ENGLISH PHILOLOGY* 



We all know TAINE'S "Histoire de la Litterature ang- 

 laise" which appeared in 1864. It has been translated 

 into English, and it may be found, sometimes in an ab- 

 breviated form, on the shelves of every bookshop and 

 among the bethumbed volumes of every library. This 

 book, despite its impatience of detail, may by its astonish- 

 ing vogue introduce us at once to some of the dominating 

 characteristics of French scholarship. French scholars 

 have a talent for popularizing great ideas in a distinguish- 

 ed way; and they are more profoundly interested in 

 literature than in linguistics and grammar. 



This is not saying that linguistic studies in English 

 do not appear in France. We may mention, at random, 

 DEROCQUIGNY, "A Contribution to the Study of the 

 French Element in English, " 1904; BARBEAU, "On Dif- 

 ferences between the use of the Definite Article in the 

 Bible and in the Speech of To-day," 1904; BIARD, 

 "L'Article THE et les caract&istiques differentielles de 

 son emploi," 1908; THOMAS, "On the Epic Verse of John 

 Milton," 1901; and VERRIER," Essai sur lesprincipes de la 

 metrique anglaise," 1909; but the French incline to re- 

 gard such investigations as subsidiary to the study of 

 literature. 



Another history of English Literature, which is the 

 work of the French Ambassador at Washington, and 

 which is in the hands of every serious student of English 



Drafting Committee: ARTHUR C. L. BROWN, Northwestern Uni- 

 versity; ROLLO W. BROWN, Wabash College; JOHN L. LOWES, Wash- 

 ington University. ED. 



250 



