260 Right Rev. W. Boyd Carpenter [March 15, 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, March 15, 1918. 



J. H. Balfour Browne, K.C. LL.D., Vice President, 

 in the Chair. 



Right Rev. W. Boyd Carpenter, K.C.V.O. D.D. 



The Romantic Revival. 



It is always interesting to note the waves of fashion as they rise and 

 fall amid "^ the tides of the world's progress. I am to speak to you 

 al)out the Romantic Revival of English Literature. Its story may 

 l»e taken as measuring an incoming tide, but the surface of the 

 movement is broken by the personal animosities and prejudices : 

 these are as the noisy waves, which by calling our attention to 

 themselves make us forget or ignore the power of the tide. I cannot 

 hope to discriminate fully and fairly between the majestic rush of 

 the waves and the silent power which works unseen beneath them : 

 but the evidence of the power of the Romantic movement will, I 

 hope, be apparent to us as we proceed. Perhaps two anecdotes 

 here will serve to illustrate both the force of the movement and the 

 prejudices against which it had to contend. The first of these 

 illustrates the ascendancy of the movement over the active minds of 

 the 19th Century. The late Professor Courthope has given us his 

 opinion that from one point of view Byron is " the most complete 

 rejiresentative of the romantic movement in English poetry" 

 (Hist, of English Poetry, vol. vi. p. 274). Here is an example of 

 its power. One day the late Lord Beaconsfield said to Lord Rowton, 

 " Monty, it takes a'hundred years to breed a poet ; and Byron is the 

 poet of the 19th Century." Mr. DisraeU was born in 1805. He 

 was in his boyhood when the First Canto of "Childe Harold" had 

 made Byron famous, and his young days were brought under tlie 

 si>ell of 'the extraordinary popularity of "The Bride of Abydos," 

 " The Corsair," and the later cantos of " Childe Harold," and of the 

 fascination which the restless and enigmatic character of the poet 

 exercised over those whose hearts responded to the call of liberty. 

 Though other poets greater than Byron arose. Lord Beaconsfield 

 never outgrew the prepossessions and memories of his youth. 



The second anecdote shows the strength of the prejudice against 

 which the Romantic movement had to contend. Though there 

 were enthusiasts who welcomed the younger poets, reverence for 



