we did to Gray s

, ,
’

life and letters to se e hi s mind and

,

soul there an d to corroborate from

,

thence that high estimate of his

quali ty which hi s poetr y in d ee d calls
forth but does not establish so amply
,

and irre sistibly as one coul d desire .

F or a j ust criticism it does how ,

 HOMAS GRAY
T

splendid diction .
T he evolution
of the poetry of our eighteenth cen
tury is likewise intellectual ; it pro
c e e ds by ratiocination antithesis
, ,

ingenious tu rns and conce its This.

poetry is often eloquent an d always

, ,

in the hands of such masters a s D ryden

and Pope clever ; but it d oes not ta ke
,

us much below the surface of things ,

it d oes not give us the emotion of

j eeing things in the ir truth and beauty .

The language of genuine poetry on ,

the other han d is the language of one

,

co mposing with hi s eye on the obj ect ;

i ts evolution i s that of a thing which
has been plunge d in the poet s soul ’

until it comes forth naturally and

necessarily This sort of evolution i s
.

infinitely simpler than the other and ,

infinitely more satisfying ; the same

thing i s true of the genuine poetic
 HOMAS G RAY
T 87

language l ikewise But they are both

.

of them a lso infinitely harder of

attainment ; they come only from
!
those who as E merson says
, live ,
”
from a great depth of being .

Goldsmith d i sparaged G ray who

had praised his Tr a veller and indeed
,

in the poem on the A lli a nce of E du

ca ti o n a nd G o ver nment had given him
hints which he used for it In reta lia
.

tion let us take from Goldsmith him

self a specimen of the poetic language
of the eighteenth cen tury .

No f l murmurs fl uctuat e i nthe gal e

c he e r u

there is e xactly the poetic diction of

our prose century ! rhetorical ornate , ,

— an d po e tl c a lly quite false Place

, , .

beside i t a line of genuine poetry ,

such as the
In cra d l e o f the rud e imp eri o us surge
,
88 T HOMAS GRAY

of Shaksp eare ; and all i ts f alseness

insta ntly becomes apparent .

D ryden s poem on the death of

’

Mrs K illigre w i s says Johnson

.
, ,

!
un d oubtedly the noblest ode that
”
our language ever has produced In .

th is vigorous performance D ryden has

to say what is interesting enough
, ,

that not only in poetry did Mrs K illi .

grew excel but she excelled i n paint

,

ing also And thus he says it

.

To the ne x t lm she stre tch d he r sway

re a
’
,

Fo r Pa i nture ne a r a dj o i ni ng lay
A pl e nte o us p rovi nc e a nd all uring pre y .

A Chamb e r o f D ep e nd e nc ies w as fra me d

(A s c onq u e ro rs will ne v e r wan t p re t e nce

W he n a rm d to j ustify the o ffe nce )

’
, ,

A nd the who l e fi e f i n right o f Po e try S he

, ,

cla i md
’
.
”

The intellectual ingenious superficial , ,

evolution of poetry of this schoo l

 T HOMAS GRAY 89

could not be better illustrate d . Place

beside it Pindar s ’

a llo w la
da d s

m ! y ew
'
i
’ ’ ‘‘
! t
’
ol o rr A la xfdg r . a pt . es,

m
'
l
a f re w a ll (101 1 064! K dd p

A se c ure time fe ll to the lo t ne ithe r of Pel e us

the so n o f lEacus, no r of the go dlik e Cad mus ;
ho wb e it the se are sa id to ha v e ha d, of a ll

mo rtals, the p me
su re of happine ss, w ho he ard
the go lde n sno o d e d M use s sing —o u the
-
,

mo unta i n the o ne he ard them the o the r i n ,

se ve n ga t e d The b es
-
.

There i s the evolution o f genuine

poetry an d such poetry kills D ryd en s
,
’

the mome n t it is put near it .

Gray s production was scanty and

’

n
,

scanty as we have seen it coul d o t

, ,

but be Even what he produce d is

.

no t always pure in diction true in ,

evolution Still wi th whatever d raw

.
,

backs he i s alone o r almost alone

, ,

(for Collins has something of the like

9 0 HO MAS GRAY
T

merit) i n hi s age Gray sa i d himsel f

.

that !
the s tyle he aime d at was
extreme conciseness of expression ,
”
yet pure perspicuous an d musical
, , .

Compared not with the work of the

,

great masters of the golden ages of

poetry but with the poetry of his own
,

contemporaries in general Gray s may ,

’

be said to have reached in style the , ,

excellence at which b e aimed ; while

the evolution also of such a piece as
hi s Pr ogr ess of Poesy mu st be accounte d
not less noble and soun d thani ts sty le .
O N THE STU D Y O F LITE RA
TU R E
94 STU DY OF LITERATURE

know most of literature will be re adi

est to agree with me to say anything
new in recommendation of literature
in a scheme of education But as .
,

taxpayers know when the C hancellor

,

of the Exchequer l e v ies a c o ntri bu

tion he is not a person to be tri fle d
,

with I h ave fel t moreover that

.
, ,

M r Goschen has worked wi th such

.

extreme z e al a nd energy for so many

years on behalf of thi s good cause ,

that anybody whom he co nsidered

able to render him any c o operation
-

owed it to him in i ts full e st extent .

The Lord M ayor ha s been kin d enough

to say that I am especially qualified to
speak on E ngli sh literature I must
.
,

however remind the Lord M ayor that

,

I have strayed from literature into the

region of politics ; and I am not at all
sure that such a j ourney conduces to
 DY OF LITERATURE
STU 95

the soundness of one s j u dgment on ’

literary subj ects or adds m uch to the

,

force of one s arguments on behal f of

’

l iterary study Politics are a fiel d

.

where action is one long S econd best -

and where the choice consta ntly lies

between two blunders Nothing can .

be more unlike in aim in ideals in , ,

fne tho d an d in matter than are l itera

, ,

ture an d politics I have however

.
, ,

determined to do the best that I can ;

and I feel how great an honour it i s
to be invite d to partake in a move
ment which I do not scruple to call
one of the most important o f all those
now ta king place in E nglish socie ty .

What is the obj ect of the move

ment ! What do the promoters aim
at ! I take it that what they aim at is
to b rl ng the very best teaching that the
country can afford through the hands
,
9 6 S TU DY OF LITERATURE

of the most thoroughly competent men ,

within the reach o f every class of the

community The ir obj ect is to give
.

to the many that sound systematic , ,

and methodical knowledge which ha s ,

hitherto been the privilege of the f e w

who can a fford the time and money to
go to O xford and Cambridge ; to
di ffuse the fertilising waters of intel
lectual knowledge from their great
and copious fountain heads at the
Universities by a thousand irrigating
channels over the whole length and
breadth of our busy indomitable ,

land . Gentlemen this is a most

,

important point .Goethe sai d that

nothing is more frightful than a
teacher who only knows what his
‘

scholars are inten d ed to know We .

may depe nd upon it that the man who

knows hi s own s ubj ect most thor
9 8 S TUD Y OF LITERATUR E

said of the new frequency with which

scholars of great eminence and con
summate accomplishments like Jowett , ,

Lang M yers Leaf and others bring

, , , ,

all their scholarship to bear in order ,

to prov ide for those who are not able ,

o f do not care to read old classics

,

in the original s brilliant a nd faithful

,

renderings of them in our own tongue .

Nothing but good I am persuaded

, ,

can come of all these attempts to con

ne o t learning with the living forces of
society and to m ake industrial Eng
,

land a Sharer in the classic tradition

of the lettered world .

I am well aware that there is an

apprehension that the present ex
tra o rdi na ry z eal for education in all

its forms elementa ry secondary, ,

—
and higher may bear in its train
some evils of its own It i s said that
.
 STU DY OF LITERATURE

nob o d y in E nglan d i s now content to

practise a handicraft and that every ,

one seeks to be at least a clerk It is

said that the moment is even already
at hand when a great deal of practical
distress does and must result from this
tendency I remember years ago that
.

in the United States I heard something

of the same kind All I can say is .
,

that this tendency if it exists is sure

, ,

to right itself In no case can the

.

spread of so mischievous a notion a s

that knowledge and learning ought
not to come within re a ch of handi
craftsmen be attributed to litera ture
, .

There is a famous passage in which

Pericles the great Athenian de sc ri b
, ,

ing the glo ry of the community of

which he was so far Shining a mem -

b er says We at Athens are lovers of

, ,
!

the b eautiful yet simple in our ta stes ;

,
I OO STU DY OF LIT ERATURE

we cultivate the mind wi thout loss o f

”
manliness But then remember that
.

after all Athenian society rested on a

bas is of slavery Athenian citizens
.

were able to pursue their love of the

beautiful and their simplici ty and to
, ,

cultivate their minds without loss of

manliness b ecause the drudgery and
,

hard work and rude service of society

were performed by those who had no
share in all these good thi ngs With .

us happily it is ve ry di fferent We
, , .

are all more or less upon a lev el O ur .

—
ob j ect is and it is that which in my
opi nion raises us infinitely above the
Athenian level — to bring the Peri
clean ideas of beauty and simplicity
and cultivation of the mind within the
reach of those who d o the drudgery
and the service and ru d e work of the
world And i t can b e done
. do not
 STU DY OF LITER ATURE

b esi d es the Prime Minister, there were

also three men of letters and I have ,

never heard that those three were

greater simpletons than their neigh
b ours There i s a Commission now
.

at work on a very important and

ab struse subj ect I am told that no
.

one there displays so acute an i nte lli

gence of the di ffi culties that are to be
me t and the important arguments that
,

are brought forward and the practical ,

ends to be achieve d as the chairman ,

of the Commission who is not what ,

is called a practical man but a man ,

of stu d y literature theoretical sp e c u

, ,

lation and university training O h

, .

no gentlemen some of the best men

, ,

of business in the country are men

who hav e had the best collegian s ’

equipment and are the most acc o m

,
w

p li she d bookmen .
 S TU DY O F LITERATURE 1 03

It is true that we cannot bring to

London with this movement the inde ,

fi nab le charm that haunts the gray and

venerable quadrangles of O xford and
Cambridge We cannot take you into
.

the stately halls the silent and ve ner

,

able libraries the solemn chapels the

, ,

studious old world gardens W e can

-
. .

not surround you with all those elevate d

memorials an d sanctifying associa
tions of scholars and poets of saints
’

and sages that march in glorious

,

procession through the ages and make ,

of O xford and Cambridge a dream of

music for the inward ear and of ,

d elight for the contemplative eye .

We cannot bring all that to you ; but

I hope and I believe it is the obj ect
, ,

of those who are more intimately con

ne c te d with the society than I have
been that eve ry partaker o f the bene
,
I 04 DY OF LITE RATUR E
S TU

fi ts of this society will feel himself

and herself in li v ing connection w ith
those tw o famous centr es and fe el
,

conscious of the links that bind the

mode m to the older Engl and O ne .

of the most interesti ng facts men

ti o ne d in your report this year — and
I am particularly intere sted in it for
personal reasons i s that last winter
four prizes of £ 1 0 each were o ffered
in the Northumberland mini ng di s
tri c t one each to the male and female
,

student in every term w ho should take

the highest place in the examination ,

in ord er to en able them to spend a

month in C a mb ridge in the long
vacation f o r the purpose of carrying
on in the l a boratories and museums
the work in which they had been
engaged in the winter at the local
centre That is not a step taken by
.
1 06 S TU DY OF LITERATURE

and darkness and rough road s to hear

a lecture and then walking back again
,

the sa me four or five miles Y ou .

must look for the same enthusiasm ,

the same hunger an d thirst for know

ledge that presided over the fo unda
,

tion of the Universities many centuries

ago to carry on this work to strengthen
, ,

and stimulate men s faith in know ’

ledge their hopes from it and their

, ,

zeal for it .

The progress of the Society has

been most remarkable In 1 8 76 there .

were I find five centres and seven

, ,

courses This year there are thirty

.

one centres and sixty courses But .

to get a Survey of this mov ement you ,

must look not on ly at London but at ,

the O xford and Cambridge socie ties .

Y ou find there that O xford has twenty

tw o centre s and twenty nine courses -

,
 DY OF LITERATUR E
S TU 10 7

and Cambridge has fifty centres and

eighty courses I say that the thought
.

of all this activity and all the good

,

of eve ry kind social moral and

, , ,

intellec tual which i s being done by

,

means of it is in the highest d egree

,

encouraging and not only enc o urag

,

ing but calculated to inspire in every

,

man who ha s ever felt the love and

thirst for knowledge the deepest ,

interest in the movement and the

warmest wishes for its farther success .

Speaking now of the particular kind

of knowledge of which I am going to
say a few words how does literature
fare in these important operations !
Las t term out of fi f ty sev en courses
-

in the Cambri d ge scheme there were

ten on literature ; out of thirty one of -

our courses seve n were on literature

,
.

We ll I am bound to say I think that

,
1 08 STU DY OF LITERATURE

that posi tion for literatu re in the

scheme is ve ry reasonably satisfacto ry .

I hav e made some inquiries since I

,

knew that I was going to speak here ,

in the great popular centres of industry

in the North and in Scotland as to the
popularity o f li terature as a subj ect of
teachi ng I find very much what I
.

should have expecte d The profess

.

o rs all tell ve ry much the same sto ry .

This is that it is extreme ly hard to

,

interest any considerable number of

people in subj ects that seem to have
no direct bearin g upon the practical
work of eve ryday life There is a
.

disinclination to stu dy literature for

its own sa ke or to study any thing
,

which d oes not seem to have a visible

and direct influence upon the d aily
work of life The nearest approach
.

to a ta ste for literature is a certain

1 IO DY
S TU OF LITERATUR E

quite content to ta ke M r Goschen s .

’

enumeration — was the desire of

,

knowledge as a luxury to brighten

life and kindle thought I am ve ry .

much afraid that in the ordina ry

,

temper of our people and the ordi ,

nary mode of looking at life the last ,

of these motives savours a little of

self indulgence a nd sen timentality
-

, ,

and other obj ectionable qualities .

There is a great stir in the region o f

physical science at this moment and ,

i t is in my j udgment likely to take a

, ,

chief and foremost place in the field

of intellectual acti v ity After the .

severi ty wi th which science was for

so many ages treated by li terature I ,

cannot won d er that science now re tali

ates now mightily exalts herself and
, ,

thrusts literature down into the lower

place I only have to say on the
.
 S TU DY OF LITERATURE I I I

relative claims of science and litera

ture what the great D r Arnold said .

!
If one might wish for i mpo ssi
b i li ti e s I might then wish that my
,

children might be well v ersed in

physical science but in due sub o rdi
,

nation to the fulness and freshness of

the ir knowledge on moral subj ects .

This howe v er I believe cannot be ;

, ,

wherefore rather than have it the

,

principal thing in my son s mind I ’

,

would gladly have him think that the

sun went round the earth and that ,

the stars were so many spangles se t in

the bright blue fi rmame nt (Stanley s ’

Lif e of A r no ld ii , I am gl a d to
.

think that one may know somethi ng of

these matters and yet not believe that
,

the sun goes round the earth But of .

the tw o I for one am not prepared

, , ,

to accept the ra ther enormous preten

 S TUD Y OF LITERATURE

sions that are nowadays sometimes

made f o r physical science a s the
b e all and end all of education
- -
.

Next to this we know that there is

a great stir on behalf of technical and
commercial education The special .

needs of our time and count ry compel

us to pay a particular attention to thi s
subj ect Here knowledge i s business
.
,

and we shall never hold our Industrial

p ro eminence
-
with all that
, hangs upon
that pre eminence unl ess we push on
-

technical and commercial education

with all our might But there i s .

and now I come nearer my subj ec t

a third kind of knowledge which too , ,

in its o w n way is business There is .

the cultivation of the sympa thies and

imagination the quickeni ng of the
,

moral sensibilities and the enlarge ,

ment of the moral v ision The great .

1 1 4 STU DY OF LITERATURE

a li ty of the world ! R eadi ng a parcel

of books ! No ! R es traint a nd disci
pl ine examples of virtue a nd justice
, ,

these are what form the educ a tion of

”
the world . That i s profoundly true ;
it i s life that is the great educator .

But the parcel of books i f they are

,

well chosen reconcile us to this di s

,

c i p li ne they interpret this v irtue and

j ustice ; they awaken within us the
d iviner mind and rouse us to a con
,

sc i o usn e ss of what is best in others

and ourselves .

As a matter of rud e fact there i s

,

much to make us q uestion whether the

spread of literature as now under
,

stood d oes awaken the d iviner mind

, .

The figures of the books that are taken

out from public libraries are not all
that we could wish I a m not going
.

to inflict many figures on you but ,

 STU DY OF LITERATUR E 1 1 5

there is one se t of figures that dis

tresses booklovers I mean the enor
,

mous place that fiction occupies in

the books taken out In one great
.

town in the North prose fiction forms

7 6 per cent of the books ta ken out .

In ano ther great town prose fiction i s

8 2 p e r cent ; in a third 8 4 per cent ;
and in a fourth 6 7 per cent I had .

the curiosi ty to se e what happens in

the libraries of the United Sta tes ; and

there supposing the system of cata
loguing and enumeration to be the
same they are a trifle more serious

in their taste than we are where our

average i s about 70 per cent at a ,

place like Chicago it is only about 60

p e r cent. In Scotland too
, , it ought
to be said that they have what I call
a better average in respect to prose
fiction There is a larger demand for
.
 STU DY OF LITERATUR E

b o oks called serious th a n in England .

And I suspect though I do not know

, ,

that one reason why there is in Scot

land a greater demand for the more
serious classes of literature than fi c
tion i s that in the Scotch Universities
,

there are what we have not in England

— w ell attended chairs of literature
-

systematically and methodically stud

i od
. D o not let i t be supposed that
I at all underrate the value of fiction .

O n the contrary I think when a man

,

has done a h ard day s wo rk he can ’

,

d o nothing b e tter than fall to and

read the n o v e ls of Walter Scott 0 1
M iss Austen or some of our li ving
,

w riters .I am rather a voracious

reader of fiction mys e lf I do no t .
,

ther efore point to i t a s a reproach or

,

as a source of disco ur a gement that ,

fiction ta k e s so large a place in the

1 1 8 STU DY OF IITERATURE

Well I know that Chancellors of the

,

E xchequer ta ke from us 8 d 0 1 6 d i n . .

the pound and I am not sure that

,

they always use it as wisely as if they

left us to spend it on books Still a .
,

shilling in the pound to be spent o n

books by a clerk who earns a couple
of hundred po unds a year or by a ,

workman who earns a quarter of that

sum i s rather more I think than can
, , ,

be reasonably expected I do not .

believe for my part that a man really

needs to have a ve ry great many
books Pa ttison said that nobody
.

who respected himself could have less

than 1 0 0 0 volu mes He pointed out .

that you can sta ck 1 0 0 0 octa vo vol

umes in a bookcase that shall be 1 3 feet
by 1 0 f ee t a nd 6 inches deep and that
, , ,

everybody has that space at d isposal .

Still the point is not that men Should

 STUDY OF LITERATURE 1 1
9

have a great many books but that ,

they should ha ve the right ones an d ,

that they should use those that they

ha v e We may all agree in lamenting
.

that there are so many houses even

some of considerable social preten
—
sion where you will not find a good
a tlas a good dictionary or a good
, ,

cyclopaedia of reference What is .

still more lamenta ble in a good many

,

more houses where these books are ,

they are never referred to or opene d .

That is a ve ry discreditable fact ,

because I d efy anybody to take up a

copy of the Ti mes newspaper — a nd I
speak in the presence of gentlemen
well up in all that i s going on in the
world and not come upon something
in it upon which they wo uld be wise
,

to consult an atlas dictionary or

, ,

cyclop aedia of reference.

I 2 0 STU DY OF LIT ERATURE

I d o not think for a single moment

that eve rybody i s born with the ability
for using books for reading and
,

studying literature Certainly not

.

everybody i s born with the capaci ty

of being a great scholar All people .

are no more born great scholars like

Gibbon and Bentley than they are all ,

born great musicians like Handel and

Beethoven What is much w orse than
.

that many are born with the inca

,

p a c i ty of reading j ust as
, they are
born with the incapacity of disti n
gu i s h i ng one tune from another To .

them I have nothing to say Even .

the morning paper i s too much for

them They can only skim the sur
.

face even o f that I go farther and

.
,

I frankly admit that the habit and

p o w e r of reading with reflection ,

comprehension and memory all alert

,
 I2 2 STU DY OF LITERATUR E

masterpieces —say the lines on Tin

tern ; or say one third — i f a sc holar
,
-

in the original and if not in a trans

, ,

lation of a book of the Iliad or the

ZEne i d .I am not filli ng the half
hour too full But try fo r yourselves
.

what you can read in half an hour .

Then multiply the half hour by 36 5 ,

and consider what tre a sur es you might

hav e l a id by at the end of the year ;
and what happiness fortitude and , ,

wisdom they would have given y o u

for a lifetime .

I will not take up your time by

explaining the various mechanical
contrivances and aids to successful
study They are not to be despised
.

by those who would extract the most

from books M any people think of
.

kno w ledge as of money They w ould .

like knowledge but cannot face the

,
 S TUDY OF LITERATUR E

p er s everance and self denial

-
that go
to the acquisition of it as they go to
,

the acquisition of money The wise.

student will do most of his reading

with a pen or a pencil in hi s hand
He will not shrink from the useful
toil of making abstracts and sum
maries of what he is reading Sir .

William Hami lton w as a strong adv o

cate for underscoring books of study .

”
!
Intelligent underlining he said
, ,

gave a kind of abstract of an

important work and by the use of
,

di fferent coloured inks to mark a

-

di fference of contents and di scri mi

,

nate the doc trinal from the historical

or illustrative elements of an argument
or exposition the abstract became an
,

analysis v e ry serviceable for ready

reference (Ve i tc h s Life of Ha mi lto n
’
,

3 1 4
, This assumes as Hamil ,
1 2 4 STU DY OF LITERATURE

ton said that the book to be operated

,

on is your own and perhaps is rather

,

too elaborate a counsel of perfection

for most of us Again some great
.
,

men — Gibbon was one a nd Daniel ,

Webster was another a nd the great

,

Lo rd Stra fford w a s a third always

before reading a book made a short ,

rough analysis of the questions which

they expected to be answered in it ,

the additions to be made to their

knowledge and whither it would take
,

them I have sometimes tried that

.

way of steadyi ng and guidi ng atten

tion ; I have never done so without
advanta ge ; and I comm e nd it to you .

I need not tell you that you will fi nd

that most books worth readi ng once
are worth reading twice and what ,

i s most important of all the master

pieces o f li terature are worth read ing
1 2 6 DY O F LITERATUR E
STU

for concentrating your thought on the

passage and maki ng you alive to its
real point and significance .

Various correspondents have asked

me to say something about those
lists of a hundred books that have ,

been circulating through this universe

within the last few onths I havem .

e xamined some of these lists with

considerable care and whatever else
,

may be said of them — and I speak

of them with great d eference and
reserve b ecause men for whom I have
,

a great regard have compile d the m

— they d o not seem to me to be cal
c ulate d either to create or satisfy a

wise ta ste for literature in any very

worthy sense To fill a ma n with a
.

hundred parcels of heterogeneous

scraps from the Ma ha hha r a ta and ,

the S hehi ng do w n to Pi ckw i ck and

,
 ST
U DY OF LI TERATURE 1 2 7

White s S elho r ne may pass the time

’
, ,

but I don t think it would strengthen

’

or instruct or delight F or instance .

,

i t is a mistake to think that e v ery

book that has a great name in the his
to ry of books or of thought i s worth
reading Some of the most famous
.

books are least worth reading Their .

fame was due to their doing some

thi ng that needed in their day to be
done The work done the virtue of
.
,

the book expire s Again I agree

.
,

wi th those who say that the steady

working down one of these lists would
end in the manufacture of that o b no x
ious product the prig A prig ha s .

been defined as an animal that is

overfed for i ts size I thi nk that .

these bewildering miscellani e s would

lead to an immense quantity of that
kind of overfeeding The obj ect o f
.
12 8 S TU DY OF LITERATURE

reading is not to dip into everything

that even wise men have ever written .

In the words of one of the most win

ning writers of English that ever
existed Cardinal Newman the o b
jc t of literature in education is to
e

open the mind to correct it to refine

, ,

it to enable it to comprehend and

,

digest its knowledge to give it power ,

over i ts own faculties application , ,

flexibility method critical e xactness

, , ,

sagacity address and expression

, , .

These are the obj ects of that intel

lectual perfection which a literary
education is destined to give I will .

not venture on a list of a hundred

books but will recommend you to
,

one book well worthy of your atten

tion Those who are curious as to
.

what they should read in the region

of pure literature will do well to ,
 DY
S TU OF LITERATURE

j
e c ts,an d books in connection with
one another Whether you make your
.

first approach from interest in an

author or in a book the fruit w i ll be
,

only half gathered if you leave o ff

without ne w ideas an d cle arer lights
both on the ma n and the matter .

O ne of the noblest masterpieces in

the literature of civil a n d political
wisdom is to be found in Burke s ’

three pieces on the American War

hi s speech on Taxation in 1 774 on ,

Concil i ation in 1 775 and his letter

,

to the Sheri ffs of Bristol in 1 777 I .

can only repeat to you what I have

been saying in print an d out of it for
a good many years an d what I believe
,

more firmly as observation is enlarged

by time and occasion that these three
,

pieces are the most perfect manual in

all literature for the study of great
 STU DY OF LITERATURE 1
3 1

a ffairs whether for the purpose of

,

knowledge or action They are an

.
!

”
example as I have said before now
, ,

!
an example without fault of all the
qualities which the critic whether a ,

theorist or an actor of great political

,

situations should strive by night and

by day to possess If their subj ect
.

were a s remote as the quarrel between

the Corinthians and Corcyra or the ,

war be tw een R ome and the Allies ,

in stead of a conflict to which the

world ow es the opportuni ty of the
most i mportant of political e xp e ri
ments we should still have eve rything
,

to learn from the author s treatment ;

’

the vigorous gra sp of masses o f com

pressed deta il the w ide illumination
,

from great principles of human e xp e ri

ence the strong an d masculine feeling
,

f o r the two great political ends of

I 32 S TU DY OF LITERATURE

Justice and F reedom the large and ,

generous interpretation of expediency ,

the morality the v ision the noble

, ,

”
temper . No s tudent worthy of the
name will lay aside these pieces so ,

admirable in their literary expressio n ,

so important for history so rich in ,

the lessons of ci v il wisdom until he ,

has found out somethi ng from other

sources as to the circu msta nces from
which such writings arose and as to ,

the man who se resplendent genius

inspired them There are great per
.

so na li ti e s like Burke who march

through history with v oices like a
clarion trumpet a nd something like
the glitter of swords in their hands .

They are as i nteresting as their work .

Co ntact with th e m warm s and kindles

the mind You will not be content
.
,

after reading o ne of these piece s ,

 DY
S TU OF LITERATURE

hi s general point o f view i f he has ,

striven wi th su ccess to place himself

at the c entre what follows i s of less
,

consequence . If he has got in his

head a good map of the country he ,

may ramble at large with impuni ty .

If he has once well and truly laid the

f oun dations of a metho d ical systematic ,

hab it of mind what he rea d s will find

,

its way to its proper place If hi s .

intellect i s in good ord er he will fin d

,

in every quarter some thing to assimi

late and something that will nourish .

Now I am going to deal with

another question with which perhaps
,

I ought to have star te d W hat i s .

l iterature ! It has often been d efined .

E merson says it is a record of the

”
best thoughts By literature says
.
,

another author I thi nk M r Sto pfo rd

,
.

Brooke we me an the written thoughts

,
 DY OF LITERATURE
STU 1 35

an d feelings of intelligent men an d

women arra nged in a way that shall
”
give pleasure to the reader A third .

account is that the aim of a student

!

of literature is to know the best that

”
has been thought in the world .

D efinitions always appear to me in

these thi ngs to be in the nature of
vanity I feel tha t the attempt to b e
.

compact in the definition of litera

ture ends in something that is rather
,

meagre partial starved and unsa ti s

, , ,

factory I turn to the answer given

.

by a great French writer to a question

not quite the same viz What is a, .
,
!

”
classic ! Literature consists of a
whole body of classics in the true
sense of the word and a classic as, ,

Sa inte Beuve defines him

-
is an ,

!
author who has enriched the human
mind who has really added to its
,
1
36 S TU DY OF LITERATUR E

treasure who has got it to ta ke a step

,

farther ; who has discovered some

unequiv ocal moral truth or pene ,

tra te d to some eternal passion in ,

that he art of man where it seemed a s

though all were known and explored ;
who has produced his thought or his ,

obser vation or hi s invention under

,

some form no matter what so it be

, ,

great large acute and reasonable

, , , ,

sane and beautiful in itself ; who ha s

spoken to all in a style of his own ,

yet a style which finds itself the style

of everybody — i n a style that is at
,

once new and antique and i s the ,

”
contemporary of all the ages At .

a single hearing you may not ta ke all

tha t in ; but if you should have a ny
opportunity of recurring to it you will
find this a satisfactory full and , ,

instructive account of what is a

1 38 S TU DY OF LITERATURE

writers the maxim writers the great

,
-

political orators they are all litera

ture in so far as they teach us to know
man and to kno w human nature .

This is what mak e s lite rature rightly ,

sifted and selected and rightly studied ,

not the more elegant trifling that it i s

so often an d so erroneously suppose d
to be but a proper instrument for a
m
,

syste atic traini ng of the imagina

tion and sympathies a nd of a genial ,

and v aried moral sensibili ty .

From this point of view let me

remind yo u that books are not the
products of accide nt and caprice .

As G oethe said if you would under,

sta nd a nauthor you must understand

,

his age The sa me thi ng is j ust a s

.

true of a book If you would com

.

prehend it you must kno w the age

, .

There i s an order ; there are causes

 STU DY OF LIT ERATUR E 1 39

and relations There are relations

.

between great compositions and the

societies from which they have
emerged . I would put it in this
w ay to you that just as the naturali st
,

stri v es to understan d and to explain

the distribution of plants and animals

over the surface of the globe to con ,

ne o t their presence or their absence

with the great geological cl imatic , ,

and oceanic changes so the student

,

of literature i f he be wise undertakes

, ,

an ordere d and connected survey of

ideas of tastes of sentiments of
, , ,

imagination of humour of invention

, , ,

as they a ffect and as they are a ffected

by the ever changing experiences of

human nature and the manifold varia
,

tions that time and circumstances are

incessantly working in human socie ty .

It is because I am possessed and ,

1 4 0 S TU DY OF LITERATURE

desire to see others possesse d by that ,

conception of literary study that I ,

watch with the greatest symp athy and

admiration the e fforts of those who
are striving so hard a nd I hope so , , ,

successfully to bring the systematic

,

and methodical s tudy of our own

literature in connection with other
,

literatures among subj ects for teach

,

ing an d examin ation in the Universi

ties o f O xford and Cambridge I .

regard those e fforts with the li v eliest

interest and sympathy Everybody .

agrees that an educated man ought to

hav e a general notion of the course of
the great outward e v ents of European
history So too an educated man
.
, ,

ought to have a general notion of the

co urse of a ll those inwar d thoughts
and moods which fin d their expres
s ion in literature I think that in
.
 DY
S TU OF LITER ATUR E

have ta ste for li tera ture unless y o u

a

are yourself an author I make bol d

.

entirely to demur to that proposition .

It is practically mo st mi schi e vous ,

and leads scores and e v en hundreds

of people to was te the ir time in the
most unprofitable manner that the wit
of man can devise on w ork in w hich
,

they c an no more achiev e e ven the

most moderate excellence th a n they
can compose a N inth Symphony or
paint a Transfiguration It i s a ter .

rible error to suppose that because

!
you relish Wordsw orth s solemn ’

thoughted idy ll or Te nnyson s e n

,
’

chante d rev erie therefore you h av e

,

a call to run o ff to wr ite bad v erse at

the Lakes or the Isle of W ight I .

beseech you not all to turn to author

ship . I will go further I venture
.

with all respect to those who a re

 STU DY OF LITERATUR E 1 43

teachers of literature to d oubt the ,

excellence and utility of the practice

of o v er much essay writing and com
- -

position I hav e ve ry little faith in

.

r ules of s tyle though I have an un

,

bounded faith i n the virtue of cul

ti va ti ng direct and precise expression .

But you must carry on the operation

inside the mind and not merely by
,

practising literary deportment on

p aper It is not e v erybody who can
.

comm a nd the m i ghty rhythm of the

greatest masters of human speech .

But every one can make reason ably

sure that he knows what he means ,

and whether he has found the right

word These are internal operations
.
,

and are not forw arded by writing for

w riting s sake I am strong for atten
’
.

tion to expression if that attention

,

be exercised in the right way It has .

 S TU DY OF LITERATURE

been sai d a million times that the

foundation of right expression in
speech or writing is sinceri ty It i s .

as true now as it has ever been .

R ight expressio n is a p art of char

acter A S so meb o d y has sai d by
.
,

learning to speak with precision you ,

learn to think with correctness ; and

fi rm and vigorous speech lies through
the culti v ation of high and noble
sentiments I think as far as my
.
,

obse rvation has gone that men will

,

do better for reaching precision by

studying carefully and wi th an open
mind and a vigilant eye the great
models of writing than by excessive
,

practice of writing on the ir own

account .

M uch might here be said on what

is one of the most important of all
the sides of l iterary stud y I mean .
1 46 S TU DY OF LITERATURE

l i sh in maxi ms a l the me tho d a nd

nd ru e s

ha b it o f sp e a ki ng a nd wr iti ng rec e i v e d fro m

a go o d a ge o f the n a ti o n a nd as it w e re to
, , ,

fo rtify the sa me ro und with a ki nd o f w all the ,

d a ri ng to o ve rl e a p whi c h le t a la w o nly sho rt

o f tha t o f R o mul us b e use d to p r e v e nt .

The o ne as I b e li e e suppli e s no bl e c o ura ge

,
v ,

an d i nt re pi d c o unsel s a ga i nst a n e ne my i nv a d
i ng the t e rrito ry The o the r t a k e s to himself
.

the task o f e xtirp a ti ng a nd d e fe a ti ng b y me a ns ,

o f a l earn e d d e t e c ti v e p o li c e o f c ars a nd a ,

light ba nd o f go o d a utho rs tha t b arba rism ,

whi ch mak e s l arge i nro a ds up o n the mi nds o f ‘

me n a nd i s a d e st ruc ti e i ntes ti ne e ne my o f
, v

ge ni us N o r i s it to b e c o nsid e re d o f small
.

con se que nc e w ha t l a n gua ge p ure o r co rrupt a , ,

p e o pl e ha s o r wha t i s t he ir c usto mary d egr e e

,

o f p ro p ri e ty i n sp e a ki ng it Fo r le t the
.
,

w o rd s o f a c o untry he i n p a rt unha nd so me and

o fle n si e i n the mse lv e s i n p a rt d e b ase d b y
'

v ,

w e a r a nd wro ngly utt e re d a nd what do the y ,

d e cl a re b ut by no light ind ic a tio n tha t the

, , ,

i nhabita nts o f tha t co untry a re a n i nd o l ent ,

i dly yaw ni ng race with mi nds alre a dy l o ng

,

p re pare d fo r any amo unt o f se rvility ! O n the

 S TU DY O F LITERATUR E 1 47

o ther hand w e hav e ne v er he ard tha t any

,

e mpi re a n, y s t a t e
, d i d no t a t l e a st fl o uri sh i na
mi ddli ng d e gre e as l o ng as i ts o w n liking a nd
c a re fo r i ts l a n guage l a ste d ” 1
.

The probabili ties are that we are

now coming to an epoch as it seems ,

to me of a quieter style There have

, .
-

been — one of them I am happy to ,

think still su rvives

, in our genera
tion three great giants of prose w rit
ing There was first of all Carlyle
.
, , ,

there w a s M a caulay and there i s M r

,
.

R uskin These are all giants and

.
,

they have the rights of gi ants But I .

do not believe that a greater mis

fortune can befall the students w ho
attend classes here than that they ,

S hould strive to write like any one of

these three illustrious men I think
it is the worst thing that can happen
1 Le tte r to B o nma tte i , fro m Flo re nc e , 1 638 .
1 4 8 S TU DY or LITERATURE

to them They can nev er attain to

.

it It i s not e v erybody who can bend

.

the bow of Ulysses and most men ,

only do themselves a mischief by try

ing to bend i t We are now on our
.

way to a quieter style I am not sorry .

for it .Truth is quiet M ilton s .

’

phrase ever lingers in our minds as

one of imperishable beau ty where ,

he regrets that he is d raw n by I know

not what from beholding the bright
,

countenance of truth in the quiet and

still air of delightful studies M od .

c ration and j udgment are more tha n

the flash and the glitter e v en of the

greatest genius I hope that your
.

professors of rhetoric will teach you

to culti vate that golden art the
steadfast use of a language in which
truth can be told ; a speech that is
strong by natural force , and not
I
5
0 S TU DY OF LITERATUR E

century or all the rest of the tec hni

,

c a li ti e s of scholarship D o not think

.

I contemn these They are all good

.

things to know but they are not ends

,

in themselves The intelligent man

.
,

says Plato will prize those studies

,

which result in his soul getting sober

ness righteousness an d wisdom and
, , ,

he will less value the othe rs Litera .

ture is one of the instruments and ,

one of the most powerful instruments ,

for forming character for giving us ,

men and women armed with reason ,

braced by knowledge clothed with ,

steadfastness and co urage and i n ,

spired by that public spirit and

public v i rtue of w hich it has been
well said that they are the brightest
ornaments of the mind of man .

Bacon is right as b e generally i s

, ,

when he bids us read not to contra

 STU DY O F LTTERATUR E

dict and refute nor to believe and,

take for gra nted nor to find talk and

,

discourse but to weigh and to con

,

sider Yes let us read to weigh and to

.
,

consider In the times before us that

.

promise or threaten deep political ,

economical and social controversy

, .
,

w hat we need to do is to induce our

people to weigh and consider We .

want them to cultivate energy without

impatience act i v ity without restless
,

ness inflexib i lity without ill humour

,
-
.

I am not going to preach to you any

artificial stoicism I am not go i ng
.

to preach to you any indi fference to

money or to the pleasure s of social
,

intercourse or to the esteem a nd

,

good w ill of our neighbours or to any

-

other of the consol a tions a nd the

necessities of life B ut after all the.
, ,

thing that matters most both for ,

1 5 2 DY
S TU OF LITERATUR E

happiness and for duty is that we

,

should habitually live with wise

thoughts and right feelings Litera
.

ture helps us more than other s tudies

to this most blessed companionship
of wise tho ughts and right feelings ,

and so I have ta ken this opportunity

of earnestly commending it to your
interest and care .
 A HIS T O RY OF

Eli z a betha n Li tera ture .

GEORGE S AINTS B URY .

Pr i ce , net .

NOTIC ES .

Mr Sa i ntsbury has p roduce d a

fi rst mo s t usefu l
v — p p p
.
,

hand su r e y co m re he n si e , co m e n di o us , a nd s i r v
i re d — o f tha t uni q ue e ri o d o f p
i e ra ry hi s o ry he n lt t w
a ll the mu se s s ti e re i n he i r ll w
ri me
’
O ne no s t p k w
w ll p p
.

w
no t he re e se to oo fo r so l el k ro o r i o n e d an d -
t
w ll
e p t
o rde red co ns e c u s o f the as o ni shi n y
-
a ri e d t gl v
an p t
d ri ch ro duc s o f the urni n E n i s h mi nd duri n t g gl g
the c e n u ry t ha be gi ns t t wt
i h To rte l s Mi sc e a ny a nd
’
ll
t
the bi r h o f B a co n , an d c o se s i h the re s o ra i o nl wt t t .

The D i a l .

g di ng M S ai nt bu y w o k w k no w not
Re ar r s r
'
s r e

l se to fi nd so co mp t y t mp h n i ve so
.
,

wh e re e ac , e co re e s ,

judi ci o u we i ghty s, nd w ll w tt n ,v i w nd c i
a e -
ri e a re e a r

ti q ue of El i b th n l i t t ure B ut th n ly si g n
za e a e ra . e a a s e

e lly i
ra mi ne ntly di t i ng ui h d by i n i g ht d l i c y
s e s s e s ,
e ac ,

a nd o und judgm nt
s nd t h t ppl i e q u i t as mu c h
a a a es e

ti m t o f pro se w i t
,

to th e es a es to tho o f th p o ts r e rs a s se e e

an d d m t i s ts
ra a A wo k whi h de se v s to be r c r e

dmi b l e —N e w Yo k T i bu ne
.

sty l d e a ra . r r .

M AC M ILLA N CO .
,

6 6 FI FT H A V E N U E , N E W Y O R K .

2
 Ei ghteenth Century
Li tera ture .

(1 660
BY

E D MUND GOS SE , MA . .
,

Cla rk Le cture r i nE ngl i sh Li t e ra t u re at T i ni ty C

r o lle ge ,

C a mb ridge .

Pr i ce , net .

NOTIC ES .

Mr k
G o sse s boo i s o ne fo r the stude n be cause o f
.
’
t
l t tw t
i ts fu ne ss , i ts ru s o r hi ne ss , a nd i ts thoro u h so und g
t
ne s s o f c ri i c i s ms ; a nd o ne fo r the e ne ra re a de r be ca use g l
o f i ts pl
e a sa n n e ss a n t
d i n e re s It i s a boo , i ndee d, t t k
p
.

no t e a sy to p ut do n o r to a r i h
”
w S W A LD t wt . O
C RA W FO RD , i n Lo ndo n A ca de my .

A b i ll i ti nto c i ti ca l e xpo i ti o n W i tt n
r a nt a ddi o r s . r e

in a fi ni h d nd l g nt ty l
s e whi h gi ve nch nt
a e e a s e, c s e a

m nt v nt th p t o f th n
e e e o t i v e f bi g phi
e ar s e a rra o a o ra

c l nd t t i t i
a a l h t th w k i ll umi n b u
s a s ca c a ra c e r , e or es o sc re

w i t i ng nd l i t tu e nd b i ng n w i nt t t f
r s a e ra r a r s e e re s o a

mo u n s o On f it g
es .t e ll e n i th sy e o s re a x ce ce s s e ea

t n i t i n m d f m o n ty le f w i ti ng t no th
ra s o a e ro e S o r o a e r.

Th p l n i di t i n t nd w ll p re
e a s v d bu t th co nti
s c a e se r e , e

nu lty b tw np t i s c l
e ee th t uni ty nd co h re nce
ar s s o o se a a e

ma k th wo k i n m t i l d gr e —B o ton y ou na l
r e r a a er a e e s r .

M A C M ILLA N CO .
,

66 FI FT H A V E N U E . N E w Y O R K .