

THK STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



and mirthful with such grace that satire lost 

 it- severity. 



The literary faults of this age are lack of moral 

 earne>tness ami enthusiasm. Form was pre- 

 ferred to matter. The a .ire was molded l>y 

 .d rule-. It delighted in studied regu- 

 larities. PojXJ is tin- great exponent of the 

 school. So deficient is lie in warmth of 

 feeling for man or nature, so fixed and formal 

 are his lines, that it is often questioned whether 

 Pope was entitled to the name of poet. But 

 whether poet or not, Pope has enriched our 

 language by his epigrammatic couplets which 

 are familiar in our common speech. Pope and 

 Dryden have done much for our English in 

 raising the standard of good speech. Poems of 

 satire tiie world will forget, but a good laugh 

 is worth preserving. " Gulliver's Travels," by 

 Jonathan Swift, are even more enjoyed to-day 

 than when they were written, for the sharpness 

 of their first intent is forgotten. 



The first half of the Eighteenth Century is 

 far more remarkable for its prose than for its 

 poetry. A new and excellent field for essayists 

 ind in the "Tatler," planned by Richard 

 Steele. Periodical papers containing news had 

 existed in England from the time of the Civil 

 War. but this was the first periodical designed 

 to have literary merit and to discuss questions 

 of common, every-day interest, containing 

 lively sketches, anecdotes, humorous discus- 

 sions. It was succeeded by the " Spectator," 

 which appeared every week-day morning in the 

 shape of a single leaf from March 1, 1711, to 

 December, 1712; after a suspension it reap- 

 peared three times a week in 1714, and extended 

 to 635 numbers. The "Guardian" was begun 

 in 1713, but ceased after the 176th number. 

 Steele was the principal contributor to the 

 "Tatler" and "Guardian," and Addison to the 

 "Spectator," but papers were also furnished by 

 Swift, Pope, Berkeley, and Hughes. The essays, 

 especially those of Addison, were often models of 

 grace and delicacy, and were highly influential 

 in correcting and refining the tone of society. 



Prose fiction is another development of the 

 Eighteenth Century. Daniel Defoe (1661-1731) 

 first gave to English fiction a simple, direct, 

 matter-of-fact, and human interest, and the 

 narrative of "Robinson Crusoe" has never been 

 excelled. The " Tale of a Tub " and " Gulliver's 

 Travels," by Swift, "The History of John Bull," 

 by Arbuthnot, are satires in the form of fic- 

 titious narratives. The writings of Swift are 

 admirable for their vigor and humor. Under 

 his successors the novel became more complex 

 and artistic, embraced greater varieties of cnar- 

 acter and diversities of treatment, and pictured 

 the artificial refinements and distinctions of so- 

 ciety. "Joseph Andrews," "Tom Jones," and 

 "Amelia," by Fielding, and "Pamela," "Cla- 

 rissa Harlowe," and "Sir Charles Grandison," by 

 Richardson, were published near the middle of 

 the century. "Peregrine Pickle," "Humphrey 

 Clinker," and other novels by Smollett are dis- 

 tinguished for coarse, comic incidents and broad 

 humor. "Tristam Shandy" and "Sentimental 

 Journey," by Sterne, contain passages sparkling 

 with wit and humor, also much sentimentality. 

 The "Vicar of Wakefield," by Oliver Goldsmith, 



is without doubt the most delightful romantic 

 novel of the century. It is not a hook without 

 irrave faults, but it combines delicate humor 

 with sweet human emotions. Goldsmith was a 

 writer in every fit-Id of invention, but he will be 

 longest remembered because of the Vicar and 

 his family. His "Deserted Village" and his 

 'Traveler" contain passages that cannot be 

 forgotten. So also Gray's "Elegy in a Country 

 Churchyard" and Collins' "Odes" and Cowper's 

 hymns belong to immortal verse. 



The Eighteenth Century, which gave us the 

 modern essay and the novel, also produced 

 writers of carefully elaborated and finished his- 

 tory: "History of England," by David Hume; 

 "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman 

 Empire," by Gibbon; and Robertson's histories 

 of Scotland, Germany, and America. There 

 was also noted oratory, Burke, Fox, Pitt, and 

 the philosophy of Berkeley, Paley, and Hume. 

 and the great prose works of Adam Smith and 

 William Blackstone. 



In striking personality and in power to make 

 others think, Dr. Samuel Johnson was, without 

 doubt, the foremost man of literary London. 

 He was the central figure around whom all the 

 literary men and women gathered, the Nestor 

 of his age. Dr. Johnson founded and carried 

 on as sole editor two periodicals, the " Rambler" 

 and the "Idler," in the style of the "Spectator" 

 which Addison had made so popular. His most 

 famous work was a "Dictionary of the English 

 Language." His critical estimate of poetry 

 cannot be highly valued and his criticisms are 

 often stilted and overstrained in language. His 

 best prose is his romance, "Rasselas, the Prince 

 of Abyssinia." Johnson is better known because 

 of his biographer, Boswell, than for what he wr< >t e. 



The close of the century, so remarkable for 

 its development in prose, adds one great name 

 to the poets already mentioned, Robert Burns, 

 the Scottish prince of lyric verse. Love of 

 nature, feeling for humanity, he has written for 

 us as no other poet eVer wrote. The poetic 

 ideal of Gray and Collins and Cowper and Blake 

 and Burns reacted against cold formalities in 

 verse. The joys and sorrows of life they would 

 put into poetry, and as it came from the heart 

 they would have it touch the heart. Man and 

 nature are the chosen themes, and man is always 

 in the foreground with Burns. The songs of 

 Burns minister to every common feeling of the 

 human heart. That he has won his audience 

 is proven by the fact that since the day of his 

 death his audiences have continually grown larger. 

 Those who read and those who do not read are 

 familiar with these songs: "Scots wha hae wi' 

 Wallace Bled," "Auld Lang Syne," "Comin' 

 Through the Rye," "Ye Banks and Brae's." 



Poetry, at the close of the Eighteenth Century, 

 was simpler than in the preceding generations. 

 There were songs of joy and laughter and tender 

 sympathies. Imagination was given free play 

 and it touched with beauty the familiar scenes 

 of every day. 



The opening years of the Nineteenth Century 



ushered in a brilliant company of nature poets: 



Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey, Byron, 



Shelley, Keats, together with Cowper and Burns, 



| who died in the closing years of the last century, 



