--------------------  ,transcriber's    
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7,unicode7 file encoding for ,greek and 
other  non-,,ascii characters such as 4 
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may need to change your browser         
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browser's character set or file encoding
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clarity1 some footnotes have been placed
 under the chapter  headings where they 
are referenced4  ,other footnotes will  
be  found at the end of each chapter4   
,typographical errors corrected are     
listed at the end of the text4          
--------------------                    
,,ephemera ,,critica                    
,,or ,,plain ,,truths ,,about           
,,current ,,literature                  
,,by ,,john ,,churton                   
,,collins        ,non verebor nominare  
singulos1 quo facilius1 propositis      
exemplis1    appareat1 quibus gradibus  
fracta sit et deminuta eloquentia4      
--,dial4 de ,orat4                  1  '

  4             --,pindar               
,,fourth ,,edition                      
,,new ,,york                        ,e4 
,p4 ,,dutton  ,,company                 
,,archibald ,,constable ,,and ,,co ,,ltd
                   #b ,,whitehall       
,,gardens1 ,,westminster                
#aijb                                   
,,butler  ,,tanner1                     
,,the ,,selwood ,,printing ,,works1     
,,frome1 ,,and ,,london4                
,,preface      ,it is time for some one 
to speak out4 ,when we compare the      
condition and  prospects of ,science in 
all its branches1 its organization1 its 
standards1 its aims1 its representatives
 with those of ,literature1 how         
deplorable and how humiliating is the   
contrast6 ,in the one we see an  ordered
 realm1 in the other mere chaos4 ,the   
one1 serious1 strenuous1  progressive1  
is displaying an energy as wonderful in 
what it has  accomplished as in what it 
promises to accomplish2 the other1      
without  soul1 without conscience1      

without nerve1 aimless1 listless and    
decadent1  appears to be stagnating1    
almost entirely1 into the monopoly of   
those  who are bent on futilizing and   
degrading it4    ,science stands where  
it does1 not simply by virtue of the    
genius1 the  industry1 the example of   
its most distinguished representatives1 
but  because by those representatives   
the whole sphere of its activity is     
being directed and controlled4 ,the care
 of the ,universities1 the care of      
learned societies1 the care of devoted  
enthusiasts1 its interests and  honour  
are watchfully and jealously guarded4   
,the qualifications of its  teachers are
 guaranteed by tests prescribed by the  
highest authorities  on the subjects    
professed4 ,to standards fixed and      
maintained by those  authorities is     
referred every serious contribution to  
its literature4  ,even a popular        
lecturer1 or a popular writer1 who      
undertook to be its  exponent would be  
exploded at once if he displayed        

ignorance and  incompetence4 ,such1     
indeed1 is the solidarity of its        
energies that it is  rather in the      
degrees and phases of their             
manifestation than in their  essence and
 characteristics that they vary4 ,there 
is not a scientific  institution in     
,england the regulations and aims of    
which do not bear the  impress of such  
masters as ,huxley and ,tyndall and     
their disciples2 not a  work issuing    
from the scientific ,press which is not 
a proof of the  influence which such men
 have exercised and are exercising1 and 
of the  high standard exacted and       
attained wherever ,science is taught and
  interpreted4    ,it is far otherwise  
with ,literature4 ,those who represent  
it1 in a sense  analogous to that in    
which the men who have been referred to 
represent  ,science1 have neither voice 
nor influence in its organization1 as a 
subject of instruction1 at the centres  
of education4 ,they neither give  it the
 ply1 nor in any way affect its         

standards and its character in  practice
 and production4 ,as examples few follow
 them1 as counsellors no  one heeds     
them4 ,they constitute what is little   
more than an esoteric  body1 moving in a
 sphere of its own4    ,and yet there is
 no reason at all why there should not  
be the same  solidarity in the activity 
of ,literature as there is in the       
activity of  ,science1 and why the      
standard of aim and attainment in the   
one should  not be as high as in the    
other4 ,but this can never be           
accomplished until  certain radical     
reforms are instituted1 and the first   
step towards  reform is to demonstrate  
the necessity for it4 ,i have done so   
here4 ,i  have drawn attention to the   
state of things in our                  
,universities1--in  other words1 to what
 ,i must take leave to call the         
scandalous and  incredible indifference 
of the ,councils of those ,universities 
to the  appeals which have1 during the  
last fifteen years1 been made to them to

  place the study of ,literature1 in the
 proper sense of the term1 upon the     
footing on which they have placed other 
studies4 ,i have pointed out what  have 
been1 and what must continue to be1 the 
effects of that  indifference4 ,i have  
given specimens of the books to which   
the  ,universities are not ashamed to   
affix their imprimatur1 and ,i have     
shown that1 so far from them considering
 even their reputation involved  in such
 a matter1 they do not scruple to       
circulate works teeming with  blunders  
and absurdities of the grossest kind1   
blunders and absurdities  to which their
 attention has been publicly called over
 and over again4 ,i  have given         
specimens of the kind of works which the
 occupants of  distinguished ,chairs of 
,literature can1 with perfect impunity1 
address  to students2 and ,i would ask  
any scientific man what would be thought
 of  a ,professor1 say1 of the ,royal   
,naval ,college1 or of the ,city and    
,guilds  of ,london ,institute1 who     

should put his name to analogous        
publications--to publications1 that is  
to say1 as unsound in their  theories1  
as inaccurate in their facts1 as        
slovenly and perfunctory in  general    
execution1 as those to which ,i have    
here directed attention8 ,if  such      
things are done in the green tree1 what 
is likely to be done in the  dry8 or1 as
 ,chaucer puts it1 8if gold ruste1 what 
schal yren doo80 ,that  is one of the   
questions on which these essays may1    
perhaps1 throw some  light4    ,to be   
misrepresented and misunderstood is the 
certain fate of a book  like this1 and  
,i am well aware of the responsibilities
 incurred in  undertaking it4 ,it is    
very distasteful to me to give pain or  
cause  annoyance to any one1 and1       
whether ,i am believed or not1 ,i can   
say1 with  strict truth1 that ,i have   
not the smallest personal bias against  
any of  those whom ,i have censured most
 severely4 ,i believe1 for the reasons  
already explained1 that ,belles ,lettres

 are sinking deeper and deeper  into    
degradation1 that they are gradually    
passing out of the hands of  their true 
representatives1 and becoming almost the
 monopoly of their  false               
representatives1 and that the           
consequence of this cannot but be  most 
disastrous to us as a nation1 to our    
reputation in the ,world of  ,letters1  
to taste1 to tone1 to morals4 ,it is    
surely a shame and a crime  in any one1 
and more especially in men occupying    
positions of influence  and authority1  
to assist in the work of corruption1    
either by  deliberately writing bad     
books or by conniving1 as critics1 at   
the  production of bad books2 and ,i am 
very sure it has become a duty1 and an  
imperative duty1 to expose and denounce 
them4    ,these essays are partly a     
protest and partly an experiment4 ,as a 
protest  they explain1 and1 ,i hope1    
justify themselves2 as an experiment    
they are  an attempt to illustrate what 
we should be fortunate if we could see  

more frequently illustrated by abler    
hands4 ,they are a series of studies  in
 serious1 patient1 and absolutely       
impartial criticism1 having for its     
object a comprehensive survey of the    
vices and defects1 as well as of  the   
merits1 characteristic of current       
,belles ,lettres4 ,i do not suppose     
that anything ,i have said will have the
 smallest effect on the present         
generation1 but on the rising generation
 ,i believe that much which has  been   
said will not be thrown away4 ,in any   
case1 what ,i was constrained  to write 
,i have written4 ,and it is my last word
 in a long controversy4    ,it remains  
to add that most of these essays        
appeared originally in the  ,saturday   
,review1 and ,i desire to express my    
thanks to the late and  present         
,editors1 not merely for permission to  
reproduce the essays1 but  for much     
kindness besides4 ,three appeared in the
 ,pall ,mall ,gazette1  and one1 the    
first essay on 8,english ,literature at 

the ,universities10 in  the ,nineteenth 
,century2 and my thanks are due to the  
,editor of the  ,pall ,mall ,gazette and
 to ,mr4 ,knowles4 ,but all of them have
 been  carefully revised and greatly    
enlarged1 in some cases to more than    
double their original form4 ,the        
introductory essay is1 with the         
exception of the opening pages1 in which
 ,i have drawn on an old article  of    
mine in the ,quarterly ,review1 quite   
new2 and1 indeed1 that may be  said of a
 great part of the volume4      ,,note  
,,to ,,the ,,second ,,edition    ,i     
regret to find that ,i have done ,m4    
,jusserand grave injustice in  censuring
 him for being ignorant of the existence
 of the ,speculum  ,meditantis1 the     
,,ms4 of which was identified after the 
publication of  his work4               
,,list ,,of ,,contents        ,,chapter 
,,page           ,i4 ,,the ,,present    
,,functions ,,of ,,criticism            
#ac          ,,ii4 ,,english            
,,literature ,,at ,,the ,,universities4 

,,part ,i4      #de         ,,iii4      
,,english ,,literature ,,at ,,the       
,,universities4  ,,part ,,ii4     #gf   
,,iv4 ,,english ,,literature ,,at ,,the 
,,universities4  ,,part ,,iii4    #hd   
,v4 ,,our ,,literary ,,guides4 ,,part   
,i4                          #ic        
,,vi4 ,,our ,,literary ,,guides4 ,,part 
,,ii4                        #aaj       
,,vii4 ,,log-,,rolling ,,and ,,education
                            #acc        
,,viii4 ,,our ,,literary ,,guides4      
,,part ,,iii4                       #ade
          ,,ix4 ,,the ,,new ,,criticism 
#aea           ,x4 ,,the ,,gentle ,,art 
,,of ,,self-,,advertisement             
#aeh          ,,xi4 ,r4 ,l4             
,,stevenson',s ,,letters                
#afe         ,,xii4 ,,literary          
,,iconoclasm                            
#agb        ,,xiii4 ,,william ,,dunbar  
#ahc         ,,xiv4 ,a ,,gallop         
,,through ,,english ,,literature        
#aic          ,,xv4 ,,de ,,quincey ,,and
 ,,his ,,friends                        

#bjc         ,,xvi4 ,,lee',s ,,life ,,of
 ,,shakespeare                          
#baa        ,,xvii4 ,,shakespeare',s    
,,sonnets                               
#bai       ,,xviii4 ,,landscape ,,in    
,,poetry                                
#bcf         ,,xix4 ,,an ,,appreciation 
,,of ,,francis ,,turner ,,palgrave      
#bej          ,,xx4 ,,ancient ,,greek   
,,and ,,modern ,,life                   
#bee         ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,principles  
,,of ,,criticism                        
#bgj        ,,xxii4 ,,women ,,in ,,greek
 ,,poetry                               
#bhc       ,,xxiii4 ,,mr4 ,,stephen     
,,phillips' ,,poems                     
#bid        ,,xxiv4 ,,the ,,illustrious 
,,obscure                               
#cja         ,,xxv4 ,,virgil ,,in       
,,english ,,hexameters                  
#cjh        ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,latest      
,,edition ,,of ,,thomson                
#cah       ,,xxvii4 ,,catullus ,,and    
,,lesbia                                
#cce      ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,religion    

,,of ,,shakespeare                      
#cea          ,,the ,,present           
,,functions ,,of ,,criticism      ,it   
may sound paradoxical to say that the   
more widely education spreads1  the more
 generally intelligent a nation becomes1
 the greater is the  danger to which    
,art and ,letters are exposed4 ,and yet 
how obviously is  this the case1 and how
 easily is this explained4 ,the quality 
of skilled  work depends mainly on the  
standard required of the workman4 ,if   
his  judges and patrons belong to the   
discerning few who1 knowing what is     
excellent1 are intolerant of everything 
which falls short of excellence1  the   
standard required will necessarily be a 
high one1 and the standard  required    
will be the standard attained4 ,in past 
times1 for example1 the  only men of    
letters who were respected formed a     
portion of that highly  cultivated class
 who will always be in the minority2 and
 to that class1  and to that class only1
 they appealed4 ,a community within a   

community1  they regarded the general   
public with as much indifference as the 
general public regarded them1 and wrote 
only for themselves1 and for  those who 
stood on the same intellectual level as 
themselves4 ,it was so  in the ,athens  
of ,pericles2 it was so in the ,rome of 
,augustus2 it was so  in the ,florence  
of the ,medici2 and a striking example  
of the same thing  is to be found in our
 own ,elizabethan ,dramatists4 ,though  
their bread  depended on the brutal and 
illiterate savages for whose amusement  
they  catered1 they still talked the    
language of scholars and poets1 and     
forced their rude hearers to sit out    
works which could have been             
intelligible only to scholars and poets4
 ,each felt with pride that he  belonged
 to a great guild1 which neither had1   
nor affected to have1  anything in      
common with the multitude4 ,each strove 
only for the applause  of those whose   
praise is not lightly given4 ,each      
spurred the other on4  ,when ,marlowe   

worked1 he worked with the fear of      
,greene before his eyes1  as            
,shakespeare was put on his mettle by   
,jonson1 and ,jonson by  ,shakespeare4  
,we owe ,hamlet and ,sejanus1 ,much ,ado
 about ,nothing and  the ,alchemist1 not
 to men who bid only for the suffrage of
 the mob1  but to men who stood in awe  
of the verdict which would be passed on 
them  by the company assembled at the   
,mermaid and the ,devil4    ,as long as 
men of letters continue to form an      
intellectual aristocracy1  and1         
stimulated by mutual rivalry1 strain    
every nerve to excel1 and as  long also 
as they have no temptation to pander to 
the crowd1 so long  will ,literature    
maintain its dignity1 and so long will  
the standard  attained in ,literature be
 a high one4 ,in the days of ,dryden and
 ,pope1 in  the days even of ,johnson   
and ,gibbon1 the greater part of the    
general  public either read nothing1 or 
read nothing but politics and sermons4  
,the few who were interested in ,poetry1

 in ,criticism1 in ,history1 were1  as a
 rule1 those who had received a learned 
education1 men of highly  cultivated    
tastes and of considerable attainments4 
,a writer1 therefore1  who aspired to   
contribute to polite literature1 had to 
choose between  finding no readers at   
all1 and finding such readers as he was 
bound to  respect--between instant      
oblivion1 and satisfying a class which1 
composed of scholars1 would have turned 
with contempt from writings  unworthy of
 scholars4 ,a classical style1 a refined
 tone1 and an adequate  acquaintance    
with the chief authors of ,ancient ,rome
 and of ,modern  ,france1 were          
requisites1 without which even a        
periodical essayist would  have had     
small hope of obtaining a hearing4      
,whoever will turn1 we do not  say to   
the papers of ,addison and his circle in
 the early part of the  last century1 or
 to those of ,chesterfield and his      
circle later on1 but  to the average    
critical work of ,cave's and ,dodsley's 

hack writers1  cannot fail to be struck 
with its remarkable merit in point of   
literary  execution4    ,but as         
education spreads1 a very different     
class of readers call into  being a very
 different class of writers4 ,men and   
women begin to seek in  books the       
amusement or excitement which they      
sought formerly in social  dissipation4 
,to the old public of scholars succeeds 
a public1 in which  every section of    
society has its representatives1 and to 
provide this  vast body with the sort of
 reading which is acceptable to it1     
becomes a  thriving and lucrative       
calling4 ,an immense literature springs 
up1 which  has no other object than to  
catch the popular ear1 and no higher aim
  than to please for the moment4 ,that  
perpetual craving for novelty1 which    
has in all ages been characteristic of  
the multitude1 necessitates in  authors 
of this class a corresponding rapidity  
of production4 ,the writer  of a single 
good book is soon forgotten by his      

contemporaries2 but the  writer of a    
series of bad books is sure of          
reputation and emolument4  ,indeed1 a   
good book and a bad book stand1 so far  
as the general public  is concerned1 on 
precisely the same level1 as they meet  
with precisely  the same fate4 ,each    
presents the attraction of a new        
title-page4 ,each is  glanced through1  
and tossed aside4 ,each is estimated not
 by its  intrinsic worth1 but according 
to the skill with which it has been     
puffed4 ,till within comparatively      
recent times this literature was1 for   
the most part1 represented by novels and
 poems1 and by those light and          
desultory essays1 sketches and ana1     
which are the staple commodity of  our  
magazines4 ,and so long as it confined  
itself within these bounds it  did no   
mischief1 and even some good4 ,flimsy   
and superficial though it  was1 it had  
at least the merit of interesting       
thousands in ,art and  ,letters1 who    
would otherwise have been indifferent to

 them4 ,it afforded  nutriment to minds 
which would have rejected more solid    
fare4 ,to men of  business and pleasure 
who1 though no longer students1 still   
retained the  tincture of early culture1
 it offered the most agreeable of all   
methods  of killing time1 while scholars
 found in it welcome relaxation from    
severer studies4 ,it thus supplied a    
want4 ,presenting attractions not to    
one class only1 but to all classes1 it  
grew on the world4 ,its patrons1  who   
half a century ago numbered thousands1  
now number millions4    ,and as it has  
grown in favour1 it has grown in        
ambition4 ,it is no longer  satisfied   
with the humble province which it once  
held1 but is extending  its dominion in 
all directions4 ,it has its             
representatives in every  department of 
,art and ,letters4 ,it has its poets1   
its critics1 its  philosophers1 its     
historians4 ,it crowds not our          
club-tables and  news-stalls only1 but  
our libraries4 ,thus what was originally

 a mere  excrescence on literature1 in  
the proper sense of the term1 has now   
assumed proportions so gigantic1 that it
 has not merely overshadowed  that      
literature1 but threatens to supersede  
it4    ,no thoughtful man can           
contemplate the present condition of    
current  literature without disgust and 
alarm4 ,we have still1 indeed1 lingering
  among us a few masters whose works    
would have been an honour to any age2   
and here and there among writers may be 
discerned men who are honourably        
distinguished by a conscientious desire 
to excel1 men who respect  themselves1  
and respect their calling4 ,but to say  
that these are in the  minority1 would  
be to give a very imperfect idea of the 
proportion which  their numbers bear to 
those who figure most prominently before
 the  public4 ,they are1 in truth1 as   
tens are to myriads4 ,their comparative 
insignificance is such1 that they are   
powerless even to leaven the mass4  ,the
 position which they would have occupied

 half a century ago1 and  which they may
 possibly occupy half a century hence1  
is now usurped by a  herd of scribblers 
who have succeeded1 partly by sheer     
force of numbers1  and partly by        
judicious co-operation1 in all but      
dominating literature4  ,scarcely a day 
passes in which some book is not hurried
 into the world1  which owes its        
existence not to any desire on the part 
of its author to  add to the stores of  
useful literature1 or even to a hope of 
obtaining  money1 but simply to that    
paltry vanity which thrives on the sort 
of  homage of which society of a certain
 kind is not grudging1 and which  knows 
no distinction between notoriety and    
fame4 ,a few years ago a man  who       
contributed articles to a current       
periodical1 or who delivered a  course  
of lectures1 had1 as a rule1 the good   
sense to know that when  they had       
fulfilled the purpose for which they    
were originally intended1  the world had
 no more concern with them1 and he would

 as soon have  thought of inflicting    
them in the shape of a volume on the    
public1 as he  would have thought of    
issuing an edition of his private       
letters to his  friends4 ,now all is    
changed4 ,the first article in the creed
 of a person  who has figured in either 
of these capacities1 appears to be1 that
 he is  bound to force himself into     
notice in the character of an author4   
,and  this1 happily for himself1 but    
unhappily for the interests of          
literature1 he is able to do with       
perfect facility and with perfect       
impunity4 ,books are speedily           
manufactured and as speedily reduced to 
pulp4 ,a worthless book may be as easily
 invested with those superficial        
attractions which catch the eye of the  
crowd as a meritorious one4 ,as  the    
general public are the willing dupes of 
puffers1 it is no more  difficult to    
palm off on them the spurious wares of  
literary charlatans1  than it is to     
beguile them into purchasing the wares  

of any other kind  of charlatan4 ,no one
 is interested in telling them the      
truth4 ,many1 on  the contrary1 are     
interested in deceiving them4 ,as a     
rule1 the men who  write bad books are  
the men who criticise bad books2 and as 
they know  that what they mete out in   
their capacity of judges to-day is what 
will  in turn be meted out to them in   
their capacity of authors to-morrow1 it 
is not surprising that the relations    
between them should be similar to  those
 which ,tacitus tells us existed between
 ,vinius and  ,tigellinus--8nulla       
innocenti cura1 sed vices impunitatis40 
,meanwhile all those vile arts which    
were formerly confined to the           
circulators of bad novels and bad poems 
are practised without shame4 ,it  is    
shocking1 it is disgusting to           
contemplate the devices to which many   
men of letters will stoop for the sake  
of exalting themselves into a           
factitious reputation4 ,they will form  
cliques for the purpose of mutual       

puffery4 ,they will descend to the      
basest methods of self-advertisement4   
,and the evil is fast-spreading4        
,indeed1 things have come to such a     
pass1  that persons of real merit1 if   
they have the misfortune to depend on   
their pens for a livelihood1 must either
 submit to be elbowed and  jostled out  
of the field1 or take part in the same  
ignoble scramble for  notoriety1 and the
 same detestable system of mutual       
puffery4 ,thus  everything which        
formerly tended to raise the standard of
 literary  ambition and literary        
attainment has given place to everything
 which  tends to degrade it4 ,the       
multitude now stand where the scholar   
once  stood4 ,from the multitude        
emanate1 to the multitude are addressed 
two-thirds of the publications which    
pour forth1 every year1 from our        
presses4                  ,viviamo      
scorti    ,da mediocrit3 sceso il       
sapiente1    ,e salita  la turba a un   
sol confine    ,che il mondo agguaglia4 

,matthew ,arnold very truly observed1   
that one of the most unfortunate        
tendencies of our time was the tendency 
to over-estimate the  performances of   
8the average man40 ,the over-estimation 
of these  performances is no longer a   
tendency1 but an established custom4    
,literature1 in all its branches1 is    
rapidly becoming his monopoly4 ,as      
judged and judge1 as author and critic1 
there is every indication that  he will 
proceed from triumph to triumph1 and    
establish his cult wherever  books are  
read4 ,now the only sphere in which 8the
 average man0 is  entitled to homage is 
a moral one1 and he is most venerable   
when he is  passive and unambitious4    
,but if ambition and the love of fame   
are  awakened in him1 he is capable of  
becoming exceedingly corrupt and of     
forfeiting every title to veneration4   
,he is capable of resorting to all  the 
devices to which men are forced to      
resort in manufacturing  factitious     
reputations1 to imposture1 to fraud1 to 

circulating false  currencies of his    
own1 and to assisting others in the     
circulation of  theirs4 ,even when he is
 free from these vices1 so far as their 
deliberate practice is concerned1 he is 
scarcely less mischievous1 if he  be    
uncontrolled4 ,to say that his standard 
is never likely to be a high  one1      
either with reference to his own        
achievements or with reference to  what 
he exacts from others1 and to say that  
the systematic substitution  of inferior
 standards for high ones must affect    
literature and all that  is involved in 
its influence1 most disastrously1 is to 
say what will be  generally             
acknowledged4 ,and he has everything1   
unhappily1 in his  favour--numbers1     
influence1 the spirit of the age4 ,for  
one who sees  through him and takes his 
measure1 there are thousands who do not3
 for  one who could discern the justice 
of an exposure of his shortcomings1     
there are thousands who would attribute 
that exposure to personal enmity  and to

 dishonest motives4 ,his power1 indeed1 
is becoming almost  irresistible4 ,the  
one thing which he and his fellows      
thoroughly  understand is the formidable
 advantage of co-operation4 ,the        
consequence  is that there are probably 
not half a dozen reviews and newspapers 
now  left which they are not able       
practically to coerce4 ,an editor is    
obliged  to assume honesty in those who 
contribute to his columns1 and also to  
avail himself of the services of men who
 can write good articles1 if  they write
 bad books4 ,in the first case1 it is   
not open to him to  question the justice
 of the verdict pronounced2 in the      
second case1 the  courtesy of the       
gentleman very naturally and properly   
predominates1  under such circumstances1
 over public considerations--and how can
 truth  be told8 ,nor is this all4      
,assuming that an editor is free from   
such  ties1 he has to consult the       
interests of his paper1 to study        
popularity1 and not to estrange those   

who are1 from a commercial point  of    
view1 the mainstays of all our literary 
journals1 those who advertise  in       
them1--the publishers4 8,if10 said an   
editor to me once1 8,i were to  tell the
 truth1 as forcibly as ,i could wish to 
do1 about the books sent  to me for     
review1 in six months my proprietors    
would be in the  bankruptcy court40 ,it 
is in the power of the publishers to    
ruin any  literary journal4 ,there is   
probably not a single ,review in ,london
 which  would survive the withdrawal of 
the publishers' advertisements4    ,a   
more honourable class of men than those 
who form the majority of the  ,london   
publishers does not exist1 nor have the 
interests of ,literature1  as           
distinguished from commercial interests1
 ever found heartier and more           
ungrudging support1 than they have long 
found in three or four of the  leading  
firms1 and as they are now finding in   
two or three of the firms  which have   
been more recently established4 ,but1   

unhappily1 this is not  everywhere the  
case4 ,while the firms1 to which ,i have
 referred1 have  never1 in any way1     
attempted to interfere with the         
independence of  reviewers1 others have 
made no secret of their intention to    
make their  patronage in advertisement  
dependent on favourable notices of their
  publications4 ,the strain of          
temptation and peril to which editors   
are  thus exposed may be estimated by   
the fact that1 a flattering review may1 
if supplemented by similar ones1 put    
some three hundred a year into the      
pockets of their proprietors1 while     
severity and justice would involve a    
corresponding loss4 ,it need hardly be  
said that no editor of a  respectable   
review would allow any definite         
understanding of this kind  to exist1 or
 that any publisher would ever dare to  
suggest it1 but there  can be no doubt  
that such considerations have to be     
taken into account  almost universally1 
and place serious restraint on freedom  

of judgment4    ,there is1 it is true1  
another aspect of this question4        
,publishers must  protect themselves4   
,though reviews offend much more        
frequently on the  side of dishonest and
 interested puffery1 they are very often
 made the  vehicles of equally          
unscrupulous rancour and spite4 ,if they
 do their  readers injustice1 by        
attempting to foist bad books on them1  
they do  every one concerned injustice1 
by damning good ones4 ,no one could     
blame  a publisher for declining to     
support a paper which was continually   
making his books the subjects of        
unmerited attacks4 ,but a publisher who 
attempts to prevent the truth from being
 told1 and so secures1 or seeks  to     
secure1 currency for his spurious wares1
 is guilty of an act which  borders     
closely on fraud4    ,another           
circumstance very favourable to the     
encouragement of  inferiority1 and not  
of inferiority only1 but of charlatanism
 and  imposture1 is the increasing      

tendency to regard nothing of importance
  compared with the spirit of tolerance 
and charity4 ,an all-embracing          
philanthropy exempts nothing from its   
protection4 ,every one must be          
good-natured4 ,severity1 we are told1 is
 quite out of fashion4 ,such  censors as
 the old reviewers are now mere         
anachronisms4 ,it is vain to  plead that
 tolerance and charity must             
discriminate2 that1 like other  virtues1
 they may be abused1 and that in their  
abuse they may become  immoral2 that    
there are higher considerations than the
 feelings of  individuals2 and that1 if 
to give pain or annoyance admits of no  
justification but necessity1 necessity  
may exact their infliction as an        
exigent duty4    ,but this spirit of    
tolerance and charity has also become   
attenuated into  the spirit of mere     
laissez-faire4 ,we have no lack of real 
scholars and  of real critics1 who see  
through the whole thing1 and probably   
deplore  it2 but they make no sign1 look

 on with a sort of amused perplexity1   
and  do their own work1 thankful1 no    
doubt1 sometimes1 when it is oppressive1
  that they need not be over-scrupulous 
about its quality4 ,if1  occasionally1  
they get a little impatient and indulge 
their genius1  protest goes no further  
than sarcasm and irony1 so fine that it 
is  intelligible only among themselves2 
while the objects of their satire1  as  
well as the general public1 missing the 
one and misinterpreting the  other1 take
 it all for applause4 ,resistance1 it is
 said1 is useless4  ,literature is a    
trade4 ,what has come was inevitable3   
vive la  bagatelle1 and drift with the  
stream4    ,and now let us consider what
 are the results of all this4 ,the first
 and  most important is the degradation 
of criticism4 ,criticism is to          
,literature what legislation and        
government are to ,states4 ,if they are 
in  able and honest hands all goes well2
 if they are in weak and dishonest      
hands all is anarchy and mischief4 ,and 

as government in a ,republic1 the  true 
analogy to the sphere of which we are   
speaking1 is represented not  by those  
who form the minority in its councils1  
but by those who form  the majority1 so 
in criticism1 it is not on the few but  
on the many  among those who represent  
it1 that its authority and influence    
depend4  ,and what are its              
characteristics in the hands of its     
prevailing  majority--in the hands of   
those who are its legislators in a realm
  co-extensive with the reading world8  
,it is not criticism at all4 ,to        
criticism1 in the true sense of the     
term1 it has no claim even to           
approximation4 ,it seems to have        
resolved itself into something which    
wants a name1--something which is partly
 dithyramb and partly rhetoric4         
,without standards1 without touchstones1
 without principles1 without  knowledge1
 it appears to be regarded as the one   
calling for which no  equipment and no  
training are needed4 ,what a master of  

the art has  called the final fruit of  
careful discipline and of much          
experience is  assumed to come          
spontaneously4 ,a man of literary tastes
 is born  cultured4 ,a critic1 like a   
poet1 is the pure product of nature4    
,such  canons as these 8critics0 have   
are the mysterious and somewhat         
perplexing evolutions of their own inner
 consciousness1 or derived1 not  from   
the study of classical writers in       
,english or in any other language1  of  
all of whom they are probably profoundly
 ignorant1 but from a current           
acquaintance with the writings of       
contemporaries1 who are1 in             
intelligence and performance1 a little  
in advance of themselves4 ,but  what    
they lack in attainments they make up in
 impudence4 ,the effrontery  of some of 
these 8critics10 whose verdicts1        
ludicrous to relate1 are  daily recorded
 as 8opinions of the ,press10 literally 
exceeds belief4  ,they will sit in      
judgment on books written in languages  

of whose very  alphabets they are       
ignorant4 ,they will pose as authorities
 and pronounce  ex cathedr on subjects  
literary1 historical1 and scientific of 
which  they know nothing more than what 
they have contrived to pick up from the 
works which they are 8reviewing40 ,their
 estimates of the books1 on the  merits 
and demerits of which they undertake to 
enlighten the public1  correspond with  
their qualifications for forming them4  
,books displaying  in their writers the 
grossest ignorance of the very rudiments
 of the  subjects treated1 and literally
 swarming with blunders and absurdities1
  all of which pass undetected and      
unnoticed1 are made the subjects of     
elaborate panegyrics1 which would need  
some qualification if applied to  the   
very classics in the subjects under     
discussion4 ,books1 on the other  hand1 
of unusual and distinguished merit are  
despatched summarily in a  few lines of 
equally undeserved depreciation2 books  
written in the worst  taste and in the  

vilest style are pronounced to be models
 of both4  ,sobriety1 measure1 and      
discrimination have no place either in  
the creed  or in the practice of these  
writers4 ,they think in superlatives2   
they  express themselves in             
superlatives4 ,it never seems to occur  
to them that  if criticism has to reckon
 with ,mr4 ,le ,gallienne it has also to
 reckon  with ,shakespeare2 that if it  
has to take the measure of ,mr4 ,hall   
,caine1  it has likewise to take the    
measure of ,cervantes and ,fielding1 and
 that  of some dozen prose writers and  
poets1 it cannot be pronounced1 at the  
same time of each1 that he is 8the      
greatest living master of ,english      
prose10 or 8without parallel for his    
superlative command of all the          
resources of rhythmical expression40    
,there is one accomplishment in  which  
these critics are particularly adroit1  
and that is in keeping out  of          
controversy1 and so avoiding all chance 
of being called to account4  ,for this  

reason they deal more in eulogy than in 
censure1 for the public  is less likely 
to complain of a bad book being foisted 
on them for a  good one1 than its irate 
author to sit silent under reproof4     
,if we go a little higher1 things are   
almost as bad1 if not quite so          
ridiculous4 ,in everything but in       
criticism it is necessary to            
specialize4 ,a man who posed as an      
authority on all the literatures of  the
 world1 and on the history of every     
nation in the world1 would be  very     
justly set down as an impostor4 ,and yet
 pretentions which men would  be the    
first to ridicule1 as private           
individuals1 they do not scruple to     
claim1 as critics4 ,an historical       
student enriches ,history with a volume 
throwing new and important light on some
 obscure episode or period2 a  classical
 student deserves the gratitude of      
scholars for an invaluable  monograph2  
,english ,literature or one of the      
,continental ,literatures is            

illustrated by a series of dissertations
 as instructive as they are  original2  
or a truly memorable contribution has   
been made to political  philosophy1 to  
sthetics1 or to ethics4 ,what is their  
fate8 ,it is by no  means improbable    
that they will be #8reviewed1' in the   
course of a few  days1 by the same man  
for three or four1 or it may be for five
 or six1  daily and weekly journals1 and
 their fortune in the market made or    
marred by a censor who has probably done
 no more than glance at their  half-cut 
pages1 and who1 if he had studied them  
from end to end1 would  have been no    
more competent to take their measure    
than he would have  been to write them4 
,this leads1 it is needless to say1 to  
every kind of  abuse3 to works which    
deserve to be authorities on the        
subjects of which  they treat dropping  
at once into oblivion1 to works which   
every scholar  knows to be below        
contempt usurping their places2 to the  
deprivation of  all stimulus to         

honourable exertion on the part of      
authors of ability  and industry2 to the
 encouragement of charlatans and        
fribbles2 to gross  impositions on the  
public4 ,a very amusing and edifying    
record might be  compiled partly out of 
a selection of the various verdicts     
passed  contemporaneously by reviews on 
particular works1 and partly out of     
comparisons of the subsequent fortunes  
of works with their fortunes  while     
submitted to this censorship4    ,but it
 is not these causes only which         
contribute to the degradation of        
criticism4 ,a very important factor is  
the prevalence1 or rather the           
predominance1 of mere prejudice1 the    
prejudice of cliques in favour of       
cliques1 the prejudice of cliques       
against cliques1 the prejudice of the   
veteran against or in favour of the     
novice1 the subsequent compensation1  in
 corresponding prejudice on the part of 
the novice1 when his novitiate  is over4
 ,the two things which never seem to be 

considered are the  interests of        
,literature and the interests of the    
public4 ,the appearance  of a work by   
the member of a particular coterie is   
the signal1 on the  one hand1 for a     
series of preposterously intemperate    
eulogies1 and for a  series1 on the     
other hand1 of equally intemperate      
depreciations1 in such  organs as are   
accessible to both parties4 ,if a work1 
with any pretension  to originality1 by 
a previously unknown author makes its   
appearance1 it  is pretty sure to fare  
in one of three ways3 it will scarcely  
be noticed  at all2 it will be made the 
theme of a philippic against innovating 
eccentricities and newfangled notions2  
or it will fall into the hands of  a    
critic who is on the look-out for a     
8discovery40 ,its fortune1 so far  as   
notoriety is concerned1 will1 in that   
case1 be made4 ,the critic1 thus  on his
 mettle and with his character for      
discernment at stake1 will not  only    
become proportionately vociferous but   

will rally his equally  vociferous      
partisans4 ,hyperbole will be heaped on 
hyperbole1 rodomontade  on rodomontade1 
till real merit will be made ridiculous1
 and the unhappy  author awake at last1 
to assume his true proportions1 in a    
,fool's  ,paradise4    ,and to this pass
 has criticism come1 and ,literature    
generally1 in almost  all its branches1 
is necessarily following suit4 ,it would
 be no  exaggeration to say1 that the   
sole encouragement now left to authors  
to  produce good books is the           
satisfaction of their own conscience1   
and the  approbation of a few discerning
 judges2 and this attained1 they must   
starve if their bread depends upon their
 pen4 ,it is not that a good book  will 
not be praised1 but that bad books are  
praised still more2 it is  not that it  
will fail to find fair and competent    
reviewers1 but that for  one fair and   
competent reviewer it will find fifty   
who are unfair and  incompetent4 ,it is 
on its acceptance1 not with the few who 

can estimate  its merits1 but with the  
many who take that estimate on trust    
from  judges1 whose competence or       
incompetence they are equally unable to 
gauge1 that the possibility of a book   
yielding any return to its author       
depends4 ,the public neither can nor    
will distinguish4 ,a book which has  two
 or three favourable press notices which
 are merited cannot stand  against a    
book having twenty or thirty which are  
unmerited4 ,nor is this  all4 ,measured 
and discriminating eulogy1 which means  
precisely what it  expresses1 and which 
is always the note of sound and just    
criticism1 is  to the uninitiated poor  
recommendation compared with that which 
has no  limitation but extremes4 ,how   
can the still small voice of truth      
expect  to get a hearing amid a         
bellowing ,babel of its                 
undistinguishable mimic8  ,what         
inducement has an author to aim at      
excellence1 to spend three or  four     
years on a monograph or a history that  

it may be sold for waste  paper1 when   
some miserable compilation1 vamped up in
 as many weeks1  will1 with a little    
management1 give him notoriety and fill 
his purse8  ,there is not a scholar1 not
 a discerning reader in ,england who    
will not  bear me witness when ,i say   
that1 as a rule1 the best books produced
 in  ,belles ,lettres are those of which
 the general public knows nothing1 and  
that he has been guided to them         
sometimes by pure accident1 and         
sometimes1 it may be1 by a depreciatory 
notice or curt paragraph in  8our       
library table0 limbo4 ,and what does    
this mean8 ,it means that a  writer has 
discovered that it is impossible for him
 to have a  conscience1 or aim at an    
honourable reputation1 unless he can    
afford to  lose money4 ,it means more2  
it means that publishers are obliged to 
discourage the production of solid and  
scholarly works4 ,it is notorious  that 
the ,delegates of the ,clarendon ,press 
at ,oxford1 and one or two  firms in    

,london1 having regard to the honourable
 traditions of their  predecessors1 have
 wished to maintain those traditions by 
encouraging  the production of such     
works1 and have1 at a great pecuniary   
loss1  persevered in this ambition4 ,but
 no publisher can continue to multiply  
books which do not pay their expenses1  
and whose sale begins and ends in  the  
remainder market4    ,this state of     
things is the more deplorable when we   
consider its effect1  not merely in     
degrading and corrupting ,literature on 
its productive  side1 but in detracting 
so seriously from its efficacy on its   
influential side4 ,during the last few  
years the rapid spread of higher        
education1 the popularization of liberal
 culture through such agencies  as the  
,university ,extension ,lectures1 the   
,national ,home ,reading ,union  and    
similar institutions have called into   
being an immense and  constantly        
multiplying class of serious readers and
 students4 ,these  already number tens  

of thousands1 they will before long     
number hundreds  of thousands4 ,now it  
is of the utmost importance that these  
readers1 who  are quite prepared to     
appreciate what is excellent1 should be 
guided to  what is excellent1 and       
discouraged in every way from conversing
 with  what is bad and inferior in      
,literature4 ,but how is this to be done
 when  those who are striving1 in every 
way1 to raise the standard of popular   
taste and of popular culture1 as        
teachers1 find all their efforts        
counteracted by the intense activity of 
those who are doing their utmost  to    
degrade both1 as writers4 ,it is only   
those engaged in education1 and  more   
particularly in popular education1 who  
can understand the extent of  the       
mischief which bookmakers and the       
puffers of bookmakers are doing1  who   
can understand the tone1 the taste1 the 
temper induced by the  habitual and     
exclusive perusal of the writings       
characteristic of these  pests1--the    

inaccuracies and errors1 the            
misrepresentations and  absurdities1 to 
which these writings give currency4     
,in the days of our forefathers1 a      
reader of literary tastes1 if he  wished
 to acquaint himself with an ,english   
classic1 went to the fountain  head and 
read ,spenser or ,milton1 ,pope or      
,addison for himself4 ,if he  desired to
 know what criticism had said about     
them1 he had criticism of  authority at 
hand1 and he consulted it4 ,in our day  
it is about an even  chance whether the 
ordinary reader would trouble himself to
 turn to the  originals or not3 he would
 probably content himself with the      
notices of  them in some current manual 
of ,english ,literature1 or with some   
essay or  monograph4 ,now1 in the       
myriads of such publications1 in vogue  
or out of  vogue1 knocked under by their
 successors or scuffling with their     
contemporaries1 he might have the luck  
to light on a good guide2 he  might have
 the luck to light on ,dean ,church1 or 

,mark ,pattison1 or ,mr4  ,leslie       
,stephen1 or ,professor ,courthope1 or  
,mr4 ,frederic ,harrison2 but he  is    
much more likely to make his way to a   
luminary in the last  well-puffed       
8series40 ,the first article in the     
creed of the modern  book-maker seems to
 be that the appearance or existence of 
a good book  is a sufficient            
justification for the production of a   
bad one to take  its place4 ,an         
excellent monograph is published1 and is
 popular4 ,this is  the signal for the  
manufacture of half a dozen inferior    
ones1 which are  mutually destructive1  
and serve no end except to substitute   
bad books  for a good one1 and to make  
the good one forgotten4 ,again1 a work  
which  has long been classical in       
criticism is assumed not to be 8up to   
date10  and is either edited on this    
hypothesis1 or we have another          
substituted  for it4 ,this in turn      
yields its vogue--for fashions change   
quickly in  modern taste--to a similar  

experiment1 till a third is announced4  
,of the  relation of criticism to       
principles1 or indeed to anything else  
but to  their own whims or impressions1 
these iconoclasts appear to be          
profoundly unaware4    ,it requires1    
needless to say1 the utmost wariness and
 care on the part  of those who         
regulate1 and on the part of those who  
are engaged in1  education1 to keep this
 inferior literature in its place4 ,if  
it were  allowed to make its way        
authoritatively into our schools and    
,universities1 or indeed into any of our
 educational institutions1 the          
consequences would be most disastrous4  
,it is not so much that it would        
disseminate error as that it would      
become influential in more serious      
ways1 sthetically in its influence on   
taste1 morally in its influence  on tone
 and character1 intellectually in       
lowering the whole standard of  aim and 
attainment in studies4    ,that the     
evils which have been described admit of

 no remedy at present1  or perhaps in   
the present generation1 may be fully    
conceded4 ,but they  may be palliated if
 they cannot be cured1 and they must be 
palliated by  the agents to whom we may 
ultimately look for their cure1         
education and  fearless criticism4 ,as  
their origin may be mainly ascribed to  
the  failure of the ,universities to    
adapt themselves to new conditions1 so  
on  the willingness of the ,universities
 to repair their error must depend  all 
possibility of rectifying the results of
 it4 ,from its organization  at the     
,universities everything comprehended in
 the system of liberal  study takes its 
ply2 its standards are there determined1
 its methods  formulated1 its aims      
defined4 ,as a subject of teaching1 and 
as the  result of teaching1 in its      
relation to theory and in its relation  
to  practice1 it there receives an      
impression which is permanent4 ,it has  
been so with classical scholarship1 and 
with ,philology2 it has been so  with   

,philosophy and ,theology1 with         
,jurisprudence and ,history4 ,what has  
been imparted in the lecture-rooms of   
,oxford and ,cambridge has orally1  and 
by the pen1 become influential wherever 
these subjects are  represented4 ,there 
is not an educational institute in      
,great ,britain or  in the colonies1    
there is not a serious magazine or      
review on which it  has not set its     
seal4 ,we have a striking illustration  
of this in the  case of ,modern         
,history4 ,some thirty years ago it was 
practically  unrepresented1 either at   
,oxford or ,cambridge4 ,since then its  
study has  been organized4 ,what has    
been the result8 ,it has become one of  
the most  flourishing branches of       
learning4 ,it has reduced chaos to      
order2 it has  raised its teaching1 and 
by implication its literature1 to a very
 high  standard2 it has put the canaille
 of sciolists and fribbles into their   
proper place2 while disciplining energy 
it has directed it to fruitful  objects2

 it has revolutionized the study of the 
whole subject4    ,thus the condition   
and fortune of everything which is      
affected by  education depend on the    
,universities4 ,all that they do1 or    
neglect to  do1 passes into precedent4  
,there is nothing susceptible of        
educational  impression which does not  
take its colour and its characteristics 
from  them4 ,they have made the subjects
 which are represented in their schools 
what they are1 and every intelligent    
,english citizen proud and grateful4    
,but1 owing to a disastrous confusion   
between two branches of study which  are
 radically and essentially              
distinct1--,philology and ,belles       
,lettres1--both ,oxford and ,cambridge  
have not only left unorganized1 but     
assisted in the degradation of studies1 
which are of as much concern1  and vital
 concern1 to national life as any which 
are represented in  their ,schools4 ,to 
leave an important department of        
education  unrecognised in their system1

 is sufficient cause for surprise and   
regret2 but that they should be doing   
all in their power to prevent any       
possibility of such a defect being      
supplied is deplorable4 ,and yet this   
is what is being done4 ,that ,chairs1   
,schools and ,degrees may be            
established in the interests of         
,philology1 ,philology is1 by a palpable
  fiction1 identified with ,literature4 
,as the result of what the late         
,professor ,huxley denounced as 8a fraud
 upon letters10 a ,chair founded in  the
 interests of ,literature was at ,oxford
 appropriated by the  philologists4     
,this has been followed by the          
establishment of a ,school1  in which   
all that can provide for the honour of  
,philology is blended  with all that    
contributes to the degradation of       
,literature2 while1 to  give further    
currency and authority to this absurd   
complication1 the  approval of a thesis1
 on some subject pertaining purely to   
,philology1  entitles the writer to the 

diploma1 not of a ,doctor in ,philology1
 but of  a ,doctor in ,literature6      
,meanwhile1 to make confusion worse     
confounded1 the ,universities1 or1 to   
speak more correctly1 a party in the    
,universities1 are undertaking to       
provide the country with teachers for   
the dissemination of literary           
culture1--for the interpretation of     
,literature in the proper sense of  the 
term4 ,whether this is done competently 
or incompetently depends1 of  course1   
and must depend purely on accident1 on  
the willingness and  ability1 that is to
 say1 of individual teachers to educate 
themselves4  ,common standards and      
common aims they have none4 ,each does  
what is right  in his own eyes4 ,as some
 have graduated in the classical        
schools1 some  in the ,medival and      
,modern ,languages ,tripos1 some in     
,modern ,history1  some in ,moral       
,science or ,theology1 and some in      
nothing1 there is  naturally much       
variety in their methods and aims4      

,but it is when we turn to the works in 
modern ,belles ,lettres1 and more       
particularly to those dealing with      
,english ,literature1 which the         
,university ,presses publish1 that we   
realize the full significance of  this  
anarchy4 ,it would not be going too far 
to say1 that all which is  worst in     
current literature1 when at its worst   
finds in some of these  works           
comprehensive illustration4 ,it is      
indeed almost an even chance  whether a 
work issuing from those ,presses is     
excellent1 whether it is  indifferent1  
or whether it is executed with shameful 
incompetence4#a    ,all1 therefore1 so  
far as ,belles ,lettres are concerned is
 chaos at the  ,universities1 and all   
consequently is chaos everywhere else4  
,the next appeal--for all appeals to the
 ,universities have been  vain--must be 
made to those who regulate the          
curriculums where  ,literature is made a
 subject of teaching4 ,let them         
rigorously exclude  all but the best    

books4 ,let them discourage the study of
 such ,epitomes1  ,manuals1 and         
,histories as are the work of mere      
irresponsible book  makers1 and         
prescribe in its place the study of     
literary masterpieces4  ,without        
excluding the best modern poetry and    
prose1 let most  attention--for obvious 
reasons--be paid to the writings of the 
older  masters4 ,let them lay special   
stress on the study of criticism1--of   
works treating of its principles1 of    
works illustrating the application  of  
its principles to particular writers2   
and let no work be recognised  which is 
not of classical authority4             
,translations should1 of course1 as  a  
rule1 be avoided2 but in such a subject 
as the principles of  criticism1 there  
is not the smallest reason why those    
works which are  most excellent in other
 languages1 such as the ,treatise on the
  ,sublime1 and some portions of        
,aristotle's ,poetic1 such as ,lessing's
  ,laocoon1 ,schiller's ,letters on     

sthetics1 the best ,essays of           
,sainte-,beuve should not be included4#b
 ,nor can it be emphasized too  strongly
 that the theory on which all literary  
teaching should proceed  is that its    
object is not so much to plant as to    
cultivate1 not so much  to convey       
information1 which1 after all1 is but   
its medium1 as to  inspire1 to refine1  
to elevate4 ,i cannot but think1 too1   
that the  foundations of all this might 
be laid much earlier than they are1     
especially in our classical schools1 by 
encouraging1 as1 according to           
,coleridge1 ,dr4 ,boyer used to do1 the 
study of some of our greater  writers1  
such as ,shakespeare and ,milton1 side  
by side with that of ,homer  and        
,sophocles4    ,but it is in criticism1 
in criticism competently1 honestly1 and 
fearlessly applied1 that the chief      
salvation lies4 ,there is probably no   
review or newspaper in ,london which    
does not number among its  contributors 
men of the first order of ability and   

intelligence1 men who  are real scholars
 and real critics1 men who see through  
all that ,i have  been describing and   
are sick of it4 ,let them not remain an 
impotent  minority1 but combine1 and    
become influential4 ,if popular         
,literature  aspires to be ambitious1   
and trespasses on the domains of        
scholarship  and criticism1 let them    
submit it to the tests which it invites1
 let  them try it by the standards which
 it exacts4 ,there is no more reason    
for the co-existence of two standards1  
as is now practically the case1  in the 
production of writings treating of our  
own ,literature than there  is in the   
production of writings dealing with     
,classical ,literature4 ,the  work of   
any one who meddles with the last1 even 
in the way of  popularizing it1 is      
instantly called by scholars to a strict
 account1  and sciolism and charlatanry 
are exploded at once4 ,but in the case  
of  our own ,literature there is no such
 solidarity4 ,it seems to be assumed    

that a scholar is one thing and a man of
 letters another1 that the  difference  
between work which appeals to           
connoisseurs and work which  appeals to 
the public is not simply a difference in
 degree1 but a  difference in kind1 and 
that the criteria of the multitude need 
be the  only criteria of what is        
addressed to the multitude4 ,the        
manuscript of a  ,history of ,greek or  
,roman ,literature1 or a monograph on an
 ancient  classic1 if it were not at    
least solid and trustworthy1 would have 
no  chance of ever getting beyond a     
publisher's reader4 ,but a ,history of  
,english ,literature1 or a monograph on 
an ,english classic1 teeming with       
errors in fact and with absurdities in  
theory and opinion1 will not  improbably
 be regarded as an authority1 and pass1 
unrevised1 into more  than one edition4 
,the progressive degradation of         
,literature and of what is involved in  
its  influence is1 and must be1         
inevitable1 unless criticism is prepared

  watchfully and faithfully to do its   
duty4 ,let it guard jealously the       
standards and touchstones of excellence 
as distinguished from  mediocrity1 even 
though it may be prudent to make great  
allowances in  applying them2 let it    
institute a rigorous censorship over    
books  designed for the use of students 
at the ,universities and in other       
educational establishments2 let it      
permit no writer to pose in a false     
position1 and deliberately trade on the 
ignorance and inexperience of  his      
readers2 let it discourage in every way 
the production of worthless  and        
superfluous books1 whether in poetry or 
in prose2 and lastly1 while  fully      
recognising how much must be conceded to
 professional authors  writing against  
time1 having to court popularity or     
being fettered by  conditions imposed on
 them by their employers1 let it take   
care that  their productions shall at   
least not be mischievous1 either by     
disseminating error or by corrupting    

taste4    ,,footnotes3    ,footnote #a3 
,one illustration of the indifference of
 the authorities of  our ,university    
,presses to the interest of ,literature 
is so scandalous  that it must be       
specified4 ,fourteen years ago a series 
of lectures was  delivered by the then  
,clarke ,lecturer in the ,hall of       
,trinity ,college1  ,cambridge4 ,they   
were afterwards published under the     
title of ,from  ,shakespeare to ,pope1  
and reviewed in the ,quarterly ,review  
for  ,october1 #ahhf4 ,the lectures1 as 
the ,review showed1 absolutely swarmed  
with blunders1 many of them so gross as 
to be almost incredible4 ,ever  since   
then the volume has been circulated by  
the ,press1 absolutely  unrevised1      
indeed without a single correction1 and 
is now in  circulation4    ,footnote #b3
 ,cf4 what ,milton says in prescribing  
the study of  masterpieces in criticism3
 8,this would make them 7students7 soon 
perceive what despicable creatures our  
common rimers and play-writers  be1 and 

show them what religious1 what glorious 
and magnificent use  might be made of   
poetry1 both in ,divine and human       
things4 ,from hence1  and not till now1 
will be the right season of forming them
 to be able  writers and composers in   
every excellent matter1 when they shall 
be thus  fraught with an universal      
insight into things40--,tractate on     
,education4          ,,english          
,,literature ,,at ,,the ,,universities  
,i4 ,,language ,,versus ,,literature    
,,at ,,oxford      ,to say that the     
anarchy which has resulted from         
confusing the  distinction between the  
study and interpretation of ,literature 
as the  expression of art and genius1   
and its study and interpretation as a   
mere  monument of language1 has had a   
most disastrous effect on education     
generally1 would be to state very       
imperfectly the truth of the case4 ,it  
has led to inadequate and even false    
conceptions of what constitutes         
,literature4 ,it has led to all that is 

of essential importance in  literary    
study being ignored1 and all that is of 
secondary or accidental  interest being 
preposterously magnified2 to the        
substitution of  grammatical and verbal 
commentary for the relation of a        
literary  masterpiece to history1 to    
philosophy1 to sthetics2 to the         
mechanical  inculcation of all that can 
be imparted1 as it has been acquired1 by
  cramming1 for the intelligent         
application of principles to expression4
  ,it has led to the severance of our   
,literature from all that constitutes   
its vitality and virtue as an active    
power1 and from all that renders  its   
development and peculiarities           
intelligible as a subject of  historical
 study4 ,in a word1 it has led to a     
total misconception of the  ends at     
which literary instruction should aim1  
as well as of its most  appropriate     
instruments and methods4 ,all this is   
illustrated nowhere  more strikingly    
than in the publications of the two     

great ,university  ,presses4 ,it would  
be easy to point to editions of ,english
 classics1 and  to works on ,english    
,literature1 bearing the imprimatur of  
,oxford and  ,cambridge1 in which all   
that is worst in the opposite extremes  
of  pedantry and dilettantism finds     
ludicrous expression4    ,and in thus   
speaking we are saying nothing more than
 is notorious1  nothing more than is    
admitted1 and admitted unreservedly1 in 
the  ,universities themselves1 or at    
least at ,oxford4 ,but different        
sections  of ,academic society regard   
the matter in different lights4 ,the    
majority  of the classical professors   
and teachers1 deprecating any attempt on
 the  part of the ,university to meddle 
with 8,literature10 treat the whole     
thing as a joke1 and1 so far from       
supposing that the reputation of the    
,university is concerned1 find infinite 
amusement in the constant  exposures    
which are being made in the reviews and 
newspapers of the  absurdities of the   

8,english ,literature party40 ,they     
regard the 8study  of ,literature0      
precisely as they regard the ,university
 ,extension  ,movement--the one as a    
contemptible excrescence on our         
,academic system1  the other as a       
contemptible excrescence on ,academic   
curricula4 ,another  section takes a    
very different view4 ,recognising the   
reasonableness of  the appeals which    
have1 during the last twelve years1 been
 made to  ,oxford to place the study of 
,literature on the same sound footing as
 she  has placed that of other subjects 
included in her courses1 and  discerning
 clearly that what is required cannot be
 obtained as long as  the interests of  
,philology and those of ,literature     
continue to collide1  this party1       
unhappily a small minority1 has pleaded 
for the  establishment of a ,school of  
,literature4 ,they have very properly   
laid  stress on four points3 ,first1    
that1 as the chief justification for the
  establishment of such a ,school is the

 fact that the ,university is           
undertaking by innumerable agencies1 its
 ,press1 its oral teachers both  at home
 and abroad1 to disseminate liberal     
instruction through the  medium of      
,english ,literature1 the principal     
object of the ,school should  be the    
education of these agencies4 ,secondly1 
they have insisted that1  if the        
interpretation of ,literature is to     
effect what it is of power to  effect1  
if1 as an instrument of political       
instruction1 it is to warn1 to          
admonish1 to guide1 if1 as an instrument
 of moral and sthetic  instruction1 it  
is to exercise that influence on taste1 
on tone1 on  sentiment1 on opinion1 on  
character--on all1 in short1 which is   
susceptible of educational              
impression--it must both be properly    
defined  and liberally studied2 and they
 contend that1 if it is to be so defined
  and so studied outside the            
,universities1 it must first be so      
defined and  so studied within4         

,thirdly1 they insist that the study of 
our own  ,literature should be          
associated with that of ancient         
classical  literature1 for two          
indisputable reasons3 first1 because the
 basis of  all liberal literary culture1
 of a high standard1 must necessarily   
rest  on competent classical            
attainments1 and because1 historically  
speaking1  the development and          
characteristics of the greater part of  
what is most  valuable in our           
,literature would be as unintelligible1 
without reference  to the ,greek and    
,roman classics1 as the ,literature of  
,rome would be  without reference to    
that of ,greece4 ,fourthly1 they point  
out that1 as  our ,literature is1 in    
various intimate ways1 associated with  
the  ,literatures of ,italy1 ,france1   
and ,germany1 and that1 as an           
acquaintance  with the classics of those
 countries must form an essential       
element in a  literary education1 the   
comparative study of those ,literatures 

and our  own ought1 by all means1 to be 
encouraged and provided for4 ,and1      
fifthly1 they show that what is demanded
 is perfectly feasible4 ,there  already 
exists in the ,university1 they contend1
 every facility for  organizing such a  
course of ,literature as is required4   
,all that is  needed is co-ordination4  
,in the ,classical ,moderations and in  
the  ,liter ,humaniores ,honour ,schools
 a liberal literary education on the    
classical side is already provided2     
two-thirds in fact of the  discipline1  
culture1 and attainments desiderated in 
a literary teacher  it is the aim of    
those ,schools to impart4 ,the          
,taylorian ,institute  provides         
instruction in the languages and        
literatures of the ,continent2  and1 if 
its professors could be roused into a   
little more activity1 a  youth might1 in
 two years1 if he pleased1--and that    
side by side with  his severer          
studies--acquire something more than a  
superficial  acquaintance with the      

language and writings of ,dante and     
,machiavelli1 of  ,montaigne and        
,molire1 of ,lessing and ,goethe4 ,what 
he could not obtain  would be           
instruction and guidance in the study of
 our own ,literature4 ,in  a word1 all  
that is required to secure what this    
party plead for is  simply the          
establishment of a ,school of ,english  
,literature1 in the  proper acceptation 
of the term1 and the co-ordination of   
studies which  are at present pursued   
independently4 ,it was proposed that it 
should  take the form of a              
,post-graduate ,honour ,school1 standing
 in the same  relation to the other     
schools in the ,university as the old   
,law and  ,history ,school used to stand
 to the old ,liter ,humaniores ,school1 
and  as the examination for the         
,bachelorship in ,civil ,law now stands 
to the  ordinary ,law ,school4 ,thus a  
youth who had graduated in honours in   
,moderations and in the ,final          
,classical ,school1 who had studied     

modern  literatures at the ,taylorian   
and our own ,literature under its       
professor1 or even by himself1 would    
have an opportunity of displaying  his  
qualifications for an honour diploma in 
,literature4 ,but the appeals  and      
arguments of this party have been of no 
avail4    ,next come the philologists4  
,they are in possession of the field4   
,all the  revenues supporting the       
,chairs of ,language and ,literature are
 their  monopoly4 ,they have steadily   
resisted all attempts on the part of    
what  may be denominated the ,liberal   
party to encroach on their dominions4   
,in  their eyes the ,universities are   
simply nurseries for esoteric           
specialists1 and to talk of bringing    
them into touch with national life  is1 
in their estimation1 mere cant4 ,their  
attitude towards ,literature1           
generally1 is precisely that of the     
classical party towards our own         
,literature2 they regard it simply as   
the concern of men of letters1          

journalists1 dilettants1 and ,extension 
lecturers4 ,they defeated sixteen  years
 ago an attempt to establish a ,chair of
 ,english ,literature by  transforming  
it into a ,chair of ,language and       
securing it for themselves4  ,they      
attempted1 subsequently1 to supplement  
what they had done by the  establishment
 of a ,school of ,language on the model 
of the ,medival and  ,modern ,languages 
,tripos at ,cambridge4 ,they were       
defeated by a coalition  of the         
classical party1 the ,liberals1 of whom 
we have just spoken1 and a  third party 
which insisted on a compromise between  
,philology and  ,literature4 ,reviving  
the scheme1 they have1 by accepting the 
modifications of the compromisers1 just 
succeeded in getting it  accepted4 ,the 
new ,school of ,english ,language and   
,literature is the  result of that      
compromise4    ,now it will not be      
disputed that if the ,universities      
ought1 in the  interests of liberal     
culture1 to provide adequately for      

instruction in  ,literature1 they ought 
also1 in the interests of science1 to   
provide  adequately for instruction in  
,philology4 ,it is a branch of learning 
of  immense importance4 ,it is1 and     
ought to be1 the peculiar care of       
,universities1 and nothing could be more
 derogatory to a ,university than       
deficiency in such a study4 ,but it is a
 study in itself4 ,as a science it  has 
no connection with ,literature4 ,indeed 
the instincts and faculties  which      
separate the temperament of the         
mathematician from the temperament  of  
the poet are not more radical and       
essential than the instincts and        
faculties which separate the sympathetic
 student of ,philology from the         
sympathetic student of ,literature4 ,but
 no science resolves itself more  easily
 into a pseudo-science1 and it is in    
this degenerate form that it  has become
 linked with ,literature and been1 in   
all ages1 the butt of  wits and men of  
letters4 ,nothing but anarchy can result

 till this  mutually degrading alliance 
be dissolved4 ,it has been forced on the
  philologists by the compromise to     
which reference has been made4 ,let     
them be free to rescind it4 ,let the    
8pia vota0 of ,professor ,max ,mller  be
 fulfilled and ,oxford have her ,school 
of ,philology4 ,that such a ,school     
should be established is desirable for  
three reasons4 ,in the first  place1 it 
would define what is at present vague   
and indeterminate1 the  scope and       
functions of ,philology4 ,secondly1 it  
would place that study on  its proper   
footing1 and1 by placing it on its      
proper footing1 it would  not only      
demonstrate its relation to other       
studies1 but it would enable  it to     
effect fully what it is competent to    
effect4 ,thirdly1 it might1  and        
probably would1 do something to relieve 
,oxford of the opprobrium of  being     
behind the rest of the learned world in 
this branch of science4  ,the ,school   
would probably not attract many         

students1 for ,philology1  unlike       
,literature1 can never appeal to more   
than a small minority4 ,if1  therefore1 
the choice lay between the institution  
of a ,school of  ,philology and that of 
a ,school of ,literature1 there can be  
no doubt  which should have precedence4 
,but no such choice is offered4 ,if the 
philologists were not strong enough to  
refuse to compromise1 they are  strong  
enough to crush any attempt to forestall
 them4    ,let us now turn to the       
constitution of the ,school which has   
been the  result of this arrangement1   
and which will authorize the ,university
 to  confer1 not1 be it remembered1 an  
ordinary1 but an honour1 degree in      
,english ,language and ,literature4 ,the
 following are the ,regulations4 ,the   
subjects for examination are four4 #a4  
,portions of ,english authors4 #b4  ,the
 ,history of the ,english ,language4 #c4
 ,the ,history of ,english  ,literature4
 #d4 ,in the case of those candidates   
who aim at a place in the  first or     

second class1 a ,special ,subject of    
language or literature4 ,the  portions  
of the authors specified are these4     
,beowulf1 the texts  printed in ,sweet's
 ,anglo-,saxon ,reader1 ,king ,horn1    
,havelok2  ,laurence ,minot1 ,sir       
,gawain and the ,green ,knight4 ,of     
,chaucer's  ,canterbury ,tales1 the     
,prologue1 ,the ,knight's ,tale1 ,the   
,man of  ,law's1 ,the ,prioress's1 ,sir 
,thopas1 ,the ,monk's1 ,the ,nun        
,priest's1 ,the ,pardoner's1 ,the       
,clerk's1 ,the ,squire's1 ,the ,second  
,nun's1 ,the ,canon ,yeoman's4 ,next    
come the ,prologue and the first  seven 
passus 7text ,b7 of ,piers ,ploughman4  
,then come select plays of              
,shakespeare1 chosen apparently at      
haphazard1 ,love's ,labour's ,lost1     
,romeo and ,juliet1 ,richard the        
,second1 ,twelfth ,night1 ,julius       
,csar1 ,winter's ,tale1 ,king ,lear4    
,then we have the following             
extraordinary farrago3--    ,bacon's    
,essays4    ,milton1 with a special     

study of ,paradise ,lost and the        
,areopagitica4    ,dryden's ,essay on   
,epic 7sic74    ,pope's ,satires and    
,epistles4    ,johnson's ,lives of the  
,poets--the ,lives of                   
,eighteenth-,century ,poets4            
,goldsmith's ,citizen of the ,world4    
,burke's ,thoughts on the ,present      
,discontents4    ,lyrical ,ballads      
7,wordsworth and ,coleridge71 ,shelley's
 ,adonais4#c    ,the second part of the 
examination will be on the ,history of  
the ,english  ,language4 8,candidates   
will be examined in ,gothic 7the ,gospel
 of ,st4  ,mark71 and in translation    
from ,old ,english and ,middle ,english 
authors  not specially offered40        
,this is to be followed by the ,history 
of ,english ,literature1 to which       
portion of the ,regulations the         
following odd clause is appended3 8the  
examination will include the ,history of
 ,criticism and of style in prose  and  
verse40 ,last come the special subjects 
designed for 8those who aim  at a place 

in the ,first or ,second ,class40 ,six  
of these consist of  certain prescribed 
periods of ,english ,literature4 ,the   
other subjects are  as follows3--       
7#a7 ,old ,english ,language and        
,literature down to #aaej ,a4,d4    7#b7
 ,middle ,english ,language and         
,literature1 #aaej-adjj ,a4,d4    7#c7  
,old ,french ,philology with special    
reference to ,anglo-,norman ,french1    
together with a special study of the    
following texts3--,computus of          
,phillippe de ,thaun1 ,voyage of ,st4   
,brandan1 ,the ,song of ,dermot and  the
 ,earl1 ,les ,contes moraliss de ,nicole
 ,bozon4    7#d7 ,scandinavian          
,philology1 with special reference to   
,icelandic1  together with a special    
study of the following                  
texts3--,gylfaginning1  ,laxdla ,saga1  
,gunnlaugssaga ,ormstungu4    7#e7      
,french ,literature down to #adjj ,a4,d4
 in its bearing on ,english             
,literature4    7#f7 ,italian           
,literature as influencing ,english down

 to the death of  ,milton4    7#g7      
,german ,literature from #aejj ,a4,d4 to
 the death of ,goethe in its  bearing on
 ,english ,literature4    7#h7 ,history 
of ,scottish ,poetry4    ,such is the   
scheme which will1 in conjunction with  
the similar scheme at  ,cambridge1      
supply ,england and the colonies with   
their literary  professors4 ,let us     
examine it in detail4 ,the first thing  
which strikes  us is the contrast       
between the competence and judgment     
displayed in the  organization of the   
philological part of the course and the 
confusion1  inadequacy1 and flimsiness  
so conspicuous in the literary part4    
,nothing  could be more satisfactory    
than the provisions made for the study  
of  ,language4 ,they are obviously the  
work of legislators who knew what they  
were about1 and who1 but for the        
thwarting requirements of the           
provisions for ,literature1 would have  
proceeded to a superstructure  worthy of
 the foundation4 ,a student who1 in     

addition to having mastered  the        
prescribed works in ,gothic1            
,anglo-,saxon1 and ,middle ,english1 is 
competent to translate and comment on   
unprepared passages from those          
dialects1 has certainly laid the        
foundation of sound scholarship in an   
important department of ,philology4 ,in 
the fact that what properly  belongs to 
his study has been relegated to the     
subjects out of which he  has only the  
option of choosing one1 we have a       
lamentable illustration  of the effects 
of the compromise forced on the         
philologists4 ,if1 for the  literary    
portion of the curriculum1 a candidate  
could substitute the  first four of the 
special subjects1 he would have         
completed a thoroughly  satisfactory    
course of ,philology1 so far at least as
 relates to the  ,teutonic and ,romance 
languages4    ,but to pass from what    
concerns ,philology to what concerns    
,literature4  ,now in considering this  
point it is necessary to remember that  

we are  not dealing with the regulations
 of any subordinate institution or      
curriculum1 with provincial             
,universities and seminaries1 or with   
schemes  of study in which ,literature  
is only one out of many subjects4 ,we   
are  dealing with a ,final ,honour      
,school at ,oxford1 with regulations    
which  will inevitably form a precedent 
and model wherever the study of ,english
  literature shall be organized in      
,great ,britain4 ,we are dealing with a 
school which is to educate those who are
 to educate the country4  ,nothing1     
therefore1 could be more disastrous than
 unsoundness and  deficiency in the     
provisions of such an institution1      
nothing more  deplorable than its giving
 countenance and authority to error and 
inadequacy4 ,it is not too much to say  
that1 if this scheme had been  designed 
with the express object of degrading the
 standard of literary  teaching1 and of 
perpetuating all that is worst in       
present systems1 it  could hardly have  

been better adapted for its purpose4    
,not to dwell upon  subordinate defects1
 it completely severs the study of our  
own  literature from that of the ancient
 classical literatures4 ,it             
necessitates no knowledge of any of the 
,continental literatures4 ,it  ignores  
absolutely the higher criticism4        
,contracting ,literature within  the    
narrowest bounds1 its selection of books
 for special study is worthy  of an     
,army ,examination4 ,in the wretched    
jumble in which ,goldsmith's  ,citizen  
of the ,world jostles ,shelley's        
,adonais and ,burke's ,thoughts  on the 
,present ,discontents ,wordsworth's and 
,coleridge's ,lyrical  ,ballads1 no     
attempt is made to discriminate between 
compositions which  are representative1 
either critically of the work of        
particular authors1  or historically of 
particular epochs1 and works which have 
no such  significance1 while many of the
 most important departments of our prose
  ,literature are unrepresented4 ,nor is

 this all4 ,it affords every facility   
for cramming4 ,it is adapted to test    
nothing but what may be  mechanically   
acquired and mechanically imparted1 what
 may be poured out  from lectures into  
notebooks1 and from notebooks into      
examination  papers4 ,proceeding on the 
assumption that a literary education is 
merely  the acquisition of positive     
knowledge1 it neither requires nor      
encourages1 as the prescription of an   
essay or thesis1 or even  8taste-paper10
 might have done1 any of the finer      
qualities of literary  culture1 such1   
for example1 as a sense of style1 sound 
judgment1 good  taste1 the touch of the 
scholar4 ,we can assure these           
legislators1 and we  speak from         
knowledge1 that1 setting aside the      
philological portion of  this           
curriculum1 which is1 so far as it goes1
 solid enough1 an  experienced crammer1 
would1 in about three months furnish an 
astute  youth with all that is requisite
 for graduating in this school4    ,but 

to proceed to details4 ,conceive the    
qualifications of an interpreter  and   
critic of ,english ,literature1 a       
graduate in ,honours in his subject1    
whose education has proceeded on the    
hypothesis that he need have no         
acquaintance with the classics of       
,greece and ,rome4 ,would any competent 
scholar deny that the history of        
,english ,literature1 in its mature     
expression1 is little less than the     
history of the modifications of  native 
genius and characteristics by classical 
influence1 that the  development and    
peculiarities of our epic1 dramatic1    
elegiac1 didactic1  pastoral1 much of   
our lyric1 of our satire and of other   
species of our  poetry is1 historically 
speaking1 unintelligible without        
reference to  ancient classical         
literature8 ,that what is true of our   
poetry is true of  our criticism1 of our
 oratory1 sacred and secular1 of our    
dialectic and  epistolary ,literature1  
of our historical composition1 of the   

greater  part1 in short1 of our national
 masterpieces in prose8 ,what1 indeed1  
the  ,literature of ,greece was to that 
of ,rome1 the ,literatures of ,greece   
and  ,rome have been to ours4#d    ,it  
was the influence of schylus1           
,sophocles1 ,euripides1 ,menander1      
,diphilus1 which transformed the ,ludi  
,scenici and the ,atellan farces  into  
the tragedies of ,ennius and ,pacuvius  
and the comedies of ,plautus  and       
,terence4 ,it was the influence of the  
,roman drama and of a drama  modelled on
 the ,roman which transformed1 so far at
 least as structure  and style are      
concerned1 our similarly rude native    
experiments into the  tragedies and     
comedies of ,shakespeare4 ,on the epics 
of ,greece were  modelled the epics of  
,rome1 and on the epics of ,greece and  
,rome are  modelled our own great epics4
 ,of our elegiac poetry1 to employ the  
term  in its conventional sense1 one    
portion is largely indebted to          
,theocritus1 ,moschus1 and ,virgil1 and 

another to ,catullus and ,ovid4  ,almost
 all our didactic poetry is modelled on 
the didactic poetry of  ,rome4          
,theocritus and ,virgil have furnished  
the archetypes for our  eclogues and    
pastorals4 ,one important branch of our 
lyric poetry springs  directly from     
,pindar1 another important branch       
directly from ,horace1  another directly
 from the choral odes of the ,attic     
dramatists and of  ,seneca4 ,our heroic 
satire1 from ,hall to ,lord ,lytton1 is 
simply the  counterpart--often1 indeed1 
a mere imitation--of ,roman satire4 ,and
 if  this is true of our satire1 it is  
equally true of our best ethical        
poetry4 ,the ,epistles1 which fill so   
large a space in the poetical           
literature of the seventeenth and       
eighteenth century1 derive their  origin
 from those of ,horace4 ,to the         
,heroides of ,ovid we owe a whole       
series of important poems from ,drayton 
to ,cawthorn4 ,the ,greek anthology  and
 ,martial have furnished the archetypes 

of our epigrams and of our  epitaphs4   
,it is the same with our prose4 ,the    
history of ,english  eloquence begins   
from the moment when the ,roman classics
 moulded and  coloured our style1 when  
periodic prose was modelled on ,cicero  
and ,livy1  when analytic prose was     
modelled on ,sallust1 ,seneca1 and      
,tacitus4 ,with  the exception of       
fiction1 there is no important branch of
 our prose  composition1 the development
 and characteristics of which are       
historically intelligible without       
reference to the ancients4 ,how         
radically inadequate must any study of  
the principles of criticism be1  which  
has no reference to the critical works  
of the ,greek and ,roman  writers1 is   
obvious4 ,but it is not merely in       
tracing the development and  explaining 
the peculiarities generally of our prose
 and of our poetry  that competent      
classical scholarship is indispensable4 
,is it not  notorious that in each      
generation1 from ,spenser to ,tennyson1 

from ,more  to ,froude1 our leading     
poets and prose writers have been1 with 
very few  exceptions1 men nourished on  
classical literature and saturated with 
its  influence8 ,many entire            
masterpieces1 much1 and in some cases   
the greater  portion1 of other          
masterpieces1 particularly in our       
poetry1 are simply  unintelligible--we  
are speaking1 of course1 of serious     
critical  students--except to classical 
scholars4 ,take1 for example1 the       
,faerie  ,queen1 and the ,hymns of      
,spenser1 ,milton's ,paradise ,lost1    
,comus1  ,lycidas1 and ,samson          
,agonistes1 ,pope's satires1 the two    
great odes  of ,gray1 ,collins's odes to
 ,fear and the ,passions1 ,wordsworth's 
great  ,ode and his ,laodamia1          
,shelley's ,adonais and ,prometheus     
,unbound1  ,landor's ,hellenics1 much of
 the poetry of ,tennyson1 ,browning1 and
  ,matthew ,arnold4 ,indeed it would be 
as preposterous to attempt any  critical
 study of our ,literature1 without      

reference to the ancients1 as  it would 
be for a man to set up as an interpreter
 in ,roman ,literature  without         
reference to the ,greek4    ,and the    
effect of this severance of the study of
 the ancient classics  from the study of
 our own is written large throughout the
 whole domain  of education1 in the     
instruction given in schools and        
institutes1 in the  monographs1 manuals1
 and 8editions0 which pour from         
scholastic presses4  ,in one of the most
 popular manuals now in circulation1 the
 writer  gravely tells us that 8the     
pastoral name of ,lycidas was chosen by 
,milton to signify purity of character10
 adding 8in ,theocritus a goat was  so  
called  for its whiteness10 that ,comus 
8the drinker  of human blood0 revelled  
in the palace of ,agamemnon4#e ,another 
writer  confounds the 8choruses0 in     
,shakespeare with the choruses of the   
,greek  plays4 ,another1 commenting on  
the symbolism of ivy in the wreath of a 
poet1 tells us that it indicates        

8constancy40#f ,nothing is more common  
than to find elaborate critical comments
 on the ,faerie ,queen without  the     
smallest reference to its connection    
with ,aristotle's ,ethics1 and  on      
,wordsworth's great ,ode without any    
reference to ,plato4 ,but such is  the  
confidence reposed in ,professor ,earle 
and his theory1 and so  determined are  
the legislators for the new ,school to  
exclude all  connection with classical  
literature1 that it is not admitted even
 as a  special subject4 ,a candidate    
has1 as we have seen1 the option of     
studying the influence exercised on old 
,english literature by ,french1  and on 
later literature by ,italian and        
,german2 but the one thing which  he has
 not the option of studying is the      
influence exercised on it by  the       
literatures of ,greece and ,rome4 ,some 
of our readers may remember  that a few 
years ago a public appeal was made for  
an expression of  opinion on the        
question of associating the study of our

 own classics and  that of the ancients4
 ,opinions were elicited from many of   
the most  distinguished men in ,england4
 ,they were all but unanimous1 not      
merely in  supporting the association1  
but in deprecating the severance4 ,so   
wrote  ,mr4 ,gladstone1 ,cardinal       
,manning1 ,professor ,jowett1 ,matthew  
,arnold1 ,lord  ,lytton1 ,mr4 ,john     
,morley1 ,walter ,pater1 ,addington     
,symonds2 so wrote the  ,archbishop of  
,canterbury and the ,bishop of ,london1 
the ,rector of  ,lincoln1 the ,president
 of ,magdalen1 the ,warden of ,all      
,souls1 and many  others4 ,we may add1  
also--for we are now at liberty to state
 it  publicly--that this was            
emphatically the opinion of ,robert     
,browning4 ,we  cannot1 of course1 quote
 these opinions in extenso1#g and that  
of the  late ,professor ,jowett and a   
portion of that of ,mr4 ,john ,morley   
must  suffice4         ,i am as strongly
 of opinion that in an ,honour ,school  
of ,english       ,literature or ,modern

 ,literature the subject should not be  
separated from classical literature1 as 
,i am of opinion that       ,english    
literature should have a place in our   
curriculum4    ,so writes ,professor    
,jowett4         ,it seems to me to be  
as impossible effectively to study      
,english       literature1 except in    
close association with the classics1 as 
it would be to grasp the significance of
 medival or modern       institutions   
without reference to the political      
creations of       ,greece and ,rome4 ,i
 should be very sorry to see the study  
of       ,greek and ,latin writers      
displaced1 or cut off from the study of 
our own4    ,so writes ,mr4 ,john       
,morley4    ,but the ,professor of      
,anglo-,saxon and his friends1 as we    
have seen1 think  otherwise1 and have1  
unhappily for the interests of letters  
and  education1 persuaded ,oxford to    
think otherwise too4 ,we say advisedly  
the  interests of letters and education4
 ,for the precedent of excluding from  a

 ,school of 8,literature10 and that at  
the chief centre and nursery of  liberal
 culture1 the ,literatures of ,greece   
and ,rome cannot but be  detrimental to 
the vitality and influence of the       
ancient classics2 and1  as ,froude truly
 observed1 both the national taste and  
the tone of the  national intellect     
would suffer serious decline1 if they   
lost their  authority4 ,the reaction    
against philological study which has set
 in  during the last ten years has given
 them a new lease of life4 ,but the     
spirit of the age is against them2 they 
have rivals in languages far  easier to 
acquire2 they are not1 and never can be1
 in touch with the  many4 ,let them     
become disassociated from our           
curriculums of ,literature1  and they   
will cease to be influential1 ,they will
 cease to be studied  seriously1 to be  
studied even in the original1 except by 
mere scholars4    ,another absurdity1   
not less monstrous1 in these            
regulations1 is the  absence of all     

provision for instruction in the        
principles of criticism4  ,there is     
indeed an unmeaning clause about the    
history of criticism1 and  of style in  
verse and prose1 being included in the  
examination2 but as  nothing is         
specified1 and as no work on criticism1 
with the exception of  ,dryden's        
,discourse on ,epic ,poetry1 and        
,johnson's ,lives 7of                   
eighteenth-century poets71#h is included
 in the books prescribed for  special   
study1 it is plain that this important  
subject has no place4 ,why  it should   
not have occurred to these legislators  
to substitute1 say1 for  ,goldsmith's   
,citizen of the ,world and ,burke's     
,thoughts on the ,present  ,discontents1
 some work which would at least have    
opened the eyes of the  literary        
professors of the future to the         
existence of philosophical  criticism1  
is certainly odd4 ,had they prescribed  
select essays from  ,hume2 and          
,shaftesbury's ,advice to an ,author1 or

 ,campbell's ,philosophy  of ,rhetoric1 
or ,burke's ,treatise on the ,sublime   
and ,beautiful1 or  even the critical   
portions of ,coleridge's ,biographia    
,literaria1 with  the two essays of     
,wordsworth1 it would have been         
something4 ,but the  truth is that1 as  
they have excluded1 except from the     
optional subjects1  all literatures but 
the ,english1 one absurdity has involved
 them in  another4 ,the course for the  
literary education of our future        
professors1  proceeding on the principle
 that they need know no language but    
,gothic  and ,anglo-,saxon1 has         
necessitated the elimination of all the 
great  masterpieces of critical         
literature4 ,as they are assumed to know
 no  ,greek1 they can have no serious   
instruction in such works as            
,aristotle's  ,poetic and ,rhetoric1 and
 in the ,treatise on the ,sublime4 ,as  
they  are assumed to know no ,latin1    
they can have no instruction in ,roman  
criticism4 ,on the same principle such  

works as ,lessing's ,laocoon and        
,hamburgische ,dramaturgie1 ,schiller's 
sthetical ,letters and ,essays1         
,villemain's ,lectures1 and             
,sainte-,beuve's ,essays1 can find no   
place in  their curriculum of study4    
,and so it comes to pass that ,dryden's 
,discourse on ,epic ,poetry and         
,johnson's ,lives of the                
eighteenth-century poets1               
represent--proh pudor6--the course in   
,criticism4    ,now it is not too much  
to say that1 for a ,university like     
,oxford to  confer an honour degree in  
,english ,literature on a student who   
need  never have read a line of the     
works to which we have referred1 is to  
authorize not simply superficiality1 but
 sheer imposture4 ,how can a  teacher   
deal adequately even with the subject   
which these regulations  profess to     
include--the history of criticism--who  
need have no  acquaintance with the     
,poetic and ,rhetoric1 the ,treatise on 
the  ,sublime1 and the ,institutes of   

,oratory8 ,how could a teacher possibly 
be a competent exponent and critic of   
the masterpieces of our  literature1 who
 had not received a proper critical     
training1 and how  could he have any    
pretension to such a training when all  
that is best  in criticism had been     
expressly excluded from his education8  
,it may be urged that he would himself  
supply these deficiencies1 that  the    
study of our own ,literature would      
naturally lead him to the study of      
other ,literatures1 that intelligent    
curiosity1 ambition1 or a sense of      
shame would induce him to supplement    
voluntarily1 and by his own  efforts1   
what he needed in his profession4 ,in   
some instances this would  undoubtedly  
be the case4 ,in the great majority of  
instances such a  supposition would be  
against all analogy4 ,as a general rule1
 a high  honour degree in any subject   
represented at the ,universities is     
final4  ,it winds a man up for life4 ,it
 determines1 fixes1 and colours his     

methods1 his views1 his tone1 in all    
that relates to the subject in  which he
 has graduated4 ,if he chooses teaching 
as a profession1 he has  no inducement  
to correct1 to modify1 or even          
materially add to what has  been        
imparted to him1 for his scholastic     
reputation has been made1 and a         
comfortable independence is assured4 ,to
 very many men1 indeed1 who go up  to   
the ,universities with the intention of 
following teaching as a  profession1 a  
high degree is a mere investment1 the   
one instinct in them  which is not quite
 banausic being the conscientious       
thoroughness with  which they impart    
what they have been taught4 ,nothing1   
therefore1 is of  more importance to    
education than the sound constitution of
 the ,honour  ,schools of ,oxford and   
,cambridge1 and nothing could be more   
disastrous  than the toleration in those
 ,schools of inadequate standards1 and  
of  palpably erroneous theories of      
study4    ,but to return to the         

,regulations4 ,the ridiculous           
disproportion between  the ground       
covered and the work involved in the    
different 8special  subjects0 open to   
the option of candidates1 would seem to 
indicate1  either that the regulators   
are very inadequately informed on those 
subjects1 or that divided counsels have 
resulted in the settlement of  very     
different standards of requirement4     
,compare1 for instance1 what is         
involved respectively in such subjects  
as 8,english ,literature between  #agjj 
and #agde10 and 8,the ,history of       
,scottish ,poetry40 ,why1 a competent   
knowledge of the history of ,scotch     
poetry in the fifteenth century alone   
would be more than an equivalent to the 
first subject4 ,not less absurd  is the 
prescription of 8,english ,literature   
between #agde and #agig0 as an          
alternative for 8,english ,literature   
between #aeeh and #afcg40 ,the          
prescription of such 8special subjects0 
as the influence exercised on  our      

,literature by the ,literatures of      
,italy1 ,germany1 and ,france1 is one   
of the few steps in a wise direction    
discernible in these regulations2  but1 
as no student is free to take more than 
one of them1 or required to  take any of
 them at all1 their inclusion in no way 
affects the  constitution of the        
,school4 ,a competent literary education
 is not very  much furthered by a       
student being invited to study how our  
,literature  has been affected by one   
out of the five ,literatures which have 
influenced it4 ,as1 moreover1 the       
integrity of a chain depends on its     
weakest link1 so the efficiency of      
examinational tests1 in their           
application to purely optional subjects1
 depends on that subject in the  list   
which involves least labour4 ,a         
candidate who can 8get a first0 out  of 
8,english ,literature between #agjj and 
#agde10 or between #agde and #agig1     
will be much too wise to attempt to 8get
 a first0 out of subjects which  will   

require treble the time and labour to   
master4 ,is it likely that  candidates1 
anxious1 naturally1 from less lofty     
motives than the love of  ,literature   
for its own sake1 to obtain an honour   
degree1 will1 after  laboriously        
acquiring ,anglo-,saxon and ,middle     
,english1 which are  compulsory1        
voluntarily specialize in a subject     
requiring a knowledge of  ,italian and  
,german1 when it is open to them to     
choose1 as their special  subject1 8,old
 ,english ,language and ,literature down
 to #aaej08    ,the statute authorizing 
the foundation of this ,school recites  
that in  its curriculum and examinations
 8equal weight0 is1 8as far as possible1
  to be given to ,language and          
,literature1 provided always that       
candidates  who offer special subjects  
shall be at liberty to choose subjects  
connected either with ,language or      
,literature1 or with both40 ,it would   
be interesting to know what this means4 
,if by 8equal weight0 be meant  equality

 in the proportions of what is          
prescribed for the study of             
,literature1 and what is prescribed for 
the study of ,language1 the  provision  
is stultified by the very constitution  
of the course4 ,to  suppose that the    
history of ,english ,literature1 and the
 special study of  a few particular     
works like ,shelley's ,adonais1 ,burke's
 ,present  ,discontents1 and the        
,lyrical ,ballads1 is equivalent to the 
,history of  the ,english language1 the 
,gospel of ,st4 ,mark in ,gothic1 the   
,beowulf1  and a volume of extracts in  
,anglo-,saxon1 ,king ,horn1 ,havelok1   
,sir  ,gawain1 and the prologue and     
seven passus of ,piers ,ploughman in    
,middle ,english1 is palpably absurd4   
,if by 8equal weight0 be meant that  an 
examiner is to assign equal marks to    
candidates who distinguish  themselves  
in ,literature1 and to candidates who   
distinguish themselves  in ,language1 it
 involves gross injustice4 ,for while   
the latter have  every opportunity for  

displaying knowledge and competence1 the
 former  have not4 ,if a student has    
literary tastes and sympathies1 if he is
  conversant with the ,classics1 if1    
attracted by what is best not merely  in
 our own but in other modern            
,literatures1 he has indulged himself in
  their study1 if he has made himself a 
good critic and acquired a good  style1 
what chance has he of doing his         
attainments and accomplishments         
justice8 ,but if it be meant that 8equal
 weight0 will be given1 not to  literary
 merit regarded as ,sainte-,beuve and   
,matthew ,arnold would regard  it1 but  
regarded in relation to the standard    
indicated by the  regulations of the    
,school1 then the philologists would    
have just reason  to complain4    ,as   
the constitution of this ,school is     
still open to amendment1 it is  devoutly
 to be hoped that ,oxford will see its  
way to reconsidering a  matter so       
seriously affecting the interests of    
education and culture4 ,it  is neither  

too late to remedy what has been done1  
nor to devise a  remedy4 ,let it be     
remembered that there is an essential   
distinction  between what should        
constitute an ,honour ,school and what  
should  constitute a ,pass ,school1     
between what is to educate those who are
 to  educate others1 and what guarantees
 nothing more than a smattering4 ,the   
present institution could be reformed in
 two ways4 ,by reducing the             
philological part of its provisions to  
the level of the literary part1  it     
could1 with a little further            
simplification1 be made into an         
excellent ,pass ,school1 which would    
supply a real want4 ,by eliminating  the
 literary part1 and adding              
proportionately to the philological1 it 
could be transformed into a perfectly   
satisfactory ,honour ,school of  ,modern
 ,languages4 ,but no modification could 
make it into an ,honour  ,school of     
,english ,literature correspondingly    
adequate1 for the simple  reason that   

the study of ,english ,literature cannot
 be isolated from the  study of those   
literatures with which it is inseparably
 linked4 ,the  absurdity of assuming    
that the student of ,philology could    
separate a  single language or dialect  
from the group to which it belongs1 that
 he  could isolate ,anglo-,saxon from   
,gothic1 or ,middle ,english from       
,anglo-,saxon1 the ,celtic of the       
,cymbry from the ,celtic of the ,gaels1 
is  not greater than to assume that the 
study of our ,literature can be  severed
 from the study of those literatures    
which stand in precisely the  same      
relation to it as one of those dialects 
stands to the others in the  same group4
    ,if the legislators of this ,school 
decline to reform it1 then it is the    
duty of ,oxford--a duty which she owes  
alike to education and to her own       
honour--to counteract the mischief which
 this institution must1 by  degrading   
throughout ,england and the colonies the
 whole level of liberal  instruction and

 study on its most important side1      
inevitably do4 ,to the  herd of         
imperfectly and erroneously disciplined 
teachers which this  institution will   
turn loose on education1 let her oppose1
 at least1 a  minority which shall      
worthily represent her4 ,let her        
establish a proper  degree or diploma in
 ,literature4 ,there exist1 as we have  
already said1  scattered throughout the 
various institutions of the ,university1
 nearly  all the facilities for a       
complete course in this subject1 and    
nothing  more is needed than to         
encourage and render possible their     
co-ordination4 ,let it be open to a man 
who has obtained a high class in        
,moderations and in the ,final          
,classical ,schools1 who has availed    
himself  of the opportunities offered   
for the study of ,modern ,languages and 
,literatures in the ,taylorian          
,institute1 and who has studied what he 
would at present have to study for      
himself1 our own ,literature--let it  be

 open to him to present himself for     
examination in these subjects1 and  to  
obtain1 as the result of such an        
examination1 a degree analogous to  the 
,bachelorship of ,civil ,law4 ,it would 
no doubt not be possible for  these     
studies to be pursued1 systematically1  
side by side with the work  required for
 a high class in ,moderations and ,liter
 ,humaniores4 ,nor is  it necessary4    
,there need be no limit assigned to the 
time at which a  candidate would be free
 to qualify himself for obtaining this  
diploma4  ,as a general rule it would   
probably be about six months1 possibly a
  year1 after the attainment of the     
present degree in ,arts4 ,and1          
considering the high prizes open to     
teachers in ,literature1 it would be    
well worth a student's while to spend   
this additional time in preparing       
himself for the examination4 ,if a      
post-graduate scholarship1 analogous  to
 the ,craven or the ,derby scholarships1
 could be founded for the  encouragement

 of a comparative study of ,classical   
and ,modern ,literature1  an important  
step would1 at any rate1 be taken in a  
right direction2  something would be    
done for the competent equipment of     
future ,professors  of ,literature4     
,thus would a precedent1 disastrous     
beyond expression to the interests of   
liberal instruction and culture1 as well
 as to the reputation of the            
,university--we mean the severance of   
the study of ,classical ,literature     
from that of our own--be at least       
deprived of its authority4 ,thus would  
the mass at any rate be leavened1 and   
such institutions in the provinces  and 
elsewhere as have1 unlike ,oxford and   
,cambridge1 had the wisdom to  separate 
their ,chairs of ,language and          
,literature1 know where to go for  those
 who should fill them2 and thus1        
finally1 would there be some  chance of 
the literary curriculum in ,oxford      
ceasing to be a by-word in  the         
,universities of the ,continent and     

,america4         ,since the first      
edition of these essays appeared the    
liberality       of ,mr4 ,john ,passmore
 ,edwards has supplied the scholarship  
here       desiderated1 and ,oxford has 
instituted a ,university                
scholarship1 bearing the donor's name1  
8for the encouragement       and        
promotion of the study of ,english      
,literature in connection       with the
 ,classical ,literatures of ,greece and 
,rome40    ,,footnotes3    ,footnote #c3
 ,for the sort of textbook from which   
the student who is a  candidate for     
8honours in ,english0 will be required  
to get his knowledge  of this poem1 see 
infra1 the review of the ,clarendon     
,press ,edition of  ,shelley's ,adonais4
    ,footnote #d3 ,the ,professor of    
,anglo-,saxon at ,oxford1 one of the    
chief  legislators for the new ,school1 
thinks otherwise1 and we should like to 
place the following passage on record4  
,in his extraordinary ,history of       
,english ,prose 7p4 #dhe7 he writes     

thus3 8,the idea that ,english          
literature rests upon a classical basis 
has been formulated and  industriously  
circulated as the watchword of a        
pedantic faction1 and  hardly any organ 
of current literature has proved itself 
strong enough1  or vigilant enough1 to  
secure itself against the insidious     
entrance of  the above indoctrination40 
,and so it comes to pass that we read in
 the  account of the debate in          
,congregation1 on the occasion of the   
former  attempt to establish this       
,school3--    8,the proposal to add the 
,professors of ,greek and ,latin to the 
,board of  ,studies was rejected by     
thirty-eight votes to twenty-four1      
,professor  ,earle maintaining that the 
fallacious notion that ,english         
literature was  derived from the        
classics was so strong that it was      
unwise to place even  the ,professor of 
,latin on the ,board40--,times1 ,may    
#bf1 #ahhg4    ,footnote #e3         '1 
1     1           4      --,agamem41    

#aaei-fa4      ,footnote #f3 ,for ample 
illustration of this1 see infra the     
review of  the ,clarendon ,press edition
 of ,shelley's ,adonais4    ,footnote   
#g3 ,they may all be found in full in a 
,pall ,mall 8,extra0  7,january1 #ahhg71
 and in the present writer's ,study of  
,english  ,literature4    ,footnote #h3 
,it is amusing to notice how carefully  
the greater part of  what is most       
precious and instructive in ,johnson's  
work1 the lives  namely of ,cowley and  
,dryden1 and the noble critique of      
,paradise ,lost1  is expressly excluded1
 and the greater part of what is most   
trivial1 and  regarded by himself as    
trivial1 the lives of the minor poets of
 the  eighteenth century1 selected      
instead4 ,macaulay ranks the lives of   
,cowley  and ,dryden1 with that of      
,pope1 as the masterpieces of the work2 
and  ,johnson himself considered the    
life of ,cowley to be the best4         
,,english ,,literature ,,at ,,the       
,,universities#i    ,,ii4 ,,text ,,books

    ,footnote #i3 ,shelley's ,adonais1  
edited with introduction and notes by   
,william ,michael ,rossetti4 7,oxford3  
at the ,clarendon ,press47      ,if any 
proof were needed of what has been      
insisted on over and over  again1 that1 
until the ,universities provide         
adequately for the proper  study of     
,english ,literature--for the study of  
it side by side with  ,classical        
,literature--there will be small hope of
 its finding competent  critics and     
interpreters1 it would be afforded by   
the volume before us4  ,for this volume 
the delegates of the ,oxford ,university
 ,press are  responsible2 and in        
allowing it their imprimatur they have  
been guilty  of a very grave error4 ,no 
such standard of editing would have been
  tolerated in any other subject in     
which they undertake to provide books4  
,a work pertaining to ,classics1 to     
,history1 to ,philosophy1 to ,science1  
marked by corresponding deficiencies1   
would have been suppressed at  once1    

until those deficiencies had been       
supplied4 ,to ,mr4 ,rossetti  himself we
 attach no blame4 ,what he was competent
 to do he has1 for the  most part1 done 
well and                                
conscientiously1--conscientiously1 as   
may be  judged from the fact that1 while
 the poem itself occupies twenty pages  
in large type1 ,mr4 ,rossetti's         
dissertations and notes occupy one      
hundred  and twenty-eight in small type4
 ,it was1 indeed1 his misfortune1 rather
  than his fault1 to be entrusted with a
 work which required a peculiar         
qualification1 an intimate acquaintance1
 that is to say1 with ,classical        
,literature4 ,that he has no pretension 
to this is abundantly plain from  his   
,introduction and from every page of his
 notes4    ,when one of the             
,universities undertakes to provide our 
colleges and  schools with comments and 
notes on a poem so saturated with       
classicism  as ,adonais1 the least that 
could be expected from bodies who are1  

as  it were1 the guardians of classical 
literature1 is the provision that  the  
classical part of the work should be    
done at least competently2 it  would be 
hardly too much1 perhaps1 to expect that
 it should be done  excellently4 ,of    
this part of ,mr4 ,rossetti's work we   
scarcely know which  are the worse--his 
sins of commission or his sins of       
omission4 ,his  classical qualifications
 for commenting on a poem as            
unintelligible1  critically speaking1   
without constant reference to the       
,platonic  dialogues1 particularly to   
the ,symposium and the ,timus1 and to   
the  ,greek poets1 as the neid would be 
without reference to the ,homeric  poems
 and the ,argonautica of ,apollonius1   
appear to begin and end with  some      
acquaintance with ,mr4 ,lang's version  
of ,bion and ,moschus4 ,we will  give a 
few specimens4 ,mr4 ,rossetti is greatly
 puzzled with ,shelley's  allusion to   
,urania in stanzas #b to #d4            
8,where was lone ,urania    ,when       

,adonais died80      8,most musical of  
mourners1 weep again4    ,lament1 anew1 
,urania60    8,why out of the nine      
sisters10 he asks1 8should the ,muse of 
,astronomy be  selected8 ,keats never   
wrote about astronomy40 ,perhaps1 he    
suggests1  ,shelley was not thinking of 
the ,muse ,urania1 8but of ,aphrodite   
,urania40  ,yet1 if so1 why should she  
be called 8musical08--a question to be  
asked1  no doubt1 as our old friend     
,falstaff would say4 ,however1 after    
balancing  the respective claims of     
both1 he finally comes to the conclusion
 that  the ,urania of ,adonais is       
,aphrodite4 ,if ,mr4 ,rossetti had been 
acquainted with a work to which he never
 even refers1 but which  exercised      
immense influence over ,shelley's       
poem--the ,symposium of  ,plato--it     
would have saved him two pages of       
speculation4 ,his ignorance  of this is 
the more surprising as ,shelley has     
himself translated the  dialogue4 ,but  
,mr4 ,rossetti need not1 in this case1  

have gone so far  afield4 ,has he never 
read the prologue to the seventh book of
 ,milton's  ,paradise ,lost8 ,in his    
note on the lines--      8,the one      
remains1 the many change and pass10     
it is really pitiable to find him       
supposing that this is an allusion to   
8the universal mind10 and 8the          
individuated minds which we call human  
beings10 when any schoolboy could have  
told him that the allusion is1 of       
course1 a technical one to the ,platonic
 8forms0 or archetypes2 while  8the     
power0 in stanza #db1 the 8sustaining   
love0 in stanza #ed1 and the  8one      
spirit0 in stanza #dc1 are allusions    
respectively to the ,aphrodite  ,urania 
in the discourse of ,eryximachus in the 
,symposium1 and to the  ,divine         
,artificer in the ,timus4 ,and these    
dialogues form the proper  commentary on
 ,shelley's metaphysics in this poem4   
,still more extraordinary is ,mr4       
,rossetti's note on 8wisdom the mirrored
  shield0--              8,what was then

    ,wisdom1 the mirrored shield80      
7st4 #bg71 which is as follows3         
8,shelley was1 ,i apprehend1 thinking of
  the ,orlando ,furioso of ,ariosto 7674
 ,in that poem we read of a magic       
shield which casts a supernatural and   
intolerable splendour 444 a sea         
monster1 not a dragon1 so far as ,i     
recollect1 becomes one of the victims   
of the mirrored shield40 ,this slovenly 
and perfunctory mode of reference  is1  
we may remark in passing1 hardly the    
sort of thing to be expected  in works  
issued from ,university ,presses4 ,we   
wonder what the ,universities  would say
 to an editor of ,virgil who1 in        
commenting on some ,homeric  allusion in
 his author1 contented himself with     
observing that ,virgil 8is  here        
thinking of the ,iliad10 and1 8so far as
 ,i can recollect10 etc4  ,the reference
 is1 we need hardly remark1 not to any  
magic shield in the  ,orlando1 but to   
the scutum crystallinum of ,pallas      
,athene1 as any  well-informed          

fourth-form schoolboy would know4 ,if   
,mr4 ,rossetti will  turn to ,bacon's   
,wisdom of the ,ancients1 chap4 vii41 he
 will find some  information on this    
subject1 which may be of use to him1    
should this  work run into a second     
edition4 ,take1 again1 the note on the  
symbolism  of the flowers and cypress   
cone in stanza #cc3--      8,his head   
was bound with pansies overblown1       
,and faded violets1 white and pied and  
blue2    ,and a light spear topped with 
a cypress cone1      ,round whose rude  
shaft dark ivy tresses grew40    ,here  
the editor's ignorance of ancient       
,classical ,literature has led him  into
 a whole labyrinth of blunders and      
misconceptions4 8,the ivy10 he  says1   
8indicates constancy in friendship06 ,is
 it credible that a  ,clarendon ,press  
editor should be ignorant that          
ivy--doctarum heder  prmia frontium--is 
the emblem of the poet8 ,the violet1 he 
remarks1  indicates modesty4 ,it neither
 indicates1 nor can possibly indicate1  

anything of the kind4 ,its traditional  
signification1 deduced perhaps  from    
,pliny's remark 7,nat4 ,hist41 xxi4 c4  
#ch71 that it is one of the             
longest-lived of flowers1 is fidelity4  
,but the passage of which ,shelley  was 
thinking when he wrote this stanza--a   
passage to which ,mr4 ,rossetti  makes  
no reference at all1 was ,hamlet1 act   
iv4 sc4 #a3 8,there is  pansies that's  
for thoughts4444 ,i would give you some 
violets1 but they  withered all when my 
father died40 ,so that it is quite      
possible that the  8faded violets10     
associated as these flowers are with the
 ,muses and the  ,graces1 merely        
symbolize the fading and drooping       
towards what may be  further symbolized 
in the cypress cone1--death4 ,we are by 
no means sure1  however1 that the       
cypress cone does1 as ,mr4 ,rossetti    
remarks1 8explain  itself40 ,shelley1   
assuming he gave the image another      
application1 was  doubtless thinking of 
,silvanus--8teneram ab radice ferens1   

,silvane1  cupressum10 ,georg4 i4 #bj   
7see1 too1 ,spenser's ,faerie ,queene1  
,i4 vi4  st4 #ad71 and may possibly have
 been symbolizing his sympathy with the 
genius of the woods--have been referring
 to that 8gazing on ,nature's  naked    
loveliness10 which he describes in      
stanza #ca4 ,in any case1 ,mr4          
,rossetti has entirely misinterpreted   
the meaning of the whole passage4       
,wherever classical knowledge is        
required--as it is in almost every      
stanza--he either gives no note at all1 
or he blunders4 ,thus in stanza  #bd he 
gives no note on the use of the word    
8secret40 ,in stanza #bh he has         
evidently not the smallest notion of the
 meaning of the word 8obscene0  as      
applied to ravens4 ,the fine adaptations
 from ,lucretius 7,,ii4  #egh-ehj7 in   
stanza #ba1 and again from ,,ii4        
#iij-ajaj in stanzas #bj and #db2  the  
adaptation from the ,agamemnon 7#di-ea7 
in stanza #ag2 from the  fragments of   
the ,polyidus of ,euripides in stanza   

#ci2 from the ,iliad  7vi4 #dhd7 in     
stanza #cd2 from ,theocritus1 ,idyll41  
i4 #ff1 and ,virg41  ,ecl41 x4 #i-aj in 
stanza #b2 and again from ,theocritus1  
,idyll41 i4 #gg  seqq41 from which the  
procession of the mourners is adapted1  
and on  which the whole architecture of 
the poem is modelled--all these are     
alike unnoticed4 ,nor is ,mr4 ,rossetti 
more fortunate in explaining  allusions 
to passages in other literatures4 ,the  
adaptation of the  sublime passage in   
,isaiah 7xiv4 #i1 #aj71 by which one of 
the finest parts  of the poem was       
suggested1 stanzas #de and #df2 the     
singular reminiscence  in stanza #bh3-- 
8,the vultures    444 ,whose wings rain 
contagion20    of ,marlowe's ,jew of    
,malta1 act ii4 sc4 #a1 where he speaks 
of the raven  which      8,doth shake   
contagion from her sable wings20    the 
obvious reminiscence of ,dante1 ,inf41  
#dd seqq4 in stanza #dd2 of             
,shakespeare's ,romeo and ,juliet1 v4   
#c1 which forms the proper  commentary  

on lines #g and #h of stanza #c2 of none
 of these is any notice  taken4 ,on many
 important points of interpretation we  
differ toto  clo from ,mr4 ,rossetti4   
,the 8fading splendour10 for example1 in
  stanza #bb1 cannot possibly mean      
8fading as being overcast by sorrow and 
dismay0 7cf4 stanza #be71 it simply     
means vanishing1 receding from  sight--a
 magnificently graphic epithet4 ,is ,mr4
 ,rossetti acquainted with  the         
proleptic use of adjectives and         
participles8 ,we may add that ,mr4      
,rossetti has not even taken the trouble
 to ascertain who was the writer  of the
 famous article1 of which so much is    
said both in the preface of  the poem   
and in the poem itself1 but 8presumes10 
etc4 ,et sic omnia4  ,and sic omnia it  
will inevitably continue to be1 until   
the  ,universities are prepared to do   
their duty to education by placing the  
study of our national ,literature on a  
proper footing4    ,it is1 we repeat1 no
 reproach to ,mr4 ,rossetti1 who has    

distinguished  himself in more important
 studies than the production of         
scholastic  text-books1 that he should  
have failed in an undertaking which     
happened  to require peculiar           
qualifications4 ,indeed1 our respect for
 ,mr4 ,rossetti  and our sense of his   
useful services to ,belles ,lettres     
would have  induced us to spare him the 
annoyance of an exposure of the         
deficiencies  of this work1 had it not  
illustrated1 so comprehensively and so  
strikingly1 the disastrous effects of   
the severance of the study of  ,english 
,literature from that of ,ancient       
,classical ,literature at our           
,universities4          ,,english       
,,literature ,,at ,,the                 
,,universities#aj    ,,iii4 ,,text      
,,books    ,footnote #aj3               
,shakespeare--,select ,plays4 ,hamlet1  
,prince of ,denmark  7,oxford3 at the   
,clarendon ,press4 ,,mdcccxc47          
,more than a century and a half has     
passed since ,pope thus expressed       

himself about philologists1--           
8#8,tis true on words is still our whole
 debate1    ,dispute of ,me or ,te1 of  
aut or at1    ,to sound or sink in ,cano
 ,o or ,a1    ,to give up ,cicero or ,c 
or ,k2    ,the critic eye1 that         
microscope of wit1    ,sees hairs and   
pores1 examines bit by bit2    ,how     
parts relate to parts or they to whole1 
,the body's harmony1 the beaming soul1  
,are things which ,kuster1 ,burmann1    
,wasse shall see1    ,when man's whole  
frame is obvious to a ,flea40    ,we    
need scarcely say that we have far too  
much respect for ,dr4 ,aldis  ,wright   
and for his distinguished coadjutor to  
apply such a description  as this to    
them as individuals1 for no one can     
appreciate more heartily  than we do    
their monumental contribution to the    
textual criticism of  ,shakespeare1 but 
we can make no such reserve in speaking 
of this edition  of ,hamlet4 ,a more    
deplorable illustration1 we do not say  
of the  subjection of ,literature to    

,philology1 for that would very         
imperfectly  represent the fact1 but of 
the absolute substitution of ,philology1
 and  of ,philology in the lowest sense 
of the term1 for ,literature it would be
  impossible to imagine4 ,had it been   
expressly designed to prove that its    
editors were wholly unconscious of the  
artistic1 literary1 and  philosophical  
significance of ,shakespeare's          
masterpiece1 it could  scarcely have    
taken a more appropriate form4    ,the  
volume contains #aag pages of           
,shakespeare's text1 printed in large   
type2 the text is preceded by a preface 
of twelve pages1 and followed by  notes 
occupying no less than #aba pages in    
very small type2 so that the  work of   
the poet stands in pretty much the same 
relation to that of his  commentators as
 ,falstaff's bread stood to his sack4   
,in the case of a  play like ,hamlet1 so
 subtle1 so suggestive1 so pregnant with
 critical  and philosophical problems of
 all kinds1 commentary on a scale like  

this  might have been quite appropriate4
 ,but in this stupendous mass of        
exegesis and illustration there is1 with
 the exception of one short  passage1   
literally not a line about the play as a
 work of art1 not a  line about its     
structure and architecture1 about its   
style1 about its  relations to sthetic1 
about its metaphysic1 its ethic1 about  
the  character of ,hamlet1 or about the 
character of any other person who       
figures in the drama4 ,the only         
indication that it is regarded in any   
other light than as affording material  
for philological and antiquarian        
discussion is a short quotation1 huddled
 in at the conclusion of the  preface1  
from ,goethe's ,wilhelm ,meister1 and an
 intimation that  8,hamlet's madness has
 formed the subject of special          
investigation by  several writers1 among
 others by ,dr4 ,conolly and ,sir       
,edward ,strachey40    ,a more          
comprehensive illustration of the truth 
of the indictment brought  against      

philologists by ,voltaire1 ,pope1       
,lessing1 and ,sainte-,beuve than  is   
supplied by the notes in this volume it 
would be difficult to find4  ,dulness1  
of course1 may be assumed1 and of mere  
dulness we do not  complain2 but a      
combination of prolixity1 irrelevance1  
and absolute  incapacity to distinguish 
between what to ninety-nine persons in  
every  hundred must be purely useless   
and what to ninety-nine persons in every
  hundred is the information which they 
expect from a commentator1 is           
intolerable4 ,we will give a few        
illustrations4 ,a plain man or a student
  for examination comes to these        
lines3--        8#8,tis the sport to    
have the enginer    ,hoist with his own 
petar20    and1 though he knows what the
 general sense is wishes to know exactly
  what ,shakespeare means4 ,he turns to 
the note for enlightenment1 and the     
enlightenment he gets is this3--        
8,enginer4 ,changed in the quarto of    
#afgf to the more modern       form of  

engineer4 ,compare ,troilus and         
,cressida ii4 #c4 #h1       8,then      
there's ,achilles a rare enginer40 ,for 
a cognate form       mutiner see note on
 iii4 #d4 #hc4 ,so we have pioner for   
pioneer       ,othello iii4 #c4 #cdf4   
,hoist may be the participle either of  
the verb #8hoise' or #8hoist4' ,in the  
latter case it would be the       common
 abbreviated form for the participles of
 verbs ending in       a dental4 ,petar4
 ,so spelt in the quartos1 and by all   
editors       to ,johnson1 who writes   
#8petards4' ,in ,cotgrave we have       
#8,petart3       a ,petard or ,petarre2 
an ,engine 7made like a bell or morter7 
wherewith strong gates1'  etc40--       
,and so the hungry sheep looks up and is
 not fed4 ,again1 he finds--      8,he  
smote the sledded ,polacks on the ice10 
turns to the note1 and reads3--         
8,polacks4 ,the quartos have #8pollax1' 
the two earliest folios       read      
#8,pollax1' the third #8,polax1' the    
fourth #8,poleaxe4' ,pope       read    

#8,polack' and ,malone #8,polacks4' ,the
 word occurs four times       in        
,hamlet4 ,for #8the sledded ,polacks'   
,molke reads #8his leaded               
pole-axe4' ,but this would be an        
anticlimax1 and the poet1       having  
mentioned #8,norway' in the first       
clause1 would certainly       have told 
us with whom the #8parle' was held40    
,the poet ,young noted how              
8,commentators each dark passage shun1  
,and hold their farthing candles to the 
sun40    ,the ,clarendon ,press editors 
are certainly adepts in these           
accomplishments4 ,take one out of a     
myriad illustrations4 ,the line in ,act 
i4 sc4 #b1 8,the dead vast and middle of
 the night10 is the signal for a  note  
extending to twelve closely printed     
lines4 8',tis bitter cold1 and ,i  am   
sick at heart10 says ,francisco4 ,if any
 note were needed here1 it  might have  
been devoted to pointing out to tiros   
the fine subjective  touch4 ,the note is
 this3--         8,bitter cold4 ,here   

bitter is used adverbially to qualify   
the       adjective #8cold4' ,so we have
 #8daring hardy' in ,richard ,,ii4 i4   
#c4 #dc4 ,when the combination is likely
 to be misunderstood1       modern      
editors generally put a hyphen between  
the two words4       ,sick at heart4 ,so
 ,macbeth v4 #c4 #ai1 #8,i am sick at   
heart4'       ,we have also in ,love's  
,labour's ,lost ii4 #a4 #ahe1 #8sick at 
the       heart1' and ,romeo and ,juliet
 iii4 #c4 #gb1 #8heart-sick             
groans4'0    ,now let us see how the    
poor student fares when real            
difficulties occur4  ,every reader of   
,shakespeare is familiar with the       
corrupt passage1 ,act  iv4 sc4 #a3--    
8,the dram of eale    ,doth all the     
noble substance of worth out    ,to his 
own scandal--    a passage which1 as all
 ,shakespearian scholars know1 has been 
satisfactorily emended and explained4   
,we turn to the notes for guidance1  and
 find ourselves treated as poor ,mrs4   
,quickly was treated by ,falstaff1      

8fubbed off0--thus3--         8,we leave
 this hopelessly corrupt passage as it  
stands in the       two earliest        
quartos4 ,the others read #8ease' for   
#8eale1' and       modern writers have  
conjectured for the same word base1 ill1
       bale1 ale1 evil1 ail1 vile1 lead4
 ,for #8of a doubt' it has been         
proposed to substitute #8of worth out1' 
#8soul with doubt1' #8oft       adopt1' 
#8oft work out1' #8of good out1' #8of   
worth dout1' #8often       dout1'       
#8often doubt1' #8oft adoubt1' #8oft    
delase1' #8over-cloud1'       #8of a    
pound1' and others40    ,this1 it may be
 added1 is the sort of                  
stuff--incredibile dictu--that  our     
children have to get by heart2 for this 
,press1 be it remembered1  practically  
controls half the ,english ,literature  
examinations in  ,england4 ,as students 
know quite well that nine examiners out 
of ten will  set their questions from   
8the ,clarendon ,press notes10 it is    
with 8the  ,clarendon ,press notes0 that

 they are obliged to cram themselves4   
,but to  continue4 ,even a well-read man
 might be excused for not knowing the   
exact meaning of the following          
expression3--      8,they clepe us      
drunkards1 and with swinish phrase      
,soil our addition40    ,he turns to the
 notes1 and having been briefly informed
 that clepe  means 8call10 and addition 
8title10 is left to flounder with what  
he  can get out of--8,could ,shakespeare
 have had in his mind any pun upon      
#8,sweyn1' which was a common name of   
the kings of ,denmark80    ,another     
leading characteristic of the genus     
philologist1 we mean the  preposterous  
importance attached by them to the      
smallest trifles1 finds  ludicrous      
illustration in the following note3--   
8,my father1 in his habit1 as he lived60
    exclaims ,hamlet to his mother4     
,this is the signal for3--              
8,there is supposed to be a difficulty  
in these words1 because       in the    
earlier scenes the ,ghost is in his     

armour1 to which the       word #8habit'
 is regarded as inappropriate4 ,in the  
earlier form       of the play1 as it   
appears in the quarto of #afjc1 the     
,ghost       enters #8in his            
nightgowne1' and as the words #8in the  
habit as       he lived' occur in the   
corresponding passage of that edition1  
it is probable that on this occasion the
 ,ghost appeared in the       ordinary  
dress of the king1 although this is not 
indicated in       the stage directions 
of the other quartos or of the folios40 
,as a possible solution of this grave   
difficulty1 we would suggest that1  as  
the ,ghost was undoubtedly in a very hot
 place1 he might have found  his        
nightgown less oppressive than his      
armour1 and though it would  certainly  
have been more decorous to have         
exchanged his nightgown for  his uniform
 on revisiting the earth1 yet1 as the   
visit was to his wife1  he thought      
perhaps less seriously about his apparel
 than our editors  have done4 ,we have  

nothing to warrant us in assuming that  
he was in his  8ordinary dress40 ,the   
choice must lie between the nightgown   
and the  armour4 ,but a truce to        
jesting4    ,if any one would understand
 the opacity and callousness which      
philological study induces1 we would    
refer them to the note on ,hamlet's     
last sublime words1 8,the rest is       
silence03--         8,the quartos have  
#8,which have solicited1 the rest is    
silence4'       ,the folios1 #8,which   
have solicited4 ,the rest is silence4'  
#8,o1 ,o1       ,o1 ,o4 ,dyes4' ,if     
,hamlet's speech is interrupted by his  
death       it would be more natural    
that the words #8,the rest is silence'  
should be spoken by ,horatio40    ,we   
said at the beginning of this article   
that there was not a word of  commentary
 on the poetical merits of the play4 ,we
 beg the editors'  pardon4 ,they have in
 one note1 and in one note only1        
ventured on an  expression of critical  
opinion4 ,we all know the lines--       

8,there is a willow grows aslant a brook
    ,that shows his hoar leaves in the  
glassy stream10    etc41 etc4 ,we       
transcribe the note on this passage that
 it may be a sign  to all men of what   
,philology is able to effect1 an omen   
and testimony of  what must inevitably  
be the fate of ,literature if the       
direction and  regulation of its study  
be entrusted to philologists3--         
8,this speech of the ,queen is certainly
 unworthy of its author       and of the
 occasion4 ,the enumeration of plants is
 quite as       unsuitable to so        
tragical a scene as the description of  
,dover       cliff in ,king ,lear iv4   
#f4 #aa-bd4 ,besides there was no one by
       to witness the death of ,ophelia1
 else she would have been               
rescued40    ,as this beggars           
commentary1 transcription shall suffice4
    ,now we would ask any sensible      
person who has followed us1 we do not   
say  in our own remarks--for they may be
 supposed to be the expression of       

biassed opinion--but in the specimens we
 have given of such an edition  as this 
of ,hamlet1 and of such an edition as we
 have just reviewed of  ,adonais1 what  
is likely to be the fate of ,english    
,literature1 as a  subject of teaching1 
so long as our ,universities ignore     
their  responsibilities as the centres  
of culture by not only countenancing1   
but assisting in the production and     
dissemination of such publications  as  
these8 ,how can we expect anything but  
anarchy wherever the subject  is        
treated8--there an extreme of flaccid   
dilettantism1 here an extreme  of       
philological pedantry4 ,conceive the    
tone and temper which1 especially  at   
the impressionable age of the students  
for whom the book is intended1  the     
study of ,shakespeare1 under such guides
 as the editors of this  ,hamlet1 would 
be likely to induce4 ,is it not         
monstrous that young  students between  
the ages of about fifteen and eighteen  
should have such  text books as these   

inflicted on them8    ,the radical fault
 of those who regulate education in our 
,universities  and elsewhere1 and       
prescribe our schoolbooks1 is their     
deplorable want  of judgment4 ,they seem
 to be utterly incapable of             
distinguishing between  what is proper  
for pure specialists and what is proper 
for ordinary  students4 ,there is not a 
page in this edition which does not     
proclaim  aloud1 that it could never    
have been intended for the purposes to  
which  it has been applied1 that it is  
the work of technical scholars1         
concerned only in textual and           
philological criticism and exegesis1 and
  appealing only to those who approach  
the study of ,shakespeare in the  same  
spirit and from the same point of view4 
,anything more sickening and            
depressing1 anything more calculated to 
make the name of ,shakespeare an        
abomination to the youth of ,england it 
would be impossible for man to  devise4 
,it is shameful to prescribe such books 

for study in our ,schools  and          
,educational ,institutes4          ,,our
 ,,literary ,,guides    ,i4 ,a ,,short  
,,history ,,of ,,english ,,literature#aa
    ,footnote #aa3 ,a ,short ,history of
 ,english ,literature4 ,by ,george      
,saintsbury1 ,professor of ,rhetoric and
 ,english ,literature in the            
,university of ,edinburgh4      ,this   
,short ,history is evidently designed   
for the use of serious readers1  for the
 ordinary reader who will naturally look
 to it for general  instruction and     
guidance in the study of ,english       
,literature1 and to whom  it will serve 
as a book of reference2 for students in 
schools and  colleges1 to many of whom  
it will1 in all likelihood1 be          
prescribed as a  textbook2 for teachers 
engaged in lecturing and in preparing   
pupils for  examination4 ,of all these  
readers there will not be one in a      
hundred who  will not be obliged to take
 its statements on trust1 to assume that
 its  facts are correct1 that its       

generalizations are sound1 that its     
criticisms and critical theories are at 
any rate not absurd4 ,it need  hardly be
 said that1 under these circumstances1 a
 writer who had any  pretension to      
conscientiousness would do his utmost to
 avoid all such  errors as ordinary     
diligence could easily prevent1 that he 
would guard  scrupulously against random
 assertions and reckless misstatements1 
that  he would1 in other words1 spare no
 pains to deserve the confidence  placed
 in him by those who are not qualified  
to check his statements or  question his
 dogmas1 and who naturally suppose that 
the post which he  occupies is a        
sufficient guarantee of the soundness   
and accuracy of his  work4 ,but so far  
from ,professor ,saintsbury having any  
sense of what is  due to his position   
and to his readers1 he has imported into
 his work  the worst characteristics of 
irresponsible journalism3               
generalizations1  the sole supports of  
which are audacious assertions1 and an  

indifference  to exactness and accuracy1
 as well with respect to important      
matters as  in trifles1 so scandalous as
 to be almost incredible4    ,sir       
,thomas ,more said of ,tyndale's version
 of the ,new ,testament that to  seek   
for errors in it was to look for drops  
of water in the sea4 ,what  was said    
very unfairly of ,tyndale's work may be 
said with literal truth  of ,professor  
,saintsbury's4 ,the utmost extent of the
 space at our  disposal will only       
suffice for a few illustrations4 ,we    
will select those  which appear to us   
most typical4 ,in the chapter on        
,anglo-,saxon  literature the ,professor
 favours us with the astounding         
statement1 that  in ,anglo-,saxon poetry
 8there is practically no lyric40#ab ,it
 is  scarcely necessary to say that not 
only does ,anglo-,saxon poetry abound   
in lyrics1 but that it is in its lyrical
 note that its chief power and  charm   
consists4 ,in the threnody of the ,ruin1
 and the ,grave1 in the  sentimental    

pathos of the ,seafarer1 of ,deor's     
,complaint1 and of the  remarkable      
fragment describing the husband's pining
 for his wife1 in the  fiery passion of 
the three great war-songs1 in the       
glowing subjective  intensity of the    
,judith1 in the religious ecstasy of the
 ,holy ,rood  and of innumerable        
passages in the other poems attributed  
to ,cynewulf1  and of the poem          
attributed to ,cdmon1 deeper and more   
piercing lyric  notes have never been   
struck4 ,take such a passage as the     
following from  the ,satan1 typical1 it 
may be added1 of scores of others3--    
8,o thou glory of the ,lord6 ,guardian  
of ,heaven's hosts1    ,o thou might of 
the ,creator6 ,o thou mid-circle6    ,o 
thou bright day of splendour6 ,o thou   
jubilee of ,god6    ,o ye hosts of      
angels6 ,o thou highest heaven6    ,o   
that ,i am shut from the everlasting    
jubilee1    ,that ,i cannot reach my    
hands again to ,heaven1    444 ,nor hear
 with my ears ever again    ,the        

clear-ringing harmony of the heavenly   
trumpets40#ac    ,and this is a poetry  
which has 8practically no lyric06 ,on   
page #b the  ,professor tells us that   
there is no rhyme in ,anglo-,saxon      
poetry2 on page  #ah we find him giving 
an account of the rhyming poem in the   
,exeter  ,book4 ,of ,mr4 ,saintsbury's  
method of dealing with particular works 
and  particular authors1 one or two     
examples must suffice4 ,he tells us on  
page #abe that the heroines in          
,chaucer's ,legend of ,good ,women are  
8the  most hapless and blameless of     
,ovid's ,heroides40 ,it would be        
interesting  to know what connexion     
,cleopatra1 whose story comes first1 has
 with  ,ovid's ,heroides1 or if the term
 8,heroides0 be1 as it appears to be1   
7for  it is printed in italics7 the     
title of ,ovid's ,heroic ,epistles1 what
  connexion four out of the ten have    
with ,ovid's work4 ,in any case the     
statement is partly erroneous and wholly
 misleading4 ,in the account  given of  

the ,scotch poets1 the ,professor1      
speaking of ,douglas'  translation of   
the neid1 says1 he 8does not embroider  
on his text40  ,this is an excellent    
illustration of the confidence which may
 be placed  in ,mr4 ,saintsbury's       
assertions about works on which most of 
his readers  must take what he says on  
trust4 ,douglas is continually          
8embroidering on  his text10 indeed1 he 
habitually does so4 ,we open his        
translation purely  at random2 we find  
him turning neid ,,ii4 #dif-dii3--      
8,non sic1 aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus 
amnis    ,exiit1 oppositasque evicit    
gurgite moles1    ,fertur in arva furens
 cumulo1 camposque per omnes    ,cum    
stabulis armenta trahit40      8,not sa 
fersly the fomy river or flude          
,brekkis over the bankis on spait quhen 
it is wode4    ,and with his brusch and 
fard of water brown    ,the dykys and   
the schorys betis down1    ,ourspreddand
 croftis and flattis wyth hys spate     
,our all the feyldis that they may row  

ane bate    ,quhill houssis and the     
flokkis flittis away1    ,the corne     
grangis and standard stakkys of hay40   
,we open neid ,,ix4 #b3--      8,irim de
 clo misit ,saturnia ,juno    ,audacem  
ad ,turnum4 ,luco tum forte parentis    
,pilumni ,turnus sacrat valle sedebat4  
,ad quem sic roseo ,thaumantias ore     
locuta est40    ,we find it turned3--   
8,juno that lyst not blyn    ,of hir    
auld malyce and iniquyte1    ,hir madyn 
,iris from hevin sendys sche    ,to the 
bald ,turnus malapart and stout2        
,quhilk for the tyme was wyth al his    
rout    ,amyd ane vale wonnder lovn and 
law1    ,syttand at eys within the      
hallowit schaw    ,of ,god ,pilumnus his
 progenitor4    ,thamantis dochter      
knelys him before1    ,i meyn ,iris thys
 ilk fornamyt maide1    ,and with hir   
rosy lippis thus him said40    ,we turn 
to the end of the tenth neid and we find
 him introducing six  lines which have  
nothing to correspond with them in the  
original4 ,and  this is a translator who

 8does not embroider on his text06 ,it  
is  perfectly plain that ,professor     
,saintsbury has criticised and commented
  on a work which he could never have   
inspected4 ,the same ignorance is       
displayed in the account of ,lydgate4   
,he is pronounced to be a versifier     
rather than a poet1 his verse is        
described as 8sprawling and             
staggering40 ,the truth is that         
,lydgate's style and verse are often of 
exquisite beauty1 that he was a poet of 
fine genius1 that his  descriptions of  
nature almost rival ,chaucer's1 that his
 powers of pathos  are of a high order1 
that1 at his best1 he is one of the most
 musical of  poets4 ,we have not space  
to illustrate what must be obvious to   
any one  who has not gone to            
encyclopdias and handbooks for his      
knowledge of  this poet's writings1 but 
who is acquainted with the original4 ,it
 will  not be disputed that ,gray and   
,warton were competent judges of these  
matters1 and their verdict must be      

substituted for what we have not  space 
to prove and illustrate4 8,i do not     
pretend10 ,gray says1 8to set  ,lydgate 
on a level with his master ,chaucer1 but
 he certainly comes the  nearest to him 
of any contemporary writer that ,i am   
acquainted with4 ,his  choice of        
expression and the smoothness of his    
verse far surpass both  ,gower and      
,occleve40 ,of one passage in ,lydgate1 
,gray has observed that  8it has touched
 the very heart strings of compassion   
with so masterly a  hand as to merit a  
place among the greatest poets40#ad     
,warton also  notices his 8perspicuous  
and musical numbers10 and 8the harmony1 
strength1 and dignity0 of his verses4#ae
    ,turn where we will we are          
confronted with blunders4 ,take the     
account  given of ,shakespeare4 ,he     
began his metre1 we are told1 with the  
lumbering 8fourteeners40 ,he did1 so far
 as is known1 nothing of the  kind4     
,again3 8,it is only by guesses that    
anything is dated before the  ,comedy of

 ,errors at the extreme end of #aeid40  
,in answer to this it may  be sufficient
 to say that ,venus and ,adonis was     
published in #aeic1 that  the first part
 of ,henry ,,vi4 was acted on #crd      
,march1 #aeib1 that ,titus  ,andronicus 
was acted on #beth ,january1 #aeid1 and 
that ,lucrece was  entered on the       
,stationers' books #ith ,may1 #aeid4    
,this is on a par with  the assertion1  
on page #cae1 that ,shakespeare was     
traditionally born on  #bdth ,april6 ,on
 page #cbj we are told that ,measure for
 ,measure belongs  to the first group of
 ,shakespeare's plays1 to the series    
beginning with  ,love's ,labour's ,lost 
and culminating with the ,midsummer     
,night's  ,dream4 ,it is only fair to   
say that the ,professor places a note of
  interrogation after it in a bracket1  
but that it should have been placed     
there1 even tentatively1 shows an       
ignorance of the very rudiments of      
,shakespearian criticism which is       
nothing short of astounding4 ,take1     

again1 the account given of ,burke4 ,our
 readers will probably think us  jesting
 when we tell them that ,professor      
,saintsbury gravely informs us  that    
,burke supported the ,american          
,revolution4 ,is the ,professor         
unacquainted with the two finest        
speeches which have ever been delivered 
in any language since ,cicero8 ,can he  
possibly be ignorant that ,burke1 so    
far from supporting that revolution1 did
 all in his power to prevent it8  ,the  
whole account of ,burke1 it may be      
added1 teems with inaccuracies4  ,the   
,american ,revolution was not brought   
about under a ,tory  administration4    
,what brought that revolution about was 
,charles  ,townshend's tax1 and that tax
 was imposed under a ,whig              
administration1  as every well-informed 
,board-school lad would know4 ,burke did
 not lose  his seat at ,bristol owing to
 his support of ,roman ,catholic claims4
 ,if  ,professor ,saintsbury had turned 
to one of the finest of ,burke's minor  

speeches--the speech addressed to the   
electors of ,bristol--he would have     
seen that ,burke's support of the ,roman
 ,catholic claims was only one1 and     
that not the most important1 of the     
causes which cost him his seat4         
,similar ignorance is displayed in the  
remark 7p4 #fbi7 that 8,burke  joined1  
and indeed headed1 the crusade against  
,warren ,hastings1 in  #aghh40 ,the     
prosecution of ,warren ,hastings was    
undertaken on ,burke's sole  initiative1
 not in #aghh1 but in #aghe4 ,a few     
lines onwards we are told  that the     
series of ,burke's writings on the      
,french ,revolution 8began with  the    
,reflections in #agij1 and was continued
 in the ,letter to a ,noble  ,lord1     
#agij40 ,a ,letter to a ,noble ,lord had
 nothing to do with the  ,french        
,revolution1 except collaterally as it  
affected ,burke's public  conduct1 and  
appeared1 not in #agij1 but in #agie4   
,it seems impossible to open this book  
anywhere without alighting on some      

blunder1 or on some inaccuracy4         
,speaking 7p4 #bgg7 of ,willoughby's    
well-known ,avisa1 the ,professor       
observes that nothing is known of       
,willoughby or of ,avisa4 ,if the       
,professor had known anything about the 
work1 he would have known that ,avisa is
 simply an anagram made up of  the      
initial letters of ,amans1 vxor1        
inviolata semper amanda1 and  that      
nothing is known of ,avisa for the      
simple reason that nothing is  known of 
the site of ,more's ,utopia4 ,on page   
#cfj we are told that ,phineas          
,fletcher's ,piscatory ,eclogues1 which 
are1 of course1 confounded with  his    
,sicelides1 are a masque2 on page #fbd1 
but this is perhaps a  printer's error1 
that ,robertson wrote a history of      
,charles ,i4 ,on page  #dhb1 ,john      
,pomfret1 the author of one of the most 
popular poems of the  eighteenth        
century1 is called ,thomas4 ,on page    
#eej1 ,pope's ,moral  ,essays are       
described as ,an ,epistle to ,lord      

,burlington1 presumably  because the    
last of them1 the fourth1 is addressed  
to that nobleman4 ,on  page #ehg we are 
told that ,mickle died in ,london3 he   
died at ,forest ,hill1  near ,oxford4   
,on page #eef we are informed that      
,prior was part author of a  parody of  
the 8,hind and ,panther10 and that he   
was 8imprisoned for some  years40 ,the  
work referred to is wrongly described1  
as it only contained  parodies of       
certain passages in ,dryden's poem1 and 
he was in confinement  less than two    
years4 ,on page #ceh1 ,brutus1 the      
legendary founder of  ,britain1 is      
actually described as the son of neas4  
,if ,professor  ,saintsbury were as     
familiar as he affects to be with       
,geoffrey of  ,monmouth1 with ,layamon  
and with the early metrical romances1 he
 would  have known that ,brutus is      
fabled to have been the son of ,sylvius1
 the  son of ,ascanius1 and1            
consequently1 the great-grandson of     
neas4 ,many of  the ,professor's        

critical remarks can only be explained  
on the  supposition that he assumes that
 his readers will not take the trouble  
to verify his references or question his
 dogmas4 ,we will give one or two       
instances4 ,on page #dfh1 speaking of   
seventeenth-century prose1 he says1     
with reference to ,milton3 8,the close  
of the ,apology itself is a very        
little1 though only a very little1      
inferior to the ,hydriotaphia40 ,by  the
 ,apology he can only mean the ,apology 
for ,smectymnuus1 for the  defence of   
the ,english people is in ,latin4 ,now1 
will our readers credit  that one of the
 flattest1 clumsiest and most           
commonplace passages in  ,milton's prose
 writings1 as any one may see who turns 
to it1 is  pronounced 8only a little    
inferior0 to one of the most            
majestically  eloquent passages in our  
prose literature4 ,that our readers may 
know  what ,professor ,saintsbury's     
notions of eloquence are1 we will       
transcribe  the passage3         8,thus 

ye have heard1 readers1 how many shifts 
and wiles the       prelates have       
invented to save their ill-got booty4   
,and if it       be true1 as in         
,scripture it is foretold1 that pride   
and       covetousness are the sure     
marks of those false prophets which     
are to come1 then boldly conclude these 
to be as great seducers       as any of 
the latter times4 ,for between this and 
the judgment       day do not look for  
any arch deceivers who1 in spite of     
reformation1 will use more craft or less
 shame to defend their       love of the
 world and their ambition than these    
prelates have       done4 ,and if ye    
think that soundness of reason or what  
force of       argument so ever shall   
bring them to an ingenuous silence1 ye  
think that which shall never be4 ,but if
 ye take that course       which        
,erasmus was wont to say ,luther took   
against the pope and       monks3 if ye 
denounce war against their riches and   
their       bellies1 ye shall soon      

discern that turban of pride which they 
wear upon their heads to be no helmet of
 salvation1 but the       mere metal and
 hornwork of papal jurisdiction2 and    
that they       have also this gift1    
like a certain kind of some that are    
possessed1 to have their voice in their 
bellies1 which1 being       well drained
 and taken down1 their great oracle1    
which is only       there1 will soon be 
dumb1 and the divine right of episcopacy
       forthwith expiring will put us no
 more to trouble with tedious           
antiquities and disputes40    ,and this 
is 8a very little1 only a very little1  
inferior10 to the  8,hydriotaphia06     
,on page #feb1 ,swift's style1 that     
perfection of simple1 unadorned sermo   
pedestris--is described as marked by    
8volcanic magnificence40 ,on page  #cjj 
,hooker is described as 8having an      
unnecessary fear of vivid and           
vernacular expression40 ,vivid and      
vernacular expression is1 next to its   
stateliness1 the distinguishing         

characteristic of ,hooker's style4 ,it  
would be interesting to know what is    
meant by the remark on page #dde  that  
,barrow's style is 8less severe than    
,south's40 ,another example of  the same
 thing is the assertion on page #eag    
that ,joseph ,glanville is one  of 8the 
chief exponents of the gorgeous style in
 the seventeenth  century40 ,very       
#8gorgeous' the style of the ,vanity of 
,dogmatizing1 of  its later edition the 
,scepsis ,scientifica1 of the           
,sadducismus  ,triumphatus1 of the ,lux 
,orientalis1 and of the ,essays6        
,indeed1 the ,professor's critical dicta
 are as amazing as his facts4 ,we  have 
only space for one or two samples4      
,cowley's ,anacreontics are 8not  very  
far below ,milton0767 ,dr4 ,donne was   
8the most gifted man of letters  next to
 ,shakespeare40 ,where ,bacon1 where    
,ben ,jonson1 where ,milton are to      
stand is not indicated4 ,akenside's     
stilted and frigid ,odes 8fall not  so  
far short of ,collins40 ,we wonder what 

,mr4 ,saintsbury's criterion of  poetry 
can be4 ,but we forget1 with that       
criterion he has furnished us4  ,on page
 #gcb1 speaking of 8a story about a     
hearer who knew no ,english1  but knew  
,tennyson to be a poet by the hearing10 
he adds that 8the story  is probable and
 valuable1 or rather invaluable1 for it 
points to the  best if not the only     
criterion of poetry40 ,and this is a    
critic6 ,we  would exhort the ,professor
 to ponder well ,pope's lines3          
8,but most by numbers judge a poet's    
song1             99       99       99  
99       99      ,in the bright muse1   
tho' thousand charms conspire1    ,her  
voice is all these tuneful fools admire1
    ,who haunt ,parnassus but to please 
their ear40    ,on page #gcd we are told
 ,browning's ,james ,lee--the ,professor
 probably  means ,james ,lee's ,wife--is
 amongst 8the greatest poems of the     
century40 ,on ,wordsworth's line1 judged
 not in relation to its context1  but as
 a single verse--8,our birth is but a   

sleep and a forgetting0--we  have the   
following as commentary3 8,even         
,shakespeare1 even ,shelley have  little
 more of the echoing detonation1 the    
auroral light of true  poetry02 very    
8echoing10 very 8detonating0--the rhythm
 of 8,our birth is  but a sleep and a   
forgetting40 ,mr4 ,saintsbury's notions 
of what  constitutes detonation and     
auroral light in poetry appear to       
resemble  his notions of what           
constitutes eloquence in prose4         
,nothing1 we may add  in passing1 is    
more amusing in this volume than ,mr4   
,saintsbury's cool  assumption of       
equality as a critical authority with   
such a critic as  ,matthew ,arnold1 whom
 he sometimes patronises1 sometimes     
corrects1 and  sometimes assails4 ,the  
,professor does not show to advantage on
 these  occasions1 and he leaves us with
 the impression that if 8,mr4 ,arnold's 
criticism is piecemeal1 arbitrary1      
fantastic1 and insane10 the criticism   
which appears1 where it is not mere     

nonsense1 to take its touchstones1  its 
standards1 and its canons from those of 
the average ,philistine is1  after all1 
a very poor substitute4 ,but enough of  
,mr4 ,saintsbury's  8criticism10 which  
is1 almost uniformly1 as absurd in what 
it praises as  in what it censures4     
,the style1 or1 to borrow an expression 
from ,swift1 what the poverty of  our   
language compels us to call the style1  
in which this book is  written1 is on a 
par with its criticism4 ,we will give a 
few examples4  8,it is a proof of the   
greatness of ,dryden that he knew       
,milton for a  poet2 it is a proof of   
the smallness 7and mighty as he was on  
some  sides1 on others he was very      
small7 of ,milton that 7if he really did
 so7  he denied poetry to ,dryden40#af  
8,what the ,voyage and ,travaile really 
is1 is this--it is1 so far as we know1  
and even beyond our knowledge in  all   
probability and likelihood1 the first   
considerable example of prose  in       
,english dealing neither with the beaten

 track of theology and  philosophy1 nor 
with the1 even in the ,middle ,ages1    
restricted field of  history and home   
topography1 but expatiating freely on   
unguarded plains  and on untrodden      
hills1 sometimes dropping into actual   
prose romance and  always treating its  
subject as the poets had treated theirs 
in ,brut  and ,mort d',arthur1 in       
,troy-book and ,alexandreid1 as a mere  
canvas  on which to embroider flowers of
 fancy40#ag ,again1 8,with ,anglo-,saxon
  history he deals slightly1 and despite
 his ardent ,english  patriotism--his   
book opens with a vigorous panegyric of 
,england1 the  first of a series        
extending to the present day 7from which
 an anthology  ,de ,laudibus ,angli     
might be made7--he deals very harshly   
with ,harold  ,godwinson40#ah 8,he had a
 fit of stiff ,odes in the ,gray and    
,collins  manner40 8,the ,hind and      
,panther 7the greatest poem ever written
 in the  teeth of its subject704 8,his  
voluminous ,latin works have been       

tackled  by a special ,wyclif ,society40
 ,these are a few of the gems in which  
every  chapter abounds4    ,of          
,professor ,saintsbury's indifference to
 exactness and accuracy in  details and 
facts we need go no further for         
illustrations than to his  dates4 ,such 
things cannot be regarded as trifles in 
a book designed to  be a book of        
reference4 ,we will give a few          
instances4 ,we are informed on  page    
#bch that ,ascham's ,schoolmaster was   
published in #aefh2 it was  published1  
as its title-page shows1 in #aegj4      
,hume's ,dissertations  were first      
published1 not in #agfb1 but in #ageg4  
,bale's flight to  ,germany was not in  
#aedg1 when such a step would have been 
unnecessary1  but in #aedj4 ,pecock was1
 we are told1 translated to ,chichester 
in #aeej1  exactly ninety years after   
his death6 ,as if to perplex the readers
 of  this book1 two series of dates are 
given2 we have the dates in the         
narrative and the dates in the index1   

and no attempt is made to  reconcile the
 discrepancies4 ,accordingly we find in 
the narrative that  ,caxton was probably
 born in #adae--;in the index that he   
was born in #adbb2  in the narrative    
that ,latimer1 ,fisher1 ,gascoign and   
,atterbury were born  respectively in   
#adhi1 in #adfe1 about #aecg and in     
#afgb--;in the index that  they were    
born respectively in #adhe1 #adei1 #aebe
 and #affb2 in the  narrative ,gay was  
born in #afhh--;in the index he was born
 in #afhe4 ,in the  narrative ,collins  
dies in #agef1 and ,mrs4 ,browning is   
born in #ahjf--;in  the index ,collins  
dies in #agei1 and ,mrs4 ,browning is   
born in #ahji4 ,the  narrative tells us 
that ,aubrey was born in #afbf1 and     
,john ,dyer circa  #afhh--;in the index 
that ,aubrey was born in #afbd and ,dyer
 circa #agjj4  ,in the index ,mark      
,pattison dies in #ahhd--;in the        
narrative he dies in  #ahhi4 ,in        
,professor ,saintsbury's eyes such      
indifference to accuracy may  be venial3

 in our opinion it is nothing less than 
scandalous4 ,it is  assuredly most      
unfair to those who will naturally      
expect to find in a  book of reference  
trustworthy information4    ,we must now
 conclude1 though we have very far from 
exhausted the list of  errors and       
misstatements1 of absurdities in        
criticism and absurdities in  theory1   
which we have noted4 ,bacon has observed
 that the best part of  beauty is that  
which a picture cannot express4 ,it may 
be said1 with  equal truth1 of a bad    
book1 that what is worst in it is       
precisely that  which it is most        
difficult to submit to tangible tests4  
,in other words1  it lies not so much in
 its errors and inaccuracies1 which1    
after all1  may be mere trifles and     
excrescences1 but it lies in its tone   
and  colour1 its flavour1 its accent4   
,professor ,saintsbury appears to be    
constitutionally incapable of           
distinguishing vulgarity and coarseness 
from liveliness and vigour4 ,so far from

 having any pretension to the  finer    
qualities of the critic1 he seems to    
take a boisterous pride in  exhibiting  
his grossness4    ,if our review of this
 book shall seem unduly harsh1 we are   
sorry1 but a  more exasperating writer  
than ,professor ,saintsbury1 with his   
indifference to all that should be dear 
to a scholar1 the mingled  coarseness1  
triviality and dogmatism of his tone1   
the audacious nonsense  of his          
generalisations1 and the offensive      
vulgarity of his diction and  style--a  
very well of ,english defiled--we have  
never had the misfortune  to meet with4 
,turn where we will in this work1 to the
 opinions expressed  in it1 to the      
sentiments1 to the verdicts1 to the     
style1 the note is the  same1--the note 
of the ,das ,gemeine4    ,,footnotes3   
,footnote #ab3 ,page #cg4    ,footnote  
#ac3      ,e l drihtenes rym6 e l dugua 
helm6    e l meotodes miht6 e l         
middaneard6    e l dg lehta6 e l drem   
godes6    e l engla ret6 e l upheofon6  

e l t ic eam ealles les can dremes1    t
 ic mid handum ne mg heofon gercan    ne
 mid egum ne mt up lcian    ne hru mid  
erum ne sceal fre gehran    re          
byrhtestan bman stefne4      --,satan4  
edit4 ,grein1 #afd-agb4      ,footnote  
#ad3 ,some ,remarks on ,lydgate4 ,gray1 
,aldine ,ed4 v4 #bib-cba4    ,footnote  
#ae3 ,that ,lydgate's verse should      
occasionally be rough and  halting is   
partly to be attributed to the wretched 
state in which his  text has come down  
to us from the copyists1 and partly to  
the arbitrary  way in which he varies   
the accent4 ,his heroic couplets in the 
,storie of  ,thebes are certainly very  
unmusical4 ,for the whole question of   
his  versification see ,dr4 ,schick1    
,introduction to his edition of ,the    
,temple  of ,glas1 pp4 liv4-lxiii41 and 
,schipper1 ,altenglische ,metrik1       
#dib-ejj4  ,but neither of these        
scholars does justice to the exquisite  
music of his  verse at its best4        
,footnote #af3 ,page #dgd4    ,footnote 

#ag3 ,page #aej4    ,footnote #ah3 ,page
 #fc4          ,,our ,,literary ,,guides
    ,,ii4 ,a ,,short ,,history ,,of     
,,modern ,,english ,,literature#ai      
,footnote #ai3 ,a ,short ,history of    
,modern ,english ,literature4 ,by       
,edmund  ,gosse4 ,london1 #ahih4        
,the author of this work has plainly not
 pondered the advice of ,horace1        
8,sumite materiam vestris1 qui          
scribitis1 quam viribus40 ,his ambitious
  purpose is 8to give the reader1       
whether familiar with books or not1 a   
feeling of the evolution of ,english    
,literature in the primary sense of  the
 term10 and he adds that 8to do this    
without relation to particular  authors 
and particular works seems to me        
impossible40 ,this may be  conceded2    
for1 a feeling of the evolution of      
,english or of any other  literature1   
without reference to particular authors 
and particular  books1 would be         
analogous to the capacity for feeling   
without anything  to feel4 ,but1        

unfortunately1 those of ,mr4 ,gosse's   
readers who wish to  have the feeling to
 which he refers will merely find the   
conditions  without which1 as he so     
justly observes1 the said feeling is    
impossible4 ,in other words1 references1
 in the form of loose and  desultory    
gossip1 to particular authors and       
particular works  chronologically       
arranged1 are all that represent the    
8evolution0 of  which he is so anxious  
8to give a feeling40    ,described      
simply1 the work is an ordinary manual  
of ,english ,literature  in which1 with 
,mr4 ,humphry ,ward's ,english ,poets1  
,sir ,henry ,craik's  ,english ,prose   
,writers1 ,chambers' ,cyclopdia of      
,english ,literature1  the ,dictionary  
of ,national ,biography1 and the like   
before him1 the  writer tells again the 
not unfamiliar story of the course of   
our  ,literature from ,chaucer to the   
present time4 ,but ,mr4 ,gosse is no    
mere  compiler1 and brings to his task  
certain qualifications of his own1 a    

vague and inaccurate but extensive      
knowledge of our seventeenth1           
eighteenth and nineteenth century       
,belles ,lettres2 and here1 as a rule1  
he can acquit himself creditably4       
,though far from a sound1 he is a       
sympathetic critic2 he has an agreeable 
but somewhat affected style1 and  can   
gossip pleasantly and plausibly about   
subjects which are within the  range    
indicated4 ,but at this point1 as is    
painfully apparent1 his  qualifications 
for being an historian and critic of    
,english ,literature  end4 ,the moment  
he steps out of this area he is at the  
mercy of his  handbooks2 so completely  
at their mercy that he does not even    
know how  to use them4 ,and it is here  
that ,mr4 ,gosse becomes so irritating1 
partly  because of the sheer audacity   
with which mere inferences are          
substituted for facts and simple        
assumptions for deduced                 
generalizations1 and partly because of  
the habitual employment of  phraseology 

so vague and indeterminate that it is   
difficult to submit  what it conveys to 
positive test4 ,these are serious       
charges to bring  against any writer2   
and if they cannot be abundantly        
substantiated1 a  still more serious    
charge may justly be urged against the  
accuser4    ,to turn to the work4 ,on   
page #he ,mr4 ,gosse favours us with the
 following  account of the ,faerie      
,queene3 8,a certain grandeur which     
sustains the  three great ,cantos of    
,truth1 ,temperance1 and ,chastity fades
 away as we  proceed4444 ,the structure 
of it is loose and incoherent when we   
compare  it with the epic grandeur of   
the masterpieces of ,ariosto and        
,tasso40 ,it  would be difficult to     
match this2 every word which is not a   
blunder is  an absurdity4 ,where are    
8the three great ,cantos08 ,can ,mr4    
,gosse possibly  be ignorant that the   
poem is divided into books1 each book   
containing  twelve ,cantos8 ,assuming1  
however1 that he has confounded books   

with  ,cantos1 where is the great book  
dealing with #8,truth'8 ,as he places it
  before #8,temperance1' we presume that
 he means the first book and that he    
has confounded #8,truth' with           
#8,holiness4' ,this is pretty well1 to  
begin  with4 ,where1 we next ask in     
amazement1 is the #8grandeur' which     
sustains  the prolix farrago of the     
third book1 and which #8fades away' as  
we  proceed to the only book which      
almost rivals the first and second1 the 
fifth1 and the sublimest portion of the 
whole work1 the superb ,cantos  which   
represent all that remains of the       
seventh8 ,what1 we gasp1 is the  meaning
 of the #8epic grandeur' of ,ariosto8   
and 8the loose and incoherent           
structure0 of the ,faerie ,queene when  
compared with that of the  ,orlando     
,furioso8 ,could any poem be more loose 
and incoherent in  structure than the   
,orlando1 or any term be less           
appropriate to its  tone and style than 
#8grandeur'8 ,on page #hj he actually   

tells us that  ,fox's well-known ,book  
of ,martyrs was written in ,latin and   
translated  by ,john ,day1 and that it  
is ,john ,day's translation of the      
,latin original  which represents that  
work1 confounding ,fox's ,commentarii   
,rerum in  ,ecclesi gestarum1 etc41     
printed at ,basil with the ,acts and    
,monuments  of the ,church1 and making  
,john ,day1 the publisher of it1 the    
translator  of it into ,english6 ,and   
this is his account of one of the most  
celebrated works in our language4 ,of   
,swift's ,sentiments of a ,church of    
,england ,man1 we have the following    
account3 8,that such a tract as the     
,sentiments of a ,church of ,england    
,man1 with its gusts of irony1 its      
white heat of preposterous moderation1  
led on towards ,junius is  obvious40    
,this is an excellent example of the    
confidence which may be  placed in ,mr4 
,gosse's assertions4 ,of this pamphlet1 
it may be sufficient  to say that there 
is not a single touch of irony or satire

 in it2 that  it stands almost alone    
among ,swift's tracts for its perfectly 
temperate  and logical tone2 it is a    
calm appeal to pure reason4 ,there is   
the same  audacity of assertion in      
classing ,feltham's ,resolves with      
,hall's and  ,overbury's ,character     
,sketches1 and ,earle's ,microcosmogonie
 as 8a  typical example0 of 8a curious  
school of comic or ironic portraiture1  
partly ethical and partly dramatic40 ,in
 #afbe1 we are told that ,bacon         
completed the ,sylva ,sylvarum4 ,if ,mr4
 ,gosse knew anything of ,bacon's       
philosophical writings1 he would have   
known that the ,sylva ,sylvarum  never  
was and never could have been completed1
 for it was in itself a  fragment--a    
mere collection of materials to be      
incorporated in the  ,phnomena          
,universi1 a work which was to have been
 six times larger  than ,pliny's        
,natural ,history4 ,in giving an account
 of ,tillotson1 he  speaks of 8the      
serene and insinuating periods0 of the  

elegant  latitudinarian who 8was        
assiduous in saying what he had to say  
in the  most graceful and intelligible  
manner possible40 ,a more perfect       
description of the very opposite of     
,tillotson's style could hardly be      
given4 ,those who are acquainted with   
,fuller's writings will be equally      
surprised to find him classed with      
,jeremy ,taylor and ,henry ,more1 and to
  learn that his style is #8florid and  
involved1' distinguished by its         
#8long-windedness' and #8exuberance4'   
,has ,mr4 ,gosse no apprehension of his 
readers turning to the originals and    
testing his statements8 ,we have        
another of these bold assertions in the 
account of ,lydgate1 derived1 we        
suspect1 from a hasty generalization    
from a remark made about him in ,mr4    
,ward's ,british ,poets4 8,lydgate10    
says ,mr4 ,gosse1 8had a most defective 
ear2 his verses are not to be scanned4  
,his ear was bad and tuneless40  ,any   
one who has read ,lydgate knows that1 if

 we except his heroic  couplets1 a more 
musical poet is not to be found in the  
fifteenth  century1 or1 indeed1 in our  
language2 the softness and smoothness of
 his  verse1 wherever he writes in      
stanzas1 as he generally does1 is indeed
  his chief characteristic4 ,these      
remarks are minor illustrations of an   
accomplishment in which ,mr4 ,gosse has 
no rival4    ,the ,euphuists of the     
sixteenth century drew1 for purposes of 
simile and  illustration1 on a fabulous 
natural history which assumed the       
existence  of certain animals1 herbs1   
and minerals1 and of certain properties 
and  qualities possessed by them4 ,this 
gave great point and picturesqueness  to
 their style1 and though it was         
certainly misleading and occasionally   
perplexing to those who went to them for
 natural history1 it had a most         
charming and imposing effect4 ,mr4      
,gosse seems to have imported a similar 
fiction into criticism4 ,of this we have
 a most amusing illustration on  page   

#aee4 ,speaking of ,herrick ,mr4 ,gosse 
remarks1 8,in the midst of these        
extravagances1 like ,meleager winding   
his pure white violets0--the  ,italics  
are ours--8into the gaudy garland of    
late ,greek ,euphuism1 we  find ,robert 
,herrick40 ,meleager's ,anthology is not
 extant1 but the  dedication is1 and    
from that dedication we know exactly    
from what poets  it was compiled4 ,it   
ranged from about ,b4,c4 #gjj till      
towards the close of  the ,alexandrian  
,age1 for1 with the exception of        
,antipater of ,sidon1 it  is very       
doubtful whether he inserted any        
epigrams by his contemporaries1  but he 
admitted a hundred and thirty-one of his
 own4 ,in other words his  collection   
comprised epigrams composed by the      
masters preceding the  ,alexandrian ,age
 from ,archilochus downwards1 and by    
those who1 during  that age and         
afterwards1 cultivated with scrupulous  
care the simplicity  and purity of the  
early models4 ,indeed1 the poets        

represented in his  ,anthology are1 with
 one exception1 the artists of ,greek   
epigram in its  purest1 simplest1 and   
chastest form4 ,that one exception is   
himself4 ,in  him are first apparent the
 dulcia vitia of the ,decadence2 he is  
full  of dainty subtleties1 he is almost
 more ,oriental than ,greek1 his style  
is luscious1 elaborate and florid4      
,such1 then1 was the composition of     
8the gaudy garland of late ,greek       
,euphuism10 and such the nature of the  
8pure white violets0 wound into it by   
,meleager4 ,it is amusing to trace  ,mr4
 ,gosse's rodomontade to its source4 ,in
 the well-known dedication to  which we 
have referred1 ,meleager prettily       
compares the various poets1  from whose 
works he selects1 to flowers1 speaking  
modestly of his own  contributions as   
8early white violets40 ,to critics like 
,mr4 ,gosse the  rest is easy4          
,meleager1 he no doubt argued1 was an   
excellent poet2 he  belonged to a late  
age3 #8,euphuism'--a delightfully vague 

term1 is likely  to characterise a late 
age2 a poet who compares his verses to  
white  violets had evidently a taste for
 simplicity1 and presumably1 therefore1 
was no ,euphuist2 a gaudy garland is an 
excellent set off for pure white        
violets4 ,and so1 to the great          
perplexity of scholars1 but to the great
  satisfaction of those who enjoy a     
pretty sentence1 ,meleager will         
continue 8to wind his pure white violets
 into the gaudy garland of late  ,greek 
,euphuism40    ,we have a similar       
illustration of the same thing in ,mr4  
,gosse's account  of ,shaftesbury4 ,we  
are told that he 8was perhaps the       
greatest literary  force between ,dryden
 and ,swift02 that 8he deserves         
remembrance as the  first who really    
broke down the barrier which excluded   
,england from  taking her proper place  
in the civilization of literary         
,europe02 that  8he set an example for  
the kind of prose which was to mark the 
central  years of the century02 that    

8his style glitters and rings1 and 444  
yet  so curious that one marvels that it
 should have fallen completely into     
neglect02 that 8he was the first        
,englishman who developed theories of   
formal virtue1 who attempted to         
harmonize the beautiful with the true   
and the good02 that the modern attitude 
of mind seems to meet us first  in the  
graceful cosmopolitan writings of       
,shaftesbury2 that 8without a           
,shaftesbury there would hardly have    
been a ,ruskin or a ,pater40 ,such      
amazing nonsense almost confounds       
refutation by its sheer absurdity4      
,with regard to the first statement1 it 
may be sufficient to say that  between  
the period of ,dryden's literary        
activity and the publication of         
,swift's ,battle of the ,books and ,tale
 of a ,tub were flourishing  ,hobbes1   
,izaak ,walton1 ,bunyan1 ,temple1 and   
,locke2 that between the  publication of
 the ,tale of a ,tub and of             
,shaftesbury's collected  writings were 

flourishing ,addison1 ,steele1 ,de ,foe1
 ,arbuthnot1 ,berkeley4  ,with regard to
 the second statement1 it would be      
interesting to know how  a writer who   
had been preceded by ,bacon1 ,hobbes and
 ,locke1 could be  described as a writer
 who had been the first 8to break down  
the barrier  which excluded ,england    
from taking her proper place in the     
civilization  of literary ,europe40 ,the
 truth is1 that ,shaftesbury exercised  
no  influence at all on ,continental    
,literature until long after our        
,literature had generally become        
influential in ,france4 ,equally absurd 
and baseless is the remark that he 8set 
an example of the kind of prose  that   
was to mark the central years of the    
century40 ,whose prose was  affected by 
him8 ,bolingbroke's8 or ,fielding's8 or 
,richardson's8 or  ,middleton's8 or     
,johnson's8 or ,goldsmith's8 or ,hume's8
 or ,hawkesworth's8  or ,sterne's8 or   
,smollett's8 or ,chesterfield's8 that of
 the writers in  the ,monthly ,review8  

or in the ,adventurer8 or in the ,world8
 or in  the ,connoisseur8 ,to say of    
,shaftesbury's style that 8it glitters  
and  rings10 is to say what betrays     
utter ignorance of its characteristics4 
,as a rule1 it is diffuse1 involved1 and
 cumbrous1 affected1 but with an        
affectation which sedulously aims at the
 very opposite effects of  8glittering  
and ringing40 ,when he is eloquent1 as  
in the ,moralists1 he  imitates the     
style of ,plato2 his vice is florid     
verbosity2 it may be  doubted whether a 
single sentence could be found to which 
,mr4 ,gosse's  description would be     
applicable4 ,if1 it may be added1 his   
style had  8fallen completely into      
neglect10 it is somewhat surprising that
 8he  should set an example for the kind
 of prose which was to mark the  central
 years of the century40 ,when we are    
told that he was 8the first  ,englishman
 who attempted to harmonize the         
beautiful with the true and  the good10 
we ask in amazement whether ,mr4 ,gosse 

has ever inspected the  ,hymns of       
,spenser and the writings of the        
,cambridge ,platonists2 and  when he    
tells us that without a ,shaftesbury    
there would hardly have been  a ,ruskin 
or a ,pater1 we would suggest to him    
that both ,ruskin and ,pater  were      
perhaps not ignorant of the ,platonic   
,dialogues4 ,in the account  given of   
,spenser1 a poem is attributed to him   
which he never wrote4 8,in  one of his  
early pieces1 ,the ,oak and ,the ,briar1
 went far10 etc41 the  oak and the briar
 is simply an episode in the second     
eclogue of the  ,shepherd's ,calendar4  
,mr4 ,gosse1 probably finding it quoted 
in some  book of selections1 has jumped 
to the conclusion that it is a separate 
poem4 ,of ,mr4 ,gosse's qualifications  
for dealing with ,spenser1 we have1  by 
the way1 an excellent example in the    
following remark3 8,spenser1  although  
he boasted of his classical             
acquirements1 was singularly little     
affected by ,greek or even ,latin       

ideas40 ,spenser's ,hymns in honour of  
,love and in ,honour of ,beauty are     
simply saturated with ,platonism1 being 
indeed directly derived from the ,phdrus
 and the ,symposium1  numberless        
passages from which are interwoven with 
the poems4 ,the whole  scheme of the    
,faerie ,queene was suggested by1 and   
based on1  ,aristotle's ,ethics with    
elaborate particularity1 ,arthur1 in his
  relation to the several knights1      
corresponding to the virtue   in its    
relation to the other virtues4 ,the     
conclusion of  the tenth canto of the   
first book is simply an allegorical     
presentation  of the relation of the    
to practical life4 ,the  8,castle of    
,medina0 in the second book is a        
minutely technical exposition  of the   
,aristotelian doctrine of the mean1     
modified by the ,platonic  theory of    
morals3 the three mothers being the 1   
the  1 and 1 the three daughters1       
,elissa1 ,perissa1 and ,medina1 being   
respectively the ,aristotelian  1 the   

and the 4 ,in fact1  the whole passage  
is simply an allegory of the            
,aristotelian doctrine of  the mean4    
,the whole of the ninth canto of the    
second book is founded on  the famous   
passage in the ,timus describing the    
anatomy of man4 ,in  truth the poem     
teems with references to ,plato and     
,aristotle1 and with  passages imitated 
from the ,greek poets1 as every scholar 
knows4 ,and this  is a poet 8singularly 
little affected by ,greek ideas60       
,the same astonishing ignorance is      
displayed in a remark about ,milton4 ,we
  are told that in his youth he was     
8slightly subjected to influence from   
,spenser40 ,if ,mr4 ,gosse had any      
adequate acquaintance with ,milton and  
,spenser1 he would have known that      
,spenser was to ,milton almost what     
,homer was to ,virgil1 that ,spenser's  
influence simply pervades his poems1    
not his youthful poems only1 but        
,paradise ,lost and even ,paradise      
,regained4 ,on page #aid we find this   

sentence3 8,from #affj onwards 444  what
 ,france originally1 and then ,england1 
chose was the imitatio  veterum1 the    
,literature in prose and verse which    
seemed most closely  to copy the models 
of ,latin style4 ,aristotle and ,horace 
were taken1 not  merely as patterns1 but
 as arbiters40 ,it would be very        
interesting to  know what ,english      
author took ,aristotle as a pattern for 
style4 ,is ,mr4  ,gosse acquainted with 
the characteristics of ,aristotle's     
style8 ,should  he ever become so1 he   
will probably have some sense of the    
immeasurable  absurdity of asserting    
that our prose writers from #affj       
onwards took  that style for their      
model4 ,on a par with this is the       
assertion that up  to #afje ,bacon had  
mainly issued his works in 8,ciceronian 
,latin40 ,is ,mr4  ,gosse aware of the  
meaning of 8,ciceronian ,latin08 ,very  
8,ciceronian0  indeed is ,bacon's       
,latinity1 and particularly that of the 
,meditationes  ,sacr1 the only work     

published in ,latin by ,bacon up to     
#afje6 ,it is  scarcely necessary to    
say1 in passing1 that such works as     
,bacon had  published up to #afje were1 
with the one exception referred to1 all 
in  ,english4 ,nothing1 it may be added1
 is so annoying in this book as its     
slushy dilettantism4 ,mr4 ,gosse appears
 to be incapable of accuracy and        
precision4 ,thus he tells us that       
,chaucer's expedition to ,italy in #acgb
  was 8the first of several ,italian    
expeditions40 ,chaucer1 so far as is    
known1 visited ,italy1 after this1      
exactly once4 ,again1 he tells us that  
the ,complaint of ,mars and the         
,parliament of ,fowls are interesting as
  showing that ,chaucer had completely  
abandoned his imitation of ,french      
models4 ,chaucer wrote several poems in 
the pure ,french style1 and based  on   
,french models1 after the date of these 
poems4 ,such would be the  ,rondel      
,merciless ,beauty suggested by         
,williamme d',amiens1 the  ,compleynt of

 ,venus1 partly adapted and partly      
translated from three  ,ballades by ,sir
 ,otes de ,graunson1 and the ,compleynt 
to his ,empty  ,purse1 modelled on a    
,ballade by ,eustache ,deschamps1 while 
,french  influence continued to modify  
his work throughout4 ,on page #bch we   
are  told that ,thomson revived the     
,spenserian stanza2 it had been revived 
by  ,pope1 ,prior1 ,shenstone1 and      
,akenside4 ,on page #aea we are informed
 that  the first instalment of          
,clarendon's ,history remained unprinted
 till  #ageb1 and the rest of it till   
#agei4 ,if ,mr4 ,gosse knew anything    
about one  of the most remarkable       
controversies of the eighteenth century1
 he would  have known that the greater  
part of it was printed and published    
between  #agjb and #agjd1 and frequently
 reprinted between #agjd and #agca4     
,there is not a chapter in the book     
which does not teem with errors4        
,trissino's ,sofonisba was not the only 
work in which blank verse had  attained 

any prominence in ,italy about #aeae2 it
 had been employed in  works equally    
prominent1 by ,rucellai in his          
,rosmunda1 and in his  ,oreste1 as well 
as in his didactic poem ,l',api1 and by 
,alamanni in  his ,antigone1 all of     
which were composed within a few years  
of that  date4 ,on page #abj we are told
 that ,davies was the first to employ1  
on a  long flight1 the heroic quatrain2 
it had been employed by ,spenser in a   
poem extending to nearly a thousand     
lines4 ,nor was ,surrey's essay in      
terza rima 8the earliest in the         
language40 ,chaucer made the same       
experiment1 though a little irregularly1
 in the ,compleynt to his ,lady4  ,we   
are told on page #gi that ,gascoigne was
 8the first translator of ,greek        
tragedy40 ,gascoigne never translated a 
line from the ,greek4 ,his  ,jocasta1 to
 which presumably the reference is made1
 is simply an  adaptation of ,ludovico  
,dolce's ,giocasta4 ,on page #be we are 
informed  that 8,gower's ,french verse  

has mainly disappeared40 ,gower is not  
known  to have written anything in      
,french except the ,ballades and the    
,speculum ,meditantis1 both of which are
 extant1 as it is inexcusable in  any   
historian of ,english ,literature not to
 know4 ,the account given on  page #be  
of the ,confessio ,amantis shows that   
,mr4 ,gosse is very  imperfectly        
acquainted with what he so fluently     
criticises1 or he would  have been aware
 that the seventh book is purely        
episodical and has  nothing whatever to 
do with 8,the lover's symptoms and      
experience40 ,in  the account of ,pope  
we are informed that 8,boileau          
discouraged love  poetry and ,pope did  
not seriously attempt it40 ,pope is the 
author of  the most famous love poem in 
the eighteenth century1 ,eloisa to      
,abelard1 to say nothing of the ,elegy  
to an ,unfortunate ,lady1 of the        
beautiful hymn to ,love in the second   
chorus in the tragedy of ,brutus1  and  
the exquisite fragment supposed to have 

been addressed to ,lady ,mary  ,wortley 
,montagu4 8,the satires of ,pope10 he   
continues1 8would not have  been written
 but for those of his ,french           
predecessor40 ,can ,mr4 ,gosse  possibly
 be ignorant that the satires of ,pope  
are modelled on the  ,satires and       
,epistles of ,horace1 that they owe     
absolutely nothing to  ,boileau1 not    
even the hint for applying ,roman satire
 to modern times1 as  he had precedents 
in his own countrymen ,dryden and       
,rochester8    ,mr4 ,gosse's criticism  
is often very amusing1 as here1 speaking
 of  ,gibbon3 8,perhaps he leaned on the
 strength of his style too much1 and    
sacrificed the abstract to the          
concrete40 ,of all historians who have  
ever lived1 ,gibbon is the most         
8abstract0 and has most sacrificed the  
8concrete0 to the 8abstract10 as every  
student of history knows4 ,on a  par    
with this is the prodigious statement   
7p4 #bia7 that there is 8an  absence of 
emotional imagination0 in ,burke6 ,that 

excellent man1 ,mr4  ,pecksniff1 was1 we
 are told1 in the habit of using any    
word that  occurred to him as having a  
fine sound and rounding a sentence well1
  without much care for its meaning2    
8and this10 says his biographer 8he  did
 so boldly and in such an imposing      
manner that he would sometimes  stagger 
the wisest people and make them gasp    
again40 ,this is precisely  ,mr4        
,gosse's method4 ,about the propriety of
 his epithets and statements1  so long  
as they sound well1 he never troubles   
himself2 sometimes they  are so vague as
 to mean anything1 as often they have no
 meaning at all1  as here3 8,his that is
 ,shelley's style1 carefully considered1
 is seen  to rest on a basis built about
 #agfj1 from which it is every moment   
springing and sparkling1 like a         
fountain1 in columns of ebullient       
lyricism40 ,could pure nonsense go      
further8 ,we have another illustration  
of the same audacity of absurd assertion
 on page #bfj4 ,we are there            

informed--,mr4 ,gosse is speaking of our
 prose literature about the centre  of  
the eighteenth century--that            
8,philosophy by this time had become    
detached from belles lettres2 it was now
 quite indifferent to those  who        
practised it1 whether their sentences   
were harmonious or no4444  ,philosophy  
in fact quitted literature40 ,if there  
was any period in our  prose literature 
when philosophy was in the closest      
alliance with belles  lettres1 and was  
most studious of the graces of style1 it
 was between  about #agej and #agga4 ,in
 those years appeared ,hutcheson's      
,system of  ,moral ,philosophy1 ,adam   
,smith's ,theory of ,moral ,sentiments1 
one of the  most eloquent philosophical 
treatises ever written1 ,burke's        
,treatise on  the ,sublime and          
,beautiful1 ,reid's ,inquiry into the   
,human ,mind1  ,tucker's ,light of      
,nature ,pursued1 ,beattie's ,essay on  
,truth1 to say  nothing of ,hume's      
,inquiry concerning the ,principles of  

,morals1 his  ,political ,discourses1   
and his ,natural ,history of ,religion1 
all of  them works pre-eminently        
distinguished by the graces of style1   
while so  far from philosophy quitting  
belles lettres1 it was during these     
years  that the foundations of          
philosophical criticism were laid by    
,burke1  ,harris1 ,hurd1 ,kames1 and    
others4 ,mr4 ,gosse appears to have     
forgotten  that he had himself told us  
7p4 #bje7 that ,shaftesbury's style set 
the  example of the prose which was to  
mark the central years of the century6  
,thus again ,burton's ,anatomy of       
,melancholy is 8an entertaining neurotic
  compendium02 ,bacon's ,essays are     
8often mere notations 444 enlarged in   
many cases merely to receive the        
impressions of a ,machiavellian         
ingenuity40 ,shelley's ,triumph of ,life
 is 8a noble but vague gnomic  poem1 in 
which ,petrarch's ,trionfi are summed up
 and sometimes excelled40  ,keats'      
8great odes are ,titanic and ,titianic40

 ,on page #bhd we are  informed that for
 fifteen years after the close of #ahjj 
8poetry may be  said to have been       
stationary in ,england40 ,when we       
remember that within  these years       
appeared the best of ,wordsworth's      
poems1 the best of  ,coleridge's1 the   
best of ,scott's1 the best of ,crabbe's1
 the first two  cantos of ,childe       
,harold1 the best of ,campbell's1 the   
best of ,moore's1  and of ,southey's--we
 wonder what can be meant1 till we read 
on to find  that it was 8on the contrary
 extremely active40 ,but 8its activity  
took  the form of the gradual acceptance
 of the new romantic ideas1 the slow    
expulsion of the old classic taste1 and 
the multiplication of examples  of what 
had once for all been supremely         
accomplished in the hollows of  the     
,quantocks40 ,in other words1 its       
activity took the form of its  activity1
 and its activity led to its becoming   
stationary4 ,mr4 ,gosse is  sometimes   
solemnly oracular1 as here3 8,it is a   

sentimental error to  suppose that the  
winds of ,god blow only through the     
green tree2 it is  sometimes the dry    
tree which is peculiarly favourable to  
their passage40  ,it is not sometimes1  
we submit1 but always that the dry tree 
will be  most propitious to their       
passage4 ,but we like ,mr4 ,gosse best  
when he is  eloquent1 as here3 8,in the 
chapel of ,milton's brain1 entirely     
devoted  though it was to a ,biblical   
form of worship1 there were flutes and  
trumpets to accompany one vast          
commanding organ40 ,no wonder poor      
,milton  suffered1 as we know he did    
suffer1 from insomnia6    ,the statement
 that 8so miserable is the poverty of   
the first half of the  seventeenth      
century1 when we have mentioned ,pecock 
and ,capgrave1 there  is no other prose 
writer to be named10 is bad enough4 ,but
 to sum up  ,pecock's work with the     
remark1 8the matter is paradoxical and  
casuistical reasoning on controversial  
points1 in which he secures the         

sympathy neither of the new thought nor 
the old10 is to demonstrate that  ,mr4  
,gosse knows nothing whatever about it4 
,the ,repressor is in many  important   
respects one of the most remarkable     
works in our early prose  ,literature4  
,it would be interesting to know what is
 the meaning of the  following3 8,the   
masterpiece of ,chillingworth stands    
almost alone in a  sort of underwood of 
,theophrastian character sketches40     
,does ,mr4 ,gosse  suppose that ,english
 prose ,literature in and about #afcg is
 represented  by ,hall's ,characters of 
,vices and ,virtues1 by ,sir ,thomas    
,overbury's  ,characters1 and by        
,earle's ,microcosmographie1 which      
appeared  respectively1 not in and about
 #afcg1 but in #afjh1 in #afad1 and in  
#afbh8  ,if this was the underwood in   
which ,chillingworth's work stood1 it   
stood  also in a dense forest           
represented by some of the most         
celebrated prose  writings of the       
seventeenth century1 such as the greater

 part of the  writings of ,bacon and of 
,raleigh1 the ,anatomy of ,melancholy1  
,selden's  ,titles of ,honour and ,mare 
,clausum1 ,lord ,herbert of ,cherbury's 
,de  ,veritate1 ,feltham's ,resolves1   
the best of ,hall's writings1 ,purchas' 
,pilgrims1 ,barclay's ,argenis1 the     
,histories of ,speed1 ,stowe1 ,hayward1 
and ,raleigh1 ,heylin's ,microcosmus1   
,prynne's ,histrio-,mastix1 and the     
famous sermons of ,lancelot ,andrewes1  
all of which appeared between #afjh  and
 #afcg4 ,these are the sort of remarks  
in which ,mr4 ,gosse habitually         
indulges4 ,we have another example in   
the following3 8,shelley's attitude  to 
style is in the main retrograde10 a     
generalization based on the fact  that  
he was no admirer of 8the arabesque of  
the cockney school40 ,but  were         
,shelley's chief contemporaries admirers
 of the arabesque of the  cockney       
school1 or were they affected by it8    
,was ,wordsworth1 was  ,coleridge1 or   
,southey1 or ,byron1 or ,crabbe1 or     

,campbell1 or ,landor8--a  question     
which ,mr4 ,gosse probably never stopped
 to ask himself4 ,on a par  with this is
 the absurd assertion that 8,english    
poetry was born again  during the autumn
 months of #agig40 ,the appearance of   
the ,lyrical  ,ballads did not make1 but
 mark1 an era in our poetry4 ,the       
revolution of  which they were the      
expression had been maturing1 as surely 
but  distinctly as the social and       
political revolution marked by the      
assembly  of the ,states-,general ten   
years before4 ,there was hardly a note  
struck  in the ,lyrical ,ballads which  
had not been struck in our poetry       
between  #agdj and the date of their    
appearance4    ,to call this compilation
 a ,history of ,modern ,english         
,literature is  ludicrous4 ,mr4 ,gosse  
has no conception even of the eras into 
which our  ,literature naturally falls1 
or of the movements which in each of    
those  eras defined themselves4 ,nothing
 could be more misleading and inadequate

  than the accounts given of the        
historians1 theologians1 philosophers1  
and critics1 many of whom--nay1 whole   
schools of whom--are not noticed  at    
all4 ,sidney's epoch-marking little     
treatise is dismissed in four  unmeaning
 lines as 8an urbane and eloquent essay1
 which labours under  but one           
disadvantage1 namely1 that when it was  
composed in #aeha there  was scarcely   
any poesy in ,england to be defended4   
,this was posthumously  printed in      
#aeie40 ,ben ,jonson's not less         
remarkable ,discoveries are not  even   
mentioned4 ,how writers like ,bacon1    
,hooker1 ,hobbes1 ,locke1 and  ,berkeley
 fare we have not space to illustrate4  
,mr4 ,gosse1 indeed1  judging by his    
excursions into the realms of theology  
and philosophy1  has certainly been wise
 to assign more space to ,the ,flower   
and the  ,leaf than is assigned to      
,hobbes1 ,barrow1 ,butler1 and ,paley   
put  together4 ,we have by no means     
exhausted the list of blunders and      

absurdities to be found in this book2   
but we have1 we fear1 exhausted  the    
patience of our readers1 and we must    
bring our examination of it to  a close4
    ,the melancholy thing about all this
 is the perfect impunity with which     
such works as these can be given to the 
public4 ,we have not the smallest  doubt
 that this book has been extolled to the
 skies in reviews which  have not       
detected a single error in it1 and which
 have accepted its  generalizations and 
its criticisms with unquestioning       
credulity2 and we  have as little doubt 
that those scholars who have discerned  
its defects  and absurdities have       
chosen1 from motives possibly of        
kindness1 possibly  of prudence1 and    
possibly in mere contempt1 to maintain  
silence about  them4 ,had it appeared   
twenty years ago1 it would instantly    
have been  exposed and exploded1 indeed 
no writer would have dared to insult    
serious readers by such a publication4  
,what every reader has a right to       

demand from those who take upon         
themselves to instruct him are          
sincerity1 industry1 and competence2 and
 what no critic has a right to  condone 
is ostentatious indifference on the part
 of an author to the  responsibilities  
incurred by him in undertaking to teach 
the public4    ,the sooner ,mr4 ,gosse1 
and writers like ,mr4 ,gosse1 come to   
understand  that1 however ingeniously   
expressed1 reckless generalizations1    
random  assertions and the specious     
semblance of knowledge1 erudition1 and  
authority may pass current for a time1  
but are certain at last to be  detected 
and exposed1 the better for themselves  
and the better for their  readers4 ,if1 
too1 they wish justice to be done to the
 accomplishments  which they really     
possess1 they will do well to remember  
what is implied  in the proverb ,ne     
sutor ultra crepidam1 and what the      
,germans mean by  ,,vermessenheit4      
,,log-,,rolling ,,and ,,education       
,we see no objection to ,mutual         

,admiration ,societies2 they are        
institutions which afford much pleasure1
 and can1 as a rule1 do little  harm4   
,if vanity be a foible1 it is a foible  
well worth cherishing1 and  will be     
treated tenderly even by a philosopher4 
,for1 of all the  illusions which give a
 zest to life1 the illusions created by 
this  flattering passion are the most   
delightful and inspiring4 ,they are so  
easily evoked2 they respond with such   
impartial obsequiousness to the  call of
 the humblest magician4 ,he has but to  
speak the word--and they  are made2 to  
command--and they are created4 ,a       
becomes what ,b and ,c  pronounce him to
 be1 and what ,a and ,c have done for   
,b1 that will ,b and ,a  do in turn for 
,c4 ,it is a delicious occupation1 no   
doubt1 a feast for  each1 in which no   
crude surfeit reigns1 where1 in ,bacon's
 phrase1  satisfaction and appetite are 
perpetually interchangeable2 it is like 
the herbage in the ,paradise of the     
,spanish poet1 8quanto mas se goza  mas 

renace10--the more we enjoy it the more 
it grows4 ,it is an old  game--8,vetus  
fabula per novos histriones03--         
8',twas1 #8,sir1 your law1' and #8,sir1 
your eloquence1'    #8,yours ,cowper's  
manner and yours ,talbot's sense'2      
,thus we dispose of all poetic merit3   
,yours ,milton's genius and mine        
,homer's spirit4    ,walk with respect  
behind1 while we at ease    ,weave      
laurel crowns and take what name we     
please4    #8,my dear ,tibullus6' if    
that will not do1    ,let me be ,horace1
 and be ,ovid you40    ,and there is    
this advantage4 ,if a sufficient number 
of magicians can1 or  will1 combine1    
these illusions may not only serve each 
magician for  life1 but become1 for a   
time1 simply indistinguishable from     
realities4  ,now1 as we said before1 we 
see no great harm in this4 ,it is1 to   
say the  least1 a very amiable and      
brotherly employment2 and were it quite 
disinterested and honest1 it would be   
closely allied with that virtue  which  

,st4 ,paul exalts above all virtues4    
,but everything has or ought to  have   
its limits4 ,when ,boswell attempted to 
defend certain ,methodists who  had been
 expelled from the ,university of       
,oxford1 ,johnson retorted that  the    
,university was perfectly right--8,they 
were examined1 and found to be  mighty  
ignorant fellows40 8,but10 said         
,boswell1 8was it not hard to expel     
them8 for ,i am told they were good     
beings40 8,i believe10 replied the      
sage1 8that they might be good beings1  
but they were not fit to be in  the     
,university of ,oxford4 ,a cow is a very
 good animal in the field1 but  we turn 
her out of a garden40    ,to our certain
 knowledge many of those who owe their  
reputation to the  art to which we are  
referring are good beings1 and we have  
little doubt  that most of those who are
 least scrupulous in practising it are  
good  beings also4 ,indeed it may be    
conceded at once that there is always a 
strong presumption that members of      

,mutual ,admiration ,societies belong to
  this class4 ,on the reciprocity of    
essentially ,christian virtues their    
very existence depends4 ,whatever may be
 thought of their heads1 their  hearts  
are pretty sure to be in the right      
place4 ,they may1 it is true1  act more 
in the spirit of the precept that we    
should do unto others as  we would they 
should do unto us than in that of the   
precept which  pronounces that it is    
more blessed to give than to receive4   
,this1  however1 is a trifle--one of    
those distinctions without differences  
which are so common in ,christian       
ethics4 ,but for ourselves we must1 as  
we have said before1 discriminate4 ,to  
the cow in the field we have no         
objection2 it is of the cow in the      
garden that we complain4    ,to drop    
metaphor3 there are certain spheres of  
literary activity in  which the         
circulation of mutual puffery by this   
clique or by that  clique can do        
comparatively little harm to any one or 

to anything4  ,there are some subjects  
on which every reader is not only       
perfectly  competent to form his own    
judgment1 but is pretty certain to do   
so4 ,he  may amuse himself by seeing    
what the critics have to say1 and he may
 be  induced by them in the first       
instance to turn to the book which is in
  question1 but he is practically       
unaffected by any opinions unless they  
happen to coincide with his own4 ,such  
is the case with books of travel1  with 
novels1 and1 as a rule1 with poetry4    
,here the arts of the  log-roller are as
 harmless as the frolics of whales with 
tubs4 ,no one  takes what he sees       
seriously except those who are engaged  
in the  pastime4 ,if ,mr4 ,a cannot give
 the general public what it appreciates1
  nothing that ,mr4 ,b can say will     
cajole that public into believing that  
it has what it has not4 ,mr4 ,c and ,mr4
 ,d may vociferate1 till they are       
hoarse1 that 8,mr4 ,e is the subtlest   
and most discriminating critic that  the

 ,english-speaking world has ever       
known02 but if ,mr4 ,e's eulogies of    
,mr4 ,c's verses and of ,mr4 ,d's novels
 are not corroborated by the general    
reader's independent judgment1 the fame 
of ,messrs4 ,c and ,d will not  extend  
beyond their clique4 ,if in poetry or   
prose fiction trash  succeeds1 as it    
undoubtedly does1 it succeeds not       
because of the skill  with which it has 
been puffed1 though this may be a factor
 in its  success1 but because it hits   
the popular taste4 ,the public is seldom
  deceived except when it wishes to be  
deceived4 ,log-rolling has much to      
answer for3 it loads our bookstalls with
 nonsense and rubbish1 it  impedes the  
production of sound literature1 it      
degrades the standard of  taste1 it     
degrades the standard of aim and        
attainment1 and indirectly it  is in    
every way mischievous to literature4    
,but we very much question  whether in  
the case of publications which appeal   
directly to general  readers1 and are   

within the scope of their judgments1 the
 fortune of a  book is in any way       
affected by the arts of the log-roller4 
,amusement  mingled with impatience is  
probably the prevailing sentiment when  
,mr4 ,c  and ,mr4 ,d are loud in each   
other's praises4 ,we remember the amban 
strains of ,hayley and ,miss ,seward in 
,porson's epigram3--      ,miss ,seward3
 ,tuneful poet1 ,britain's glory2       
,mr4 ,hayley1 that is you4      ,mr4    
,hayley3  ,ma'am1 you carry all before  
you2                   ,trust me1       
,lichfield ,swan1 you do4             99
       99       99       99       99    
,miss ,seward3 ,ode1 didactic1 epic1    
sonnet2                   ,mr4 ,hayley1 
you're divine4      ,mr4 ,hayley3       
,ma'am1 ,i'll take my oath upon it1     
,you yourself are all the nine4    ,or1 
in a less good-natured mood1 we may     
perhaps recall with a certain           
satisfaction ,pope's cruel but pathetic 
picture of the minor log-rollers  of his
 day3--      ,next plunged a feeble but 

a desperate pack1    ,with each a sickly
 brother at his back4    ,sons of a day6
 just buoyant on the flood1    ,then    
numbered with the puppies in the mud4   
,but there are certain subjects and     
certain spheres in which the arts of    
the log-roller1 if equally contemptible1
 are not quite so harmless4    ,during  
the last fifteen years the ,press has   
been teeming with books  designed to    
circulate among readers who are         
seriously interested in  belles lettres 
and criticism4 ,some of them have       
appeared as volumes in  a series1 some  
as independent monographs and manuals1  
and some in the  humbler forms of       
editorial introductions and notes4      
,among them may be  found works of      
really distinguished scholars1 and works
 in every way  worthy of such scholars2 
and it is no doubt works like these     
which have  given credit and authority  
generally to publications of this kind4 
,the  popularity of these productions   
has been extraordinary1 and their       

manufacture has become one of the most  
lucrative of hackney employments4  ,nor 
is this all4 ,their professed purpose is
 the dissemination of serious           
instruction1 is to become text-books in 
literary history and in literary        
criticism2 and1 as text-books on those  
subjects1 they have made their  way1 or 
are making their way1 not merely into   
our public libraries1 but  also into the
 libraries of nearly every educational  
institute in  ,england4 ,indeed it would
 not be too much to say that if1 among  
general  readers1 about eighty in every 
hundred derive almost all they know     
about  ,english literature1 both        
historically and critically1 from these 
volumes1 in our schools and colleges1   
the average number of those whose       
studies are and ought to be independent 
of them is yearly diminishing4  ,it is  
of these text-books and of the          
responsibilities incurred by those  who 
produce and circulate them that we wish 
to speak4    ,we have already commented 

on the distinction which must be drawn  
between  what is best and what is       
inferior in the publications to which we
 have  been referring2 and1 in truth1   
the difference is one not of degree but 
in kind4 ,as our desire is1 in ,swift's 
phrase1 to lash the vice but spare  the 
name1 we shall not specify the works    
which we have selected as  typical of   
log-rolling in relation to education4   
,till we saw them we had  no conception 
of the lengths to which this sort of    
thing has run4  ,ostensibly the works   
before us are critical and biographical 
monographs  designed to become          
text-books for students of ,english     
literature2 they  may be more correctly 
described as complete epitomes of the   
art of  puffery4 ,the writers begin by  
assuming that the objects of their      
ludicrous adulation--who are1 like      
themselves1 contributors of the  average
 order to current periodicals1 and the  
authors of monographs  similar to their 
own--are by general consent critics of  

classical  authority4 ,the most         
deferential references are made to them 
in almost  every page4 ,now it is       
8,goethe and ,mr4 ,so-and-so have       
observed10 or  8,coleridge has remarked1
 but ,mr4 ,so-and-so is inclined to     
think10 etc4  ,sometimes it assumes the 
form of a sort of awful reverence1 as   
8,mr4  ,so-and-so is a little uncertain1
 but surely he more than hints10 or     
8,mr4  ,so-and-so1 as we all know1 was  
once of opinion1 though he has recently 
found reason to alter10 etc4 ,we saw not
 long ago in the notes to a  certain    
edition of a classical author3          
8,socrates and ,mr4 ,x---- of  ,trinity 
have observed10 etc4 ,occasionally this 
homage expresses  itself--and this is   
more serious--in the form of long       
extracts from ,mr4  ,so-and-so's        
writings4 ,nothing is more common in    
works like these than to  find critics  
and writers of classical authority      
either completely  ignored1 or1 if cited
 at all1 cited only in the connection   

which we have  indicated4 ,that the     
gentlemen who are the subjects of this  
grotesque  flattery either have paid or 
will pay their friends in kind may1 of  
course1 be taken for granted4 ,thus one 
factitious reputation builds up         
another1 and one bad book ushers in     
twenty which are worse4    ,macaulay has
 an amusing passage in which he has     
collected the names of  those who1      
according to ,horace ,walpole1 were 8the
 first writers0 in  ,england in #agec4  
,it might have been expected that ,hume1
 ,fielding1 ,dr4  ,johnson1 ,richardson1
 ,smollett1 ,collins1 and ,gray would at
 least have had  a place among them4    
,not at all4 ,they were ,lord ,bath1    
,mr4 ,w4 ,whithed1 ,sir  ,charles       
,williams1 ,mr4 ,soame ,jenyngs1 ,mr4   
,cambridge1 and ,mr4 ,coventry2 in      
other words1 a clique of politicians and
 men of fashion of the very  titles of  
whose writings even a reader tolerably  
well read in the  literature of those   
times might excusably be ignorant4 ,we  

are not  exaggerating when we say that  
this system of strenuous and            
well-directed  mutual puffery is1 in our
 own time1 leading to similarly         
perverted  conceptions about the        
relative position of those who owe their
 celebrity  to these ignoble arts and   
those on whose fame ,time's test has set
 its  seal1 not merely on the part of   
the general public1 but on the part of  
those who are responsible for the books 
introduced into schools and  educational
 institutes4 ,we will give an           
illustration4    ,at a meeting held not 
long ago1 for the purpose of prescribing
 books for  a ,reading ,society1 the    
choice lay between some of ,johnson's   
,lives1  ,select ,essays by ,sainte     
,beuve1 and ,select ,essays by ,matthew 
,arnold on  the one hand1 and on the    
other certain books typical of the      
literature  of which we have been       
speaking4 ,the debate which ensued was  
very  amusing4 ,a member of the         
committee1 a gentleman of conservative  

temper1  strongly urged the claims of   
,johnson1 ,sainte ,beuve1 and ,arnold1  
on the  ground that it was the duty of  
the ,society to encourage the study of  
what was excellent and of classical     
quality1 especially in criticism2  that 
it was not merely the information       
contained in a book which had to  be    
considered1 but the style1 the tone1 the
 touch2 that the monographs  proposed as
 an alternative could scarcely be       
regarded as of the first  order1 either 
in expression or in matter1 for he had  
observed1 though he  had only glanced at
 them1 several solecisms in grammar and 
several  inaccuracies of statement2 and 
he concluded by adding that other       
writings of these particular authors    
with which he happened to be more       
familiar had not prejudiced him in their
 favour4 ,upon that1 another  member of 
the council1 who had been busily conning
 the ,press notices  inserted in the    
monographs in question1 pleaded their   
claim to  preference4 8,dr4 ,johnson10  

he remarked1 8was no doubt a great man  
in his  day1 but his day had long been  
over2 no one read him now4 ,sainte      
,beuve  and ,matthew ,arnold might be   
classical and all that1 but they were   
not up  to date40 ,he could not talk as 
an expert on literary matters1 and      
therefore he would not contradict what  
the former speaker had said1  8but there
 could be no doubt that ,messrs4        
,so-and-so10 the authors of the         
monographs in question1 8were very big  
men--bigger men1 ,i should think        
7glancing at the ,press notices in his  
hand71 than ,sainte ,beuve and  ,matthew
 ,arnold4 ,at any rate1 everybody has   
heard of them2 and10 he  continued1     
8listen to this40 ,he then proceeded to 
read out some of the  notices1 adding   
that it was difficult1 if he might say  
so without  offence1 to reconcile what  
his friend1 the preceding speaker1 had  
said  with what was said in these       
notices4 ,he was a little               
staggered--for1  though a simple1 he was

 a shrewd man--when the very remarkable 
similarity between ,mr4 ,a's eulogies of
 ,mr4 ,b and ,mr4 ,b's eulogies of ,mr4 
,a was pointed out to him1 and when1 in 
reference to anonymous testimony1  he   
was reminded that one voice may have    
many echoes4 ,it was generally  felt1   
more especially as ,mr4 ,a or ,mr4 ,b   
had1 we believe1 more than one          
acquaintance among the committee1 that  
the debate was taking rather an         
embarrassing turn4 ,the question was    
then put to the vote1 and the           
monographs were carried by a majority of
 three to one4    ,what occurred at this
 meeting is occurring every day1        
variously  modified1 wherever the choice
 of books is in question1 whether in    
public  libraries or in educational     
institutions4 ,a literature1 the sole   
credentials of which are derived from   
those who produce and circulate  it1 is 
gradually superseding that of our       
classics4 ,we seem in truth to  be      
losing all sense of the essential       

distinction between the writings of  the
 average man of letters and those of the
 masters4          ,,our ,,literary     
,,guides    ,,iii4 ,,books ,,worth      
,,reading#bj    ,footnote #bj3 ,books   
,worth ,reading4 ,a ,plea for the ,best 
and an ,essay  towards ,selection1 with 
,short ,introductions4 ,by ,frank ,w4   
,raffety1  ,london4      ,were it not   
for its melancholy significance1 this   
would be one of the  most amusing books 
which it has ever been our fortune to   
meet with4 ,of  ,mr4 ,frank ,w4 ,raffety
 we have not the honour to know         
anything1 except  what we have gathered 
from this little volume and from its    
title-page4  ,but he must be a          
singularly interesting gentleman4 ,his  
enthusiasm for  books1 his portentous   
ignorance of them2 his strenuous desire 
to improve  the popular taste by        
pleading for the best1 his instinctive  
tendency to  make in all cases for the  
worst2 his sublime intolerance of       
everything  in literature which falls   

short of excellence1 his more than      
sublime  indifference to the commonest  
rules of grammar and syntax in          
expressing  that intolerance2 the navet1
 the frankness1 the recklessness with   
which he displays his incompetence for  
the task which he has  undertaken--in   
these qualifications and accomplishments
 ,mr4 ,raffety is  not perhaps alone1   
but he has certainly no superior4       
,mr4 ,raffety aspires to guide his      
readers through the chief literatures   
of the world4 ,now the task of a        
reviewer1 who has a conscience1 is not  
always a cheerful one1 and we confess   
that1 when we had generally  surveyed   
,mr4 ,raffety's work1 we resolved to    
amuse ourselves by trying to  discover  
of which of the literatures1 to which   
,mr4 ,raffety constitutes  himself a    
guide1 ,mr4 ,raffety is probably most   
ignorant4 ,it is a nice  point4 ,let our
 readers judge4 ,we will begin with ,mr4
 ,raffety and the  ,classics4 ,of       
,theognis1 the most voluminous of the   

,greek ,gnomic poets1 it  is said that  
8only a few sentences0--,mr4 ,raffety is
 presumably under the  impression that  
,theognis wrote in prose--8quoted in the
 works of ,plato  and others survive40  
8,the ,greek ,anthology10 we are        
astounded to learn1  8is by ,lord       
,neaves0 and 8is one of the best volumes
 in the ,a4,c4,e4,r4  series40 ,what    
,mr4 ,raffety no doubt means is1 that   
,lord ,neaves is the  author of a       
monograph on the ,greek anthology1 as he
 certainly was4 ,with  regard to        
,herodotus1 ,mr4 ,raffety has evidently 
got some information not  generally     
accessible4 ,his ,history1 we are told1 
8is a great prose  epic4444 ,the second 
book is of the most interest4 ,in other 
works are the  histories of ,crsus1     
,cyrus10 etc4 ,it would be interesting  
to know  what other works besides his   
,history ,herodotus has left4 ,of the   
,prometheus ,bound of schylus ,mr4      
,raffety gives the following            
interesting account4 ,it contains1 he   

says1 8the story of ,prometheus and  his
 defiance of ,jupiter1 who condemned him
 to be bound to a rock1 where  he died  
rather than yield40 ,we exhort ,mr4     
,raffety1 before his work  passes into a
 second edition1 to consult his         
,classical ,dictionary4    ,of the      
translations recommended by ,mr4        
,raffety we should very much like  to   
get a sight of the translation of       
,pindar by ,calverley1 of the joint     
translation of the same classic by      
,messrs4 ,e4 ,myers and ,a4 ,lang1 and  
of  the joint translation of ,thucydides
 8by ,jowett and ,rev4 ,h4 ,dale1 #b    
vols40 ,of ,herodotus1 of schylus1 of   
,sophocles1 of ,pindar1 of ,polybius1   
of ,demosthenes1 what are1 by general   
consent1 esteemed the best  translations
 are not so much as mentioned4 ,latin   
literature fares even  worse in the     
hands of our guide4 ,mr4 ,raffety       
appears to know no more  about ,catullus
 than that he was a writer of epigrams4 
,such trifles as  the ,attis1 the       

,peleus and ,thetis1 the ,julia and     
,manlius marriage  song1 the ,coma      
,berenices1 the love lyrics and         
threnodies he does not  condescend to   
notice4 ,in 8guiding0 his readers to    
translations of  ,lucretius and         
,juvenal1 ,munro's version of the first 
in prose and  ,gifford's version of the 
second in verse--which ,conington       
pronounced to  be the best version of   
any ,roman classic in our language--are 
not so  much as referred to4 ,nor1      
again1 in the case of ,plautus and      
,terence1  are the excellent versions of
 ,thornton and ,coleman noticed4        
,tacitus1 who  is oddly described as    
8the foremost man of the day10 an       
estimate which  might have pleased but  
which would certainly have surprised    
him1  chronicled1 we are told1 8the     
foundation of the ,christian religion40 
,mr4  ,raffety's assurance on this point
 will probably disappoint inquisitive   
readers4 ,equally surprising are the    
portions of the work dealing with  the  

modern literatures4 ,in the course of   
these we learn that 8the  ,nibelungen   
,lied is the oldest drama in ,europe02  
that the  ,areopagitica and the ,defence
 of the ,people of ,england are         
,milton's  best prose writings--,mr4    
,raffety apparently not being aware that
 the  second work is in ,latin1 and that
 if he means the first ,defence1 it is  
anything but one of the best of         
,milton's writings4 ,we are also        
informed  that ,dryden was most valuable
 as a translator from the ,greek and    
,latin2  ,dryden's versions from the    
,greek begin and end with paraphrases of
 four  ,idylls of ,theocritus1 the first
 book of the ,iliad and the parting of  
,hector and ,andromache from the sixth1 
and are notoriously the very worst      
things he ever did4    ,sometimes ,mr4  
,raffety fairly takes our breath away1  
as when he informs  us that ,gray's tomb
 can be seen in the little churchyard of
 ,stoke ,pogis  8with the ,elegy written
 upon it40 ,can ,mr4 ,raffety be        

acquainted with  the length of the      
,elegy and with the proportions of a    
tombstone8  ,chaucer1 we are informed1  
wrote some poems in ,italian4 ,we should
 very  much like to see them1 and so    
probably would ,professor ,skeat1 for   
they  appear to have escaped the notice 
of all ,chaucer's editors4 ,swift's     
,tale of a ,tub was written1 we are     
told1 8against the teaching of          
,hobbes60    ,it is indeed impossible to
 open this book anywhere without        
alighting on  some most discreditable   
blunder or absurdity4 ,thus we are      
informed that  ,macaulay's essay on     
,burleigh treats of the time of ,james  
,i4--,burleigh1  as we need hardly say1 
dying nearly five years before ,james   
came to the  throne1 and ,macaulay's    
essay having no reference at all to     
,james ,i4's  time4 8,there is10 says   
,mr4 ,raffety1 8no more stirring lyric  
than ,the  ,cotter's ,saturday ,night10 
a remark which shows that ,mr4 ,raffety 
does  not know what a lyric poem is4    

,but to look for blunders in ,mr4       
,raffety's  pages would be to look for  
leaves in a summer forest4 ,his critical
  remarks and biographical notes are    
truly delightful4 ,we wish we had  space
 to quote some of them4 ,of their       
general quality the following  profound 
remark is a fair specimen3--8,dante     
requires study1 and an  endeavour after 
appreciation40 ,mr4 ,raffety is always  
anxious to conduct  his readers by short
 cuts and to save them trouble4         
,macaulay's ,essays1  for example1      
should be read before his ,history2     
8they will be more  easily tackled10 he 
says1 8than the ,history in the first   
instance40  ,but on the subject of      
,gibbon ,mr4 ,raffety is adamant1 being 
fully of the  late ,professor ,freeman's
 opinion--8,whatever else is read1      
,gibbon must be  read40 ,how ,gibbon is 
to be read1 or why ,gibbon is to be     
read1 or in what  edition he should be  
read1 ,mr4 ,raffety does not explain4   
,now1 what possible end can be served by

 books like these1 except to  misguide  
and misinform8 ,here is a writer1 who   
certainly leaves us with  the impression
 that he cannot read the ,greek and     
,latin classics in the  original1       
setting up as a director of classical   
study1 and pronouncing  ex cathedr on   
the merits of translations of these     
classics4 ,his  knowledge of the modern 
literature is1 as is abundantly         
manifest1 though  we have neither space 
nor patience to illustrate1 equally     
insufficient  and unsubstantial1 and yet
 he undertakes to initiate and guide the
  inexperienced in these studies4 ,this 
book is presented to the public in  a   
most attractive form1 being excellently 
printed on excellent paper1  and will   
naturally be taken seriously by those to
 whom it appeals4 ,it is  for this      
reason that we also have felt it our    
duty to take it seriously4  ,and1 as we 
believe that every bad book stands in   
the way of a good one1  we can promise  
,mr4 ,raffety1 and writers like ,mr4    

,raffety1 that we shall  continue to    
take them seriously4          ,,the     
,,new ,,criticism#ba    ,footnote #ba3  
,retrospective ,reviews4 ,a ,literary   
,log4 ,by ,richard ,le  ,gallienne4 #b  
vols4      ,nearly two thousand years   
ago ,horace observed that1 though every 
calling  presupposed some qualification 
in those who followed it1 and a man who 
knew nothing of marine affairs would not
 undertake to manage a ship1 or  a man  
who knew nothing of drugs to compound   
prescriptions1 yet everybody  fancied   
himself competent to commence poet4     
,qualified or unqualified1 at  it we all
 go1 he complains1 and scribble verses4 
,but times have changed1  and those who 
in ,horace's day were the pests of      
poetry1 with which they  could amuse    
themselves without mischief1 have now   
become the pests of  another kind of    
literature in which their diversions are
 not quite so  harmless4 ,where the     
poetaster once stood the criticaster now
 stands4 ,the  transformation of the one

 pest into the other1 where they do not1
 as  they often do1 become both1 is     
easily accounted for1 and as ,dr4       
,johnson  has so excellently explained  
it1 we cannot do better than transcribe 
his words4 8,criticism10 says the       
,doctor1 8is a study by which men grow  
important and formidable at a very small
 expense4 ,the power of invention  has  
been conferred by nature upon few1 and  
the labour of learning those  sciences  
which may by mere labour be attained is 
too great to be  willingly endured2 but 
every man can exert such judgment as he 
has upon  the works of others1 and he   
whom nature has made weak and idleness  
keeps  ignorant may yet support his     
vanity by the name of critic40 ,but     
criticasters and their patrons have     
improved on this--for 8he whom  nature  
has made weak and idleness keeps        
ignorant0 may1 in our time1 not  merely 
support his vanity1 but support himself4
    ,till we inspected the volumes      
before us1 we had really no conception  

of  the pass to which things have now   
come in so-called criticism4 ,the       
writer sits in judgment on most of the  
authors who have1 during recent  years1 
been before the public4 ,he passes      
sentence not merely on current          
novelists1 poets1 and essayists1 but on 
some of our classics1 and on  books like
 the late ,mr4 ,pater's ,lectures on    
,plato and ,platonism and  ,dr4         
,wharton's edition of ,sappho4 ,to any  
acquaintance with the  principles of    
criticism1 to any conception of         
criticism in relation to  principles1 to
 any learning1 to any scholarship1 to   
any knowledge of the  history of        
literature and of the masterpieces of   
literature1 either in  our own language 
or in other languages1 he has not the   
smallest  pretension4 ,nor does he allow
 this to be gathered simply from the    
work  itself1 where it is1 needless to  
say1 abundantly apparent1 but with a    
navet and impudence which are at once   
ludicrous and exasperating he  glories  

in his ignorance4 ,literature and its   
interpretation are to him  what the     
,bible and its interpretation were to   
the ranting sectaries of  ,dryden's     
satire4 ,in its explanation knowledge   
and learning were folly1  nothing was   
needed but 8grace40      8,no measure   
ta'en from knowledge1 all from grace1   
,study and pains were now no more their 
care1    ,texts were explained by       
fasting and by prayer40    ,so to our   
critic knowledge and learning are of    
equal unimportance--nay1  equally       
contemptible--and all that is needed to 
take the measure of  ,plato and         
,wordsworth is1 in his own words1 8the  
capacity for  appreciation40 ,with this 
very slender outfit he sits down to the 
work of  criticism1 to enlighten the    
world de omni scibili in literature1    
from  the lyrics of ,sappho1 8the       
singer1 a single petal of whose rose is 
more than the whole rose-garden of later
 women singers10 to 8the  statesmanlike 
reach and grasp0 of ,mr4 ,e4 ,gosse's   

essays4    ,to discuss seriously the    
opinions or impressions of a writer of  
this  kind would be as absurd as to     
attempt to fight gnats with a sword1 and
  we shall merely content ourselves with
 transcribing1 without comment1 a  few  
of the aphorisms with which these       
volumes are studded4 8,criticism is  the
 art of praise40 8,shakespeare is the   
greatest ,english poet1 not  because he 
created ,hamlet and ,lear1 but because  
he could write that  speech about       
,perdita's flowers and ,claudio's speech
 on death in ,measure  for ,measure40   
8,the perfection of prose is the essay1 
of poetry the  lyric1 and the most      
beautiful book is that which contains   
the most  beautiful words40 ,these      
specimens will probably suffice4 ,mr4   
,le  ,gallienne is also of opinion that 
8culture is mainly a matter of          
temperament0--that 8a man is born       
cultured10 that mere education and      
study are to such a one not simply      
superfluities1 but impertinences4       

8,what matters it10 he eloquently asks1 
8that one does not remember or  even has
 never read great writers8 ,our one     
concern is to possess an  organization  
open to great and refined impressions40 
,a paltry scholar1  for example1 may be 
able to construe ,sappho1 but it is only
 8an  organization open to great and    
refined impressions0 which can discern  
7in a crib7 8the pathos of eternity in  
some twenty words0 of 8this  passionate 
singer of ,lesbos40 ,plato may be       
studied by poor pedants1 but  to an     
organization of this kind the binding of
 a volume is sufficient  enlightenment2 
8to merely hold in the hand and turn    
over its pages is a  counsel in style10 
for do not 8the temperate beauty1 the   
dry beauty  beloved of ,plato1 find     
expression in the sweet and stately     
volume  itself0 he is 8reviewing0 the   
late ,mr4 ,pater's lectures on ,plato1  
8with its smooth night-blue binding1 its
 rose-leaf yellow pages1 its  soft and  
yet grave type08 ,the value of ,mr4 ,le 

,gallienne's judgments1 of  his praise1 
and of his censure1 which1 ludicrous to 
relate1 are quoted  by some publishers  
as recommendations1 or 8opinions of the 
press10 may  be estimated by these      
dicta1 and by this theory of a critical 
education4    ,macaulay somewhere speaks
 of a certain nondescript broth which1  
in some  ,continental inns1 was kept    
constantly boiling1 and copiously       
poured1  without distinction1 on every  
dish as it came up to table4 ,the writer
 of  these essays appears1              
metaphorically speaking1 to be provided 
with a  similar abomination4 ,whatever  
be his theme1 poem1 essay1 novel1       
picture1  he contrives to serve it up   
with the same condiment1 a sickly and   
nauseous compound of preciosity and     
sentimentalism4    ,the melancholy thing
 about all this is the profound         
unconsciousness on  the part of the     
author of these volumes that he is      
exciting ridicule2  that he is1 in      
,shakespeare's phrase1 making himself a 

motley to the  view4 ,but there are     
considerations more melancholy still4   
,we should not  have noticed these      
volumes had they not been representative
 and typical  of a school of so-called  
critics which is becoming more and more 
prominent4 ,incredible as it may seem1  
there are certain sections of  literary 
society and of the general public which 
take ,mr4 ,le ,gallienne  and his dicta 
quite seriously1 and to which the       
prodigious nonsense in  these volumes   
does not present itself as absurdity1   
but as the articles  of a creed4 ,these 
essays have1 moreover1 appeared in      
publications the  names of some of which
 carry authority4 ,it is1 therefore1    
high time that  some stand should be    
made1 some protest entered against      
writings which  cannot fail to corrupt  
popular taste and to degrade the        
standard of  popular literature4 ,of one
 thing we are very certain1 that no     
self-respecting literary journal which  
undertook to review these volumes  could

 allow them to pass without             
denunciation4    ,of ,mr4 ,le ,gallienne
 we know nothing personally4 ,he is1 if 
we are rightly  informed1 still a young 
man1 and we would in all kindness exhort
 him to  turn the abilities which he    
undoubtedly possesses to better account4
  ,there is much in these essays which  
shows that he was intended for          
something better than to further the    
decadence4 ,if1 instead of sneering  at 
scholars1 affecting to despise learning 
and study1 indulging in silly           
paradoxes1 tinsel epigrams1 and absurd  
generalisations1 he would read  and     
think1 and endeavour to do justice to   
himself and to his  opportunities1 he   
might1 we make no doubt1 obtain an      
honourable  reputation4 ,there is much  
which is attractive in his work1 and in 
the  personality reflected in it4 ,he is
 not a charlatan1 for though he is      
ignorant1 he is honest4 ,genial and     
sympathetic1 he has much real  critical 
insight1 and1 in going through his      

volumes1 we have noted many  remarks    
which were both sound and fine4 ,at its 
best his style is  excellent1--clear1   
lively1 and engaging4 ,let him cease to 
play the  buffoon1 which can only end in
 his gaining the applause of mere fools 
and the contempt of every one else4     
,,the ,,gentle ,,art ,,of               
,,self-,,advertisement      ,the        
illustrious ,barnum once observed that1 
if a man's capital consisted  of a      
shilling1 one penny of that shilling    
should be spent in purchasing           
something1 and the remaining            
eleven-pence should be invested in      
advertising what was purchased4 ,there  
was1 perhaps1 a touch of  exaggeration  
in that great man's remark1 but it was  
founded on a  profound knowledge both of
 human nature and of the world4         
,intrinsically  nothing is valuable2    
things are what we make or imagine them4
 ,even the  diamond1 as a costly        
commodity1 exists on suffrage4 ,if a man
 cannot  persuade his fellow-creatures  

that he has genius1 talent1 learning1   
8'twere all alike as if he had them     
not40 ,what ,persius asks with a  sneer1
 8,scire tuum nihil est1 nisi te scire  
hoc sciat alter80--is your  knowledge   
nothing1 unless some one else know that 
you are knowing8--a  wiser man would ask
 in all seriousness4 ,shakespeare was   
never nearer the  truth than when he    
wrote--            8,no man is the lord 
of anything1    ,though in and of him   
there be much consisting1    ,till he   
communicates his parts to others2       
,nor doth he of himself know them for   
aught1    ,till he behold them formed in
 the applause    ,where they are        
extended40    ,and never was a man more 
mistaken than the old preacher who said 
to his  congregation1 8,if you have a   
talent in your napkin1 you should take  
care  not to hide it2 but if you have no
 talent1 but only a napkin1 you should  
not so flourish your napkin as to create
 the impression that it is full  of     
talents40 ,why1 this is just what nine  

men in ten who court fame have  to do4  
,nature is kind1 but seldom profuse4 ,if
 she really endows a man  with what1 if 
trumpeted1 would make him famous1 the   
odds are she couples  with her gifts    
pride1 modesty1 or self-respect1 which1 
to say the least1  heavily handicap him 
in the race for reputation4 ,when she   
does not endow  with the reality1 she   
compensates by bestowing the power of   
acquiring  the credit for it4 ,she is1  
as a rule1 much too thrifty to heap on  
the  same man the keen pleasures of     
genuine enthusiasm and the sweets of    
popular applause4 ,an impartial mother1 
she loves all her children1 and  divides
 her favours equally between shams and  
true men4 ,this ,churchill  marks in his
 brutal way2 speaking of a certain      
contemporary1 he  describes him as      
endowed with      8,that low cunning    
which in fools supplies1    ,and amply  
too1 the place of being wise1    ,which 
,nature1 kind1 indulgent parent1 gave   
,to qualify the blockhead for a knave40 

,but our business is not with knaves and
 blockheads1 but with 8gentler  cattle10
 and the quotation demands an apology4  
,the importance of the art of           
self-advertisement1 as must be          
abundantly  clear from the preceding    
remarks1 can scarcely be overestimated4 
,though  it is perhaps still in its     
infancy1 its progress during the last   
few  years has been most encouraging4   
,the old coarse methods so familiar to  
us in the past1 and still successfully  
practised in the present--we mean       
mutual admiration cliques1 log-rolling1 
and what is vulgarly known as  8pulling 
the strings0--have been greatly improved
 upon and refined4  ,bentley's famous   
remark when1 explaining how it was that 
he took to  commentating1 he said1 that 
as he despaired of standing on his own  
legs  in the ,temple of ,fame1 he got on
 to the shoulders of the ,ancients1     
appears to have suggested one of the    
most ingenious of modern  expedients4   
,this consists of 8getting up0 a        

memorial to some  distinguished man--a  
statue1 it may be1 or modest bust4 ,some
 labour1  some ability1 and some        
learning are involved in the more       
cumbrous device  of ,bentley4 ,but here 
all is simple and very easy4 ,you are on
 the  shoulders of your great man at a  
bound1 and stand side by side with him  
in a trice4 ,there is nothing which     
redounds to his credit which does  not  
redound to your own4 ,as the ,red       
,indian is under the impression that  in
 possessing himself of a scalp he       
possesses himself of the virtues        
belonging to the former owner of the    
scalp1 so this tribute of  enthusiastic 
admiration quietly assumes1 without     
trouble1 all that  enthusiastic         
admiration naturally implies4 ,is the   
object of your homage  a poet1 a critic1
 a scholar1 the very fact that you pay  
him homage is1  in itself1 testimony of 
your own right to one or other of these 
honourable titles4 ,if1 moreover it     
should happen that you know very  little

 about the writings of the author whom  
you have elected to honour1  this is of 
no consequence2 for of all the disguises
 which ignorance can  assume1           
8enthusiasm0 is the most effective4 ,nor
 are these the only  advantages of this 
particular method of getting reputation4
 ,the  collection of subscriptions and  
the formation of a committee bring you  
into contact1 or may1 if judiciously    
managed1 bring you into contact  with   
all your distinguished contemporaries2  
and we know what the proverb            
says--8,noscitur a sociis0--a man is    
what his companions are4    ,but nothing
 is more effectual1 for purposes of     
self-advertisement1 than  a device which
 has lately been practised with signal  
success4 ,this  consists of scraping up 
an acquaintance with some person1 whose 
name is  not unknown to the             
public1--even a second-rate novelist    
will do--and  waiting till he dies4 ,as 
there is a tide in the affairs of men1  
so1 as  we all know1 there is a moment  

at the demise of literary men when the  
voracity of public curiosity knows      
neither distinction nor satiety4 ,this  
is the moment for the self-advertiser to
 nick2 this is the time for him  to     
float1 with his defunct friend1 on the  
lips of men4 ,he will find  readers for 
anything he may choose to print--that   
letter with its  exquisite compliments1 
that conversation in which his poor     
attainments  were so generously         
over-estimated1 or the importance of his
 slight  literary services so much      
exaggerated4 ,of course1 the value of   
such  advertisements will be in         
proportion to the eminence of the       
subject of  the reminiscences--and      
happy1 thrice happy1 those who were able
 to turn  men like ,darwin1 ,tennyson1  
and ,browning to this account2 their    
reputation may be regarded as made4 ,but
 it is not always necessary to  wait    
till great men die1 though it is an     
experiment too bold and  perilous for   
most aspirants to make this sort of     

capital out of them  while they are     
still alive4 ,still audentes fortuna    
juvat1 and it has  been done4 ,a certain
 minor poet published in an ,american   
magazine1 not  many years ago1 an       
article entitled 8,a ,day with ,lord    
,tennyson10 in which  he represented the
 ,laureate as turning the conversation  
on his 7the  minor bard's7 poetry4 ,we  
are told how the great man1 after       
fervently  reiterating a stanza of that 
minor bard which pleased him1 requested 
his  son to take it down in writing2 how
 that son1 though the day was cold  and 
blowy1 took it down2 how ,tennyson      
grasped1 at parting1 his brother  poet's
 hand1 and begged in transport that he  
would 8come again and come  often40 ,he 
came1 we believe1 no more4 ,but what of 
that8 ,he had  accomplished a feat so   
simple and yet so original that it may  
fairly be  questioned whether what ,mr4 
,burnum used to call his masterpiece was
 in  any way comparable to it4 ,to      
interview a great man1 even on an       

assumption of equality1 is1 as we all   
know1 a comparatively easy matter1  but 
to turn the conversation of the great   
man into a seasonable puff of  yourself 
requires a combination of qualities not 
often united in a  single person4 ,the  
worst of feats like these is that they  
must have a  tendency to make great men 
a little shy of encouraging the         
acquaintance  of those to whom they can 
be so useful4 ,but simplicity1 as       
,thucydides  remarks1 is one of the     
chief ingredients of greatness1 and it  
is a  quality very difficult to wear    
out4    ,if ,tennyson's interviewer has 
ever had a rival in the important art   
which has been discussed--for the       
benefit of youthful ambition--in this   
article1 we are inclined to think that  
that rival was the ,rev4 ,aris          
,willmott4 ,this now almost forgotten   
writer was a very voluminous author     
both in verse and prose2 but his merits 
were not appreciated by an  ungrateful  
public so much as they ought to have    

been4 ,he resorted1  therefore1 to the  
following exquisitely ingenious device4 
,he published  a handsome volume1 which 
is now before us1 entitled ,gems from   
,english  ,literature1 thus arranged3   
,bacon1 ,rev4 ,aris ,willmott1 ,jeremy  
,taylor1  ,rev4 ,aris ,willmott1        
,barrow1 ,rev4 ,aris ,willmott1         
sandwiching himself  regularly through  
the prose classics1 and in the same way 
through the  poets--,shakespeare1 ,rev4 
,aris ,willmott1 ,milton1 ,rev4 ,aris1  
etc4 ,as  birthday books1 press notices1
 interviews at home1 portraits of       
distinguished authors in their studies1 
and the like are getting a  little      
stale1 we cordially recommend this rev4 
gentleman's expedient--it  may be       
judiciously modified--to the notice of  
all who are unable to  distinguish fame 
from notoriety4          ,r4 ,l4        
,,stevenson',s ,,letters#bb    ,footnote
 #bb3 ,the ,letters of ,robert ,louis   
,stevenson to his ,family and  ,friends4
 ,selected and ,edited with ,notes and  

,introduction by ,sidney  ,colvin4 #b   
vols4      ,the late ,robert ,louis     
,stevenson is a writer who has every    
title to  commiseration1 and the        
appearance of the volumes before us may 
be said  to mark the climax of his      
misfortunes4 ,diseased and sickly from  
his  birth1 with his life frequently    
hanging on a thread1 he probably never  
knew the sensation of perfect health4   
,during the impressionable years of     
early youth his surroundings appear to  
have been most uncongenial2 he  was     
forced into a profession for which he   
had no taste and no aptitude4  ,in      
constant straits for money1 at times he 
was miserably poor2 his  apprenticeship 
to letters was long and arduous1 for he 
was not one of  ,nature's favourites1   
and attained what he did attain by      
unsparing and  severe labour4 ,his      
wandering and restless life1 bringing   
him as it did  into contact with all    
phases of humanity and with all parts of
 the  world1 was of course in many      

respects favourable to his work1 but it 
had at the same time serious            
disadvantages4 ,it gave him little time 
for  reflection2 it imported a certain  
feverishness into his energy1 and       
rendered that concentration and         
steadiness1 without which no really     
great work can be accomplished1         
impossible4 ,that in these circumstances
  ,stevenson should have produced so    
much1 and so much which is of a high    
order of merit1 is most creditable to   
him1 and not a little surprising4  8,he 
stands10 says his friend ,professor     
,colvin1 8as the writer who in the  last
 quarter of the nineteenth century has  
handled with the most of  freshness and 
inspiriting power the widest range of   
established literary  forms--the moral1 
critical and personal essay1 travels    
sentimental and  other1 parables and    
tales of mystery1 boys' stories of      
adventure1  memoirs2 nor let lyrical and
 meditative verse both ,english and     
,scottish1  and especially nursery      

verse1 a new vein for genius to work in1
 be  forgotten40 ,with some reservation 
this may be conceded1 and this is as    
far as eulogy can legitimately be       
stretched4    ,but1 unhappily1 some of  
,stevenson's admirers have made         
themselves and  their idol ridiculous1  
by raising him to a position his claims 
to which  are preposterous4 ,if he be   
measured with his contemporaries the    
comparison will generally be in his     
favour--he certainly did best what      
hundreds can do well4 ,his essays have  
distinction and excellence2 his  novels1
 travels1 and short tales1 though       
scarcely entitled to the praise  of     
originality1 as they strike no new notes
 and are mere variants of the  work of  
,scott1 ,kingston1 ,ballantyne1 ,de     
,quincey and ,poe1 bear the  impress of 
genius as distinguished from mere       
talent1 and reflect a very  charming    
personality2 his verse1 too1 is pleasing
 and skilful4 ,but when  we are told    
that he will stand the third in a trio  

with ,burns and ,scott1  and when we    
have to listen to serious appeals to    
,edinburgh to raise a  statue to him    
beside the author of ,marmion and the   
,waverley ,novels1  all who truly       
appreciate his work may well tremble for
 the reaction  which is certain to      
succeed such extravagant overestimation4
 ,the truth  is that poor ,stevenson1   
himself one of the simplest1 sincerest  
and most  modest of men1 got involved   
with a clique who may be described as   
manufacturers of factitious             
reputations1--the circulators of a false
  currency in criticism4 ,in these days 
of appeals to the masses it is as  easy 
to write up the sort of works which are 
addressed to them--popular  essays1     
tales and novels--as it is to write up  
the commodities of quack  doctors and   
the shares of bogus companies4 ,the     
production of popular  literature is now
 a trade1 and in some cases this kind of
 puffery is the  work of deliberate     
fraud1 originating from various motives4

 ,in many  cases it simply springs from 
ignorance and critical incompetence1    
current criticism being1 to a           
considerable extent1 in the hands of    
very  young men who1 having neither the 
requisite knowledge nor the proper      
training1 are unable to judge a writer  
comparatively4 ,in other cases it  is to
 be attributed to good nature and the   
tendency in the genial  appreciation of 
real merit to indulge in extravagant    
expression4 ,but the  result is the     
same4 ,a reputation1 so grotesquely out 
of proportion to  what is really merited
 that sober people are inclined to      
suspect that  all is imposture1 is      
gradually inflated4 ,eulogy kindles     
eulogy2  hyperbole is heaped on         
hyperbole2 a ludicrous importance is    
attached to  every trifle which falls1  
or which ever has fallen1 from this     
,press-created ,fetish4 ,while he is    
alive he is encouraged1 or rather       
importuned1 to force his power of       
production to keep pace with the  demand

 for everything bearing his signature2  
when he is dead the very  refuse of his 
study finds eager publishers4    ,this  
kind of thing has obviously many        
advantages1 which are by no means       
confined to the object of the idolatry  
itself4 ,in the first place it  means   
business2 it is the creation of a goose 
which can lay golden eggs1  and it is1  
in the second place1 a creation which   
reflects no little  glory on the        
creators4 ,is it nothing to be the      
satellites of so radiant  a luminary8   
,when the familiar correspondence of the
 great man is  printed1 will not what he
 was pleased to say1 with all the       
friendly  license of private            
intercourse1 in the way of compliment   
and eulogy1 be  proclaimed from the     
house-tops8    ,all this is exactly what
 has happened in the case of poor       
,stevenson4 ,no  man ever took more     
justly his own measure1 or would have   
been more  annoyed at the preposterous  
eulogies of which he has been made the  

subject1 on the part of interested or   
ill-judging friends4 ,we wonder  what he
 would himself have said1 could he have 
seen the letters before  us described1  
as they were described in one of the    
current ,reviews1 as  8the most         
exhaustive and distinguished literary   
correspondence which  ,england has ever 
seen40 ,we entirely absolve ,professor  
,colvin from any  suspicion of being    
actuated by unworthy motives in         
publishing them4 ,it  is abundantly     
clear that he has not published them to 
puff himself1 that  his labour has been 
a labour of love1 and that he believed  
himself to be  piously fulfilling a duty
 to his friend4 ,but they ought never to
 have  been given to the world4 ,more   
than two-thirds have nothing whatever to
  justify their appearance in print1 and
 merely show1 what will surprise  those 
who knew ,stevenson by his literary     
writings1 how vapid1 vulgar and         
commonplace he could be4 ,in their      
slangy familiarity and careless         

spontaneity they remind us of ,byron's1 
but what a contrast do these  trivial   
and too often insipid tattlings present 
to ,byron's brilliance  and point1 his  
wit1 his piquancy1 his insight into life
 and men6 ,only  here and there1 in a   
touch of description1 or in a casual    
reflection1 do  we find anything to     
distinguish them from the myriads of    
letters which  are interchanged between 
young men every day in the year4 ,their 
one  attraction lies in the glimpses    
they reveal of ,stevenson's own charming
  personality1 his kindliness1 his      
sympathy1 his great modesty1 his        
manliness1 his transparent truthfulness 
and honesty4 ,it is amusing to  watch   
him with one of his correspondents who  
was evidently endeavouring  to establish
 a mutual exchange of flattery4 ,the    
urbane skill with which  this           
gentleman's persistently fulsome        
compliments are either fenced or  waived
 aside1 the ironical delicacy with      
which1 when a return is  extorted1 they 

are repaid1 in a measure strictly       
adjusted to desert and  yet certain not 
to disappoint expectant vanity1 are     
quite exquisite4  8,the suns go swiftly 
out10 he writes to him1 referring to the
 death of  ,tennyson and ,browning and  
others1 8and ,i see no suns to follow1  
nothing  but a universal twilight of the
 demi-divinities1 with parties like you 
and me beating on toy drums1 and playing
 on penny whistles about  glow-worms40  
,the indignant letter to the ,new ,york 
,tribune1 in defence  of ,james ,payn1  
who had been accused of plagiarising    
from one of  ,stevenson's fictions1 well
 deserves placing on permanent record1  
as an  illustration of his chivalrous   
loyalty to his friends4    ,we are      
sorry1 we repeat1 that these letters    
have been given to the  world4 ,so far  
as ,stevenson's reputation is concerned 
they can only  detract from it4 ,when   
they illustrate him on his best side    
they merely  emphasise what his works   
illustrate so abundantly that further   

illustration is a mere work of          
supererogation4 ,when they present him1 
as  for the most part they do1 in       
dishabille1 they exhibit him very       
greatly  to his disadvantage4 ,if       
,professor ,colvin had printed about    
one-third of  them1 and retained his    
excellent elucidatory introductions1    
which form  practically a biography of  
,stevenson1 he would have produced a    
work for  which all admirers of that    
most pleasing writer would have thanked 
him4  ,as it is1 he has been guilty1 in 
our opinion1 of a grave error of        
judgment4          ,,literary           
,,iconoclasm#bc    ,footnote #bc3 ,the  
,authorship of the ,kingis ,quair4 ,a   
,new ,criticism by  ,j4 ,t4 ,t4 ,brown4 
,among the worthies of the fifteenth    
century there is no more interesting    
and picturesque figure than the         
,poet-,king of ,scotland1 ,james ,i4    
,long  before the poem on which his fame
 rests was given to the world1          
tradition had assigned him a high place 

among native makers1 and his  countrymen
 had been proud to add to the names of  
,dunbar and ,douglas1 of  ,henryson and 
,lyndsay1 the name of the best of their 
kings4 ,great was  their joy1 therefore1
 when1 in #aghc1 ,william ,tytler gave  
public proof  that the good ,king's     
title to the laurel was no mere title by
 courtesy1  but that he had been the    
author of a poem which could fairly be  
regarded  as one of the gems of         
,scottish literature4 ,there cannot1 in 
truth1 be  two opinions about the       
,kingis ,quair4 ,it is a poem of        
singular charm  and beauty1 and1 though 
it is modelled closely on certain of    
,chaucer's  minor poems1 and is in other
 respects largely indebted to them1 it  
is  no servile imitation2 it bears the  
impress of original genius1 not so  much
 in details and incident as in tone1    
colour1 and touch2 it is a  brilliant   
and most memorable achievement1 and     
,rossetti hardly  exaggerates when he   
describes it as      8,more sweet than  

ever a poet's heart    ,gave yet to the 
,english tongue40    ,for more than a   
hundred years it has been the delight of
 all who care  for the poetry of the    
past1 and the story it tells1 and tells 
so  pathetically1 is now among the      
8consecrated legends0 which every one   
cherishes4 8,the best poet among kings1 
and the best king among poets10  the    
name of the author of the ,kingis ,quair
 heads the list of royal  authors4 ,the 
stanza which he employed1 though        
invented or adopted by  ,chaucer1 takes 
its title from the ,king1 and 8the rime 
royal0 will be in  perpetual evidence of
 his services to poetry1 as the         
,university of ,st4  ,andrews will be of
 his services to learning and education4
 ,no generation  has passed1 from ,sir  
,walter ,scott to ,mrs4 ,browning1 and  
from ,mrs4  ,browning to ,gabriel       
,rossetti1 which has not been lavish of 
honour and  homage to him4    ,but1 it  
seems1 we have all been under a         
delusion4 ,our simple ancestors         

believed that ,james was the author of  
,peebles to the ,play and  ,christ's    
,kirk on the ,green2 but ,peebles to the
 ,play and ,christ's  ,kirk on the      
,green 8are now0--,mr4 ,j4 ,t4 ,t4      
,brown is  speaking--8relegated to the  
anonymous poetry of the sixteenth       
century1  inexorably deposed by the     
internal evidence02 and ,mr4 ,brown     
aspires to  send the ,kingis ,quair the 
same way4 ,his fell purpose is 8to      
deprive  ,james of his singing garment1 
and reduce him to the humbler rank of a 
,king of ,scots40 ,there is something   
almost terrible in the exultation  with 
which ,mr4 ,brown assumes that--the     
,king's claim to every other poem       
attributed to him having been completely
 demolished--it only remains to  deprive
 him of the ,kingis ,quair1 to make his 
poetical bankruptcy  complete4 ,and to  
the demolition of the ,king's claim to  
the 8,quair0 ,mr4  ,brown ruthlessly    
proceeds4 ,now we have no intention of  
entering into the  question of the      

authenticity of the minor poems to which
 ,mr4 ,brown  refers2 but we shall      
certainly break a lance with this       
destructive  critic in defence of       
,james's claim to the ,kingis ,quair4   
,mr4 ,brown contends1 first1 that there 
is no satisfactory external  evidence in
 favour of the ,king's authorship of the
 poem2 and1 secondly1  that the internal
 evidence is almost conclusive against  
him4 ,what are  the facts8 ,in the      
,bodleian ,library is a ,,ms4 the date  
of which is  uncertain1 but it cannot be
 assigned to an earlier period than     
#adhh4  ,this ,,ms4 contains certain    
poems of ,chaucer1 ,hoccleve1 ,lydgate1 
and  others1 together with the ,kingis  
,quair4 ,of the ,kingis ,quair it is1   
so far as is known1 the only ,,ms41 and 
to it alone we owe the  preservation of 
the poem4 ,both title and colophon      
assign the work to  ,james ,i41 the     
words being3 8,heireefter followis the  
quair ,maid be ,king  ,james of         
,scotland ye first1 callit ye ,kingis   

quair1 and ,maid quhen his  ,ma4 wes in 
,ingland10 the colophon running1        
8,explicit1 c41 c41 quod  ,jacobus      
primus scotorum rex ,illustrissimus40   
,this is surely precise  enough2 but    
,mr4 ,brown insists that the statement  
carries very little  weight1 being no   
more than the ipse dixit of not merely  
an  irresponsible1 but of an unusually  
reckless copyist4 ,the recklessness of  
this copyist ,mr4 ,brown deduces from   
the fact that1 of ten poems  attributed 
to ,chaucer in the same ,,ms41 five     
undoubtedly do not belong to  him4 ,on  
this we shall only remark that it would 
be interesting to know  whether these   
poems have been attributed to ,chaucer  
in other ,,mss4 ,in any  case1 ,mr4     
,brown must surely know that it is a    
very different thing for a  copyist to  
miss-assign a few short poems and to    
make a statement so  explicit as the    
statement here made with regard to the  
,kingis ,quair4  ,he must either have   
been guilty of deliberate fraud--and    

what right have  we to assume this8--or 
he must have been misled1 an hypothesis 
which is  equally unwarrantable1 unless 
it be adequately supported4 ,and how    
does  ,mr4 ,brown proceed to support it8
 ,he contends that we have no           
satisfactory evidence from other sources
 that ,james was the author of  the     
poem4 ,walter ,bower1 the one           
contemporary historian1 though he gives 
in his ,scotichronicon an elaborate     
account of the ,king's  accomplishments1
 is silent1 ,mr4 ,brown triumphantly    
observes1 about his  poetry4 ,this may  
be conceded4 ,but ,weldon is equally    
silent about the  poetry of ,james      
,,vi41 and ,buchanan about the poetry of
 ,mary4 ,and what  says the next        
historian1 ,john ,major8 8,in the       
vernacular0--we give the  passage in    
,mr4 ,brown's own version--8he was a    
most skilful composer4444  ,he wrote a  
clever little book about the ,queen     
before he took her to wife  and while he
 was a prisoner10 a plain reference to  

the ,kingis ,quair4  ,testimony to his  
poetical ability is also given by       
,hector ,boyes in his  ,history of      
,scotland1 8,in lingu vernacul tam      
ornata faciebat carmina1  ut poetam     
natum credidisses40 ,so say ,john       
,bellenden1 ,john ,leslie1 and  ,george 
,buchanan4 ,of these witnesses ,mr4     
,brown coolly observes that they  carry 
little or no weight1 because they only  
echo each other and ,major4  ,major1    
,mr4 ,brown insists1 is 8the sole       
authority for the ascription to  ,james 
of the vernacular poems40 ,certainly    
fame in the face of such  critics as    
,mr4 ,brown is held on a very precarious
 tenure4 ,dunbar1 in his  ,lament of the
 ,makaris1 enumerates1 continues our    
critic1 twenty-one  ,scottish poets1 but
 passes ,james over in silence1         
therefore ,james's  title to being a    
poet was unknown to him4 ,possibly2 but 
that ,dunbar's  list was not meant to be
 exhaustive is proved by the fact that  
he makes  no mention of a poet1 and of a

 considerable poet1 who must have been  
well known to him1 ,thomas of           
,ercildoune4 ,nothing can be more       
misleading  than deductions like these4 
,ovid has given us an elaborate         
catalogue of  the poets of his time1 but
 makes no mention of ,manilius4 ,heywood
 and  ,taylor have given elaborate      
catalogues of the contemporary          
,elizabethan  dramatists and make no    
mention of ,cyril ,tourneur4 ,addison   
has given us  an account of the         
principal ,english poets1 and makes no  
mention of  ,shakespeare4 ,if ,dante's  
and ,chaucer's acquaintance with their  
distinguished brethren is to be         
estimated by those whom they noticed1 it
  must have been far more limited than  
we know it1 by other evidence1 to  have 
been4 ,lyndsay1 again1 is cited as      
testimony of ignorance of ,james's      
title to rank among poets2 but in the   
list1 in which he is silent about       
,james1 he is silent about poets so     
famous as ,barbour1 ,blind ,harry1      

,wyntown1 ,kennedy1 and ,douglas4       
,mr4 ,brown next proceeds to the        
question of internal evidence4 ,he      
cannot  understand how it could come to 
pass1 that a ,scotchman1 who left his   
native country when he was under twelve 
years of age1 and who was  educated by  
,english tutors in ,england1 should1    
after eighteen years of  exile1 employ  
8the ,lowland ,scottish dialect40 ,this 
is surely not very  difficult to        
explain4 ,nothing so much endears his   
country to a man as  exile1 and nothing 
is more cherished by a patriot than his 
native  language4 ,ten years' exile     
among the ,get did not corrupt the      
,latinity  of ,ovid1 and more than      
twenty years' exile did not impair the  
purity of  ,thucydides' ,attic4 ,the    
,king may have had ,english tutors1 but 
,wyntown  distinctly tells us that he   
was allowed to retain1 as his           
companions1  four of his countrymen4    
,when he served in ,france he had a     
,scottish  bodyguard4 ,the document in  

the ,king's own handwriting1 printed by 
,chalmers1 proves that in #adab he was  
conversant with the ,lowland  dialect4  
,in all probability1 therefore1 he      
carefully cherished his  native         
language4 ,the consensus of tradition   
places it beyond all doubt  that he     
composed poetry in the vernacular1 and  
as he wrote the ,kingis  ,quair when he 
knew that he was about to return to     
,scotland as its king1  it was surely   
the most natural thing in the world that
 he should compose  a poem which told   
the story of himself and his young      
bride1 whom he was  introducing to his  
subjects as their queen1 in the language
 of the  country4 ,but1 says ,mr4       
,brown1 it is the ,lowland dialect1 with
 inflexions  peculiar to ,midland       
,english1 with many ,chaucerian         
inflections engrafted  on it4 ,and what 
more natural8 ,the ,midland dialect was 
the dialect of his  ,english teachers4  
,the poems of ,chaucer he probably had  
by heart4    ,mr4 ,brown's object in all

 this is to relegate the ,kingis ,quair 
to  that group of poems which are       
represented by the ,romaunt of the      
,rose1  ,the ,court of ,love1 and       
,lancelot of the ,lak1 which appeared   
late in  the fifteenth century1 and in  
which all these peculiarities are very  
pronounced4 ,into philological details  
we have not space to enter1 but  this we
 will say4 ,we will admit that ane      
before a consonant1 the past  participle
 in yt or it1 the pronouns thaire and   
thame1 the  plural form quhilkis1 the   
employment of the verb to do in the     
emphatic conjugation and the like1 are  
peculiarities which belong to a  period 
not earlier than about #addj1 and that  
all these peculiarities are  to be found
 in the poem4 ,but1 we contend that     
these are just as likely  to be due to  
the transcriber as they are to the      
author4 ,nothing was so  common with    
copyists as to import into their texts  
the peculiarities of  their own         
dialects1 indeed it was habitual with   

them4 ,thus ,hampole's  ,pricke of      
,conscience was greatly altered by      
southern scribes4 ,thus1 in  the        
,bannatyne ,,ms41 ,chaucer's minor poems
 were similarly altered by  northern    
scribes4 ,it is1 in truth1 the very     
height of rashness to  dispute the      
genuineness of an original1 in          
consequence of the presence  of         
peculiarities which might quite well    
have been imported into it by a         
copyist4 ,the resemblances between this 
poem and the ,court of ,love are1  we   
admit1 not likely to have been mere     
coincidences1 and we are quite  ready to
 admit that the ,court of ,love in the  
form in which we have it  now1 must be  
assigned to a much later date1 more than
 a century later1  than the date 7#adbc7
 assigned to the ,kingis ,quair4 ,but   
this is  certain--that many1 and very   
many1 of the resemblances between the   
two  poems are to be attributed to the  
fact that the writers were saturated    
with the influence of ,chaucer1 and     

delighted in imitating and recalling    
his poetry4 ,if1 again1 it be assumed   
that one poem was the exemplar of  the  
other1 this is indisputable1 that the   
,court of ,love was modelled  on the    
,kingis ,quair1 and not the ,kingis     
,quair on the ,court of  ,love4 ,for1   
setting aside peculiarities which may be
 assigned to  transcribers1 there can be
 little doubt that the ,court of ,love  
belongs  to the sixteenth century at the
 very earliest1 while ,mr4 ,brown       
himself  admits that the ,,ms4 of the   
,kingis ,quair may be approximately     
fixed at  #adhh4    ,nothing can be more
 unsatisfactory than ,mr4 ,brown's      
attempt to show that  the poem breaks   
down in autobiographical details1 and   
that it derives  these details from     
,wyntown's ,chronicle4 ,james does not  
mention the  exact year in which he was 
taken prisoner4 ,he tells us that he    
commenced  his voyage when the sun had  
begun to drive his course upward in the 
sign  of ,aries1 that is1 on or about   

the #abth of ,march--and that he had not
  far passed the state of innocence1    
8bot nere about the nowmer of zeris     
thre0--in other words1 that he was about
 ten years of age4 ,hereupon ,mr4       
,brown1 assuming that ,wyntown gives the
 date of the ,king's birth  correctly1  
proceeds to point out that the ,king was
 not at this time  8about ten10 but that
 he was about eleven and a half2 and    
then asks  triumphantly whether ,james  
would have been likely to forget his own
 age4  ,again1 he contends that the     
,king's capture could not have taken    
place in  ,march1 because it is highly  
probable that at the end of ,february1  
or at  the beginning of ,march1 the     
,king was in the ,tower4 ,for the fact  
that he  was in the ,tower at that date 
there is not an iota of proof1 or even  
of  tolerably satisfactory presumptive  
evidence4 ,how the author of the        
,kingis ,quair could have been indebted 
to ,wyntown's ,chronicle for the        
autobiographical details it is1 indeed1 

difficult to see4 ,the poem gives       
,march as the date of the capture2 the  
,chronicle gives ,april4 ,according  to 
the poem1 the ,king's age at the time of
 his capture was about ten2  according  
to the ,chronicle1 about eleven and a   
half4 ,the ,chronicle  gives the year of
 the capture2 the poem does not4 ,the   
,chronicle gives  details not to be     
found in the poem2 the poem details not 
to be found in  the ,chronicle4 ,mr4    
,brown has no authority whatever for    
asserting that  ,book ,,ix4 chap4 xxv4  
of the ,chronicle was certainly written 
years  before ,james returned to        
,scotland4 ,all we know about the       
,chronicle is  that it was finished     
between the #crd of ,september1 #adbj1  
and the return  of ,james in ,april1    
#adbd4    ,mr4 ,brown must forgive us   
for expressing regret that he should    
have  wasted so much time and learning1 
in attempting to support a paradox      
which can only serve to perplex and     
mislead4 ,scholars1 especially in  these

 days1 would do well to remember1 that  
nothing can justify  destructive        
criticism but a conscientious desire1 on
 the part of those  who apply it1 to    
correct error and to discover truth4    
,and they would  also do well to ponder 
over ,bacon's weighty words3 8,like as  
many  substances in ,nature which are   
solid do putrify and corrupt into worms1
  so it is the property of good and     
sound knowledge to putrify and  dissolve
 into a number of subtle1 idle1         
unwholesome1 and1 as ,i may term  them1 
vermiculate questions1 which have indeed
 a kind of quickness and  life of       
spirit1 but no soundness of matter nor  
goodness of substance40                 
,,william ,,dunbar#bd    ,footnote #bd3 
,william ,dunbar4 ,by ,oliphant         
,smeaton4 ,edinburgh3  ,oliphant4       
,boswell tells us that he once offered  
to teach ,dr4 ,johnson the ,scotch      
dialect1 that the sage might enjoy the  
beauties of a certain ,scotch  pastoral 
poem1 and received for his reply1 8,no1 

sir2 ,i will not learn  it4 ,you shall  
retain your superiority by my not       
knowing it40 ,it would  not be true to  
say that ,dr4 ,johnson's indifference to
 the ,scotch  language and to ,scotch   
poetry has been shared by all cultivated
  ,englishmen1 but it has certainly been
 shared by a very large majority in     
every generation4 ,the superb merit of  
many of the ,scotch ballads1 the  lyrics
 of ,burns and the novels of ,scott have
 practically done little to  diminish   
this majority and to induce ,english    
readers to acquire the  knowledge which 
,dr4 ,johnson disdained4 ,nine          
,englishmen out of ten read  ,burns1    
either with an eye uneasily fishing the 
glossary at the bottom of  the page1 or 
ad sensum1 that is1 in contented        
ignorance of about three  words in every
 nine4 ,and this is1 perhaps1 all that  
can reasonably be  expected of the      
,southerner4 ,life is short2 the world  
of ,scotch drink1  ,scotch religion and 
,scotch manners is not1 as ,matthew     

,arnold observed1 a  lovely one1 and the
 time which such an accomplishment would
 require  would be far more profitably  
spent in acquiring1 say1 the language of
  ,dante and ,ariosto1 or even the      
language of the ,romancero ,general and 
of ,cervantes4 ,a modern reader may     
stumble1 with more or less              
intelligence1 through a poem of ,burns1 
catching the general sense1  enjoying   
the lilt1 and even appreciating the     
niceties of rhythm4 ,but  this is not   
the case with the ,scotch of the        
fifteenth century--the  golden age of   
the vernacular poetry1 the age when     
poets were writing  thus3--             
8,catyvis1 wrechis1 and ockeraris1      
,hud-pykis1 hurdaris1 and gadderaris1   
,all with that warlo went2    ,out of   
thair throttis thay schot on udder      
,hett moltin gold1 me thocht1 a fudder  
,as fyre-flawcht1 maist fervent1    ,ay 
as thay tumit them of schot1    ,feyndis
 fild thame new up to the thrott        
,with gold of allkin prent40    ,the    

usual consequences have been the result 
of this ignorance4 ,the  ,scotch have   
had it all their own way in estimating  
the merits of their  vernacular         
classics1 and the few outsiders1 whether
 ,english or ,german1  who have made the
 ,scotch language and literature a      
special subject of  study1 have very    
naturally not been willing to           
underestimate the value  of what it has 
cost them labour to acquire1 and so have
 supported the  exaggerated estimates of
 the ,scotch themselves4 ,what ,voltaire
 so  absurdly said of ,dante1 that his  
reputation was safe because no          
intelligent people read him1 is         
literally true of such poets as         
,henryson1 ,douglas1 and ,dunbar4 ,we   
simply take them on trust1 and1 as  with
 most other things which are taken on   
trust1 we seldom trouble  ourselves     
about the titles and guarantees4 ,it may
 be accepted as an  uncontrolled truth  
that the world is always right1 and very
 exactly  right1 in the long run4 ,that 

mysterious tribunal which1 resolved into
  the individuals which compose it1     
seems resolved into every conceivable   
source of ignorance1 error1 and folly1  
is ultimately infallible4 ,there  are no
 mismeasurements in the reputation of   
authors with whom readers of  every     
class have been familiar for a hundred  
years4 ,but1 in the case of  minor      
writers who appeal only to a minority1  
critical literature is the  record of   
the most preposterous estimates4 ,the   
history of the building  up of these    
pseudo-reputations is generally the same
 in all cases4 ,first  we have the      
obiter dictum of some famous man whose  
opinion naturally  carries authority1   
uttered1 it may be1 carelessly in       
conversation1 or  committed1 without    
deliberation1 to paper1 in a letter or  
occasional  trifle4 ,then comes some    
little man1 who takes up in deadly      
seriousness  what the great man has     
said1 and out comes1 it may be1 an essay
 or  article4 ,this wakes up some dreary

 pedant1 who follows with an 8edition0  
or 8,study10 which naturally elicits    
from some kindred spirit a  sympathetic 
review4 ,thus the ball is set rolling1  
or1 to change the  figure1 bray swells  
bray1 echo answers to echo1 and the     
thing is done4  ,meanwhile1 all that is 
of real interest and importance in the  
author  thus resuscitated is lost sight 
of2 in advocating his factitious claims 
to attention his real claims are        
ignored4 ,for the true point of view is 
substituted a false1 and the whole focus
 of criticism1 so to speak1 is          
deranged4 ,the first requisite in       
estimating the work and relative        
position of a particular author is the  
last thing which these  enthusiasts seem
 to consider1 that is1 the application  
of standards and  touchstones derived   
not simply from the study of the author 
himself1 but  from acquaintance with the
 principles of criticism1 and with what 
is  excellent in universal literature4  
,all this has been illustrated in the   

case of the poet who is the subject  of 
the volume before us4 ,as ,mr4 ,ruskin  
has pronounced ,aurora ,leigh to  be the
 greatest poem of this century1 so ,sir 
,walter ,scott1 who has1 by  the way1   
been singularly unjust to ,lydgate and  
,hawes1 pronounced ,dunbar  to be 8a    
poet unrivalled by any that ,scotland   
has ever produced40 a  reckless judgment
 which he could never have expressed    
deliberately4  ,ellis followed suit1 and
 in ,ellis' notice ,dunbar is 8the      
greatest poet  ,scotland has produced40 
,these judgments have1 in effect1 been  
reverberated by successive writers and  
editors4 ,in due time1 some  fourteen   
years ago1 appeared the inevitable      
,german monograph1 8,william  ,dunbar3  
sein ,leben und seine ,gedichte10 by    
,dr4 ,j4 ,schipper1 to whom ,mr4        
,oliphant ,smeaton appropriately and    
reverently inscribes the present        
monograph4    ,in ,mr4 ,oliphant        
,smeaton's work ,dunbar assumes the     
proportions which  might be expected--he

 is a 8mighty genius40 8,the peer1 if   
not in a few  qualities1 the superior of
 ,chaucer and ,spenser4 ,by the         
indefeasible  passport of the supreme   
genius he has an indisputable title to  
the  apostolic succession of ,british   
poetry to that place between ,chaucer   
and  ,spenser1 that place which can only
 be claimed by one whose genius was     
co-ordinate with theirs40 ,as probably  
eight out of every ten of ,mr4          
,smeaton's readers will know nothing    
more of ,dunbar than what ,mr4 ,smeaton 
chooses to tell them1 and as we1        
considering the space at our disposal1  
cannot refute him by a detailed         
examination of ,dunbar's works1 it is   
fortunate that he has given us a        
succinct illustration of the value of   
his critical judgment4 ,the following   
are four typical stanzas of a poem      
which ,mr4 ,smeaton ranks with ,milton's
 ,lycidas and ,shelley's  ,adonais2 we  
give them as ,mr4 ,smeaton gives them1  
modernised3--      8,i that in health   

was and gladness    ,am troubled now    
with great sickness4    ,enfeebled with 
infirmity1                 ,timor mortis
 conturbat me4      8,our pleasure here 
is all vain glory1    ,this false world 
is but transitory1    ,the flesh is     
brittle1 the fiend is slee1             
,timor mortis conturbat me4      8,the  
state of man doth change and vary1      
,now sound1 now sick1 now blyth1 now    
sary    ,now dancing merry1 now like to 
dee1                 ,timor mortis      
conturbat me4      8,no state on earth  
here stands sicker1    ,as with the wind
 waves the wicker1    ,so waves this    
world's vanity1                 ,timor  
mortis conturbat me40    ,as the        
following is pronounced to be one of the
 finest stanzas ,dunbar  ever penned1 it
 is interesting as illustrating what is1
 in ,mr4 ,smeaton's  opinion1 the best  
work of this rival of ,chaucer and      
,spenser3--      8,have mercy1 love1    
have mercy1 lady bright2    ,what have  
,i wrought against your womankeid1      

,that you should murder me a sackless   
wight1    ,trespassing on you nor in    
word nor deed8    ,that ye consent      
thereto1 ,o ,god forbid2    ,leave      
cruelty and save your man for shame1    
,or through the world quite losd is your
 name40    ,it may be added that what   
are by far the finest passages in       
,dunbar's  poems are passed unnoticed   
and unquoted by ,mr4 ,smeaton4 ,indeed1 
his  acquaintance with ,dunbar1 or1 at  
all events1 his taste in selection1 is  
exactly on a par with that of ,ned      
,softley's with ,waller4 8,as that      
admirable writer has the best and worst 
verses among our ,english poets1  ,ned10
 says ,addison1 8has got all the bad    
ones by heart1 which he repeats  upon   
occasion to show his reading40 ,should  
,mr4 ,smeaton ever meet his  idol in    
,hades1 we would in all kindness advise 
him to avoid an  encounter2 let him     
remember that the fulsome eulogy is his 
own1 but that  the verses quoted are the
 poet's4 ,attempted murder--so the irate

 shade  might argue--is less serious    
than compulsory suicide4    ,dunbar was 
undoubtedly a man of genius1 but a      
reference to the poets who  immediately 
preceded him will make large deductions 
from the praises  lavished on him by his
 eulogists4 ,he struck no new notes4    
,the ,thistle  and the ,rose and ,the   
,golden ,terge are mere echoes of       
,chaucer and  ,lydgate1 and1 in some    
degree1 of the author of ,the ,king's   
,quair1 and  are indeed full of         
plagiarisms from them4 ,the ,dance of   
the ,seven ,deadly  ,sins is probably   
little more than a faithful description 
of a popular  mummery4 ,his moral and   
religious poems had their prototypes1   
even in  ,scotland1 in such poets as    
,johnston and ,henryson4 ,his most      
remarkable  characteristic is his       
versatility1 which ranges from the      
composition of  such poems as ,the      
,merle and the ,nightingale to the ,twa 
,maryit ,wemen  and the ,wedo1 from such
 lyrics as the ,meditation in ,winter to

 such  lyrics as the ,plea for ,pity4   
,mr4 ,smeaton calls him 8a giant in an  
age  of pigmies40 ,the author or        
authoress of ,the ,flower and the ,leaf 
was  infinitely superior to him in point
 of style1 ,henryson was infinitely     
superior to him in originality1 and     
,gavin ,douglas at least his equal in   
power of expression and in description4 
,let us do ,dunbar the justice which    
,mr4 ,smeaton has not done him1 and     
take him at his very best4 ,here is part
 of a picture of a ,may morning1--      
8,for mirth of ,may1 wyth skippis and   
wyth hoppis    ,the birdis sang upon the
 tender croppis1      ,with curiouse    
notis1 as ,venus ,chapell clerkis4      
,the rosis yong1 new spreding of their  
knoppis1    ,war powderit brycht with   
hevinly beriall droppis2      ,throu    
bemes rede1 birnyng as ruby sperkis1    
,the skyes rang for schoutyng of the    
larkis40    ,this is brilliant and      
picturesque rhetoric touched into poetry
 by the  8,venus ,chapell clerkis10 and 

the magical note in the last line2 so   
too  the touch in ,the ,golden ,terge1  
likening the faery ship to 8blossom     
upon the spray40 ,but in his allegorical
 poem he is too fond of the  8quainte   
enamalit termes10 and his verse has a   
certain metallic ring4 ,it  will be     
admitted1 we suppose1 that the best of  
his moral poems would be  ,the ,merle   
and the ,nightingale and 8,be ,merrie   
,man02 but the utmost  which can be said
 for them is1 that the philosophy is    
excellent and its  expression adequate2 
that is1 that they have little to       
distinguish them  from hundreds of other
 poems of the same class4    ,in        
speaking of ,dunbar's satires1 ,mr4     
,smeaton indulges himself in the        
following nonsense1 8,from the genial1  
jesting1 and ironical  incongruities of 
,horace and ,persius we are introduced  
at once into the  bitter1 vitriolic     
scourgings of ,juvenal10 and in the     
following  rhodomontade1 telling us that
 they unite 8the natural directness of  

,hall1 the subtle depth of ,donne1 the  
delicate humour of ,breton1 the  sturdy 
vigour of ,dryden1 the scalding1        
vitriolic bitterness of ,swift1  the    
pungency of ,churchill1 the rural smack 
of ,gay1 united to an approach  at least
 to the artistic perfection of ,pope40  
,stuff like this and  indiscriminate    
eulogy are1 no doubt1 much easier to    
produce than an  estimate of a writer's 
historical position and importance4 ,of 
the  relation of ,dunbar to his         
predecessors and contemporaries in      
,england and  ,scotland1 of his         
prototypes and models in ,french and    
,provenal  literature1 of the influence 
which he undoubtedly exercised on       
subsequent poetry1 and especially on    
,spenser1 ,mr4 ,smeaton has nothing to  
say4 ,it never seems to occur to him    
that his hero1 like every one else1     
must have had his limitations1 that 8the
 many-sidedness of that genius  which   
has a ring0--the metaphors are not ours1
 but ,mr4  ,smeaton's--8almost          

,shakespearian1 about it10 could hardly 
have been  distinguished by uniformity  
of excellence2 that 8that painter of    
contemporary manners1 who had all the   
vividness of a ,callot1 united to  the  
broad humour of a ,teniers and the      
minute touch of a ,meissonier10 who     
8reflected in his verse the most        
delicate nuances1 as well as the most   
startling colours of the age wherein he 
lived10 must have had degrees in        
success4    ,we have singled out this   
volume for special notice1 not because  
of any  intrinsic title it possesses to 
serious attention1 but because it is    
typical of a species of literature which
 is rapidly becoming one of the  pests  
of our time4 ,while every encouragement 
should be given to sober1  judicious1   
and competent reviews of our older      
writers1 every  discouragement should be
 given1 out of respect to the dead1 as  
well as  in the interests of the living1
 to such books as the present4 ,for they
  are as mischievous as they are        

ridiculous4 ,they misinform2 they       
mislead2  they corrupt1 or tend to      
corrupt1 taste4 ,after laying down a    
volume like  this we feel1 and we expect
 ,dunbar would have felt1 that there is 
something much more formidable than the 
old horror1 8the candid friend10  even  
that indicated by ,tacitus--pessimum    
inimicorum genus--laudantes4          ,a
 ,,gallop ,,through ,,english           
,,literature#be    ,footnote #be3 ,a    
,literary ,history of the ,english      
,people from the ,origins  to the       
,renaissance4 ,by ,j4 ,j4 ,jusserand4   
,there is a breeziness and hilarity1 a  
gay irresponsibility and abandon1  about
 ,m4 ,jusserand which is perfectly      
delightful4 ,he is the very  ,autolycus 
of ,history and ,criticism4 ,what more  
sober students1 who have  some          
conscience to trouble them1 are 8toiling
 all their lives to find0  appears to be
 his as a sort of natural right4 ,the   
fertility of his  genius is such1 that  
it seems to blossom spontaneously into  

erudition4  ,like the lilies he toils   
not1 but unlike the lilies he spins1 and
 very  pretty gossamer too4 ,it is      
impossible to take him seriously4       
,the truth is that ,m4 ,jusserand       
belongs to a class of writers which1    
thanks to indulgent publishers1 a more  
indulgent public1 and most  indulgent   
reviewers1 is just now greatly in the   
ascendant4  8,encyclopdical heads10 who 
took all knowledge for their province1  
probably died with ,bacon1 but          
encyclopdical heads who take all        
,literature or all ,history for their   
province appear to be as common as  the 
8excellence0 which1 in opposition to    
,matthew ,arnold's opinion1 the         
,american lady maintained was so        
abundant on both sides of the ,atlantic4
  ,these are the gentlemen who          
complacently sit down 8to edit the      
,literatures of the world10 or 8to trace
 the development of the human  race1    
from its picturesque cradle in the      
valleys of ,central ,asia1 to its       

infinite ramifications in our own       
day0--within 8the moderate compass of   
an octavo volume40    ,m4 ,jusserand's  
first feat is to dispose of some six    
centuries in  ninety-three pages1 in a  
narrative which simply tells over again1
 though  certainly after a more jaunty  
fashion1 what ,ten ,brink1 ,henry       
,morley1 and  others have told much more
 seriously1 and1 we may add1 much more  
effectively4 ,the ,norman ,conquest and 
an account of the ,anglo-,norman        
literature occupy about a hundred and   
ten pages1 while some eighty pages      
more1 dealing with the fusion of the    
races and the gradual evolution of  the 
,english people and language1 bring us  
to ,chaucer4 ,it might have been        
expected that ,m4 ,jusserand would have 
justified his survey of a period  so    
often reviewed before1 either by        
tracing1 with more fulness and          
precision than his predecessors1 the    
successive stages in the  development of
 our nationality and its expression in  

literature1 or by  adding to our        
knowledge of the characteristics and    
peculiarities of the  literature itself4
 ,he has done neither4 ,he has1 on the  
contrary1  obscured the first by the    
constant introduction of irrelevant     
matter1  and he has apparently no notion
 of the relative importance of the      
authors on whose works he dilates or    
touches4 ,thus ,richard ,rolle of       
,hampole fills more space than ,layamon1
 whose work is despatched in a  page6   
,thus two lines in a note suffice for   
the ,ormulum1 two lines for  ,mannyng's 
,handlyng of ,synne1 a singularly       
interesting and significant  work1 ten  
lines for ,robert of ,gloucester1 who is
 rather perplexingly  described as 8a   
distant ancestor of ,gibbon and         
,macaulay10 while four  pages are       
accorded to ,tristan and five to the    
,roman du ,renart4 ,how  the ,latin     
,chroniclers fare may be judged from the
 fact that a little  more than a page   
serves for ,geoffrey of ,monmouth1 a    

line for ,ordericus  ,vitalis1 and two  
for ,giraldus ,cambrensis4 ,in the      
chapter on ,chaucer ,m4  ,jusserand does
 more justice to his subject1 and it is 
to be regretted  for his own sake that  
he has not confined himself to such     
essays4 ,he is  never safe except when  
he is on the beaten path4 ,nothing could
 be more  inadequate than the section on
 ,gower4 ,it certainly indicates that   
,m4  ,jusserand is not very familiar    
with the ,confessio ,amantis4 ,not one  
word is said about the remarkable       
prologue1 and to dismiss such a work  in
 less than three pages1 observing that  
8it contains a hundred and  twelve short
 stories1 two or three of which are very
 well told1 one1 the  adventure of      
,florent1 being1 perhaps1 related even  
better than in  ,chaucer10 is not quite 
what we should expect in a work         
purporting to  narrate the 8literary    
history of the ,english people40 ,m4    
,jusserand has  not even taken the      
trouble to keep pace with modern        

investigation in his  subject1 but      
actually tells us that ,gower's         
,speculum ,meditantis is  lost6 ,if     
,gower's writings are not of much       
intrinsic value1 they are of  immense   
importance from an historical point of  
view4 ,john de ,trevisa1 a  most        
important name in the history of        
,english prose1 is despatched in  eight 
lines of mere bibliographical           
information1 without a word being  said 
about his great services to our         
literature1 and without any  reference  
being made either to the remarkable     
preface to his great work1  or to his   
version of the ,dialogue attributed to  
,occam4    ,the only satisfactory       
chapter in the book is the chapter      
dealing with  ,langland and his works2  
but it is certainly surprising that no  
account  should be given of the very    
remarkable anonymous poem entitled      
,piers  ,ploughman's ,crede4 ,again1    
whole departments of literature1 such as
 the  ,metrical ,romances1 the ,laies1  

,fabliaux1 early lyrics and ballads1 are
  most inadequately treated1 some of the
 most memorable and typical being  not  
even specified4 ,surely ,minot was not a
 man to be dismissed1 with a  flippant  
joke1 in half a page1 or ,king ,horn and
 ,havelok poems to be  relegated to     
passing reference in a note4    ,but it 
is in dealing with the literature of the
 fifteenth century that  ,m4            
,jusserand's superficiality and1 to put 
it plainly1 incompetence for  his       
ambitious task become most deplorably   
apparent4 ,in treating the  earlier     
periods he had trustworthy guides even  
in common manuals1 and he  could not go 
far wrong in accepting their            
generalizations and  statements4 ,books 
easily attainable1 and indeed in        
everybody's hands1  could enable him to 
dance airily through the ,anglo-,saxon  
literature and  through the period      
between ,layamon and ,chaucer4 ,no one  
can now very well  go wrong in ,chaucer 
and his contemporaries1 who has at his  

side some  half-dozen works which any   
library can supply4 ,but it is otherwise
 with  the literature of the fifteenth  
century4 ,here1 as every one who happens
  to have paid particular attention to  
it knows1 popular manuals and  histories
 are most misleading guides4 ,deterred1 
no doubt1 by the  prolixity of the      
poetry and by the comparatively         
uninteresting nature of  the prose      
literature1 modern historians and       
critics have contented  themselves with 
accepting the verdicts of ,warton and   
his followers1 who  probably had as     
little patience as themselves2 and so a 
kind of  conventional estimate has been 
formed1 which appears and reappears in  
every manual and handbook4 ,we turned1  
therefore1 with much curiosity to  this 
portion of ,m4 ,jusserand's work4 ,we   
had1 we own1 our suspicions  about his  
first-hand knowledge of the literature  
through which he glided  so easily in   
the earlier portions of his book1 and   
here1 we thought1  would be the crucial 

test of his pretension to original      
scholarship4  ,would he do voluminous   
,lydgate the justice which1 as the      
specialist  knows1 has so long been     
withheld from him8 ,would he point out  
the strong  human interest of ,hoccleve2
 the great historical interest of       
,hardyng2  the power and beauty of the  
ballads2 or1 if he included ,hawes      
within the  century1 would he show what 
a singularly interesting poem1          
intrinsically  and historically1 the    
,pastime of ,pleasure really is8 ,if1   
again1 he  included the ,scotch poets1  
how would he deal with the problems     
presented  by ,huchown8 ,would he accord
 the proper tribute to the genius of    
,dunbar2  would he estimate what poetry 
owes respectively to ,james ,i41 ,henry 
the  ,minstrel1 ,robert ,henryson1 and  
,gavin ,douglas8 ,in our prose          
literature1  would he comment on the    
great importance of ,pecock's memorable 
work1 of  ,fortescue's two treatises1 of
 the ,paston ,letters1 of ,caxton's     

various  publications8 ,how would he    
deal with the one 8classical0 work of   
the  century1 ,malory's ,morte          
d',arthur8    ,now1 of ,lydgate1 8to    
enumerate whose pieces10 says ,warton1  
8would be to  write the catalogue of a  
little library10 it is not too much to  
say  that he was one of the most richly 
gifted of our old poets1 that as a      
descriptive poet he stands almost on the
 level of ,chaucer1 that his  pictures  
of ,nature are among the gems of their  
kind1 that his pathos is  often         
exquisite1 8touching10 as ,gray said of 
him1 8the very heartstrings  of         
compassion with so masterly a hand as to
 merit a place among the  greatest of   
poets40 ,his humour is often delightful1
 and his pictures of  contemporary life1
 such as his ,london ,lickpenny and his 
,prologue to  the ,storie of ,thebes1   
are as vivid as ,chaucer's4 ,in         
versatility he has  no rival among his  
predecessors and contemporaries4 ,gray  
notices that1  at times1 he approaches  

sublimity4 ,his style often is          
beautiful1--fluent1 copious1 and at its 
best eminently musical4 ,the  influence 
which he exercised on subsequent        
,english and ,scotch literature  would  
alone entitle him to a prominent        
position in any history of  ,english    
poetry4 ,but the handbooks think        
otherwise1 and he occupies just  three  
pages in ,m4 ,jusserand's work1 the only
 estimate of his work being  confined to
 the assertion that 8he was a worthy man
 if ever there was  one1 industrious and
 prolific10 etc41 and the only criticism
 is the  remark that his 8prosody was   
rather lax40 ,and this is how poor      
,lydgate  fares at our historian's      
hands4 ,to ,hoccleve are assigned just  
one page  and a few lines4 ,hardyng     
figures only in the bibliography at the 
bottom  of a page4 ,the ballads are     
despatched in fifteen lines4 ,hawes'    
,pastime  of ,pleasure1 memorable alike 
both for the preciseness with which it  
marks the transition from the poetry of 

medivalism to that of the  ,renaissance1
 for its probable influence on ,spenser1
 and for its  intrinsic charm1 its      
pathos1 its picturesqueness1 and its    
sweet and  plaintive music1 is curtly   
dismissed1 as the handbooks dismiss it1 
as  8an allegory of unendurable         
dulness40 ,if ,m4 ,jusserand would throw
 aside  the manuals and turn to the     
original1 he would probably see reason  
to  modify his verdict4 ,our author's   
breathless gallop through the ,scotch   
poets1 to whom he allots nine pages1 can
 only be regarded with silent           
astonishment by readers who happen to   
known anything about those most         
remarkable men4 ,huchown is not so much 
as mentioned4 ,the amazing  nonsense    
which he writes in summing up ,dunbar1  
we will transcribe1 ut  ex uno discas   
omnia3         8,dunbar1 with           
never-flagging spirit1 attempts every   
style4444       ,his flowers are too    
flowery1 his odours too fragrant2 by    
moments it is no longer a delight1 but  

almost a pain4 ,it is not               
sufficient that his birds should sing2  
they must sing among       perfumes1 and
 these perfumes are coloured40    ,has  
,m4 ,jusserand ever read ,the ,dance of 
the ,seven ,deadly ,sins1 ,the  ,twa    
,maryit ,wemen and the ,wedo1 and the   
minor poems of ,dunbar8 ,if he  has1    
would he pronounce that these 8flowers0 
are 8too flowery0--these  8odours0 8too 
fragrant10 or would he feel the         
absurdity of generalizing  on           
ludicrously insufficient knowledge8 ,his
 verdicts on the other ,scotch  poets   
are marked by the same superficiality1  
and we regret to add  flippancy4 ,to    
class ,henryson among poets whose style 
is 8florid0 and  whose roses are        
8splendid but too full-blown0 is to show
 that ,m4  ,jusserand knows as little   
about him as he seems to know about     
,dunbar4 ,in  all ,henryson's poems     
there are only three short passages     
which could by  any possibility be      
described as florid4 ,the prose of the  

fifteenth  century fares even worse at  
his hands4 ,capgrave is mentioned only  
in the  bibliography6 ,of the interest  
and importance of ,pecock1 historically 
and  intrinsically1 he appears to have  
no conception2 on the real  significance
 of the ,repressor he never even        
touches1 and how indeed  could he in the
 less than one page which is assigned to
 one of the most  remarkable writers in 
the fifteenth century8 ,a page suffices 
for the  ,paston ,letters1 and four     
lines for ,malory's ,morte d',arthur6   
,now we would ask ,m4 ,jusserand1 in all
 seriousness1 what possible end can  be 
served by a book of this kind1 except   
the encouragement of everything  that is
 detestable to the real scholar3        
superficiality1 want of  thoroughness1  
and false assumption1 and what is more1 
the public  dissemination of error1 and 
of crude and misleading judgments4 ,such
 a  work as the present1 the soundness  
and trustworthiness of which            
ninety-nine readers in every hundred    

must necessarily take for granted1  can 
only be justified when it proceeds from 
one who is a master of his  immense     
subject1 from one whose generalizations 
are based on amply  sufficient          
knowledge1 whose suppressions and       
omissions spring neither  from          
carelessness nor from ignorance1 but    
from discrimination1 and in  whose      
statements and judgments implicit       
reliance can be placed4 ,to none  of    
these qualifications has ,m4 ,jusserand 
the smallest pretension4    ,we have no 
wish to seem discourteous to ,m4        
,jusserand or to say anything  which can
 cause him annoyance1 but it is no more 
than simple duty in any  critic with a  
becoming sense of responsibility to     
discountenance in  every way the        
production of such books as these4 ,they
 are not only  mischievous in           
themselves1 but they form precedents for
 books which are  more mischievous      
still4 ,we like ,m4 ,jusserand's        
enthusiasm1 but we would  exhort him to 

reduce the flatulent dimensions1 which  
his ambition has  here so unhappily     
assumed1 to that more tempered ambition 
which gave us  the monographs on ,piers 
,ploughman and on the ,tudor novelists4 
,,de ,,quincey ,,and ,,his ,,friends#bf 
,footnote #bf3 ,personal ,recollections1
 ,souvenirs1 and ,anecdotes of  ,thomas 
,de ,quincey and his ,friends and       
,associates4 ,written and collected  by 
,james ,hogg4      ,to a thoughtful     
reader there is1 perhaps1 no sadder     
spectacle than those  sixteen volumes   
which represent all that remains to us  
of ,thomas ,de  ,quincey4 ,what superb  
powers1 what noble and manifold gifts1  
what  capacity for invaluable and       
imperishable achievements had ,nature   
lavished on this extraordinary man6     
,metaphysics might for all time have    
been a debtor to that vigorous1 acute1  
and subtle intellect1 at once so        
speculative and logical1 so inquisitive 
and discriminating4 sthetic  criticism  
might have found in him a second        

,lessing1 and literary  criticism a     
superior ,sainte-,beuve4 ,for1 in       
addition to all that would  have enabled
 him to excel in abstract thought1 he   
had--and in ample  measure--the         
qualities which make men consummate     
critics3 rare power of  analysis1 the   
nicest perception1 sensibility1         
sympathy1 good taste1  good sense1      
immense erudition4 ,he might have       
contributed masterpieces to  ,theology1 
to ,history1 to ,economic ,science4 ,but
 they know not his name4  ,he has set   
his seal on nothing but on ,english     
style4 ,about a hundred and  fifty      
articles contributed to magazines and   
encyclopdias1 some of them  of a high   
order of literary merit1 many of them   
simply worthless1 the  majority of them 
containing what is inferior so          
disproportionately in  excess of what is
 valuable that they may be likened to   
dustbins1 with  jewels here and there   
glittering among the rubbish2--this is  
what  represents him4 ,it is as a master

 of style1 by virtue of what he         
accomplished as a rhetorician and prose 
poet only1 that he will live4  ,but     
this1 comparatively scanty as it is1 is 
of pre-eminent1 of unique  value1 and   
will suffice to secure him a place for  
ever among the  classics of ,english    
prose4 ,he has also another claim1 if   
not to our  reverence1 at least to our  
curious attention and interest1--and    
that  attention and interest he can     
scarcely fail to excite in every        
generation1--his autobiographical       
writings give us a picture1 and that    
with fascinating power1 of one of the   
most extraordinary personalities  on    
record4    ,indiscriminating admiration 
is among the most pleasing traits of    
youth1  but in men of mature years it   
loses its attractiveness4 ,when it is no
  longer the effervescence of juvenile  
enthusiasm for which all make           
allowance1 it becomes1 like the levities
 of boyhood affected in middle  life1   
merely vapid folly4 ,in relation to its 

object it not only defeats  its own     
ends1 but is apt to make recipient and  
donor alike ridiculous4  ,nor is this   
all4 ,by some curious law of association
 which we cannot  pretend to explain1   
its almost inevitable ally is dulness1  
and dulness  of a peculiarly wearisome  
and exasperating kind4 ,during the last 
few  years these peculiarities have     
become so alarmingly epidemic that it   
really seems high time to form1 on the  
principle of ,mr4 ,morris's ,society    
for the ,preservation of ,ancient       
,monuments1 a ,society for the          
,preservation of ,literary ,reputations4
 ,when those 8of whom to be  dispraised 
were no small praise0 take to eulogy and
 editing1 an unhappy  ,classic may well 
look to his true friends4 ,it is nothing
 less than  appalling to behold the     
mountains of rubbish now gradually      
accumulating  over the work--the real   
work--of such poets as ,wordsworth1     
,shelley1 and  ,keats2 rubbish of their 
own1 rescued with cruel industry from   

the  oblivion to which they would       
themselves have consigned it1 rubbish of
  their commentators and editors1       
dulness and inanity unutterable4 8,what1
  sir10 asked an ,eton boy of ,foote1   
8was the best thing you ever said80     
8,well10 was the reply1 8,i once saw a  
chimney-sweep on a high prancing1       
high-mettled horse4 #8,there1' said ,i1 
#8goes ,warburton on ,shakespeare4'0    
,but it is not in the ,warburtons1 not  
in the chimney-sweepers1 that the       
mischief lies2 it is in those who may be
 called the scavengers and  sextons of  
literature1 in those who1 utterly unable
 to discern between  what is precious   
and what is worthless in a man's work1  
thrust all1  without distinction1 into  
prominence1 and thus not only enable an 
author  to 8write himself down10 but1 by
 their indiscriminating eulogies1 assist
  him in his suicide4 ,the subtlest     
form1 indeed1 which detraction can      
assume is over-praise1 for a man is thus
 forced to give the lie to his  own     

reputation4    ,no one1 perhaps1 has    
suffered so much from ill-judging       
admirers as ,de  ,quincey4 ,if ever an  
author needed a judicious adviser1 when 
preparing  his works for publication in 
a permanent form1 and a judicious       
editor1  when the time had come for that
 final edition on which his title to    
future fame should rest1 it was the     
,english opium-eater4 ,but1 unhappily1  
he had no such adviser in his lifetime1 
and he has had no such editor  since4   
,he consequently reprinted much which   
ought never to have been  reprinted at  
all1 and he omitted to reprint some     
things which would have  done honour to 
him4 ,his besetting faults1 even in his 
vigour1 were  loquacity and silliness1 a
 habit of 8drawing out the thread of his
  verbosity finer than the staple of his
 argument0--a tendency to peddle  and   
dawdle1 as well as to indulge in a sort 
of pleasantry1 so attenuated  as to     
border closely on inanity4 ,as he grew  
older these habits became  more         

confirmed4 ,his puerility and           
garrulousness in his later writings  are
 often intolerable4 ,but this was not   
the worst4 ,in revising some of  his    
earlier papers1 and particularly the    
,confessions1 he not only  imported into
 them tiresome irrelevancies and        
superfluities1 but1 in  emending1 ruined
 the glorious passages on which his fame
 as a  rhetorician and prose poet rests2
 such has been the fate1 among others1  
of the exquisite description of the     
powers of opium1--the superb passage    
beginning1 8,the town of ,l44           
represented the earth with its sorrows  
and  its graves10#bg and of the dreams  
in the second part of the  ,confessions1
 particularly of the sublime one        
beginning1 8,the dream  commenced with a
 music40#bh    ,mr4 ,james ,hogg tells  
us that his design in publishing the    
present volume  was that he might 8place
 a stone upon the cairn of the man0 who 
had  treated him 8with an almost        
paternal tenderness40 ,we sincerely     

sympathize with ,mr4 ,hogg's pious      
intention1 but we submit that the       
truest kindness which he1 or any other  
admirer of ,de ,quincey could do  him1  
would be not to augment but to lighten  
the cairn which indiscreet  admirers are
 so industriously piling over him4 ,to  
change the figure1 the  best service    
which could be rendered to ,de ,quincey 
would be to relieve  him of his         
superfluous baggage1 not to add to it4  
,his fame would stand  much higher1 if  
his sixteen volumes were vigorously     
weeded2 if the  sweepings and refuse of 
his study1 so injudiciously given to the
 world  by ,dr4 ,japp and ,mr4 ,hogg1   
were given instead to the flames2 and if
  reminiscents and biographers would    
only leave him to tell1 in his own      
fashion1 his own story1 especially as it
 is one of those stories the  interest  
of which depends purely on the telling4 
,we have already  expressed our sympathy
 with ,mr4 ,hogg's pious intention4 ,it 
only remains  for us to express our     

regret that ,mr4 ,hogg's piety should   
have taken the  form of the most        
barefaced piece of book-making which we 
ever remember  to have met with4        
,addison1 if we are not mistaken1       
somewhere describes a  man to whom a    
single volume afforded all the amusement
 and variety of a  whole library1 for1  
by the time he had arrived at the       
middle1 he had  completely forgotten the
 beginning1 and when he arrived at the  
end1 he  had completely forgotten the   
whole4 ,mr4 ,hogg appears to proceed on 
the  assumption that it is pretty much  
the same with the public and its        
memory1 that its capacity for amusement 
is permanent1 but that its  recollection
 of what has amused it is so            
treacherous1 that repetition  will be   
sure to have all the attraction of      
novelty4 ,this is1 no doubt1  unhappily 
true4 ,but it is a truth which no critic
 has a right to  concede4    ,all that  
is of interest in this volume is little 
more than the literal  reproduction1 in 

another shape1 of material embodied in a
 ,life of ,de  ,quincey1 published by   
,dr4 ,alexander ,japp1 under the        
pseudonym of ,h4 ,a4  ,page1 in #ahgg4  
,its exact composition is as follows4   
,eliminating the  preface and the index1
 the book consists of #cei pages4 ,of   
these1 seventy  consist of a dreary     
rchauff by ,dr4 ,japp himself of his own
 ,life of  ,de ,quincey1 and of the     
additional information contained in his 
edition  of the ,posthumous ,works4     
,next comes a series of reminiscences1  
extracted  from ,dr4 ,japp's ,life1 from
 ,dr4 ,garnett's edition of the         
,confessions1  from the ,quarterly      
,review1 and from other sources all     
equally  accessible4 ,then ,mr4 ,hogg   
himself opens fire with ,days and       
,nights with  ,de ,quincey4 ,an         
essay--8,on the supposed ,scriptural    
,expression for  ,eternity0--excellently
 illustrating ,de ,quincey in his       
senility1 is  reprinted1 with awe-struck
 admiration1 from the ,american edition 

of his  works4    ,for the purpose1     
presumably1 of adding to the bulk of the
 book1 ,moir's  ballad1 ,de ,quincey's  
,revenge1 is included1 though its sole  
connection  with ,de ,quincey is1 that  
it deals with a legend concerning the   
possible  ancestors of a possible branch
 of his possible family4 ,then we have  
one  of ,mr4 ,shadworth ,hodgson        
,,ll4,d4's ,outcast ,essays1 8,on the   
genius of ,de  ,quincey10 the reason for
 the hospitable entertainment of the    
outcast  being by no means apparent4    
,among other dreary trifles is a reprint
 of  a ,latin theme1 one of ,de         
,quincey's college exercises4 ,as ,mr4  
,hogg has  chosen to reprint and        
translate this1 it would have been as   
well to  print and translate it         
correctly4 8,qu ansibus obstant0 should1
 of  course1 have been 8ausibus10 and   
8oculi perstringuntur0 cannot possibly  
mean 8are spellbound10 but 8are         
dazzled40    ,the republication of these
 pieces was1 we repeat1 a great mistake1

  another lamentable illustration of the
 cruel wrong which officious and        
ill-judging admirers may inflict on a   
writer's reputation4 ,talleyrand  once  
observed that1 a wise man would be safer
 with a foolish than with a  clever     
wife1 for a foolish wife could only     
compromise herself1 but a  clever wife  
might compromise her husband4           
,substituting #8unambitious' for        
#8foolish' and #8ambitious' for         
#8clever1' we are very much inclined to 
apply the same remark to a great writer 
and his friends4 ,it requires a         
,johnson to support a ,boswell1 and a   
,goethe to support an ,eckermann4       
,,footnotes3    ,footnote #bg3 ,see     
,works4 ,black's ,edit41 ,vol4 ,i4 p4   
#bab1 compared with  original ,edit41   
pp4 #aac-aad4    ,footnote #bh3 ,id41 p4
 #bgb and original ,edit41 pp4 #agg-agh4
          ,,lee',s ,,life ,,of          
,,shakespeare#bi    ,footnote #bi3 ,a   
,life of ,shakespeare4 ,by ,sidney ,lee4
      ,it is a pleasure to turn from the

 slovenly and perfunctory work1 from    
the plausible charlatanry and           
pretentious incompetence which it has so
  often been our unwelcome duty to      
expose in these columns1 to such a      
volume as the volume before us4 ,it is  
books like these which retrieve  the    
honour of ,english scholarship4 ,a wide 
range of general knowledge1  immense    
special knowledge1 scrupulous accuracy1 
both in the  investigation and          
presentation of facts1 the sound        
judgment1 the tact1  the insight which  
in labyrinths of chaotic traditions and 
conflicting  testimony can discern the  
clue to probability and truth--these are
 the  qualifications indispensable to a 
successful biographer of ,shakespeare4  
,and these are the qualifications which 
,mr4 ,lee possesses1 in larger  measure 
than have been possessed by any one who 
has essayed the task  which he has here 
undertaken4 ,a ranker and more tangled  
jungle than that  presented by the      
traditions1 the apocrypha1 the theories1

 the  conjectures which have gradually  
accumulated round the memory of         
,shakespeare since the time of ,rowe1   
could scarcely be conceived4 ,in this   
jungle some1 like ,charles ,knight1 have
 altogether lost themselves2  others1   
like ,joseph ,hunter1 have struck out   
vigorously into wrong  tracks1 and      
floundered into quagmires4 ,halliwell   
,phillipps1 sure-footed  and wary though
 he was1 certainly had not the clue to  
it4 ,but ,mr4 ,lee1  who can plainly say
 with ,comus1--      8,i know each lane1
 and every alley green1    ,dingle or   
bushy dell of this wild wood1    ,and   
every bosky bourne from side to side1   
,my daily walks and ancient             
neighbourhood10    has thridded it1 and 
taught others to thrid it1 as no one    
else has done4  ,and he will have his   
reward4 ,he has produced what deserves  
to be1 and  what will probably become1  
the standard life of our great national 
poet4    ,mr4 ,lee's book is            
substantially a reproduction of his     

article on  ,shakespeare1 contributed to
 the ,dictionary of ,national           
,biography1 the  high merits of which   
have long been recognised by scholars2  
and he has  certainly done well to make 
that article popularly accessible by    
reprinting it in a separate form4 ,but  
the present volume is not a mere        
reproduction of his contribution to the 
,dictionary2 it is much more4 ,he  has  
here filled out what he could there     
sketch only in outline2 what he  could  
there state only as results and         
conclusions1 he here illustrates  and   
justifies by corroboration and proof4   
,he has1 moreover1 both in the  text and
 in the appendices1 brought together a  
great mass of interesting  and pertinent
 collateral matter which the scope of   
the ,dictionary  necessarily precluded4 
,more than a century ago ,george        
,steevens wrote3 8,all that can be known
  with any degree of certainty about    
,shakespeare is that he was born at     
,stratford-on-,avon1 married and had    

children there1 went to ,london1 where  
he commenced actor1 wrote poems and     
plays1 returned to ,stratford1 made  his
 will1 died1 and was buried there40     
,and1 if we set aside probable          
inferences1 this is all we do know of   
any importance about his life4 ,his     
pedigree cannot certainly be traced     
beyond his father4 ,nothing is known  of
 the place of his education--that he was
 educated at the ,stratford  ,grammar   
,school is pure assumption4 ,his life   
between his birth and the  publication  
of ,venus and ,adonis in #aeic1 is an   
absolute blank4 ,it is  at least        
doubtful whether the supposed allusion  
to him in ,greene's  ,groat's ,worth of 
,wit1 and in ,chettle's ,kind ,heart's  
,dream have any  reference to him at    
all2 it is still more doubtful whether  
the ,william  ,shakespeare of ,adrian   
,quiney's letter1 or of the ,rogers and 
,addenbroke  summonses1 or the ,william 
,shakespeare who was assessed for       
property in  ,st4 ,helens1 ,bishopsgate1

 was the poet4 ,we know practically     
nothing of  his life in ,london1 or of  
the date of his arrival in ,london2 we  
are  ignorant of the date of his return 
to ,stratford1 of his happiness or      
unhappiness in married life1 of his     
habits1 of his last days1 of the  cause 
of his death4 ,not a sentence that fell 
from his lips has been  authentically   
recorded4 ,at least one-half of the     
alleged facts of his  biography is as   
purely apocryphal as the life of ,homer 
attributed to  ,herodotus4    ,but      
probability1 as ,bishop ,butler says1 is
 the guide of life1 and on the  basis of
 probability may be raised1 it must be  
owned1 a fairly  satisfactory biography4
 ,mr4 ,lee has not been able to         
contribute any new  facts to            
,shakespeare's life1 which is certainly 
not his fault2 but he  has given us a   
recapitulation1 as lucid as it is       
exhaustive1 of all that  the industry of
 successive generations of memorialists 
from ,ben ,jonson  to ,halliwell        

,phillipps has succeeded in             
accumulating1 and he has been as        
judicious in what he has rejected as in 
what he has adopted4 ,from the  curse of
 the typical ,shakespearian             
biographer--we mean the statement of    
mere inference and hypothesis as        
fact--he is absolutely free4 ,he has    
done excellent service in giving1 if not
 finishing1 at least swashing  blows to 
the monstrous fictions of the theorists 
on the sonnets1  particularly to the    
,fitton-,pembroke mare's nest1 fictions 
which have  been gradually generating a 
,shakespeare1 as purely apocryphal as   
the  ,roland of the song or the         
,apollonius of ,philostratus4    ,mr4   
,lee's most remarkable contribution to  
speculative ,shakespearian  criticism1  
in which1 we are glad to say1 he does   
not often indulge1 is  his contention   
that the ,w4 ,h4 of the dedication to   
the sonnets was  ,william ,hall1 a small
 piratical stationer4 ,it is never wise 
to speak  positively on what must       

necessarily be1 till certain evidence is
  obtainable1 a matter of speculation4  
,but we are very much inclined to  think
 that ,mr4 ,lee's contention has at     
least something in its favour4  ,our    
readers will remember that one of the   
chief points in the enigma of  the      
sonnets is the dedication1 and it runs  
thus3 8,to the onlie begetter  of these 
ensuing ,sonnets1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,h41 all     
happiness and that eternitie  promised  
by our ever-living poet wisheth the     
well-wishing adventurer in  setting     
forth4 ,t4 ,t40 ,it has generally been  
assumed that the 8,w4 ,h40 is  the youth
 who is the hero of the first group of  
sonnets1 and the poet's  friend1 and he 
has commonly been identified either with
 ,william ,herbert1  third ,earl of     
,pembroke1 or with ,henry ,wriothesley1 
third ,earl of  ,southampton4 ,the      
difficulties in the way of either       
hypothesis--and on  each hypothesis not 
,babels merely1 but cities of ,babels   
have been  raised--are to an            

unprejudiced mind insurmountable4 ,mr4  
,lee maintains  with plausible          
ingenuity1 but not1 we think1           
conclusively1 that there is  no proof   
that the youth of the sonnets was named 
8,will0 at all4 ,his  analysis of the   
8,will0 sonnets is a masterpiece of     
subtle ingenuity1 and  well deserves    
careful attention4 ,he then proceeds to 
adopt the theory  that the word         
8begetter0 is not to be taken in the    
sense of 8inspirer10  but simply as     
8procurer0 or 8obtainer0 of the sonnets 
for ,t4 ,t41 i4e41  the publisher1      
,thomas ,thorpe4 ,in other words1 that  
,thorpe dedicated the  sonnets to ,w4   
,h41 in return for ,w4 ,h4 having       
piratically obtained them  for him4     
,this is at least doubtful4 ,in the     
first place it may reasonably  be       
questioned whether 8begetter0 could have
 the meaning which is here  assigned to 
it2 the passages quoted from ,hamlet    
78acquire and beget a  temperance07 and 
from ,dekker's ,satiro-mastix1 8,i have 

some cousins  german at ,court shall    
beget you the reversion of the ,master  
of the  ,king's ,revels10 are anything  
but conclusive4 ,still1 ,thorpe1 who is 
by no  means remarkable for the purity  
of his ,english1 may have used it in the
  sense which ,mr4 ,lee's theory        
requires4    ,shakespeare's sonnets1 as 
is well known1 were circulating among   
his  friends in manuscript1 and ,mr4    
,lee has discovered that one ,william   
,hall  was well known as an ,autolycus  
among publishers1 and had already       
edited1  under the initials ,w4 ,h41 a  
collection of poems left by the ,jesuit 
poet1  ,southwell--in other words had   
already done for the publisher1 ,george 
,eld1 what it is assumed that he now did
 for ,thomas ,thorpe4 ,mr4 ,lee's       
theory is1 it must be admitted1         
plausible1 and few would hesitate to    
pronounce it far more probable than the 
theory which would identify the         
enigmatical initials with the names of  
,pembroke or ,southampton4    ,the      

chapters dealing with the sonnets are1  
in our opinion the most  valuable       
contribution which has ever been made to
 this important  province of            
,shakespearian study1 and it may be said
 of ,mr4 ,lee1 as  ,porson said of      
,bentley1 that we may learn more from   
him when he is wrong  than from many    
others when they are right4 ,his        
contention is1 and it is  supported with
 exhaustive erudition1 that these poems 
are1 in the main1  a concession to the  
fashion1 then so much in vogue1 of      
sonnet writing2  that their themes are  
the conventional themes treated in those
  compositions2 that some of them were  
dedicated to ,southampton1 that some    
may be autobiographical1 but that they  
are wholly miscellaneous1 and  tell no  
consecutive story1 as so many critics   
have erroneously assumed4  ,we cannot   
accept all ,mr4 ,lee's theories and     
conclusions1 but one thing  is certain1 
that they are supported with infinitely 
more skill and  learning than any other 

theories which have been broached on    
this  hopelessly baffling problem4      
,we will conclude by noticing what seem 
to us slight blemishes in this          
admirable work4 ,there is nothing to    
warrant the assertion on p4 #aeh that   
most of ,shakespeare's sonnets were     
produced in #aeid1 which is to cut the  
knot of a most difficult question4      
,indeed1 with respect to the whole      
question of the sonnets1 ,mr4 ,lee is1  
we venture to submit1 a little too      
dogmatic4 ,it is a question which no one
 can settle as positively as ,mr4  ,lee 
seems to settle it4 ,there is surely no 
good1 or even plausible  reason for     
doubting the authenticity of ,titus     
,andronicus1 whatever  innumerable      
,shakespearian critics may say1 external
 and internal  evidence alike being     
almost conclusive for its genuineness4  
,there is  nothing to warrant the       
supposition that ,shakespeare was on bad
 terms  with his wife4 ,the famous      
bequest in his ,will was probably a     

delicate  compliment1 and we are        
surprised that ,mr4 ,lee should not have
 noticed  this4 ,among the testimonies  
to ,shakespeare in the seventeenth      
century1  ,mr4 ,lee should have recorded
 that of ,archbishop ,sharp1 who1       
according to  ,speaker ,onslow1 used to 
say 8that the ,bible and ,shakespeare   
had made him  ,archbishop of ,york40    
,mr4 ,lee must also forgive us for      
adding that1 in this work at least1     
sthetic criticism is not his strong     
point1 and he would have done well  to  
keep it within even narrower bounds than
 he has done4 ,many of those  who would 
be the first to admire his erudition and
 the other scholarly  qualities which   
are so conspicuous in every chapter of  
his book1 will1  we fear1 take exception
 to much of his criticism1 especially in
 relation  to the sonnets4 ,it is too   
positive2 it is unsympathetic2 it is too
  mechanical4 ,but our debt to ,mr4 ,lee
 is so great1 that we feel almost       
ashamed to make any deductions in our   

tribute of gratitude4                   
,,shakespeare',s ,,sonnets#cj           
,footnote #cj3 ,the ,mystery of         
,shakespeare's ,sonnets3 an attempted   
,elucidation4 ,by ,cuming ,walters4     
,testimony of the ,sonnets as to the    
,authorship of the ,shakespearian ,plays
 and ,poems4 ,by ,jesse ,johnson4       
,shakespeare's ,sonnets ,reconsidered   
and in part ,re-arranged1 with          
,introductory ,chapters1 ,notes and a   
,reprint of the ,original #afji         
,edition4 ,by ,samuel ,butler4          
,there goes a story that an ingenuous   
youth1 who had the privilege of an      
introduction to ,lord ,beaconsfield1    
resolved to make the best of the        
occasion1 by extracting1 if possible1   
from that astute political sage  the    
secret of success in life4 ,it might    
take the form1 he thought1 of a  little 
practical advice4 ,for that advice1     
explaining the object with  which it was
 asked1 he accordingly applied4 8,yes10 
said ,lord  ,beaconsfield1 8,i think ,i 

can give you some advice which may      
possibly be  of use to you4 ,never      
trouble yourself about ,the ,man in the 
,iron ,mask1  and never get into a      
discussion about the authorship of the  
,letters of  ,junius40 ,in all          
seriousness we think it is high time    
that the 8closure0  should be applied to
 a debate on another 8mystery0 of which 
every one  must be tired to death1      
except perhaps those who contribute to  
it4 ,if  some progress could be made    
towards the solution of the ,mystery of 
,shakespeare's ,sonnets1 if there was   
the faintest indication of any dawn  on 
the darkness1 even the wearied reviewer 
would be patient4 ,but the  thing       
remains exactly where it was1 before    
this appalling literary  epidemic set   
in4 ,during the last three or four years
 scarcely a month  has passed without   
its 8monograph10 many of these          
treatises1 mere  replicas of their      
predecessors1 differing only in degrees 
of stupidity  and uselessness4 ,mr4     

,cuming ,walters' volume1 sensible      
enough and  intelligent1 we quite       
concede1 simply thrashes the straw4 ,it 
professes  to be an original            
contribution to the question4 ,there is 
not a view or  theory in it1 which is   
not now a platitude to every one who has
 had the  patience to follow this       
controversy4 ,it analyses the ,sonnets2 
they have  been analysed hundreds of    
times4 ,it asks who was ,w4 ,h42 it     
answers the  question as it has been    
answered usque ad nauseam4 ,it discusses
 the  dark lady1 and lands us in the    
same shifting quagmire of opinion in    
which ,mr4 ,tyler and his coadjutors and
 opponents have been floundering  for   
the last four years4 ,it assumes1 it    
rejects1 it questions1 it  suggests1    
what has been assumed1 rejected1        
questioned1 and suggested  over and over
 again4 ,indeed1 it may now be said with
 literal truth that1  unless some fresh 
discovery is made1 nothing new1 whether 
in the way of  absurdity or sense1 can  

be advanced on this subject4 ,but books 
are  multiplied with such rapidity and  
in such prodigious numbers in these     
days1 that they thrive1 like cannibals1 
on one another4 ,the last comer  is     
simply its forgotten predecessor in     
disguise4    ,but platitude is the very 
last charge that can be brought against 
,mr4  ,jesse ,johnson's contribution to 
the curiosities of ,shakespearian       
criticism4 ,the theory advanced here is1
 that ,shakespeare never wrote the      
,sonnets at all1 that he was quite      
unequal to their composition1 that the  
author of them 8was probably fifty1     
perhaps sixty1 and that he was  besides 
a man of genius1 which ,shakespeare     
certainly was not4 ,i would  not10 says 
,mr4 ,jesse ,johnson1 8deny to          
,shakespeare great talent4 ,his  success
 in and with theatres certainly forbids 
us to do so4 ,that he had  a bent or a  
talent for rhyming or for poetry1 an    
early and persistent  tradition and the 
inscription over his grave indicate4    

,and otherwise  there could hardly have 
been attributed to him so many plays1   
besides  those written by the author of 
the ,sonnets40 ,shakespeare may have    
been  equal to trifles like ,hamlet or  
,lear--for ,mr4 ,jesse ,johnson would be
  the last to dispute the claim made for
 ,shakespeare as a hard-working         
playwright clearing his twenty-five     
thousand dollars a year 7,mr4 ,jesse    
,johnson is calculating his income      
according to the present time7--but  8to
 ,shakespeare working as an actor1      
adapter or perhaps author came a  very  
great poet1 one who outclassed all the  
writers of that day1 and it  is the     
poetry of that great unknown which1     
flowing into ,shakespeare's  work1      
comprises all or nearly all of it which 
the world treasures or  cares to        
remember40 ,if we told ,mr4 ,jesse      
,johnson1 and all who resemble  ,mr4    
,jesse ,johnson1 the truth about their  
productions1 we are quite  certain of   
one thing--but the one thing of which we

 are certain it  would1 perhaps1 be good
 taste in us to leave unsaid4    ,of a  
very different order is ,mr4 ,samuel    
,butler's ,shakespeare's ,sonnets       
,reconsidered4 ,this is the work of a   
scholar1 but of a scholar mounted  on a 
hobby-horse of unusually vigorous       
mettle4 ,mr4 ,butler begins with a      
tremendous onslaught on the theories of 
the ,southamptonites1 the  ,herbertists 
and the anti-autobiographical party2 and
 in this part of his  work he has       
certainly much to say which is both     
pertinent and plausible1  nay1 in our   
opinion1 convincing4 ,but he is less    
successful in  construction than in     
demolition4 ,his own contention is1 that
 the ,sonnets  are undoubtedly          
autobiographical1 and very derogatory to
 ,shakespeare's  moral character4 ,he is
 satisfied that 8,mr4 ,w4 ,h40 was the  
youth who  inspired them1 not the youth 
who simply collected1 or procured them1 
and  gave them to ,thorpe1 but that this
 youth was neither the ,earl of         

,southampton nor the ,earl of ,pembroke1
 nor1 indeed1 any one of superior       
social rank to the poet1 though this has
 always been assumed4 ,adopting  the    
theory of ,tyrwhitt and ,malone that the
 key to the youth's name is to  be found
 in the seventh line of the twentieth   
sonnet1--      8,a man in hew all ,hewes
 in his controlling40    and deducing1  
with them1 from ,sonnets cxxxv41 cxxxvi4
 and cxliii4 that  the youth's          
,christian name was ,william1 ,mr4      
,butler believes1 as they  did1 that the
 youth's name was ,william ,hughes1 or  
,hewes2 and ,mr4 ,butler  is inclined to
 identify him1 though he speaks1 of     
course1 by no means  confidently1 with a
 ,william ,hughes1 who served as steward
 in the  ,vanguard1 ,swiftsure and      
,dreadnought1 and who died in ,march1   
#afcf-g4 ,mr4 ,butler supports his      
theories with hypotheses which an       
impartial judge of evidence will find it
 difficult to concede4 ,in the  face of 
,sonnets xxxvi41 xxxvii4 and cxxiv4 the 

contention that the youth  was not in a 
superior social station to the poet     
cannot be maintained  with any          
confidence4 ,there are still graver     
difficulties in the way of  supposing   
that the ,sonnets were written between  
,january1 #aehe-f and  ,december1 #aehh4
 ,that they could be the work of a young
 man between his  twenty-first and his  
twenty-fourth year1 and have preceded by
 some four  years the composition of    
,venus and ,adonis and the ,rape of     
,lucrece1  is simply incredible2 but it 
is a question which cannot be argued1   
for  we have nothing but mere hypothesis
 to go upon4 ,mr4 ,butler's  arrangement
 and interpretation of the ,sonnets are1
 moreover1 purely  fanciful4 ,when ,mr4 
,butler would have us believe that some 
of the ,sonnets  in the second group1   
from cxxvii4 to clii41 are addressed to 
and concern  not the woman1 but the     
youth1 he asks us to accept a theory    
which is not  only revolting1 but which 
sets all probability at defiance4       

,similarly  absurd1 he must forgive us  
for saying1 is his grotesquely repulsive
  interpretation of ,sonnet xxxiv4 ,nor 
is there anything to justify the        
interpretation placed on ,sonnets       
xxxiii4 and xxxiv4 or the collocation   
of cxxi4 ,all that can be said for ,mr4 
,butler's exceedingly ingenious and     
admirably argued theory is1 that it     
supports a view of the question  which1 
if it admits of no positive confutation1
 produces no conviction4  ,no theory1   
based on an arbitrary arrangement of    
these poems and on  positive deductions 
drawn1 or rather strained1 from most    
ambiguous  evidence and from pure       
hypotheses1 can possibly be             
satisfactory4    ,the problem presented 
in these ,sonnets is undoubtedly the    
most  fascinating problem in all        
literature1 and it is as exasperating as
 it  is fascinating4 ,it appears to be  
so simple1 it seems constantly to be on 
the verge of its solution1 and yet the  
moment we get beyond a certain  point in

 inquiry1 the more complex its apparent 
simplicity is discovered  to be1 the    
more hopeless all prospect of explaining
 the enigma4 ,take  the difficulty of   
assuming1 what seems to be obvious1 that
 they are  autobiographical4 ,here we   
have the poet1 and that poet            
,shakespeare1  admitting the world into 
the innermost secrets of his life1      
taking his  contemporaries1 without the 
least reserve1 into his confidence1     
inviting  and assisting them to the     
study of his own morbid anatomy1 and1 in
 a  word1 stripping himself bare with   
all the shameless abandon of ,jean      
,jacques and of ,casanova4 ,everything  
that we know of ,shakespeare seems to   
discountenance the probability of his   
having any such intention4 ,no          
anecdote1 with the smallest pretence to 
authenticity1 couples his name  with    
scandal4 ,the theory which identifies   
him with the ,w4 ,s4 of  ,willobie's    
,avisa has no real basis to rest on1 and
 without  corroboration is absolutely   

inadmissible as evidence4 ,whatever     
,shakespeare's private life may have    
been1 it is quite clear that he         
carefully regarded the decencies1 and   
would have been the last man in  the    
world to pose publicly in the character 
presented to us in the  ,sonnets4 ,if   
the poems are autobiographical1 we can  
only conclude that  they were published 
without his consent1 and even to his    
great  annoyance4 ,this may certainly   
have been the case1 and is indeed often 
assumed to have been so4 ,but even then 
it is1 to say the least1 curious1  that 
there should have been no tradition     
about the extraordinary story  which    
they tell1 especially considering the   
distinction of the dramatis  person4    
,assuming that the youth1 who is their  
hero1 was a real person1  he must1      
judging from ,sonnets xxxvi41 xxxvii4   
and cxxiv41 have been  conspicuous in   
the society of that time2 assuming the  
rival poet to be a  real person1 he must
 have been equally conspicuous in       

another sphere1  while ,shakespeare     
himself1 at the time the ,sonnets were  
published1 was  the most distinguished  
poet and playwright in ,london4 ,it is1 
therefore1  extraordinary that all      
traces of an affair in which persons of 
so much  eminence were involved1 and    
which would have furnished              
scandal-mongers  with the topics in     
which such gossips most delight1 should 
have entirely  disappeared4 ,we must    
either conclude that posterity has been 
very  unfortunate in the loss of records
 which would have thrown light on the   
matter1 or that ,shakespeare's          
contemporaries knew nothing of the      
facts1  and contented themselves with   
the poetry2 or1 lastly1 that what we may
  call the fable of the ,sonnets1 the   
drama in which ,w4 ,h41 8the dark       
lady10 and the rival poet play their    
parts1 is as fictitious as the plot  of 
,the ,midsummer ,night's ,dream or ,the 
,tempest4    ,it is not our intention to
 support any of the numerous theories   

which  pretend to give us the key to    
these ,sonnets1 still less to propose   
any  new one1 but simply to show that   
the enigma presented by them is as      
insoluble as ever1 and that all attempts
 to throw light on it have  served to   
effect nothing more than to make        
darkness visible and  confusion worse   
confounded4 ,let us briefly review the  
facts4 ,in #afji1  ,thomas ,thorpe1 a   
well-known ,elizabethan bookseller1     
published a small  quarto volume1       
entitled ,shakespeare's ,sonnets1 having
 apparently not  obtained them from the 
poet himself1 and to this volume was    
prefixed the  following                 
dedication3--8,to the onlie begetter of 
these ensuing ,sonnets1  ,mr4 ,w4 ,h41  
all happiness and that eternitie        
promised by our ever-living  poet       
wisheth the well-wishing adventurer in  
setting forth4 ,t4 ,t40 ,here  begins   
and ends all that is certainly known    
about ,w4 ,h4 and his relation  to these
 poems4 ,no one knows who he was2 no one

 knows what is exactly  meant by the    
word 8begetter10 whether it is to be    
taken in the sense of  inspirer1 whether
 that is to say ,w4 ,h4 is the youth    
celebrated in the  ,sonnets--8the       
master-mistress0 of the poet's passion1 
or whether it  simply means the person  
who got or procured the poems for       
,thorpe1--in  which case the            
identification of the initials is of no 
consequence1  unless we are to suppose  
that the youth who inspired them        
presented them  to ,thorpe4 ,mr4 ,sidney
 ,lee1 in his very able paper in the    
,fortnightly  ,review for ,february1    
#ahih1 and in his ,life of ,shakespeare1
 argues that  there is no proof that the
 youth of the ,sonnets was named        
8,will10 though  this has always been   
assumed to be the case4 ,the evidence on
 which the  point must be argued will be
 found in the puns on 8,will0 in        
,sonnets  cxxxiv4-vi4 and cxliii4 ,it   
seems to us1 we must own1 that the      
balance of  probability1 though not     

certainly in favour of the affirmative1 
decidedly inclines towards it4 ,granting
 then1--for it is1 after all1  only an  
hypothesis1--that the initials ,w4 ,h4  
are those of the youth  celebrated in   
the ,sonnets1 to whom are they to be    
assigned8 ,the youth1  whoever he was1  
is represented as being in a social     
position superior to  that of the poet2 
he has apparently rank and title2 he has
 wealth2 he is  young and eminently     
handsome1 his beauty being of a         
delicate1 effeminate  cast2 he is highly
 cultivated and accomplished2 he is on  
terms of the  closest intimacy with the 
poet1 by whom he is passionately        
beloved2 he  lives a free1 loose life1  
and he intrigues with his friend's      
mistress4    ,passing by all            
preposterous theories about ,william    
,harte1 ,william  ,hughes1 ,william     
,himself and the like1 we come to the   
two names which  seem worth serious     
consideration1 ,william ,herbert1 third 
,earl of  ,pembroke1 and ,henry         

,wriothesly1 third ,earl of             
,southampton4 ,the ,pembroke  theory1   
with ,mr4 ,thomas ,tyler's corollary    
identifying the 8dark lady0  with ,mary 
,fitton1 has been adopted by ,dr4       
,brandes in his work on  ,shakespeare   
just published4 ,but the difficulties in
 the way of accepting  it are           
insuperable4 ,they have been admirably  
discussed by ,mr4 ,sidney  ,lee in the  
article to which we have referred4 ,in  
the first place1 while  ,shakespeare    
must have been on terms of more than    
brotherly intimacy with  the youth of   
the ,sonnets1 there is no evidence at   
all that he had ever  been in any other 
relation with the ,earl than in the     
ordinary one of  servant and patron4    
,the words of ,heminge and ,condell1 in 
the dedication  of the first folio to   
,pembroke and his brother1 merely state 
that they  had both of them 8prosequted0
 him with favour2 in other words1 been  
to  him what they had been to many other
 dramatists and men of letters2 and     

that is the only evidence of any        
connection between ,shakespeare and     
,pembroke4 ,tradition was certainly     
silent about any relations between      
them1 for ,aubrey1 as ,mr4 ,lee has     
pointed out1 though he has collected    
much information about both1 says       
nothing about their acquaintanceship1   
though he mentions ,pembroke's          
connection with ,massinger1 and         
,southampton's with ,shakespeare4 ,but  
,thorpe's dedication is conclusive      
against ,pembroke4 ,in #afji1 ,pembroke1
 who had succeeded to the title on  the 
death of his father in ,january1 #afja1 
was ,lord ,chamberlain1 a ,knight  of   
the ,garter1 and one of the most        
distinguished noblemen in ,england4 ,is 
it credible that ,thorpe would address  
him as ,mr4 ,w4 ,h41 more especially  as
 in the other works which he inscribed  
to him1--and he inscribed  several1--he 
is careful to give him all his titles1  
and to address him  with the most       
fulsome servility8 ,again1 ,pembroke1 as

 ,mr4 ,lee points out1  was never a     
8,mister0 at all4 ,as the eldest son of 
an earl1 he was  designated by courtesy 
,lord ,herbert1 and as ,lord ,herbert he
 is always  spoken of in contemporary   
records4 ,the appellation 8,mr40 was    
not1 as ,mr4  ,lee observes1 used       
loosely1 as it is now1 and could never  
have been  applied to any nobleman1     
whether holding his title by right or by
  courtesy4 ,whatever allowance may be  
made for a poet's passion and fancy1    
some weight must be attached to the     
insistence made in the ,sonnets on  the 
youth's delicate and effeminate beauty4 
,it is true that we have no  portraits  
of ,pembroke before he arrived at middle
 age1 but those  portraits justify us in
 concluding that he could never1 at any 
time1  have been distinguished by beauty
 of the type indicated in the poems4    
,against all this the advocates of the  
,pembroke theory have nothing to  place 
but conjectures1 a series of            
insignificant coincidences and the      

assumption that the woman in the        
,sonnets is to be identified with the   
woman who bore ,herbert a child1 ,mary  
,fitton4 ,the publication of ,sonnet    
xliv4 by ,jaggard1 in #aeii1 shows that 
the intrigue between the youth and  the 
dark lady1 which is the central event of
 the ,sonnets1 was already1  and had    
probably been for some time1 in full    
career1 while there is no  evidence that
 ,pembroke was involved with ,mary      
,fitton before the summer  of #afjj4    
,but what finally disposes of this      
theory is the testimony  afforded by    
,lady ,newdigate-,newdegate's recently  
published ,gossip from a  ,muniment     
,room4 ,indispensable requisites in the 
lady of the ,sonnets are1  that she     
should be dark1 a 8black beauty0 with   
8eyes raven black10 with  hair which    
resembles 8black wires10 and that she   
should be a married  woman2 but the     
portraits--and there are two of them--of
 ,mary ,fitton1  show that she had a    
fair complexion1 with brown hair and    

grey eyes2 and  she remained unmarried1 
until long after her connection with    
,pembroke  had ceased4    ,the theory   
which identifies ,w4 ,h4 with the ,earl 
of ,southampton is  slightly more       
plausible1 but the difficulties in the  
way of accepting it  are1 in truth1     
equally insuperable4 ,this theory has at
 least one great  point in its favour4  
,shakespeare was acquainted1 and it may 
be inferred  intimately acquainted1 with
 ,southampton1 as the dedications of    
,venus  and ,adonis and the ,rape of    
,lucrece indicate4 ,of his affection and
  respect for this nobleman he has left 
an expression almost as remarkable  as  
the language of the sonnets4 8,the love 
,i dedicate to your lordship is  without
 end4444 ,what ,i have done is yours2   
what ,i have to do is yours3  being part
 in all ,i have devoted yours4 ,were my 
worth greater1 my duty  would show      
greater40 ,this bears a singularly close
 resemblance to ,sonnet  xxvi41--       
8,lord of my love1 to whom in vassalage 

,thy merit hath my duty strongly knit1  
,to thee ,i send this written embassage 
,to witness duty1 not to show my wit1   
,duty so great1 which wit so poor as    
mine    ,may make seem bare1 in wanting 
words to show it40    ,and there is much
 in the ,sonnets which can be made to   
coincide with what  we know of          
,southampton4 ,but1 as we push inquiry1 
difficulties of all  kinds begin to     
swarm in on us4 ,the first is1 as in the
 case of ,pembroke1  with the           
dedication4 ,to say nothing of the fact 
that 8,w4 ,h40 is not 8,h4  ,w40--the   
possibility of the appellation of 8,mr40
 being applied to one  who had been an  
,earl since #aeha1 and who had twice    
been addressed in  dedications by his   
full titles1 and that by ,shakespeare   
himself1 is a  wholly inadmissible      
hypothesis4 ,to argue that this was     
merely 8a blind10  is simply to beg the 
question4 ,if the ,sonnets were         
addressed to  ,southampton1 they must   
have been written between #aeic and     

#aeih4 ,in #aeic  ,southampton was in   
his twenty-first year1 in #aeih in his  
twenty-sixth2  ,shakespeare1            
respectively1 in his thirty-first and   
thirty-fifth year4  ,now1 what is       
especially emphasized in the sonnets is 
the youthfulness of  the young man to   
whom they are dedicated1 and the        
advanced age of the  poet4 ,in ,sonnet  
cviii4 the youth is addressed as 8a     
sweet boy10 in  cxxvi4 as 8a lovely     
boy10 in liv4 as 8a beauteous and lovely
 youth02 in  xcv4 his 8budding name0 is 
referred to1 while the poet speaks of   
himself as 8old10 as 8beaten and chopped
 with tanned antiquity10 as  being 8with
 ,time's injurious hand crushed and     
o'erworn40 ,and so1 as has  been more   
than once pointed out1 we have this     
anomaly--a man of  thirty-four          
describing himself as a thing of 8tanned
 antiquity0 in  writing to 8a sweet and 
lovely boy0 of twenty-five4 ,no one     
could have  been less like the          
effeminate youth of the ,sonnets than   

,southampton4 ,all  we know about him1  
including his portraits1 indicates that 
he was  eminently masculine and manly4  
,again1 it is matter of history that he 
greatly distinguished himself on the    
,azores expedition in #aeig1  acquitting
 himself with so much gallantry that1   
during the voyage1 he  was knighted by  
,essex4 ,to this expedition1 which must 
have involved one  of those absences of 
which we hear so much in the ,sonnets1  
to this  exploit and this honour1 which 
afforded so much opportunity for        
peculiarly acceptable compliment1       
,shakespeare makes no reference at all4 
,there is nothing to indicate that the  
youth of the ,sonnets had gained  any   
military or political distinction1 had  
taken any part in public  life1 or had  
ever been absent from ,england4 ,to     
assume with ,mr4 ,lee that  the ,sonnets
 were written in or before #aeid1 and   
therefore before  ,southampton had      
become distinguished1 is to involve     
ourselves in  inextricable difficulties4

 ,even ,mr4 ,lee admits that ,sonnet    
cvii4 must  have reference to the death 
of ,elizabeth in #afjc4 ,with regard to 
the  supposed references to             
,southampton's relations with ,elizabeth
 ,vernon1 no  certain1 or1 to speak more
 accurately1 no even plausible          
inferences can  be drawn in any         
particular3 all that they can be reduced
 to are degrees  of improbability4      
,if1 again1 we accept the theory of     
,tyrwhitt and ,malone1 supported by ,mr4
  ,butler1 and suppose that ,w4 ,h4 was 
some obscure person1 we are  proceeding 
on mere hypothesis1 and a hypothesis    
seriously shaken by the  plain meaning  
expressed in ,sonnets xxxvi41 xxxvii41  
and cxxiv4    ,the enigma of these      
,sonnets is1 we repeat1 as insoluble now
 as it was  when inquiry was first      
directed to them4 ,whether they are to  
be regarded  as autobiographical1 as    
dramatic studies1 as a mixture of both1 
as a  collection of miscellaneous poems1
 as written to order for others1 as     

mere exercises in the sonnet-cycle1 or  
as all of these things1 is alike        
uncertain4 ,our knowledge of the time of
 their composition begins and  ends with
 the facts1 that some of them were1     
presumably1 in circulation  in or before
 #aeih1 that two of them had certainly  
been composed in or  before #aeii1 and  
that all of them had been written by    
#afji4 ,the rest is  mere conjecture2   
and on mere conjecture and mere         
hypothesis is based  every attempt to   
solve their mystery4 ,if certainty about
 them can ever  be arrived at1 it can   
only be attained by evidence of which1  
as yet1 we  have not even an inkling4   
,the probability is1 that it was        
,shakespeare's  intention1 or rather    
,thorpe's intention1 to baffle          
curiosity1 and1  except in the judgment 
of fanatics1 he has certainly succeeded 
in doing  so4    ,for our own part we   
are very much inclined to suspect1 that 
they owed  their origin to the fashion  
of composing sonnet-cycles1 that those  

cycles suggested their themes and gave  
them the ply2 that the beautiful  youth1
 the rival poet1 and the dark lady are  
pure fictions of the  imagination2 and  
that these poems are autobiographical   
only in the sense  in which ,venus and  
,adonis1 the ,rape of ,lucrece1 ,romeo  
and ,juliet  and ,othello are           
autobiographical4          ,,landscape  
,,in ,,poetry#ca    ,footnote #ca3      
,landscape in ,poetry from ,homer to    
,tennyson4 ,by ,francis  ,t4 ,palgrave4 
,it would be scarcely possible for a    
critic of ,mr4 ,palgrave's taste and    
learning to produce a treatise on any   
aspect of poetry1 which would not  be   
full of interest and instruction1 and   
the present volume is a  contribution1  
and in some respects a memorable        
contribution1 to a  particularly        
attractive subject of critical inquiry4 
,its purpose is to  trace the history of
 descriptive poetry in its relation1    
that is to say1  to natural objects and 
more particularly to landscape1 by      

illustrating  its characteristics at    
different periods1 and among different  
nations4  ,beginning with the ,homeric  
poems1 ,mr4 ,palgrave reviews           
successively the  8landscape0 of the    
,greeks1 the ,romans1 the ,hebrews1 the 
medival  ,italians1 the ,celts1 the     
,anglo-,saxons1 and of our own poets1   
from the  predecessors of ,chaucer to   
,lord ,tennyson4 ,that a work1 covering 
an area  so immense1 should be far less 
satisfactory in some portions than in   
others is no more than what might be    
expected1 and ,mr4 ,palgrave would      
probably be himself the first to admit  
that1 except when he is dealing  with   
the classical poetry of ,hellas1 of     
ancient and medival ,italy1 and  of our 
own country1 his treatise has no        
pretension to adequacy4 ,even  within   
these bounds there is much which is     
irrelevant1 and much which is           
surprisingly defective4 ,where1 as in a 
subject like this1 the material  at the 
author's disposal is necessarily so     

superabundant1 surely the  utmost care  
should have been taken both to keep     
within the limits of the  theme         
proposed1 and to select the most        
pertinent and typical  illustrations4   
,but when ,mr4 ,palgrave illustrates    
8,homeric landscape0 by  the simile     
describing the heifers frisking about   
the drove of cows in  the fold-yard1 and
 the 8,sophoclean landscape0 by the     
simile of the  blast-impelled wave      
rolling up the shingle1 he lays himself 
open to the  imputation of drawing at   
random on his commonplace book4 ,indeed1
 the  pleasure with which lovers of     
classical poetry will read this book    
cannot fail to be mingled with the      
liveliest surprise and  disappointment4 
,take the ,homeric poems4 ,if a reader1 
tolerably well  versed in the ,iliad and
 ,odyssey1 were asked for illustrations 
of the  power with which natural        
phenomena are described1 to what would  
he turn8  ,certainly not to ,mr4        
,palgrave's meagre and trivial examples1

 three of  which alone have any title to
 pertinence4 ,he would turn to the      
winter  landscape in ,iliad1 xii4       
#bgh-bhf1 to the lifting of the cloud   
from  the landscape in ,iliad1 xvi4     
#bif3--       ' ' '            1     '  
1  ' '   4         8,as when ,zeus1 the 
gatherer of the lightning1 moves a thick
       cloud from the high head of some 
mighty mountain1 and all the            
cliffs and the jutting crags and the    
dells start into light1       and the   
immeasurable heaven breaks open to its  
highest02    to the descent of the wind 
on the sea1 ,ib4 xi4 #cje-cjh3--        
1   2        1  '         4         8,as
 when the west wind buffets the         
cloudlets of the brightening       south
 wind1 lashing them with furious squall1
 and the big wave       swells up and   
rolls along1 and the spray is scattered 
on high       by the blast of the       
careering gale02    or to the pictures  
of the billow-buffeted headland1 and the
 wave  bursting on the ship in ,iliad1  

xv4 #fah-fbh2 or to the storm-cloud     
coming over the sea in ,iliad1 iv4 #bgg2
 or to the descent of the wind  on the  
standing corn1 ,iliad1 ii4 #adg4 ,he    
would point1 above all1 to  the         
description of ,calypso's grotto1 in    
,odyssey1 v4 #fc-gd2 to that of  the    
harbour of ,phorcys1 in ,odyssey1 xiii4 
#ig-aab2 to the fountain in  the grove1 
xvii4 #bje-baa4 ,mr4 ,palgrave comments 
justly on ,homer's minute  observation  
of nature2 but he only gives one        
illustration1 where it is  noticed in   
,odyssey1 vi4 #id1 that the sea1 in     
beating on the coast1  8washed the      
pebbles clean40 ,he might have added    
with propriety many  others3 as the     
8earth blackening behind the plough10 in
 ,iliad1 xviii4  #edh2 the bats in the  
cave1 ,odyssey1 xxiv4 #e-h2 the birds   
escaping from  the vultures1 ,iliad1    
xxii4 #cjd1 #cje2 the wasps 8wriggling  
as far as  the middle10   1 ,iliad1 xii4
 #afg2 the dogs  and the lions1 ,iliad1 
xviii4 #ehe1 #ehf4    ,mr4 ,palgrave    

observes that ,homer 8was not only      
familiar with the sea1  but loved it    
with a love somewhat unusual in poets40 
,we venture to  submit that there is not
 a line in ,homer indicating that he    
8loved0 the  sea1 except for poetical   
purposes2 like most of the ,greeks he   
probably  dreaded it2 his real feeling  
towards it is no doubt indicated in his 
own  words3--                          4
    --nothing crushes a man's spirit    
more than the sea4 ,mr4 ,palgrave justly
  points out that ,hesiod's rude prosaic
 style and matter are not congenial  to 
the poetic landscape1 yet it is only    
fair to ,hesiod to say1 that his  poetry
 is not without vivid touches of natural
 description1 as the  winter scene in   
,works and ,days1 #ejd sqq41 and his    
description of the  beginning of spring1
 #efe-efi1 show4 ,professor ,palgrave   
next glances at  the treatment of nature
 in the lyric poets1 and very properly  
cites the  lovely fragment of ,alcman3  
'    '  1      1   1--    but in        

translating it makes a truly            
extraordinary blunder4         8,would  
,i were the kingfisher1 as he flies1    
with his mates in       his feeble age1 
between wind and water40      meaning1  
as we need hardly say1 8reckless heart02
  it is exactly ,byron's1 8,with all her
 reckless birds upon the wing40 ,in  the
 quotations from ,sappho1 ,ibycus1 and  
,pindar1 ,mr4 ,palgrave has been        
judicious and happy1 but surely he ought
 to have found place for the  lovely    
flower cradle of ,iamus in the sixth    
,olympic ,ode1 and for the  moonlight   
evening in the third ,olympian1--only   
seven words1 but what a                 
picture6--while1 in the popular poetry1 
the omission of the ,swallow ,song  is  
inexplicable4#cb ,nor can we forgive him
 the omission of the  magnificent simile
 of the spring wind clearing away the   
clouds1 in the  thirteenth of the       
fragments attributed to ,solon4    ,but 
it is in dealing with the ,greek        
dramatists that ,mr4 ,palgrave is most  

defective in illustration4 ,it is not to
 the opening of the ,prometheus1  or to 
the conclusion1 or1 indeed1 to any of   
the passages from this poet  which ,mr4 
,palgrave cites1 that we must turn for  
schylean landscape1 or  for illustration
 of this poet's power of natural        
description4 ,it is to  his brief       
picture--his pictures of scenery1 though
 singularly vivid1 are  always brief--of
 the airy seat 8against which the watery
 clouds drift  into snow10              
7,supplices1 #ggb-c71    where almost   
every word is a perfect picture1        
literally beggaring mere  translation2  
it is to his description1 so magical in 
its rhythm1 of the  mid-day sea         
slumbering in summer calm 7,agamemnon1  
#edh-ej71       1            1    to his
 picture of the keen brisk wind1        
clearing the clouds away1 to  bring into
 relief against the sky the dark masses 
of waves tossing on  the horizon        
7,agamemnon1 #aaeb-ed71 to his          
world-famous                      4     

8,the multitudinous laughter of the     
ocean waves40      --,prometheus1       
#hi-ij4    ,mr4 ,palgrave has1 of       
course1 cited with reference to         
,sophocles the great  chorus in the     
dipus ,coloneus1 but he has omitted to  
notice that1  if ,sophocles has not     
elsewhere given us so elaborate a piece 
of natural  description1 innumerable    
touches in the dramas1 and more         
particularly  in the fragments1 show    
that he observed nature almost as       
minutely as  ,shakespeare4 ,nothing     
could be more vivid than the touches of 
description  in the ,philoctetes4 ,from 
,euripides ,mr4 ,palgrave cites nothing1
  observing that he rarely goes beyond  
somewhat conventional phrases4  ,surely 
,mr4 ,palgrave must have forgotten the  
magnificent description of  ,parnassus1 
as seen from the plain1 in the ,phniss1 
the glorious  description of a moonlight
 night1 as represented on the tapestry1 
in the  ,ion1 the vivid touches of      
natural description in the ,bacch1 that 

of  the meadow in the ,hippolytus1 and  
the chorus about ,athens in the  ,medea1
 to say nothing of the charming rural   
picture in the fragments  of the        
,phaeton4#cc ,to say of ,aristophanes   
that1 in his treatment of  nature1 he   
rarely goes beyond somewhat common      
phrases1 is to say what is  refuted1 not
 merely in the chorus referred to by    
,mr4 ,palgrave1 but in  the ,frogs and  
in the ,birds4 ,he stands next to ,homer
 in his keen  sensibility to the charm  
of nature4 ,shelley himself might have  
written  the choruses referred to4 ,in  
dealing with the ,alexandrian poets ,mr4
  ,palgrave passes over ,apollonius     
,rhodius and ,callimachus entirely1 and 
yet the fine picture of ,delos given by 
,callimachus in the ,hymn to ,delos  is 
one of the gems of ancient description1 
and ,apollonius ,rhodius  abounds with  
the most graphic and charming           
delineations of scenery and  natural    
objects4 ,what a beautiful description  
of early morning is  this6--       '    

1  ' 1         4      ,argon4 i4        
#abhj-abhc4         8,what time from    
heaven the bright glad morn coming up   
from the       ,east begins to shine1   
and path and road are all agleam1 and   
the       dew-bespangled plains are     
flashing with the radiant light40       
,how vivid too1 and with the vividness  
of modern poetry1 are his  descriptions 
of the cave of ,hades and its           
neighbourhood 7ii4 #gbi-gej71  and the  
,great ,syrtis 7iv4 #abcj-abde76 ,in his
 selections from the ,greek  ,anthology 
,mr4 ,palgrave is much happier2 but here
 again he has many  omissions1 and among
 them the most remarkable illustration  
of ,greek  nature-painting to be found  
in that collection--namely1 ,meleager's 
idyll  giving an elaborate description  
of a spring day1 which might have been  
written by ,thomson 7,pal4 ,anthology1  
ix4 #cfc74 ,it may be observed in       
passing that   7,pal4 ,anth41 v4 #add7  
can  hardly mean 8lilies that wander    
over the hills10 but lilies 8that haunt 

the hills10 and that   in ,theocritus1  
vii4 #adb1  probably means 8buzzing0    
bees1 not 8tawny40    ,in dealing with  
the ,roman poets ,mr4 ,palgrave is1 with
 one exception1  most unsatisfactory4   
,from the poets preceding ,lucretius1   
amply as the  fragments would serve his 
purpose1 he gives only one illustration4
 ,we  should have expected the vivid    
picture given by ,accius in his  nomaus 
of the early morning3      8,forte ante 
,auroram1 radiorum ardentum indicem1    
,cum e somno in segetem agrestis        
cornutos cient1    ,ut rorulentas terras
 ferro rufidas    ,proscindant1         
glebasque arvo ex molli exsuscitent40   
8,perchance before the dawn that heralds
 the burning rays1 what       time      
rustics bring forth the oxen from their 
sleep into the       cornfields1 to     
break up the red dew-spangled soil with 
the       ploughshare1 and turn up the  
clods from the soft soil02    or the    
wonderfully graphic description of a    
sudden storm at sea1 in the  fragments  

of the ,dulorestes of ,pacuvius3        
8,profectione lti piscium lasciviam     
,intuentur1 nec tuendi capere satietas  
potest4    ,interea prope jam occidente 
sole inhorrescit mare1    ,tenebr       
conduplicantur1 noctisque et nimbum     
occcat nigror1    ,flamma inter nubes   
coruscat1 clum tonitru contremit1       
,grando mixta imbri largifico subita    
prcipitans cadit1    ,undique omnes     
venti erumpunt1 svi existunt turbines1  
,fervit stu pelagus40         8,glad at 
heart when they set out they gaze at the
 sporting       fish1 and are never     
weary of looking at them4 ,meanwhile1   
hard       upon sunset1 the sea ruffles1
 darkness gathers thick1 the            
blackness of the storm-clouded night    
hides everything1 flame       flashes   
between the clouds1 heaven shakes with  
thunder1 hail1       mingled with       
streaming rain1 dashes suddenly down1   
from every       quarter all the winds  
tear forth1 wild whirlwinds rise1 the   
sea       boils with the seething       

waters40    ,with ,lucretius1 indeed1 he
 deals fully1 and this portion of his   
work  leaves little to be desired4 ,but 
a reference to the lines to ,sirmio and 
one illustration from the ,peleus and   
,thetis exhaust his examples from       
,catullus4 ,we should have expected the 
picture of the stream leaping from  the 
mossy rock into the valley beneath1 in  
the ,epistle to ,manlius1 of  the       
morning chasing away the shadows in the 
,attis1 and the lovely  flower pictures 
in the ,epithalamia4 ,in dealing with   
,virgil most of ,mr4  ,palgrave's       
citations are practically irrelevant2   
scarcely any of the  passages which best
 illustrate ,virgil's power of landscape
 painting  being even referred to4 8,the
 neid10 says ,mr4 ,palgrave1 8may be    
briefly dismissed4 ,natural description 
can have but little place in an  epic40 
,and yet what are the passages to which 
any one1 who wishes to  illustrate the  
charm and power of ,virgil's pictures of
 scenery1 would  naturally turn8 ,surely

 to these3 the description of the rocky 
recess  which sheltered neas's ships    
7neid1 i4 #aei-afh71 a picture worthy of
  ,salvator2 the picture of tna 7iii4   
#egj-ehb71 which rivals the picture  of 
it given by ,pindar1 a picture praised  
so justly by ,mr4 ,palgrave  himself2   
the description of a calm night 7iv4    
#ebb-ebg72 the  wave-buffeted1          
gull-haunted rock 7v4 #abd-abh72 and1   
above all1 the  scenery at the mouth of 
the ,tiber1 bathed in the rays of the   
morning  sun1 a picture unexcelled even 
by ,tennyson4 ,nor even in the ,georgics
  is any reference made to the superb   
description of a storm in harvest  time 
7i4 #baf-ccd71 or to the magnificent    
winter piece 7iii4 #cdi-cgj74    ,the   
remarks about the indifference of       
,propertius to natural scenery are  most
 unjust4 ,what a charming picture is    
this6--        8,grata domus ,nymphis   
humida ,thyniasin1    ,quam supra null  
pendebant debita cur      ,roscida      
desertis poma sub arboribus2    ,et     

circum irriguo surgebant lilia prato    
,candida purpureis mixta papaveribus40  
,el41 ,i4 xx4 #ce-ci4    ,it may be     
conceded that ,ovid is conventional and 
commonplace in his  treatment of nature2
 but why is ,valerius ,flaccus1 with his
 bold1 vivid  touches1 left unnoticed8  
,why does one citation suffice for the  
many  exquisite cameos which ought to   
have been given from ,statius8 ,another 
inexplicable omission in ,mr4           
,palgrave's work is the poem entitled   
,ros1 attributed to ,ausonius--a lovely 
poem1 infinitely more beautiful  than   
the epigram quoted by ,mr4 ,palgrave    
from the ,latin ,anthology1 and         
rivalling the fragment given by him from
 ,tiberianus4 ,most readers would  agree
 with him in his estimate of ,claudian1 
but he might have added the  fine       
description of ,olympus in the ,de      
,consulatu ,theodori1 #bjj-baj3         
8,ut altus ,olympi    ,vertex1 qui      
spatio ventos hiemesque relinquit1      
,perpetuum null temeratus nube serenum  

,celsior exsurgit pluviis1 auditque     
ruentes    ,sub pedibus nimbos1 et rauca
 tonitrua calcat20    which ,goldsmith1 
by the way1 has borrowed and paraphrased
 in the  ,deserted ,village1 together   
with its sublime application3      ,as  
some tall cliff that lifts its awful    
form    ,swells from the vale and midway
 leaves the storm1    ,though round its 
breast the rolling clouds are spread1   
,eternal sunshine settles round its     
head4    ,space does not serve to follow
 ,mr4 ,palgrave through his chapters on 
,italian1 ,celtic1 and ,anglo-,saxon    
poetry1 in all of which his omissions   
are as remarkable as his citations2 so  
we must content ourselves with  making a
 few remarks on his treatment of the    
,english poets4 ,it is  pleasing to see 
that1 guided by ,gray1 he has done      
justice to ,lydgate1  but he has not    
noticed the distinguishing peculiarity  
of this poet in  his description1 his   
extraordinary sensitive appreciation of 
colour4    ,among the ,scotch poets of  

the fifteenth century a prominent place 
should  have been given to ,henryson who
 is not even mentioned4 ,mr4 ,palgrave  
hurries over the ,elizabethan poets with
 too much expedition1 and the  poets of 
the eighteenth century fare even worse4 
,great injustice is done  to ,thomson4  
,why did not ,mr4 ,palgrave1 instead of 
citing what he calls  ,thomson's 8cold0 
tropical landscape1 for the purpose of  
contrasting it  unfavourably with       
,tennyson's picture in ,enoch ,arden1   
give us instead  the ,summer morning--  
8,at first faint gleaming in the dappled
 ,east    444 ,young day pours in apace1
    ,and opens all the lawny prospect   
wide1    ,the dripping rock1 the        
mountain's misty tops    ,swell on the  
sight1 and brighten with the dawn1      
,blue through the dusk the smoking      
currents shine10    or                  
8,the clouds that pass1    ,for ever    
flushing round a summer sky02    or the 
rainbow in the ,lines to the ,memory of 
,sir ,isaac ,newton8 ,dyer  may be      

somewhat prosaic1 but he is not a poet  
to be despatched in a  treatise on      
descriptive poetry1 without citation1 in
 a few contemptuous  lines3 how vivid is
 his picture of a calm in the tropics6--
      8,the dewy feather1 on the cordage
 hung1    ,moves not2 the flat sea      
shines1 like yellow gold    ,fused in   
the fire02    or his            8,rocks 
in ever-wild    ,posture of falling02   
or the charming landscape in ,grongar   
,hill with such touches as these3       
8,the windy summit wild and high        
,roughly rushing on the sky02    or     
8,rushing from the woods the spires     
,seem from hence ascending fires40      
,as ,wordsworth said1 8,dyer's beauties 
are innumerable and of a high  order40  
,it is very surprising that nothing     
should have been said about  ,shenstone 
and the ,wartons1 about ,scott of       
,amwell1 ,jago1 ,crowe and  ,bowles1 all
 of whom are1 in various ways1          
remarkable as descriptive  poets4 ,and  
certainly ,mr4 ,palgrave does scant     

justice to ,cowper2 his  touch may be   
prosaic1 but he always had his eye on   
the object1 and his  landscape lives4   
,surely1 by the way1 ,mr4 ,palgrave is  
mistaken in  supposing that ,shelley    
apparently understood ,alastor to mean a
  8wanderer02 he understood it1 as the  
preface shows1 to mean1 what it  means  
so often in ,greek1 8one under the spell
 of an avenging deity40    ,here we must
 break off4 ,mr4 ,palgrave's is an      
important work1 and it is  the duty1    
therefore1 of a critic to review it     
seriously1 in the hope  that1 should it 
reach a second edition1 which may be    
confidently  anticipated1 ,mr4 ,palgrave
 may be disposed to do a little more    
justice to  his most interesting        
subject4         ,since this article was
 written ,mr4 ,palgrave's lamented death
       has unhappily rendered all hope  
of what was anticipated in the          
last paragraph1 vain4 ,but the review   
has been reprinted1 and       with some 
additions1 in the hope that it may not  

be       unacceptable as a contribution1
 however slight and imperfect1       to 
a subject of great interest to lovers of
 poetry4    ,,footnotes3    ,footnote   
#cb3 ,see ,bergk1 ,poet4 ,lyr4 ,carm4   
,pop4 xxix4    ,footnote #cc3 ,nauck1   
,trag4 ,grc4 ,frag41 p4 #dgc4           
,,an ,,appreciation ,,of ,,professor    
,,palgrave      ,a familiar figure in   
literary circles1 a fine critic1 a      
graceful and  scholarly minor poet1 and 
one whose name will long be held in     
affectionate remembrance by lovers of   
,english poetry1 has passed away in  the
 person of ,francis ,turner ,palgrave4  
,it would be absurd to place him  beside
 ,matthew ,arnold--to whose genius1 to  
whose characteristic  accomplishments1  
to whose authority and influence1 he had
 no pretension4  ,and yet it may be     
questioned whether1 after ,arnold1 any  
other critic of  our time contributed so
 much to educate public taste where1 in 
this  country1 it most needs such       
education4 ,if1 as a nurse of poets and 

in  poetic achievement1 ,england stands 
second to no nation in ,europe1 in no   
nation in the world has the standard of 
popular taste been so low1 has  the     
insensibility to what is excellent1 and 
the perverse preference of  what is     
mediocre to what is of the first order1 
been so signally1 so  deplorably1       
conspicuous4 ,the generation which      
produced ,wordsworth  preferred ,moore1 
and no less a person than the author of 
,vanity ,fair  wrote3--8,old daddy      
,wordsworth may bless his stars if he   
ever gets high  enough in ,heaven to    
black ,tommy ,moore's boots40 ,while the
 readers of  ,keats might have been     
numbered on his fingers1 ,robert        
,montgomery's  ,satan and ,omnipresence 
of the ,deity were going through their  
twelfth  editions4 ,during many years1  
for ten readers of ,browning's poems    
there  were a hundred thousand for      
,martin ,tupper's ,proverbial           
,philosophy1  while the popularity of   
,mrs4 ,browning was as a wan shadow to  

the  meridian splendour of ,eliza ,cook4
 ,whoever will turn to the criticism of 
current reviews and magazines forty     
years ago will have no difficulty in    
understanding the diathesis described by
 ,matthew ,arnold as 8on the side  of   
beauty and taste1 vulgarity2 on the side
 of morality and feeling1  coarseness2  
on the side of mind and spirit1         
unintelligence40 ,whoever  will turn to 
nine out of the ten ,anthologies1 most  
in vogue before #ahfa1  will understand1
 that the same instinct which in the    
,dark ,ages led man  to prefer ,sedulius
 and ,avitus to ,catullus and ,horace1  
,statius to ,virgil1  and ,hroswitha to 
,terence1 led these editors to analogous
 selections4    ,making every allowance 
for the co-operation of other causes1 it
 would  hardly be an exaggeration to say
 that the appearance of the ,golden     
,treasury of ,songs and ,lyrics in #ahfa
 initiated an era in popular taste4  ,it
 remains now incomparably the best      
selection of its kind in  existence4    

,its distinctive feature is the         
characteristic which  differentiates it 
from all the anthologies which preceded 
or have  followed it4 ,it was to include
 nothing which was not first-rate2 there
  was to be no compromise with the      
second-rate2 if its gems varied1 as     
gems do in value1 each was to be of the 
first water4 ,with patient and          
scrupulous diligence1 the whole body of 
,english poetry1 from ,surrey to        
,wordsworth1 was explored and sifted4   
,after due rejections1 each piece in    
the residue was considered1 weighed1    
tested4 ,and here ,mr4 ,palgrave had    
assistance1 more invaluable than any    
other anthologist in the world has      
had--that of the illustrious poet to    
whom the volume was dedicated4 ,it  may 
be safely said of ,tennyson that nature 
and culture had qualified him  for being
 as great a critic as he was a poet4    
,his taste was probably  infallible2 his
 touchstones and standards were derived 
not merely from  the masters who had    

taught him his own art1 but from a      
wonderfully  catholic and sympathetic   
communion with all that was best in     
every  sphere of influential artistic   
activity4 ,the consequence is1 that a   
book  like the ,golden ,treasury1       
especially when taken in conjunction    
with  the notes1 which form an admirable
 commentary on the text1 may be said  to
 lay something more than the foundation 
of a sound critical education4  ,what   
the ,golden ,treasury is to readers of a
 maturer age the  ,children's ,treasury 
is to younger readers4 ,it is a great   
pity that  such inferior works as many  
which we could name are allowed1 in our 
schools1 to supplant such a work as     
,palgrave's4 ,the same exquisite taste  
and nice discernment mark his other     
anthologies1 his selections from        
,herrick1 and ,tennyson1 and1 though    
perhaps in a less degree1 his  ,treasury
 of ,english ,sacred ,poetry1 and his   
recently published  supplement to the   
,golden ,treasury4 ,it is probably      

impossible to  over-estimate the        
salutary influence which these works    
have exercised4    ,there is no arguing 
on matters of taste1 and exception might
 easily be  taken1 sometimes1 to his    
dicta as a critic4 ,but this at least   
must be  conceded by everybody1 that in 
the best and most comprehensive sense of
  the term he was a man of classical    
temper1 taste1 and culture1 and that  he
 had all the insight and discernment1   
all the instincts and  sympathies1 which
 are the result of such qualifications4 
,he had no taint  of vulgarity1 of      
charlatanism1 of insincerity4 ,he never 
talked or wrote  the cant of the cliques
 or of the multitude4 ,he understood and
 clung to  what was excellent2 he had no
 toleration for what was common and     
second  rate2 he was not of the crowd4  
,he belonged to the same type of men as 
,matthew ,arnold and ,william ,cory1 a  
type peculiar to our old ,universities  
before things took the turn which they  
are taking now4 ,it will be long  before

 we shall have such critics again1 and  
their loss is  incalculable4    ,as a   
scholar ,palgrave was rather elegant    
than profound or exact1 and1 to  judge  
from a series of lectures delivered by  
him as ,professor of ,poetry  at        
,oxford1 on ,landscape in ,classical    
,poetry1 and afterwards published  in a 
work which is here reviewed1 his        
acquaintance with the ,greek and  ,roman
 poets was1 if scholarly and            
sympathetic1 somewhat superficial4 ,but 
he was getting old1 and perhaps he had  
lost his memory or his notes4 ,as  a    
poet he was the author of four volumes1 
the earliest1 published in  #ahfd1      
entitled ,idylls and ,songs1 and the    
latest1 published in #ahib1  ,amenophis2
 and other ,poems4 ,but his most        
ambitious effort appeared in  #ahhb1    
,visions of ,england1 written with the  
laudable purpose of  stirring up in the 
young the spirit of patriotism4 ,his    
poetry may be  described1 not inaptly1  
in the sentence in which ,dr4 ,johnson  

sums up the  characteristics of         
,addison's verses3--8,polished and pure1
 the production  of a mind too judicious
 to commit faults1 but not sufficiently 
vigorous  to attain excellence40        
,perhaps they served their end in       
procuring for  him the honourable       
appointment which he filled competently 
for ten  years--that of the             
,professorship of ,poetry at ,oxford4   
,it may be said of  him as was said of  
,southey1 he was a good man and not a   
bad poet1 or of  ,agricola1 decentior   
quam sublimior fuit4 ,but as a critic of
 ,belles  ,lettres he was excellent4    
,,ancient ,,greek ,,and ,,modern        
,,life#cd    ,footnote #cd3 ,some       
,aspects of the ,greek ,genius4 ,by ,s4 
,h4 ,butcher1  ,litt4 ,d41 ,,ll4,d4     
,london4      ,that a second edition of 
,professor ,butcher's essays on ,some   
,aspects of  the ,greek ,genius should  
have been called for so soon is         
assuredly a  very significant fact4 ,and
 it is significant in more ways than    

one4 ,it  not only goes far to refute   
,lord ,coleridge's theory that ,greek   
has lost  its hold on modern life1 but  
it furnishes one of the many proofs1    
which  we have recently had1 that people
 are beginning to understand what is    
now to be expected from classical       
scholars1 if classical scholars are to  
hold their own in the world of to-day1  
and that scholars are1 in their  turn1  
aware that they no longer constitute an 
esoteric guild for  esoteric studies4   
,the task of the purely philological    
labourer has been  accomplished4 ,during
 more than four centuries1 succeeding   
schools of  literal critics have been   
toiling to furnish mankind with the     
means of  unlocking the treasures of    
classical ,greece4 ,till within         
comparatively  recent times1 the power  
of reading the ,greek classics with     
accuracy and  ease was an accomplishment
 beyond the reach of any but            
specialists4  ,unless a student was     
prepared to grapple with the            

difficulties of  unsettled and often    
unintelligible texts1 to make his own   
grammar--nay1  his own dictionary--to   
choose between conflicting and          
contradictory  interpretations1 and1 in 
a word1 to possess all that now would be
  required in a classical editor1 it    
would be impossible for him to read1    
with any comfort1 a chorus of schylus or
 ,sophocles1 an ode of ,pindar1  or a   
speech in ,thucydides4 ,but now all     
these difficulties have vanished4       
,excellent lexicons1 grammars1          
commentaries1 and translations1 with    
settled texts1 and editions of the      
principal ,greek classics so            
satisfactory that practically they leave
 nothing to be desired1 have  rendered  
what was once the monopoly of mere      
scholars common property4  ,the power of
 reading ,greek with accuracy and       
comfort is now1 indeed1  within the     
reach of any person of average          
intelligence and industry4    ,but      
prescription and tradition are tenacious

 of their privileges4 ,greek  has so    
long been regarded as the inheritance of
 philologists1 that they  are not       
prepared to resign what was once their  
exclusive possession1  without a        
struggle4 ,it is useless to point out to
 them that1 if ,greek is  to maintain   
its place in modern education1 it can   
only maintain it by  virtue of its      
connection with the humanities1 by      
virtue of its  intrinsic value as the   
expression of genius and art1 and of its
  historical value as the key to the    
development and characteristics of  the 
classics of the modern world2 by virtue1
 in fine1 of its relation to  life1 and 
its relation to ,history and ,criticism4
 ,the revival1 indeed1 of  the trivium  
and quadrivium of the ,middle ,ages     
would not be an  absurder anachronism   
than it is to draw no distinction       
between the  functions and aims of      
classical scholarship1 when it was1     
necessarily1  confined to philologists  
and specialists1 and its functions and  

aims at  the present day4 ,it has been  
the obstinate determination on the part 
of  academic bodies not to recognise    
this distinction1 but to preserve ,greek
  as the monopoly of those who approach 
it only on the side of  philological    
specialism1 which has led to its        
complete dissociation in  our scholastic
 system from what constitutes its chief1
 almost its sole  title to preservation4
 ,at ,cambridge1 for example1 it has    
been expressly  excluded from the only  
,school in which the study of           
,literature has been  organized1 and an 
attempt to substitute ,modern ,languages
 in its  place--for a degree in         
arts--was only defeated by the          
intervention of  non-resident members of
 the ,university4 ,at ,oxford a scheme  
for a 8,school  of ,literature10 in     
which ,greek was to have no place1      
might1 not long ago  have been carried1 
and the casting vote of the proctor     
alone saved the  ,university from this  
disgrace1 and ,greek from a crushing    

blow4#ce ,but1  fortunately for the     
cause of ,greek1 there is every         
indication that a  reaction1 too strong 
for academic bodies to resist1 is       
setting in4  ,scholars are beginning to 
see that what ,socrates did for         
,philosophy must  now be done for       
,greek1 if ,greek is to hold its own4   
,thus1 it has  preserved1 and no doubt  
may preserve1 its esoteric side2 but    
that which  constitutes its chief1 its  
real importance--which justifies its    
retention in modern education--is not   
what appeals1 and can only appeal1  in  
each generation1 to a small circle of   
8specialists0--its philological         
interest1 but what appeals to liberal   
intelligence1 to men as men1 to  the    
poet1 to the philosopher1 to the orator1
 to the critic4 ,to this end1  to what  
may be described as the vitalization of 
,greek1 all the labours  of the late    
,professor ,jowett were directed2 and by
 his means ,plato1  ,thucydides1 and    
,aristotle are brought into influential 

relation with  modern life4 ,what he    
effected for them ,professor ,jebb has  
effected for  ,sophocles1 and not only  
has this unrivalled ,greek scholar      
placed within  the reach of any person  
of average intelligence all that is     
necessary  for the elucidation of the   
language1 art1 and philosophy of the    
,shakespeare of the ,athenian stage1 but
 he has not disdained to furnish a      
popular manual of ,homeric study1 and a 
popular elementary guide-book to  ,greek
 literature4 ,professor ,lewis ,campbell
 has laboured in the same  field and in 
the same cause4 ,great also have been   
the services rendered  to the           
popularization of ,greek by ,mr4 ,andrew
 ,lang1 ,mr4 ,ernest ,myers1 ,mr4       
,walter ,leaf1 and many other           
distinguished scholars1 all of whom have
  shown1 both by their published works  
and as lecturers1 that the  masterpieces
 of ancient ,greece may become as       
intelligible and  influential in the    
world of to-day as they were more than  

two thousand  years ago4    ,we welcome 
with joy the advent of ,professor       
,butcher among these  prophets4 ,few    
names stand higher than his in the roll 
of modern  scholars1 and assuredly few  
modern scholars possess1 in so large a  
measure1 the power of applying          
scholarship to the purposes of liberal  
criticism and exegesis4 ,he has written 
a delightful book1 in a pleasant  style1
 full of learning1 suggestive1          
stimulating1 a book which no  student of
 ,greek literature can lay down without 
a hearty feeling of  gratitude to the   
author4 ,porson said of ,bentley that   
more might be  learned from his work    
when he was in error than from the work 
of a rival  scholar when he was in the  
right4 ,we shall not presume to accuse  
,professor ,butcher of error1 but we are
 bound to say that there is much  in his
 book which appears to us very          
questionable1 and much also from  which 
we entirely dissent4    ,professor      
,butcher discusses1 for example1 at     

great length1 the leading               
characteristics of the ,greek temper1   
but1 in drawing his conclusions1 he  has
 not sufficiently distinguished between 
what was more or less  accidental and   
what was essentially peculiar4 ,the fact
 is that nothing  is so easy as         
generalisations of this kind1 if the    
deduction of half  truth be our aim2 and
 nothing so difficult if whole truth1 or
 truth  which may be accepted without   
reserve1 is to be the result4 ,the most 
mobile1 plastic1 ,protean people who    
have ever lived1 their activity1  within
 the strict limits of classical         
literature1 extended over about  six    
centuries1 and1 if we protract it to the
 point included in ,professor           
,butcher's illustrations1 to more than  
nine centuries4 ,of their  literature1  
though we appear to have the best of it1
 not a third part  has survived4 ,by an 
adroit use of illustration1 it is1      
therefore1 easy  to predicate anything  
of them4 ,go to serious epic1 to serious

 as  distinguished from passionate      
lyric1 to tragedy1 to threnody1 and they
  were1 if you please1 the gravest      
people on earth's face2 go to           
,aristophanes and to the poets of the   
,old ,comedy1 and they were the         
merriest2 go to the ,ionic ,elegists and
 to the fragments of the ,new  ,comedy1 
and they were the saddest and most      
cynical2 go to ,thucydides1  ,plato1 and
 ,aristotle1 and they were1 like        
,dante's sages1 ni tristi ni  lieti4 ,we
 do not quarrel with ,professor         
,butcher's general position in  his     
,essay on the melancholy of the ,greeks1
 or question that there  existed in     
certain moods a profound melancholy and 
dissatisfaction with  life in the ,greek
 temper4 ,but of what intelligent and   
reflective people  or individual who    
have ever existed is this not equally   
true8 ,where we  do quarrel with        
,professor ,butcher is on the following 
point1 the point  on which he chiefly   
rests in proving that the ,greeks were  

pre-eminently  distinguished by         
pessimistic melancholy--an assertion    
that we deny in  toto4 ,he tells us     
that1 with one notable exception1 to    
which he  subsequently adds three       
others1 the ,greeks regarded hope not as
 a solace  and support in life1 but as a
 snare and a delusion1 not as a power to
  cling to1 but as an influence fraught 
with mischief4 ,nothing surely can  be  
more erroneous4 ,the wisest people who  
have ever lived are not likely  to have 
confounded baseless and flighty desires 
or aspirations with what  is implied in 
hope1 though ,professor ,butcher has    
done so in the  illustrations advanced  
by him in support of his theory4 ,all   
through  ,greek literature1 from ,hesiod
 to ,theocritus--not to go further--the 
importance and wisdom of cherishing     
hope1 as one of the chief supports  of  
life1 are emphatically dwelt on4        
,professor ,butcher has surely          
misrepresented--certainly schylus and   
the ,greeks generally did not  interpret

 it in the sense in which he has        
done--the fable of ,pandora's  chest4   
,it was not 8as part of the deadly gift 
of the goddess0 that hope  was there2 it
 was as the one blessing amid the crowd 
of ills4 8,as long  as a man lives10    
says ,theognis1 8let him wait on        
hope4444 ,let him pray  to the gods2 and
 to ,hope let him sacrifice first and   
last0 7#aadc-aadf74  ,pindar1 if he     
warns man against baseless1 wild1 or    
extravagant  expectation1 is emphatic on
 the wisdom of cherishing hope4 ,it is  
8the  sweet nurse of the heart in old   
age10 8the chief helmsman of man's      
versatile will40 7,fragment1 #bcc47 8,a 
man should cherish good hope40  7,isth41
 vii4 #ae47 8,it is the wing on which   
soaring manhood is  supported40         
7,pythian1 viii4 #ic47 8,the wise10 says
 ,euripides1 8must  cherish hope40      
7,frag4 of ,ino47 ,again3 8,prudent hope
 must be your stay  in misfortune40     
7,id47 ,life1 he says in the ,troades   
7#fbh71 is  preferable to death1 in that

 it has hopes4 ,a sentiment repeated by 
,euripides again in the ,hercules       
,furens 7#aje-f73 8,that man is the     
bravest who trusts to hope under all    
circumstances2 to be without hope  is   
the part of a coward40 ,so ,menander3   
8,hold before yourself the shield  of   
good hope40 7,incert4 ,frag4 xlvii47    
,the passages quoted by ,professor      
,butcher from ,thucydides are not to the
 point4 ,it would have been much  more  
to the point had he quoted the passage  
in which ,pericles eulogizes  those who 
8committed to hope the uncertainty of   
success0 7,,ii4 #db71 or  the passage   
7,i4 #gj7 in which the superiority of   
the ,athenians to the  ,lacedmonians in 
civil and military efficiency is largely
 attributed to  their reliance on hope4 
,again1 what1 according to ,cephalus1 in
 the  ,republic1 is the chief solace of 
old age8--8,the abiding presence of     
sweet hope40 ,but it would be easy to   
multiply indefinitely from the  ,greek  
classics what ,professor ,butcher calls 

8rare examples of hope in  the happier  
aspect40    ,the most important chapters
 in ,professor ,butcher's work--indeed  
they  occupy nearly one half of it--are 
those dealing with ,aristotle's theory  
of fine art and poetry4 ,on no subject  
in criticism have there been so  many   
misconceptions current and influential  
even among scholars1  originating for   
the most part from mistranslations and  
misunderstandings  of the treatise in   
which they find their chief             
embodiment--the  ,poetics4 ,this has    
unfortunately come down to us in a very 
imperfect  and corrupt state1 and1 what 
is more unfortunate still1 it became a  
classic in criticism long before it was 
properly understood4 ,thus1 in  the     
clause in the famous definition of      
tragedy1 where ,aristotle  describes it 
as '          1 8through pity and fear  
effecting the purgation of  these       
emotions10 the ,french and ,english     
critics of the seventeenth and          
eighteenth centuries1 ignoring the words

  1 have  totally misinterpreted the    
passage1 and given it a meaning which   
was not  only not intended by           
,aristotle1 but which has falsified his 
whole theory  of the scope and functions
 of tragedy4 ,an unsound text1 the      
insertion  of  before the clause1 sent  
,lessing on a wrong track4 ,from  the   
misinterpretation of another passage in 
the treatise 7,v4 #d7 has been  deduced 
the famous doctrine of the ,unities4    
,the mistranslation of   in the         
definition of ,tragedy1 and of the same 
word in  the comparison between ,poetry 
and ,history1 has led to misconceptions 
on  other points4 ,the scholars who did 
most in ,england to place the study of  
this treatise on a sound footing were   
,twining and ,tyrwhitt4 ,in the  present
 century it has received exhaustive     
illustration from  ,saint-,hilaire1     
,stahr1 ,susemihl1 ,vahlen1 ,teichmller1
 ,ueberweg1 ,reinkens1  ,jacob ,bernays1
 and others2 while such works as ,e4    
,mller's ,geschichte  der ,theorie der  

,kunst bei den ,alten have thrown       
general light on the  question of ,greek
 sthetics4 ,that ,professor ,butcher has
 not been able to  advance anything new 
in these essays is very creditable to   
him1 for the  simple reason that1 as all
 that is worth saying has been said1 his
 sole  resource1 had he attempted to be 
original1 would have been paradox and   
sophistry4 ,with regard to the question 
of the ,katharsis1 it will  probably be1
 for all time1 a case of 8quot homines  
tot sententi02 and  we have certainly no
 intention of accompanying ,professor   
,butcher into  this labyrinth4 ,we      
entirely agree with him and ,bernays    
that the passage  in the ,politics 7,v4 
viii4 #g7 settles conclusively at least 
one part of  the meaning1 but we differ 
from ,bernays1 in contending that the   
8lustratio0 is included1 and from       
,professor ,butcher1 in contending that 
the 8lustratio0 is not effected merely  
by the relief4 ,professor ,butcher      
seems here indeed to be a little        

confused1 or at all events confusing4   
,he first explains 8katharsis0 as 8a    
purging away of the emotions of pity    
and fear10 and then explains it as 8a   
purifying of them02 but it is  neither  
easy to understand how 8purging away0 is
 8purifying10 nor why we  should        
8purify0 what we 8purge away40 ,surely  
it is better--but we speak  with all    
submission--to take the word in two     
different meanings1 the one  signifying 
the immediate effect of tragedy in its  
direct appeal to the  passions referred 
to1 the other not to its immediate1 but 
to its  ulterior and total effect in    
educating the passions thus excited4    
,professor ,butcher1 who appears to     
belong to the ,pater ,school1 dwells    
with great complacency on the fact that 
,aristotle 8attempted to separate  the  
function of sthetics from that of       
morals10 that 8he made the end of  art  
reside in a pleasurable emotion10 that  
he says 8nothing of any moral  aim in   
poetry10 and that though he often takes 

exception to ,euripides as  an artist1  
8he attaches no blame to him for the    
immoral tendency in some  of his        
dramas10 so severely censured by        
,aristophanes4 ,if ,professor  ,butcher 
implies1 as he seems to imply by this1  
that ,aristotle would lend  any         
countenance to the modern               
art-for-art's-sake doctrine1 and        
proceeded on the assumption that there  
was no necessary connection  between    
sthetics and morals1 he does ,aristotle 
very great injustice1  and is refuted by
 the ,poetics themselves4 ,in the fifth 
chapter  ,aristotle lays stress on the  
fact that tragedy is1 like epic1 a      
representation of 8superior or morally  
good characters0 7  7--that the         
characters are to be good 774 ,in  the  
twenty-fifth chapter he says that       
nothing can excuse the exhibition  of   
moral depravity 771 unless it be one of 
the things  implicit in the plot2 and   
that among the most serious objections  
which  can be brought against a drama is

 that it is likely to do moral harm  774
 ,in the thirteenth chapter he          
shows1--and on moral  grounds1--why the 
protagonist in a tragedy should not be a
 perfectly  good man or a perfectly bad 
man4 ,indeed1 the very definition of    
tragedy  refutes ,professor ,butcher's  
statement4 ,it may be said1 no doubt1   
that  ,aristotle maintains that the end 
of poetry is pleasure1 but it must be   
8the proper pleasure10 and in the proper
 pleasure moral satisfaction is         
implied4#cf ,it is only by a quibble    
that ,professor ,butcher's theory can   
be supported1 and it is a pity to       
quibble on subjects which may be so     
mischievously misunderstood4 ,aristotle 
was1 we suspect1 very much nearer  to   
,ben ,jonson and ,milton than to ,mr4   
,pater in his conception of the         
functions and scope of poetry4    ,in   
the interesting essay on ,sophocles     
there are two statements which  appear  
to us very questionable4 ,it is surely  
not true to say that  ,sophocles was    

8the first of the ,greeks who has       
clearly realized that  suffering is not 
always penal40 ,who could have expressed
 this truth more  forcibly than schylus8
 ,to say nothing of the well-known      
passage in the  ,agamemnon1 #afg-aga3-- 
444       1         4     '  '        1 
'   1--    the doctrine of which is     
repeated in #bda-b of the same play1 and
 in  other passages in his dramas1      
notably in ,choephoroe1 #iej-iee1 and in
  ,eumenides1 #die1    4 ,the fact  that
 suffering and calamity have resulted in
 blessing is emphasized as  strongly in 
the concluding drama of the ,orestean   
,trilogy1 the  ,eumenides1 as it is in  
the dipus ,coloneus4 ,again1 when       
,professor  ,butcher says that 8in      
,sophocles the divine righteousness     
asserts itself  not in the award of     
happiness or misery to the individual1  
but in the  providential wisdom which   
assigns to each individual his place and
  function in a universal moral order10 
he says what it is very difficult  to   

understand4 ,surely in the case of each 
one of the protagonists in  ,sophocles1 
to employ the word in its non-technical 
sense1 their deserts  are very exactly  
meted out4 ,antigone deliberately courts
 her fate by  setting the law at        
defiance1 though she knew what the      
penalty was1 and  falls1 but has her    
compensation in the applause of her own 
conscience  and 8in the faith that looks
 through death40 ,ajax paid the penalty1
 as  the poet emphasizes1 for brutality 
and impious insolence2 dipus  suffers   
for his impetuosity and intemperance1   
but1 his punishment  exceeding the      
offence1 the balance is adjusted for him
 in final triumph  over the sons who had
 wronged him1 in procuring blessings for
 his  protector1 in the peace of the    
soul1 and in a glorious death4          
,clytemnestra and gisthus well deserve  
their fate1 as1 in addition to          
committing their crime1 they continue   
ostentatiously to glory in it4 ,in  the 
,trachini ,hercules is punished for a   

base and cowardly murder1  followed by  
an act of cruel and indiscriminate      
vengeance1 retribution  coming on him   
through the sister of the man thus      
murdered1 and the  daughter of the      
prince on whom this iniquitous vengeance
 had been  wreaked1 as ,deianeira1 but  
for ,iole1 would not have sent the      
poisoned  tunic4 ,sophocles has even    
altered the legend to emphasize the     
guilt of  ,hercules4 ,the ,philoctetes1 
indeed1 is the only play which lends any
  support to ,professor ,butcher's      
statement4 ,here the gods undoubtedly   
condemn a man to a life of torture that 
their designs1 irrespective of  the     
individual1 may be fulfilled1 and that  
,troy may not fall before the  appointed
 time2 but how fully1 how nobly is he   
compensated6 ,it seems to  us that the  
award of happiness and misery to the    
individual1 in  accordance with desert1 
is as conspicuous in the ethics of      
,sophocles as  it is in the ethics of   
,shakespeare4 ,and it is the more       

conspicuous1 when  we remember the      
hampering conditions under which        
,sophocles had to work1  the limitations
 conventionally imposed on the treatment
 of the legends4    ,we wish we had     
space to comment on ,professor          
,butcher's admirable1 though  somewhat  
defective1 chapter on the dawn of       
,romanticism in ,greek poetry1  but we  
must forbear1 and repeat our thanks to  
him for a book full of  interest and    
instruction1 not the least of its charms
 being the lively  and graceful style in
 which it is written4    ,,footnotes3   
,footnote #ce3 ,this blow has1 since    
these words were written1 been          
inflicted4 ,see supra pp4 #de-ge4       
,footnote #cf3 ,so he says1 ,poet41     
xxvi41 of epic and tragedy1 that each   
ought not to produce any chance         
pleasure1 but the pleasure proper to it 
7           1 i4e4 74          ,,the    
,,principles ,,of ,,criticism#cg        
,footnote #cg3 ,the ,principles of      
,criticism4 ,an ,introduction to the    

,study  of ,literature4 ,by ,w4 ,basil  
,worsfold4 ,london3 ,allen4      ,bishop
 ,warburton said that there were two    
things which every man thought  himself 
competent to do1 to manage a small farm 
and to drive a whisky4  ,had ,warburton 
lived in our time1 he would probably    
have added a  third--to set up for a    
critic4 ,what the author of the best    
critical  treatise in the ,greek        
language pronounced to be the final     
fruit of long  experience1 culture1 and 
study1 directed and illumined by certain
  natural qualifications1 has now come  
to be represented by the idle and       
irresponsible gossip of any one who can 
gossip agreeably4 ,agreeable  gossip and
 good criticism are1 as ,sainte-,beuve  
and others have shown1  far from being  
incompatible1 the misfortune is that    
they should be  confounded2 but         
confounded they are1 and the confusion  
is the curse of  current literature4 ,we
 have recently observed1 with concern1  
that the  rubbish which used formerly to

 be shot into novels and poems is now   
being shot into criticism1 and that     
there appears to be a growing           
impression that the accomplishments     
which qualify young men for spinning    
cobwebs in fiction and manufacturing    
versicles can1 with a little            
management1 serve to set them up as     
critics4 ,there is not much more        
difficulty in forming an opinion about a
 book than there is in reading  it1 and 
as criticism in the hands of these      
fribbles becomes little more  than the  
dithyrambic expression of that opinion1 
the profession of  criticism is one in  
which it is delightfully easy to        
graduate4 ,it  requires neither learning
 nor knowledge1 neither culture nor     
discipline4  ,it is neither science nor 
art2 it is the gift of nature1 a sort of
  8lyric inspiration40 ,with principles1
 with touchstones1 with standards1  it  
has nothing whatever to do4 ,its        
business is to declaim1 to coin         
phrases1 to juggle with fancies and to  

say 8good things40    ,a writer1        
therefore1 who tries to recall criticism
 to a sense of its  responsibilities and
 true functions deserves all sympathy   
and  encouragement4 ,it is refreshing to
 turn from the sort of thing to which   
we have referred to such a work as ,mr4 
,worsfold has given us4 ,his design  is 
8to present an account of the main      
principles of literary criticism10      
which he professes to trace from ,plato 
to ,matthew ,arnold4 ,mr4 ,worsfold's   
thesis simply stated is that            
criticism--and he deals with criticism  
chiefly in its application to           
poetry--has passed successively through 
five stages4 ,with the ,greeks it       
concerned itself principally with form4 
8,the first question it asked with them 
was not1 as with us1 ,what is the       
thought8 but ,what is the form80 ,by    
,addison--for here ,mr4 ,worsfold makes 
a prodigious leap over some twenty      
centuries--it was furnished with a  new 
test1 and it asked1 ,how does a given   

poem affect the imagination8 ,by        
,lessing a return was made to the formal
 criticism of the ancients1 but  he     
adopted also ,addison's criterion1 and  
added definiteness to it4  ,victor      
,cousin followed in #ahah with his      
lectures1 entitled1 ,du ,vrai1 du       
,beau1 et du ,bien1 and enlarged the    
boundaries of the science by a  complete
 theory of beauty and art1 developed    
mainly out of ,plato4 ,lastly  came     
,matthew ,arnold1 who extended the realm
 still further1 by the  addition of     
certain other important touchstones of  
poetic excellence4 ,at  the present time
 a gradual limitation of the scope of   
its rules1 and a  gradual extension of  
the scope of its principles1 are the    
tendencies  most discernible in         
criticism4 8,an enlightened criticism no
 longer aims  at directing the artist by
 formulating rules which1 if they were  
valid1  would only tend to obliterate   
the distinction between the fine and the
  technical arts4 ,it allows him to work

 by whatever methods he may choose1  and
 it is content to estimate his merit not
 by reference to his method  but by     
reference to his achievement1 as        
measured by principles of  universal    
validity40    ,all this is exceedingly  
ingenious1 and has in it a measure of   
truth1  but1 like most generalisations  
on vast and complicated subjects1 it is 
more plausible than sound4 ,the stages  
in the progress of criticism are  not so
 sharply defined as ,mr4 ,worsfold would
 have us believe4 ,if ,greek  criticism 
were represented only by ,plato and the 
extant works of  ,aristotle1 ,english by
 ,addison and ,matthew ,arnold1 ,german 
by ,lessing1 and  ,french by ,victor    
,cousin1 what ,mr4 ,worsfold postulates 
might1 after a  manner1 pass muster4    
,but by far the greater portion of      
,greek criticism  has perished2 it      
exists only in fragments1 and to the    
most important and  remarkable work on  
this subject which has come down to us  
from  antiquity1 the ,treatise on the   

,sublime1 ,mr4 ,worsfold does not even  
refer4 ,if he had done so1 and had he   
considered what is scattered            
fragmentarily through the ,greek        
writers1 or may be gathered from the    
titles of treatises which are lost1 he  
would have seen that much which  he     
supposes to mark development in         
criticism has long been old4            
,innumerable passages in the minor      
,greek critics1 in ,plutarch and in the 
,scholia1 especially if we add what is  
to be found in ,roman writers1  derived 
no doubt from ,greek sources1 amply     
warrant doubt whether1 after  all1 it is
 not with criticism as it is1 to use    
,goethe's expression1 with  wit1 8,alles
 ,gescheidte ist schon gedacht worden1  
man muss nur  versuchen1 es noch einmal 
zu denken40 ,at all events1 it is a     
great  mistake to suppose that ,greek   
criticism1 in its application to poetry1
  is represented by ,plato and          
,aristotle4 ,it would be almost as      
absurd to  go to ,plato for typical     

,greek criticism on poetry as it would  
be to go  to ,henry ,more or the        
,puritan ,divines for typical ,english  
criticism4 ,he  approached it only as   
such a philosopher would be likely to   
approach it4  ,he regarded art and      
letters generally simply as means of    
educational  discipline and culture1 or 
as mere playthings1 of which the best to
 be  expected was harmless pleasure4 ,he
 despised poetry not only as an  appeal1
 and a perturbing appeal1 to the senses 
and the passions1 but as  representing  
the shadows of shadows4 ,it may be      
pronounced with  confidence that1 had he
 seriously applied himself to literary  
and  artistic criticism1 he would have  
been one of the subtlest and            
profoundest critics who ever lived1 and 
would probably have anticipated1  so far
 as principles are concerned1 all that  
,mr4 ,worsfold attributes to  ,addison1 
to ,lessing1 and to ,victor ,cousin2    
but1 like our own ,ruskin1 he  was      
wilful and fanatical4    ,still less is 

,greek criticism represented by         
,aristotle4 ,it is in the  highest      
degree misleading to generalize from    
such a work as the  ,poetics4 ,it is not
 merely a fragment1 but a fragment      
deformed by  desperate corruption1      
hopeless interstices and contemptible   
interpolations4 ,if it confines itself1 
or in the main confines itself1  to     
formal criticism1 it is simply because  
it was designed to deal with  that      
particular department of criticism1 not 
because its author supposed  that the   
chief question which concerned criticism
 was form4 ,again1 if by  form ,mr4     
,worsfold understands1 as he appears to 
do1 expression and  structure1 he very  
much misrepresents the ,treatise4       
,aristotle's  criterion of poetry is not
 its formal expression1 for he          
distinctly  declares that it is not     
metre which makes a poem1 and even seems
 to  maintain that a poem may be        
composed without metre4 ,in ,aristotle's
  definition and conception of poetry as

 the concrete expression of the         
universal1 in his definition of the     
scope and functions of tragedy1 and  in 
innumerable occasional remarks we have  
the germs of much1 and of very  much1   
which ,mr4 ,worsfold would attribute to 
the later developments of  criticism4   
,aristotle1 it is true1 derived his     
canons from an analysis of the          
masterpieces of ,greek poetry1 but it is
 doing him great injustice to  say1 that
 he would make all epics ,homeric1 and  
all plays ,sophoclean1 and  most        
erroneous to assume that modern         
criticism commenced at this point4      
,aristotle distinctly questions whether 
tragedy had as yet perfected its  proper
 types or not 7,poet41 ,,iv4 #aa71 and  
in discussing the proper  length of     
tragedy he makes a remark which shows   
that such a plot as the  plot of ,hamlet
 or the plot of ,lear would have been   
quite compatible  with his canons4#ch   
,the truth is that ,mr4 ,worsfold has   
gone too far2 he  has confounded the    

various aspects of criticism with stages
 in its  development4 ,aristotle dealt  
mainly with form1 because it was his    
business to deal with form4 ,plato      
approached poetry from a particular     
point of view1 because it was from that 
particular point of view that it        
concerned him4    ,had ,mr4 ,worsfold   
taken his stand in his review of ancient
 criticism on  the treatise attributed  
to ,longinus1 he would have seen that   
what he so  strangely attributes to     
,addison and later writers had long been
  anticipated4 ,this remarkable work    
which1 since its translation into       
,french by ,boileau in #afgd1 has had   
more influence on criticism both in     
,england and on the ,continent than any 
other work that could be named1  would  
alone show how much we owe to the       
,greeks4 ,it has analyzed and  defined1 
for all time1 the essential virtues and 
the essential vices of  diction and     
style1 and has traced them to their     
sources4 ,it has  furnished us with     

infallible criteria in judging rhetoric 
and poetry4  ,take its analysis of the  
8grand style10 which is described       
comprehensively as  1 8the echo of a    
great soul02 it has1 the ,treatise tells
 us1 five  characteristics--richness and
 grandeur of conception 7     72        
vehement and inspired passion 7     71  
the due formation of figures1  which are
 twofold--first those of thought1 and   
secondly those of  expression 7        1
    1   72 noble diction 7 1  72        
dignified and elevated composition 7    
74 ,nothing could be more masterly than 
its  detailed analysis of each of these 
qualities1 and of the pseudo forms      
which they assume1 as the result of     
stimulated enthusiasm4 ,how  admirable1 
too1 is its test of the sublime in the  
seventh chapter2 its  criticism of      
,sappho1 generalizing what constitutes  
the charm and power  of lyric1 in the   
tenth chapter2 its analysis of the      
eloquence of  ,demosthenes1 again       
generalizing the characteristics of     

oratory in  perfection 7chap4 xvii472   
its demonstration of the inferiority of 
correct mediocrity to the faulty        
irregularities of inspired genius2 its  
admirable remarks about the relation of 
,art to ,nature4 ,like the  ,poetics1 it
 has come down to us in a very mutilated
 form1 and has  evidently been          
interpolated by some inferior hand1     
which no doubt  accounts for the        
exasperating triviality of some of the  
sections4 ,here1  as elsewhere1 we have 
references to the many losses which     
,greek  criticism has sustained1 the    
author referring to treatises written by
  him on ,xenophon1 on ,composition1 and
 on the ,passions4    ,it is impossible 
to give an adequate account of the      
evolution of  criticism without a very  
careful survey of the chief contributors
 to  criticism in each generation1 and  
such a survey ,mr4 ,worsfold has not    
attempted4 ,to ,latin criticism he never
 even refers4 ,and yet it has had  great
 influence on critical literature4 ,the 

,romans1 it is true1  contributed       
scarcely anything new to criticism1     
except that which  pertains to oratory4 
,we know enough of ,varro1 with whom    
,roman criticism  may be said to begin1 
to feel confident that he could have had
 no  pretension to the finer qualities  
of the critic4 ,of the five treatises   
composed by him1 only one1 the  1       
appears to  have been purely critical1  
and it almost certainly drew largely on 
,greek  sources4 ,horace derived the    
material of the ,ars ,poetica from a    
,greek  writer1 ,neoptolemus of ,parium4
 ,much of ,quinctilian's criticism is   
demonstrably a compilation from ,greek  
writers4 ,the best critic of poetry     
among the ,romans is undoubtedly to be  
found in ,petronius1 occasional and     
scanty though his remarks are4 ,but of  
prose literature ,rome produced two     
really great critics--the one was       
,cicero1 the other was ,tacitus4 ,the   
,brutus and the ,dialogus de ,oratoribus
 are masterpieces1 equal to  anything   

which has come down to us from the      
,greeks4 ,one of the most  important    
critical principles ever enunciated we  
owe to ,cicero4 ,he was  the first to   
demonstrate that the test of excellence 
in oratory lay1 in  its appealing       
equally to the multitude and to the most
 fastidious of  connoisseurs4 ,the most 
consummate rhetorician which the world  
has ever  seen1 he was at the same time 
a consummate critic of his art4 ,this   
department of criticism has1 indeed1 for
 nearly two thousand years1 been        
practically his monopoly2 it may be     
questioned whether anything can be      
added1 so far as the technique of       
rhetoric is concerned1 to what may be   
traced to his writings4 ,the interest of
 the ,dialogus de ,oratoribus is        
largely historical1 but never have the  
causes which inspire and nourish1  or   
depress and starve1 eloquence been more 
eloquently and brilliantly  explained4  
,nor must it be forgotten that it was   
through the medium of  the ,latin       

critics that ,greek criticism became    
influential on modern  literature4      
,mr4 ,worsfold has very properly drawn  
attention to the fine passage about     
poetry in the second book of ,bacon's   
,advancement of ,learning1 but he  says 
not a word about ,sidney's remarkable   
treatise1 one of the most  charming     
contributions to the criticism of poetry
 which has ever been  made1 or about the
 admirable remarks in ,ben ,jonson's    
,discoveries4 ,the  interest of         
,elizabethan criticism1 as represented  
by these works--and  they are the only  
works on this subject of any value      
produced during the  ,elizabethan       
period--lies partly in its return to    
,aristotelian canons1  and partly in the
 importance which1 in accordance with   
the ancients1 it  attaches to the       
didactic element in poetry4 ,this is    
expressed very  eloquently in ,ben      
,jonson's dedication of the ,fox3--     
8,if men will impartially and not       
asquint look toward the       offices   

and function of a poet1 they will easily
 conclude to       themselves the       
impossibility of a man's being the good 
poet       without being first the good 
man1--he that is able to inform         
young men to all good discipline1       
inflame young men to all good           
virtues1 keep old men in their best and 
supreme state1 or1 as       they decline
 to childhood1 recover them to their    
first state1       that comes forth the 
interpreter and arbiter of nature1 a    
teacher of things divine no less than   
human40    ,this was precisely          
,spenser's conception of one of the     
chief functions of  poetry4 ,thus the   
,elizabethan critics1 who were followed 
afterwards by  ,milton1 if they did not 
formally discuss the relation of sthetic
 to  ethic1 insisted on their essential 
connection in the higher forms of       
poetry4 ,even in the succeeding age1    
when poetry lost all its high           
seriousness and much of its moral       
dignity1 criticism1 if it did not       

always insist on the application of this
 test1 still retained it4 ,dryden  could
 write1 8,i am satisfied if verse cause 
delight1 for delight is the  chief1 if  
not the only end1 of poesy02 but in     
adding 8instruction can be  admitted but
 in the second place1 for poesy only    
instructs as it  delights10 he half     
corrected his former statement1 and1    
indeed1 simply  reverted to what        
,aristophanes1 ,ben ,jonson1 and ,milton
 would have been  the first to admit4   
,but to return to ,mr4 ,worsfold4 ,a    
very serious defect in his work is his  
omission of all notice of ,boileau and  
,dryden1 and of the critics             
contemporary with them in ,france and   
,england4 ,the consequence is1 that     
much is attributed to ,addison which    
belongs to them1 and ,addison's         
importance as a critic is much          
overrated4 ,again1 of the many memorable
  contributions to this branch of       
literature in ,england1 in ,france1 in  
,italy1 and in ,germany1 which were made

 between the appearance of the  ,abb    
,dubos's ,rflexions critiques sur la    
posie et la peinture in  #agai1 and the 
lectures of ,coleridge and ,schlegel    
about #ahab1 all that is  said is       
represented by what is said of ,lessing4
 ,though a long chapter is  given to    
,matthew ,arnold1 ,matthew ,arnold's    
master1 ,sainte-,beuve1 is1 if  we      
remember rightly1 not so much as named4 
,dr4 ,johnson divided critics into three
 classes--those who know the rules  and 
judge by them1 those who know no rules  
but judge entirely by natural  taste1   
those who know the rules but are above  
them4 ,this has been true  in all ages1 
and sufficiently disposes of ,mr4       
,worsfold's hypothesis  about the stages
 through which criticism has passed4    
,all that can be  said is1 that at      
certain times there has been a tendency1
 determined of  course by the character 
of the particular age1 towards the      
predominance  of a particular critical  
method and of particular points of view4

  ,further than this it would be        
perilous to go4 ,it has been the task of
  the present age to develop each of    
these methods to the full1 and the  most
 authoritative critics of the last      
twenty years might easily be  ranged    
under one of those classes4    ,the     
soundest and most valuable part of ,mr4 
,worsfold's book is the part  dealing   
with the criticism of the last few      
years4 ,his chapter on ,matthew         
,arnold1 in particular1 is admirable1   
and his remarks on the functions of     
criticism at the present time1 deduced  
as they have been from  ,wordsworth1    
,arnold and ,ruskin1 are in a high      
degree instructive and  interesting4 ,in
 pointing out that criticism should not 
confine itself  merely to the           
investigation of technical excellence1  
and to all that is  implied in the      
doctrine of ,art for ,art's sake1 but   
should recognise that  there are limits 
beyond which the artist should not      
exercise his  technical skill1 he       

recalls us to principles which it is    
well that  criticism should not forget4 
,we quite agree with him that there is  
now  an increasing tendency to recognise
 these limits1 and to lay most stress   
on the interpretation of the ideal      
element in literature and art4 ,that  is
 certainly the modern note4 ,we have    
expressed our reasons for  dissenting   
from ,mr4 ,worsfold's historical view of
 the evolution of  criticism1 but his   
book is full of interest1 and will amply
 repay the  attention of serious        
readers4 ,it is a book which does not   
deserve to be  lost in the crowd4       
,,footnotes3    ,footnote #ch3   '      
1               4     1                 
1      1      4 7,poet41 vii4 #g47      
,,women ,,in ,,greek ,,poetry#ci        
,footnote #ci3 ,antimachus of ,colophon 
and the ,position of ,women in ,greek   
,poetry4 ,by ,e4 ,f4 ,m4 ,benecke4      
,the editor of this book cannot be      
congratulated either on his competence  
or on his discretion4 ,to hurry into the

 world a work which is not merely  a    
fragment1 but which cries for revision1 
suppression1 and correction in  almost  
every page1 is a literary crime of the  
first magnitude1 and  deserves the      
severest castigation4 ,of the author of 
the work1 who  appears to have been a   
young man of some attainments and of    
much  promise1 we desire to speak with  
all gentleness2 we wholly absolve him   
from blame1 for we have no right to     
assume that he would himself have  given
 to the world what his editor admits was
 intra penetralia ,vest1  and what we   
hope and believe he would himself have  
committed  emendaturis ignibus1 had he  
arrived at years of discretion4 ,but the
  dissemination of error is no light    
thing1 especially in relation to        
subjects which are of great interest1   
and1 from an historical and  literary   
point of view1 of great importance4     
,when we think of the many  amiable and 
industrious tutors at ,oxford and       
,cambridge who1 unless they  are put on 

their guard1 will unsuspiciously fill   
their note-books with  the nonsense of  
this volume1 and impart it1 by degrees1 
to the listening  credulity of youth1 we
 feel we have no alternative but to     
perform a  plain1 if painful1 duty4 ,we 
repeat1 we absolve the author from all  
blame2 the sole culprit is the editor4  
,that ,solomon was the author of the    
,iliad1 ,poggio the author of the       
,annals of ,tacitus1 and ,bacon the     
author of ,shakespeare's plays1 are     
hypotheses scarcely less monstrously    
absurd than the thesis propounded  in   
this volume4 ,mr4 ,benecke's main       
contentions are 8that a pure love       
between man and woman seemed to the     
early ,greeks0 7that is1 to those who   
lived before the latter end of the      
,peloponnesian ,war7 a sheer            
impossibility2 that 8in extant ,greek   
poetry there is no trace of  romantic   
love poetry addressed to women prior to 
the time of ,asclepiades  and           
,philetas02 that 8in the works of these 

writers this element suddenly  appears  
not in the nature of an experiment but  
as a leading motive02  that the         
appearance of this element was due to   
the influence of  ,antimachus1 8who was 
the first man who had the courage to say
 that a  woman was worth loving1 and who
 may thus be regarded as the originator 
of the romantic element in literature40 
,as we have not space to refute  this   
nonsense in detail1 we will give some   
examples of the way in which  it is     
supported4 ,first come                  
misrepresentations and blunders4 ,to    
emphasize the degradation of women1     
passages in translation are twisted  and
 perverted almost beyond recognition4   
,thus the couplet of ,catullus--        
8,tunc te dilexi1 non tantum ut vulgus  
amicam1    ,sed pater ut natos diligit  
et generos0--    is actually paraphrased
 8,i loved you1 not as a man loves a    
woman1 but as  a man loves a youth40    
,the couplet in which ,antigone says1   
8,if my husband  died1 ,i could get     

another1 and were ,i deprived of him    
too1 ,i could be a  mother by another   
man0--         1 1        '  1  ' --    
is translated 8,if my husband had died1 
,i could have married another1 if  he   
had failed to get me children1 ,i could 
have committed adultery40 ,the  8main   
motive of the ,iliad10 we are informed1 
7p4 #gf71 8is the love of  ,achilles for
 ,patroclus40 ,the interest of the ,ajax
 8is meant to centre  on ,teucer1 the   
amasius of the dead ,ajax40 ,that the   
,alcestis may not  be pressed into the  
service of those who would maintain that
 the ,greeks  knew how to respect women1
 the key to it is to be found 8in the   
relation  existing between ,admetus and 
,apollo0767 ,the revolting coarseness   
and  flippant vulgarity which mark the  
book1 and1 which do very little credit  
to ,oxford training1 are illustrated by 
the remarks employed to disparage  these
 types of womanhood which the writer    
well knows would refute his  theory4    
,thus of ,nausicaa1 8she is always      

regarded as a charming type of  woman2  
but1 after all1 how one naturally thinks
 of her is 7sic7 as a  charming type of 
washerwoman02 of ,penelope1 8she longs  
for the return of  her husband1 no      
doubt2 but what really grieves her about
 the suitors is  not their suggestions  
as to his death1 but the quantity of    
pork they  eat40 ,on a par with this    
sort of thing is the remark about a play
 of  ,sophocles1 which1 by the way1 is  
not extant1 that 8it merely drew the    
usual picture of the gods playing       
shove-halfpenny with human souls0 7p4   
#dg72 or flippant vulgarity like the    
following--,admetus expresses 8his  deep
 regret that he cannot accompany        
,alcestis1 as ,charon does not issue    
return tickets40 ,if this is the humour 
of young ,oxford1 the progress of  which
 we hear so much has been purchased at a
 heavy price4    ,but to continue4 ,on  
page #bg we are confronted with the     
astounding  statement that 8it is in    
,anacreon that we find for the first    

time  love-poetry addressed to a woman40
 ,why1 ,hermesianax 7#ae1 #af7          
distinctly  states that ,musus wrote    
love-poetry to his wife or mistress1    
,antiope1  and that ,hesiod wrote many  
poems in honour of his love1 ,eoia 7,id4
  #bb-bd74 ,alcus notoriously wrote     
love-poems to ,sappho1 as we need go no 
further than the first book of          
,aristotle's ,rhetoric to know2 both    
,alcman1 the lover of ,egido and        
,megalostrate1 and1 probably ,ibycus    
also  wrote love-poetry to women4 ,it is
 mere special pleading to contend that  
,mimnermus did not write poetry to the  
mistress of his affections1 to  whom1   
according to ,strabo1 his erotic poetry 
was addressed4 ,hermesianax  distinctly 
states that ,mimnermus was passionately 
in love with ,nanno1  and certainly     
implies that his love-poetry was        
addressed to her 7#ce-ch74  ,it is true 
that two of the fragments of            
,archilochus are ambiguous1 but  one is 
not2 and1 if we may judge by a single   

line 7,fr4 #ga71 his love for  ,neobule 
expressed itself in a manner            
indistinguishable from ,petrarch's      
vein--8,would that ,i might touch       
,neobule's hand03         4 ,it is clear
 that women had a  prominent place in   
the poetry of ,stesichorus1 and in his  
poem entitled  ,calyce we seem to have  
had an anticipation of the modern love  
romance4  ,and yet1 in spite of all     
this1 we are informed that the ,greeks  
had no  love-poetry addressed to1 or    
concerning women1 before ,anacreon4     
,the methods adopted for minimizing or  
disguising the importance of women  in  
the ,iliad and ,odyssey are very        
amusing4 8,the ,trojan war was the  work
 of a woman2 but how very little that   
woman appears in the ,iliad40  ,she     
appears quite as frequently and         
imposingly as the action admits1  and   
she and ,andromache are painted as      
elaborately as any of the  dramatis     
person in the poem4 ,indeed1 it would   
not be too much to say  that1 with the  

exception of ,achilles and ,agamemnon1  
they leave the  deepest impression on   
us4 8,a woman has been managing the     
affairs of  ,odysseus for twenty years  
in an exemplary fashion2 but the hero of
 the  ,odyssey on his return prefers to 
associate with the swineherd40  ,comment
 is superfluous4 ,nothing could be more 
striking than the  prominence which is  
given to women both in the ,iliad and in
 the  ,odyssey4 ,to cite such writers as
 ,simonides of ,amorgus1 ,phocylides and
  ,theognis1 as authorities on the      
position of women1 is as absurd1 in     
,sancho ,panza's phrase1 as to look for 
pears on an elm4    ,the ,greek         
,tragedies are treated after the same   
fashion as the ,iliad  and the ,odyssey4
 ,we are told that the remarkable       
prominence given in  ,sophocles's plays 
to the affection between brother and    
sister affords  conclusive proof that   
the nature of modern love between man   
and woman  was unknown to him2 and we   
are also informed1 that the relations   

between  ,electra and ,orestes1 and     
,antigone and ,polynices 8are absolutely
 those of  modern lovers40 ,it would be 
difficult to say which is more absurd1  
the  deduction or the statement4 ,what  
love could be more loyal and more       
passionate than ,hmon's love for        
,antigone8 ,the prominence given by     
,sophocles to the love between brother  
and sister has its origin from the  same
 cause as the very small part played by 
lovers in the ,greek  tragedies         
generally4 ,in the first place1 a poet  
who took his plot from  the fortunes of 
the houses of ,pelops or ,laius could   
only work within the  limits of         
tradition2 in the second place1 love    
romances1 unless  involving deep        
tragical issues as in the ,trachini1 the
 ,medea1 and  the ,hippolytus1 were     
totally incompatible with the ,greek    
idea of  tragedy4 ,but we must hurry to 
the grand discovery made by the author  
of  this volume4    ,somewhere about    
#dje ,b4,c4 flourished ,antimachus1 of  

,colophon1 the author  of a voluminous  
epic1 and of several other poems4 ,he   
had the misfortune  to lose his wife    
,lyde1 and1 to beguile his sorrow1 he   
composed a long  elegy in her honour4   
,of the far-reaching consequences of    
this act let  our author speak4 8,when  
,antimachus first sat down in his empty 
house at  ,colophon to write an elegy to
 his dead wife1 consciously or          
unconsciously he was initiating the     
greatest artistic revolution that  the  
world has ever seen40 ,asclepiades and  
,philetas followed him as  imitators1   
and the thing was done4 ,woman was at   
last 8connected with  #8romance4'0 ,our 
author admits the difficulty of         
supposing that 8any one  man could      
invent and popularize an entirely new   
emotion02 but suggests  that if we      
regard it as 8simply due to the         
readjustment of an already  existing    
emotion10 that is 1 such a supposition  
is  8no longer absurd40 ,it is not only 
absurd but monstrous4    ,the truth     

almost certainly is1 that the love      
between man and woman in  ancient       
,greece differed very little from the   
love between man and woman  as it exists
 now4 ,marriage was1 it is true1 purely 
a matter of business2  most wives       
aspired to nothing more than the        
management of the nursery  and the      
household1 and most women being without 
education1 and living in  seclusion1    
could scarcely associate1 intellectually
 at least1 on equal  terms with their   
husbands or lovers4 ,but this proves    
nothing more than  mariages de          
convenance1 and love based on the       
fascination exercised by  sensuous      
attraction prove now4 ,then1 as in our  
own time1 there were  marriages and     
marriages1 liaisons and liaisons4 ,the  
story which ,plutarch  tells of ,callias
 7,cimon4 iv47 shows that marriage was  
often based on  love4 ,the pictures     
given of ,hector and ,andromache in the 
,iliad1 of  ,alcinous and ,arete1 of    
,ulysses and ,penelope1 of ,menelaus and

 ,helen in  the ,odyssey1 the charming  
account of ,ischomachus and his young   
wife in  the conomics of ,xenophon1 the 
noble and pathetic story of ,pantheia   
and ,abradatas in the ,cyropdeia1 the   
story which1 in his life of  ,agis1#dj  
,plutarch tells of ,chilonis1 and1 in   
the ,morals1 of  ,camma1#da and         
innumerable other legends1 traditions1  
and anecdotes1  prove that women could  
inspire and return as pure and as       
chivalrous a  love as any of the        
heroines of chivalry4 ,the poet who     
could write about  marriage as ,homer   
does in the ,sixth ,odyssey would have  
had little to  learn from modern        
refinement4#db ,the love which          
,critobulus describes  himself as having
 for ,amandra1 in the ,symposium of     
,xenophon1 and the  remarks made by     
,socrates in that dialogue embody the   
most exalted  conceptions of the passion
 of love between the sexes4 ,the        
sentiments of  ,plutarch on this subject
 are indistinguishable from the most    

refined  notions of the modern world1 as
 is abundantly illustrated in the       
,amatorius1 the ,conjugalia ,prcepta1   
and in the remarks on marriage  in the  
eighth chapter of the ,essay on ,moral  
,virtue4 ,if ,ajax and ,hercules  became
 brutes1 ,tecmessa and ,deianeira were  
not the only women who have  discovered 
that men are1 too often1 ,may when they 
woo1 and ,december when  they wed4 ,it  
is ridiculous to suppose that a people  
whose popular poetry  could present such
 types of womanhood as ,arete1          
,antigone1 ,alcestis1  ,deianeira1      
,electra1 ,macaria1 ,iphigenia1 ,evadne1
 and ,polyxena1 who could  boast such   
poetesses as ,sappho1 ,erinna1 ,corinna1
 ,myrtis1 and ,damophila1  and whose    
society was graced by such women as     
,aspasia1 ,diotima1  ,gnathna1          
,herpyllis1 ,metaneira1 and ,leontium1  
should have given  expression to        
passion1 sentiment1 and romance only in 
4    ,what the author of this book1 and 
what others who are fond of             

generalizing about the ,greeks1 forget1 
is1 that of a once vast and  voluminous 
literature we have only fragments4 ,that
 portion of their  poetry which would   
have thrown light on the subject here   
discussed has  perished4 ,it is certain1
 for example1 that of their lyric poetry
 a very  large portion was erotic1 of   
that portion exactly one poem has       
survived  in its entirety1 while a few  
hundred scattered lines1 torn from their
  context1 represent the rest that has  
come down to us4 ,we know1 again1  that 
in some hundreds of their dramas1 in the
 ,middle and ,new ,comedy that  is to   
say1 the plots turned on love--of these 
dramas not a single one is  preserved4  
,but the reflection of some twenty of   
them in ,terence and  ,plautus1 and     
several scattered fragments1 clearly    
indicate1 that the  passion between the 
sexes involved as much sentiment and    
romance as it  does in our ,elizabethan 
dramatists4 ,in what respect do         
,charinus and  ,pamphilus in the ,andria

 and ,antipho in the ,phormio--mere     
replicas1  of course1 of ,greek         
originals--differ from modern lovers8   
,what could be  more romantic than the  
love story which formed the plot of the 
,phasma  of ,menander8 ,it is fair to   
our author to say that he fully admits  
this1  in the only tolerably            
satisfactory part of his book1 the      
chapter on  ,women in ,greek ,comedy4   
,the great blot on ,greek life1 to which
 ,mr4  ,benecke gives so much           
prominence1 has probably had far too    
much  importance attached to it1 partly1
 perhaps1 owing to its accentuation in  
the writings of ,plato1 and partly owing
 to that rage for scandalous            
tittle-tattle1 so unhappily             
characteristic of ancient               
anecdote-mongers  from ,ion to ,athenus4
    ,,footnotes3    ,footnote #dj3      
,agis1 xvii41 xviii4    ,footnote #da3  
,de ,mulierum ,virtutibus4    ,footnote 
#db3 ,see particularly lines #ahj-ahe4  
,,mr4 ,,stephen ,,phillips' ,,poems#dc  

,footnote #dc3 ,poems4 ,by ,stephen     
,phillips4 ,london and ,new ,york ,john 
,lane4      ,the accent here is         
unmistakable1 it is the accent of a new 
and a true  poet4 ,mr4 ,phillips gives  
us no mere variations on familiar       
melodies1 no  clever copies of classical
 archetypes1 and what is more1 he has   
not  employed any illegitimate means of 
attracting attention and giving         
distinction to his work4 ,an audacious  
choice of subjects1 the adoption  of the
 stones which the builders have         
rejected1 and1 it may be added1         
disdained1 has1 when coupled with       
elaborate affectations and              
eccentricities of treatment and style1  
often enabled mediocrity to pass1       
temporarily at least1 for genius1 and   
the specious counterfeit of  originality
 for the thing itself4 ,but these poems 
are marked by  simplicity1 sincerity1   
spontaneity4 ,if a discordant note is   
sometimes  struck1 here in an           
over-strained conceit1 and there in an  

incongruous  touch of preciosity or     
false sentiment1 this is but an         
accident2 in  essentials all is genuine4
 ,nature and passion affect to be       
speaking1 and  nature and passion really
 speak4 ,a poet1 of whom this may be    
said with  truth1 has passed the line   
which divides talent from genius1 the   
true  singer from the accomplished      
artist or imitator4 ,he has taken his   
place1  wherever that place may be1     
among authentic poets4 ,to that high    
honour  the present volume undoubtedly  
entitles ,mr4 ,phillips4 ,it would now1 
perhaps1 be premature to say more than  
8,ingens omen habet magni clarique      
triumphi10 but we may predict with      
confidence that1 if fate is kind and    
his muse is true to him1 he has a       
distinguished future before him4 ,it    
may be safely said that no poet has made
 his dbut with a volume which  is at    
once of such extraordinary merit and so 
rich in promise4    ,mr4 ,phillips is   
not a poet who has 8one plain passage of

 few notes40 ,he  strikes many chords1  
and strikes them often with thrilling   
power4 ,the  awful story narrated in    
,the ,wife is conceived and embodied    
with really  ,dantesque intensity and   
vividness2 it has the master's          
suggestive  reservation1 smiting phrase1
 and clairvoyant picture wording1 as 8in
 the  red shawl sacredly she burned10   
8smiled at him with her lips1 not with  
her eyes02 while 8,mother and child that
 food together ate0 is1 in  pregnancy of
 tragic suggestiveness1 almost worthy to
 stand with the  8poscia1 pi che il     
dolor1 pot il digiuno40 ,equally        
distinguished1  though on another plane 
of interest1 is ,the woman with the dead
 ,soul1  the soul which could once      
8wonder1 laugh1 and weep10 but over     
which the  days began to fall 8dismally1
 as rain on ocean blear10 till--        
8,existence lean1 in sky dead grey      
,withholding steadily1 starved it away40
    ,if the pathos in these poems is    
almost 8too deep for tears10 it is      

gentler in the second and third of the  
lyrics1 which are as exquisite as  they 
are affecting4 ,the idea in the lines   
,to ,milton ,blind1 is worthy  of       
,milton's own sublime conceit1 that the 
darkness which had fallen on  his eyes  
was but the shadow of ,god's protecting 
wings4 ,the whole poem1  indeed1 is a   
beautiful paraphrase of the noble       
passage in the ,second  ,defence of the 
,people of ,england3 8,for the ,divine  
law0--we give it in  the ,english       
translation--8not only shields me from  
injury1 but almost  renders me too      
sacred to attack1 not indeed so much    
from the privation  of my sight as from 
the overshadowing of those heavenly     
wings which seem  to have occasioned    
this obscurity2 and which1 when         
occasioned1 he is  wont to illuminate   
with an interior light more precious and
 more pure40    ,in ,the ,lily1 which is
 a little obscure--a fault against which
 ,mr4  ,phillips would do well to guard1
 for he frequently offends in this      

respect--we have the note of ,petrarch1 
but ,petrarch would not have ended  the 
poem so flatly4 ,tennyson is recalled1  
too nearly perhaps1 in 8,by the  ,sea10 
but it is a poem of great charm and     
beauty4 ,the ,new ,de ,profundis  is1   
unhappily1 the key to ,mr4 ,phillips'   
characteristic mood2 it reminds  us of  
the curse imposed on the worldling in   
,browning's ,easter ,day1  before he has
 learned the use of life and doubt4     
,mr4 ,phillips' two most ambitious poems
 are ,christ in ,hades and  ,marpessa4  
,in ,christ in ,hades he fails1 as ,mrs4
 ,browning failed in  ,the ,drama of    
,exile4 ,he attempts a theme--a         
stupendous theme--to which  his genius  
is not equal1 and which could only have 
been adequately  treated by such poets  
as ,dante and ,milton1 in the maturity  
of their  powers4 ,it has neither basis 
nor superstructure4 ,it is what the     
,greeks  would call 8meteoric0 as       
distinguished from 8sublime40 ,it is a  
weird1  wild1 and chaotic dream2 and yet

 for all this its appeal to the heart   
and the imagination is piercing and     
direct4 ,like ,tennyson1 ,mr4 ,phillips 
has the art of unfolding the full       
significance of a few suggestive words  
in a great classic2 and nothing could be
 more effective than the use to  which  
he has applied the famous lines which   
,homer places in the mouth of           
,achilles4 ,poetry has few things more  
pathetic than ,homer's picture of       
,hades and the dead1 and that pathos    
,mr4 ,phillips has given us in          
quintessence1 as few would question     
after reading the lines which  describe 
,persephone yearning for her return to  
the spring-illumined  world1 the speech 
of the ,athenian ghost1 and the woman's 
address to  ,christ4 ,if the world      
depicted has something of ,horace's     
artistic  monster1 or1 to change the    
image1 something of the anarchy of      
dreams in  its composition1 the         
vividness and picturesqueness with which
 particular  figures and scenes are     

flashed into light and definition is    
extraordinarily impressive4 ,it is so   
with the central figure1 ,christ2  it is
 so with ,prometheus2 and the contrast  
between these martyrs for man  has both 
pathos and grandeur4    ,there is more  
originality1 more power in ,christ in   
,hades than in  ,marpessa1 but ,marpessa
 has more balance1 more sanity1 more of 
the  stuff out of which good and abiding
 poetry is made1 than its  predecessor4 
,the one savours of the spasmodic       
school1 the productions of  which have  
rarely been found to have the principle 
of life1 however rich  they may have    
been in promise2 the other is a return  
to a school in  which most of those who 
have gained permanent fame have studied4
 ,and we  are glad to find a young poet 
there4    ,but it would be doing ,mr4   
,phillips great injustice not to note   
that1  though he has had many           
predecessors in the semi-classical1     
semi-romantic  re-treatment of the      
,greek myths1 notably ,keats in         

,hyperion1 ,wordsworth  in ,dion and    
,laodamia1 ,landor in his ,hellenics1   
and ,tennyson in  none and ,tithonus1 he
 has treated his theme with a           
distinction  which is all his own1 and  
has impressed on it an intense          
individuality4  ,in comparison with     
these masters he may be pauper1 but he  
is pauper  in suo re4    ,it would be   
easy to point to faults in ,mr4         
,phillips' work4 ,his sense of  rhythm1 
even allowing for what are plainly      
deliberate experiments in  discord1     
seems often curiously defective4 ,how   
stiff and limping1 for  example1 is the 
following3--                            
8,o pity us1    ,for ,i would ask of    
thee only to look    ,upon the wonderful
 sunlight and to smell    ,earth in the 
rain4 ,is not the labourer    ,returning
 heavy through the ,august sheaves      
,against the setting sun1 who gladly    
smells    ,his supper from the opening  
door--is he    ,not happier than these  
melancholy kings8    ,how good it is to 

live1 even at the worst6    ,god was so 
lavish to us once1 but here    ,he hath 
repented1 jealous of ,his beams40       
,lines1 again1 like 8,pierced her1 and  
odour full of arrows was10  8,realizes  
all the uncoloured dawn10 8,yet followed
 a riddled memorable  flag10 are1 no    
doubt1 extreme instances1 but they are  
typical of many  bad lines4             
,occasionally he falls flat on some     
harsh prosaic phrase1 like  8beautiful  
indolence was on our brains40 ,nor is he
 always happy in his  attempts at       
novelty in phraseology1 as in his       
employment of the words  8liable10      
8inaccurate10 8pungent02 and these      
faults in rhythm and  diction are the   
more remarkable1 as the really subtle   
mastery over  rhythmic expression which 
he exhibits at times1 and his singularly
  felicitous epithets1 turns1 and       
phrases are among his most striking     
gifts4 ,take a few out of very many3 8,a
 bleak magnificence of endless  hope10  
8,that common trivial face1 of endless  

needs10 8,the mystic river1  floating   
wan10 8,and the moist evening fallow1   
richly dark10 8,that palest  rose sweet 
on the night of life40 ,how noble is the
 rhythm and imagery of  the following3--
                              8,all the 
dead    ,the melancholy attraction of   
,jesus felt3    ,and millions1 like a   
sea1 wave upon wave1    ,heaved dreaming
 to that moonlight face1 or ran    ,in  
wonderful long ripples1 sorrow-charmed4 
,toward him1 in faded purple1 pacing    
came    ,dead emperors1 and sad1        
unflattered kings2    ,unlucky captains1
 listless armies led3    ,poets with    
music frozen on their lips    ,toward   
the pale brilliance sighed40    ,and it 
would be easy to multiply illustrations 
from ,marpessa and ,by  the ,sea4       
,occasionally there is a certain        
incongruity between the form  and the   
matter4 ,a poem so essentially1 so      
intensely realistic as ,the  ,wife      
should not have such quaintnesses as    
8pald in her thought40 ,nor  should we  

have      8,the constable1 with lifted  
hand1    ,conducting the orchestral     
,strand02    nor should a railway       
station be described as a 8moond        
terminus40  ,nothing is so disenchanting
 as affectation4    ,one cannot but add 
that these poems1 welcome as they are1  
would have  been more welcome still1 had
 they been less profoundly melancholy4  
,their  monotonous sadness1 the         
persistency with which they dwell on all
 those  grim and melancholy realities   
which poetry should help us to forget1  
or  cheer us in enduring1 is not merely 
their leading1 but their pervading      
characteristic4 ,this note will1 we     
hope1 change4 ,leopardi is immortal1    
and could not be spared2 but one        
,leopardi is enough for a single        
century4          ,,the ,,illustrious   
,,obscure#dd    ,footnote #dd3 ,west    
,country ,poets3 ,their ,lives and      
,works1 etc4  ,illustrated with         
,portraits4 ,by ,w4 ,h4 ,kearley        
,wright1 ,f4,r4,h4,s4 ,london3  ,elliot 

,stock4 #ahif4      ,some nineteen      
hundred years ago ,horace observed that 
there was one thing  which neither gods1
 nor men1 nor bookstalls would tolerate 
in a  poet--and that was mediocrity4    
,the verdict of gods1 men1 and the      
bookstalls is probably still what it was
 then2 but to such tribunals the        
rhymesters of our time can afford to be 
quite indifferent4 ,paper and  printing 
are cheap2 small poets and small critics
 are now so numerous  that they form a  
world1 and a populous world1 in         
themselves2 and1 well  understanding the
 truth of the old proverb1 8,concordi1  
parv res  crescunt10 they mutually      
manufacture the wreaths with which they 
crown  each other's modest vanity4      
,there are hundreds of 8poets0 and      
8critics0  of whom the great world knows
 nothing1 who are thus enabled1 in their
  little day1 to taste all the sweets of
 fame1 and 8walk with inward glory      
crown'd40 ,to wage serious war against  
such a tribe as this would be as  absurd

 as to break butterflies upon a wheel2  
but we really think it high  time that  
some protest should be made against the 
indefinite  multiplication of the       
rubbish for which these people and their
 patrons  are responsible1 and still    
more against its importation into what  
purports to be a contribution to serious
 literature4 ,as long as these  geniuses
 confine themselves to their proper     
sphere1 the poets' corners  of          
provincial newspapers1 we have nothing  
to say4 ,but it becomes quite  another  
matter when the skill of an ingenious   
projector enables--we are  really sorry 
to have to speak so harshly--a rabble of
 poetasters to  figure side by side with
 poets of classical fame1 and to appear 
in all  the dignity of contributors to a
 national anthology4 ,yet such is the   
design of this volume1 which was1 it    
seems1 published by subscription1  the  
subscribers being for the most part the 
various candidates for  poetical fame1  
who have obligingly sent their portraits

 and their  biographies for insertion in
 ,mr4 ,kearley ,wright's 8monumental    
work40 ,as  ,mr4 ,kearley ,wright's     
collection begins with the fifteenth    
century1 and  includes the really       
eminent poets who happen to have been   
born in the  ,west of ,england1 many of 
his worthies are naturally apud plures1 
but  the majority1 in whose honour the  
anthology appears to have been          
compiled1 adorn the living4 ,and very   
gratifying it must be for these         
gentlemen1 and for ,mr4 ,kearley ,wright
 himself--for he also has a  niche--to  
find themselves side by side with ,sir  
,walter ,raleigh1 ,herrick1  ,gay1 and  
,coleridge4    ,mr4 ,kearley ,wright's  
8company of makers0 is certainly a      
motley one4  ,first comes among his     
living bards an inspired porter at the  
,teignmouth  railway station1 who asks  
in rapture1--      8,along the          
glitt'ring streets of gold1      ,amid  
the brilliant glare1    ,shall we ,god's
 banner there unfold1      ,his         

righteous helmet wear80    ,at no great 
distance follows1 with a portrait       
looking intensely  intellectual1 8the   
manager of the ,bristol and ,south      
,wales ,railway ,waggon  ,company1      
,limited10 whose poems are described as 
8lacking here and there  logical        
sequence and literary method10 but      
8evincing undoubtedly a great  poetical 
disposition and philosophical drift40   
,the two poems which  illustrate this   
poet's genius afford very little proof  
either of 8a  great poetical            
disposition0 or of 8a philosophical     
drift10 but painfully  conclusive proof 
that much more is lacking than 8logical 
sequence and  literary method10 the lack
 of which may certainly be conceded as  
well4  ,next comes ,mr4 ,jonas ,coaker1 
8the landlord of the ,warren ,house     
,inn10  whose verses 8disclose a poetic 
spirit1 and1 had he possessed the       
advantages of education1 would doubtless
 have attracted some attention40  ,mr4  
,coaker is in the main autobiographical4

      8,i drew my breath first on the   
moor1      ,there my forefathers        
dwelled2    ,its hills and dales ,i've  
traversed o'er1      ,its desert parts  
beheld4             99       99       99
       99       99      ,it's oft       
envelop'd in a fog1      ,because it's  
up so high40    ,and ,mr4 ,coaker       
continues in the same strain further    
than we care to  transcribe4 ,then we   
have ,mr4 ,john ,goodwin1 8formerly a   
coach-guard1 who  sung of the days when 
there was such a thing1 if we may so    
phrase it1 as  the poetry of            
locomotion40 ,in his poetry1 we are     
told1 8there is a  genuine ring10 as    
here1 for example3--      8,i mind the  
time1 when ,i was guard1      ,the lord1
 the duke1 or squire    ,would travel by
 the old stage-coach1      ,or          
post-chaise they would hire40    ,mr4   
,charles ,chorley1 who is1 we are       
informed1 submanager of the ,truro      
,savings ,bank1 in verses which are     
presumably a parody of ,sir ,william    

,jones' ,imitation of ,alcus1 inquires1 
not without a certain propriety1  8,what
 constitutes a mine80 ,on a par with all
 these are the verses of the  bard who  
8in summer hawked gooseberries and in   
winter shoelaces10 and  those of the    
8uneducated journeyman woolcomber40     
,now1 we need hardly say that the humble
 vocations of these poets are  neither  
derogatory to them nor in any way       
detrimental to merit where  merit       
exists2 but there is no merit whatever  
in the poems assigned to  them in this  
volume2 they are simply such poems as   
hawkers1 woolcombers1  railway porters1 
and submanagers of provincial           
banks--8who pen a stanza  when they     
should engross0--might be expected to   
write4 ,the same may be  said of almost 
every copy of verses1 produced by       
amateurs1 to be found  in this          
collection4 ,we have scarcely noticed a 
single poem which rises  above          
mediocrity2 a very large proportion are 
below even a mediocre  standard--they   

are simply rubbish4 ,in one poet only1  
among those whose  names were not before
 known to us1 do we discern genius1 and 
that is in  ,mr4 ,john ,dryden ,hosken1 
whose poem1 entitled ,my ,masters1 is   
really  excellent4    ,the editor of    
this anthology is plainly incompetent1  
both in point of  taste and critical    
discernment1 and in point of knowledge1 
for the task  which he has undertaken4  
,the first is proved by the extracts    
which he  has selected from the works of
 well-known poets4 ,coleridge1 for      
example1  is represented by two         
comparatively inferior poems1 ,the      
,devil's  ,thoughts and ,fancy in       
,nubibus2 ,thomas ,carew1 by two short  
poems1 one  of which is probably the    
worst he ever wrote2 ,herrick1 by two of
 his  very worst2 ,praed1 by two of the 
feeblest and least characteristic of    
his poems2 ,walcot1 by mere trash4 ,it  
is quite possible that their less       
illustrious brethren may have suffered  
from the deplorable inability of  this  

editor to discern between what is good  
and what is bad4 ,certainly  ,capern1   
who was a poet with a touch of genius1  
suffers1 for the lyric  given is very   
far indeed from representing or         
illustrating his best or  even his      
characteristic work4 ,in giving an      
account of ,alexander ,barclay1  who1 by
 the way1 is called ,andrew in the      
,preface1 ,mr4 ,wright says  nothing    
about his most important poems--his     
,eclogues4 ,if ,eustace ,budgell  is    
included among the poets1 why are not   
his poems specified and  represented8   
,of ,aaron ,hill it is observed that    
8neither his reputation  as a poet nor  
his connexion with the county of ,devon 
is sufficient to  warrant more than a   
mere notice of his name40 ,aaron ,hill  
was the author  of more than one poem of
 conspicuous merit4 ,the verses         
attributed on  page #dhh to ,sir        
,william ,yonge were written by ,lady   
,mary ,wortley ,montagu4  ,but these are
 trifles4 ,what we wish to protest      

against is the foisting  of such volumes
 as these on our libraries2 and it is   
appalling to learn  that it is the      
intention of ,mr4 ,kearley ,wright1 if  
he is sufficiently  encouraged by       
subscribers1 to follow this with another
 similar  collection4 ,if poets like    
these wish to gratify their vanity1 let 
them  not gratify it to the detriment of
 serious literature2 for1 if the few    
can discriminate1 the many cannot1 and  
the multiplication of works like  these 
must infallibly tend to lower the       
standard of current literature1  by     
furthering the disastrous 8cult of the  
average man40 ,in our opinion  criticism
 can have no more imperative duty than  
to discountenance and  discourage in    
every way such projectors as ,mr4       
,kearley ,wright and such  poets as     
those for whose merits he and critics   
like him stand sponsors4                
,,virgil ,,in ,,english ,,hexameters#de 
,footnote #de3 ,the ,eclogues of        
,virgil4 ,translated into ,english      

,hexameter ,verse by the ,right ,hon4   
,sir ,george ,osborne ,morgan1 ,bart41  
,q4,c41 ,m4,p4 ,london4      ,sir       
,george ,osborne ,morgan has served his 
generation in much more  important      
capacities than those of a scholar and a
 translator of ,virgil1  and had this   
little work1 therefore1 been less       
meritorious than it is1  no critic with 
a sense of the becoming would deal      
harshly with it4 ,but  it challenges and
 deserves serious consideration1 not    
only as an attempt  to solve a problem  
of singular interest to students of     
classical poetry1  but as a somewhat    
ambitious contribution to the literature
 of  translation4 ,sir ,osborne ,morgan 
is1 however1 mistaken in supposing that 
in translating ,virgil into his own     
metre he 8has undertaken a task which   
has never been attempted before40 ,in   
#aehc ,richard ,stanihurst published a  
translation of the first four books of  
the neid in ,english  hexameters2 and1  
if ,sir ,osborne will turn to ,webbe's  

,discourse of  ,english ,poetrie1       
published as early as #aehf1 he will    
find versions in  ,english hexameters of
 the ,first and ,second ,eclogues1 while
 ,abraham  ,fraunce1 in a curious       
volume1 entitled ,the ,countess of      
,pembroke's ,ivy  ,church1 which        
appeared in #aeia1 has1 among the other 
hexameters in the  collection1 given a  
version of the ,second ,eclogue in this 
measure4 ,but  ,sir ,osborne ,morgan has
 been more immediately anticipated in   
his  experiment4 ,in #ahch ,dr4 ,james  
,blundell published anonymously1 under  
the  title of ,hexametrical             
,experiments1 versions in hexameters of 
the  ,first1 ,fourth1 ,sixth1 and ,tenth
 ,eclogues1 and to this translation he  
prefixed an elaborate preface1          
vindicating the employment of the       
hexameter in ,english1 and explaining   
its mechanism to the unlearned4         
,indeed1 ,blundell arrived at the same  
conclusion as ,sir ,osborne ,morgan1    
that the proper medium for an ,english  

translation of hexametrical poems  in   
,greek and ,latin is the ,english       
hexameter4 ,we may1 however1 hasten to  
add that ,sir ,osborne has little to    
fear from a comparison with his         
predecessors1 who have1 indeed1 done    
their best to refute by example  their  
own theory4 ,it may be observed1 in     
passing1 that the translations  of      
,virgil into rhymed decasyllabic verse  
are far more numerous than ,sir         
,osborne ,morgan seems to suppose4 ,he  
is1 he says1 acquainted only with       
two--the version by ,dryden and ,joseph 
,warton--not seeming to be aware  that  
,warton translated only the ,georgics   
and ,eclogues1 printing  ,pitt's version
 of the neid4 ,the whole of ,virgil was 
translated into  this measure by ,john  
,ogilvie between #afdi-ej1 and by the   
,earl of  ,lauderdale about #agaf1 while
 versions of the neid1 the ,georgics1   
and the ,eclogues1 in the same metre1   
have abounded in every era of our       
literature1 from ,gawain ,douglas's     

translation of the neid printed in      
#aeec1 to ,archdeacon ,wrangham's       
version of the ,eclogues in #ahcj4      
,it is no reproach to ,sir ,osborne     
,morgan that1 in the occupations of a   
busy political life1 his scholarship    
should have become a little rusty1  but 
it is a pity that he should so often    
have allowed himself to be  caught      
tripping1 when a little timely counsel  
in the correction of his  proof sheets  
might have prevented this4 ,in the      
,first ,eclogue the line      8,non     
insueta graves temptabunt pabula fetas0 
is translated      8,here no unwonted   
herb shall tempt the travailing cattle40
    ,what it really means is1 no change 
of fodder1 no fodder which is strange   
to them1 shall 8infect0 or 8try0 the    
pregnant cattle1 8insueta0 being  used  
in exactly the same sense as in ,eclogue
 ,v4 #ef1 8insuetum miratur  limen      
,olympi10 and 8temptare0 as it is used  
in ,georg4 ,,iii4 #dda1 and  commonly in
 classical ,latin4 ,it is1 to say the   

least1 questionable  whether in the     
couplet--      8,pauperis et tuguri     
congestum cspite culmen1    ,post       
aliquot1 mea regna videns1 mirabor      
aristas80--    the last line can mean   
8,gaze on the straggling corn1 the      
remains of what once was my kingdom40   
8,aristas0 is much more likely to be a  
metonymy for 8messes10 i4e4  8annos10   
like  in ,sophocles' ,trachini1 #fi1    
' 1 a confirmative illustration which   
seems to have  escaped the commentators2
 but it is difficult to say1 and ,sir   
,osborne  has1 it must be owned1        
excellent authority for his             
interpretation4 ,in  ,eclogue ,,iii4 the
 somewhat difficult passage             
8pocula ponam    ,fagina4444    ,lenta  
quibus torno facili superaddita vitis   
,diffusos hedera vestit pallente        
corymbos0--    i4e4 8where the limber   
vine wreathed round them by the deft    
graving  tool is twined with pale ivy's 
spreading clusters10--is translated3    
8,over whose side the vine by a touch of

 the graving tool added    ,mantles its 
clustering grapes in the paler leaves of
 the ivy40    ,this is quite wrong4     
8,corymbos0 cannot possibly mean        
clusters of grapes1  but clusters of ivy
 berries1 8heder pallente0 being        
substituted1 after  ,virgil's manner1   
for 8heder pallentis40 ,in ,eclogue     
,,iv4 #bd there is no  reason for       
supposing that the 8fallax herba veneni0
 is hemlock2 it is  much more likely to 
be aconite4 ,in line #de 8sandyx0 should
 be translated  not 8purple0 but        
8crimson10 vague as the colour indicated
 by 8purple0  is4 ,in ,eclogue ,v4      
8,si quos aut ,phyllidis ignes1    ,aut 
,alconis habes laudes1 aut jurgia       
,codri0    is not      8,phyllis's fiery
 loves you would sing or the quarrels of
 ,codrus10    but 8your passion for     
,phyllis1 your invectives against       
,codrus10 8ignes0  being used far more  
becomingly for a man's love than for a  
woman's4 ,so1  again1 8pro purpureo     
narcisso0 cannot mean what nature never 

saw1  8purple daffodil10 but the white  
narcissus4 ,in ,eclogue ,,viii4         
8,sophocleo  tua carmina digna cothurno0
 is turned by what is obviously a lapsus
  calami1 8worthy of ,sophocles' sock40 
,a scholar like ,sir ,osborne ,morgan   
does not need reminding that the 8sock0 
is a metonymy for ,comedy1 as  ,milton  
anglicizes it in ,l',allegro1 8if       
,jonson's learned sock be on40  ,in the 
exquisite passage in ,eclogue ,,viii4   
#da--      8,jam fragiles poteram ab    
terr contingere ramos0--    to translate
 8fragiles0 as 8frail0 is to miss the   
whole point of the  epithet4 ,what      
,virgil means is1 8,i could just reach  
the branches from the  ground and break 
them off02 if it is to be translated by 
one epithet1  it must be 8brittle40     
,again in the ,ninth ,eclogue the words 
8qu se subducere colles    ,incipiunt1  
mollique jugum demittere clivo10    do  
not mean 8where the hills with gentle   
depression steal away into the  plain10 
but the very opposite3 i4e4 8,where the 

hills begin to draw  themselves up from 
the plain10 the ascent being            
contemplated from below4  ,in ,eclogue  
,,ix41 in turning the couplet      8,nam
 neque adhuc ,vario videor1 nec dicere  
,cinn    ,digna1 sed argutos inter      
strepere anser olores10    the          
translator has no authority for turning 
the last verse into 8a  cackling goose  
in a chorus of cygnets10 for there is no
 tradition that  cygnets sang1 and goose
 should have been printed with a capital
 letter  to preserve the pun1 the       
allusion being to a poetaster named     
,anser4  ,unfortunately for the ,english
 translator1 our literature can boast no
  counterpart to 8,anser0 totidem       
literis1 but ,goose printed with a      
capital is near enough to preserve1 or  
suggest the sarcasm4 ,there is  another 
slip in ,eclogue ,x43 8,ferulas0 is not 
8wands of willow0 but  8fennel40        
,occasionally a touch is introduced     
which is neither authorized by the      
original1 nor true to nature4 ,there is 

nothing1 for instance to warrant1  in   
,eclogue ,i4 #ef1 the epithet 8odorous0 
as applied to the willow1 nor  does     
8salictum0 mean a 8willow0 but a        
8willow-bed or plantation40 ,to         
translate 8ubi tempus erit0 by 8when the
 hour shall have struck0 reminds  us of 
,shakespeare's famous anachronism in    
,julius ,csar and is as  surprising in  
the work of a scholar as the lengthening
 of the  penultimate in arbutus1 8,sweet
 is the shower to the blade1 ,to the    
newly  weaned kid the arbutus40 ,as a   
rule1 the translator turns difficult    
passages very skilfully1 but this is not
 the case with the couplet which        
concludes the 8,pollio03--              
8,incipe1 parve puer3 cui non risere    
parentes    ,nec deus hunc mens1 dea nec
 dignata cubili est02    that is1 the   
8babe on whom the parent never smiled1  
no god ever deemed  worthy of his board1
 no goddess of her bed0--in other words1
 he can  never enjoy the rewards of a   
hero like ,hercules2 but there is       

neither  sense nor skill1 and something 
very like a serious grammatical error1  
in                8,who knows not the   
smile of a parent1    ,neither the board
 of a god nor the bed of a goddess is   
worthy40    ,but to turn from           
comparative trifles4 ,no one who reads  
this version of  the ,eclogues can doubt
 that ,sir ,osborne ,morgan has proved  
his point1  that the ,english hexameter1
 when skilfully used1 is the measure    
best  adapted for reproducing ,virgil's 
music in ,english4 ,the following       
passage  7,ec4 ,,vii4 #de-dh7 is happily
 turned2 let us place the original      
beside  the translation3--              
8,muscosi fontes et somno mollior herba1
    ,et qu vos rar viridis tegit arbutus
 umbr1    ,solstitium pecori defendite3 
jam venit stas    ,torrida1 jam lto     
turgent in palmite gemm40               
8,moss-grown fountains and sward more   
soft than the softest of slumbers1      
,arbutus tree that flings over both its 
flickering shadows1    ,shelter my flock

 from the sun4 ,already the summer is on
 us1    ,summer that scorches up all6   
,see the bud on the glad vine is        
swelling40    ,again 7,ec4 ,x4          
#da-dh73--      8,serta mihi ,phyllis   
legeret1 cantaret ,amyntas3    ,hic     
gelidi fontes1 hic mollia prata1        
,lycori1    ,hic nemus3 hic ipso tecum  
consumerer vo4    ,nunc insanus amor    
duri me ,martis in armis    ,tela inter 
media atque adversos detinet hostes3    
,tu procul a patri--nec sit mihi credere
 tantum6--    ,alpinas1 ah dura1 nives  
et frigora ,rheni    ,me sine sola      
vides40      8,phyllis would gather me  
flowers and ,amyntas a melody chant me2 
,cool is the fountain's wave and soft is
 the meadow1 ,lycoris2    ,shady the    
grove6 ,here with thee ,i would die of  
old age in the greenwood4    ,mad is the
 lust of war1 that now in the heart of  
the battle    ,chains me where darts    
fall fast1 and the charge of the foemen 
is fiercest1    ,far1 far away from your
 home--,oh1 would that ,i might not     

believe it--    ,lost amid ,alpine snows
 or the frozen desolate ,rhineland1     
,lonely without me you wander40    ,many
 other felicitous passages might be     
quoted2 indeed1 there is no  ,eclogue   
without them2 but the translator is not 
sure-footed1 and1 if he  occasionally   
illustrates the hexameter in its        
excellence1 he  illustrates1 unhappily  
too often1 some of its worst defects4   
,two  qualities are indispensable to the
 success of this measure in ,english4   
,our language1 unlike the classical     
languages1 being accentual and not      
quantitative1 if the long syllable is   
not represented where the stress        
naturally falls1 and the short syllables
 where it does not fall1 the  effect is 
sometimes grotesque1 sometimes          
distressing1 and always  unsatisfactory4
 ,nothing1 for example1 could be worse  
in their various  ways than the         
following3--      8,wept when you saw   
they were given the lad1 and had you not
 managed40    8,let not the frozen air  

harm you40    8,scatter the sand with   
his hind hoofs40    8,the pliant growth 
of the osier40    8,worthy of           
,sophocles' sock1 trumpet-tongued       
through the ,universe echo40    8,own'd 
it himself1 and yet he would not deliver
 it to me40    ,a very nice ear1 too1 is
 required to adjust the collocation of  
words in  which either vowels or        
consonants predominate1 and the relative
 position  of monosyllabic and          
polysyllabic words1 the predominance of 
the former  in our language increasing  
enormously the difficulty4 ,no measure1 
moreover1 so easily runs into           
intolerable monotony--a monotony which  
,clough sought to avoid by overweighting
 his verses with spondees1 and  which   
,longfellow illustrates by the cloying  
predominance of the dactylic  movement4 
,sir ,osborne ,morgan tells us that he  
took ,kingsley as his  model4           
,kingsley's hexameters are respectable1 
but they have no  distinction1 and he   
had certainly not a good ear4           

,longfellow's are far  better1 and are  
sometimes exquisitely felicitous1 as in 
a couplet like  the following1 which1   
with the exception of one word1 is      
flawless3--      8,men whose lives      
glided on like the rivers that water the
 woodlands1    ,darken'd by shadows of  
earth1 but reflecting an image of       
,heaven40    ,probably the best         
hexameters which have been composed in  
,english are  those in ,william         
,watson's ,hymn to the ,sea and those in
 which ,hawtry  translated ,iliad ,,iii4
 #bcd-bdd1 and the parting of ,hector   
and ,andromache  in the ,sixth ,iliad1  
models--these versions--not merely of   
translation1  but of hexametrical       
structure4 ,there are1 however1 certain 
magical  effects1 particularly in the   
,virgilian hexameter1 produced by an    
exquisite but audacious tact in the     
employment of licences1 which can  never
 be reproduced in ,english4    ,such    
would be--      8,nam neque ,parnassi   
vobis juga1 nam neque ,pindi    ,ulla   

moram fecere1 neque ,aonie ,aganippe4   
,illum etiam lauri1 etiam flevere myric2
    ,pinifer illum etiam sol sub rupe   
jacentem    ,mnalus et gelidi fleverunt 
saxa ,lyci40    ,milton1 and ,milton    
alone among ,englishmen1 had the secret 
of this music1  but he elicited it from 
another instrument4          ,,the      
,,latest ,,edition ,,of ,,thomson#df    
,footnote #df3 ,the ,poetical ,works of 
,james ,thomson4 ,a ,new ,edition1 with 
,memoir and ,critical ,appendices1 by   
the ,rev4 ,d4 ,c4 ,tovey4 #b vols4      
,london4      8,jacob ,thomson1 ein     
vergessener ,dichter des achtzehnten    
,jahrhunderts0--a  forgotten poet of the
 eighteenth century--such is the title  
of a recent  monograph on the author of 
,the ,seasons by ,dr4 ,g4 ,schmeding4   
,dr4 ,g4  ,schmeding is1 however1 so    
obliging as to pronounce that1 in his   
opinion1  this ought not to be          
,thomson's fate2 that there remains in  
his work1  especially in ,the ,seasons  
merit enough to entitle him to be       

8enrolled  among poets10 and to find    
appreciation1 at all events in schools  
and  reading societies4 ,dr4 ,schmeding 
may rest assured that ,thomson's fame is
  quite safe4 ,it has no doubt suffered1
 as that of all the poets of the        
eighteenth century has suffered1 by the 
great revolution which has1 in  the     
course of the last ninety years1 passed 
over literary tastes and  fashions4 ,but
 during the present century there have  
been no less than  twenty editions of   
his poems1 to say nothing of separate   
editions of  ,the ,seasons2 while his   
works1 or portions of them1 have been   
translated into ,german1 ,italian1      
modern ,greek1 and ,russian4 ,only two  
years ago ,m4 ,lon ,morel1 in his ,j4   
,thomson1 sa vie et ses uvres1          
published an elaborate and admirable    
monograph on this 8forgotten poet40     
,and now ,mr4 ,tovey1 who1 we are glad  
to see1 has been appointed ,clarke      
,lecturer at ,cambridge1 has given us a 
new biography of him and a new  edition 

of his works1 making1 if we are not     
mistaken1 the thirty-second  memoir of  
him and the twenty-first edition of his 
works which have  appeared since the    
beginning of the century4 ,this is      
pretty well for a  forgotten poet6      
,mr4 ,tovey's name is a sufficient      
guarantee for accurate and scholarly    
work4 ,but it might naturally be asked1 
what is there to justify another        
edition of this poet1 when so many      
editions are already in the field and   
so easily accessible8 ,we have little   
difficulty in answering this  question4 
,the special features of ,mr4 ,tovey's  
edition are as important  as they are   
interesting4 ,in the first place1 he has
 given us a much  fuller biography than 
has hitherto appeared in ,english2 in   
the second  place1 he has thrown much   
interesting light on the political      
bearing of  ,thomson's dramas2 and1 in  
the third place1 he has given1 what no  
other  editor of ,thomson has given1 a  
full collation of ,thomson's own ,,ms4  

corrections1 preserved in ,mitford's    
copy1 now deposited in the ,british     
,museum4 ,the critical notes have cost  
him1 he says1 and we can quite  believe 
it1 much time and labour1 and in his    
preface he half apologizes  for what may
 seem 8a ridiculous travesty of more    
important labours40  ,there was no      
necessity for such an apology3 he       
observes justly that he  has 8not spent 
more pains on ,thomson's text than so   
many of our scholars  bestow upon some  
,greek and ,latin poets whose intrinsic 
merit is no  greater than ,thomson's40  
,to serious readers these critical notes
 will constitute the most  valuable part
 of ,mr4 ,tovey's labours2 they are1 in 
truth1 the speciality  of this          
particular edition1 and will make it    
indispensable to all  students of this  
most interesting poet4 ,and now ,mr4    
,tovey will1 we  trust1 forgive us if1  
with due deference1 we point out what   
seem to us  to be defects in his work4  
,the first thing that might have been   

expected  from so learned and careful an
 editor of ,thomson was an adequate     
discussion of the great problem of the  
authorship of ,rule ,britannia1  and the
 second an exposure of one of the most  
extraordinary  8mare's-nests0 to be     
found in ,english literature4 ,but      
nothing1 we regret  to say1 can be more 
perfunctory and inadequate than the two 
notes in  which the first question is   
hurried over with references to ,notes  
and  ,queries1 and nothing more         
irritating than the confusion worse     
confounded in which ,mr4 ,tovey leaves  
the second4 ,we shall therefore  make no
 apology for entering somewhat at length
 into both these  questions4    ,and    
first for the authorship of ,rule       
,britannia4 ,the facts are these4  ,in  
#agdj ,thomson and ,mallet wrote1 in    
conjunction1 a masque entitled  ,alfred1
 which1 on #ast ,august in that year1   
was represented before the  ,prince and 
,princess of ,wales at ,clifden4 ,it was
 in two acts1 and it  contained six     

lyrics1 the last being ,rule ,britannia1
 which is entitled  an 8,ode10 the music
 being by ,dr4 ,arne4 ,in #agde ,arne   
turned the piece  into an opera1 and    
also into 8a musical drama40 ,by this   
time the lyric  had become very popular1
 but there is no evidence to show that  
it had  been definitely attributed to   
either of the coadjutors4 ,in #agdh     
,thomson  died4 ,in #agea ,mallet       
re-issued ,alfred1 but in another form4 
,it was  entirely remodelled1 and almost
 entirely re-written1 and1 in an        
advertisement prefixed to the work1 he  
says3 8,according to the present        
arrangement of the fable ,i was obliged 
to reject a great deal of what ,i  had  
written in the other3 neither could ,i  
retain1 of my friend's part1  more than 
three or four speeches1 and a part of   
one song40 ,now1 of the  parts retained 
from the former work1 there were the    
first three stanzas  of ,rule           
,britannia1 the three others being      
excised1 and their place  supplied by   

three stanzas written by ,lord          
,bolingbroke4 ,if ,mallet is to  be     
believed1 then1 8part of one song0 must 
refer1 either to a song in  the third   
scene of the second act1 beginning      
8,from those eternal  regions bright10  
or to ,rule ,britannia1 for these are   
the only lyrics  in which portions of   
the lyrics in the former edition are    
retained4  ,rule ,britannia is1 it is   
true1 entitled 8,an ,ode0 in the former 
edition1 and the other lyric 8,a ,song10
 so that ,mallet would certainly  seem  
to imply that what he had retained of   
his friend's work was the  portion of   
the song referred to1 and not ,rule     
,britannia4 ,but1 as  ,mallet was       
notoriously a man who could not be      
believed on oath1 and was  an adept in  
all those bad arts by which little men  
filch honours which  do not belong to   
them1 if he is to be allowed to have any
 title to the  honour of composing this 
lyric1 it ought to rest on something    
better  than the ambiguity between the  

word 8,ode0 and the word 8,song40       
,there is no evidence that1 while both  
were alive1 either ,thomson or  ,mallet 
claimed the authorship2 but this is     
certain1 it was printed at  ,edinburgh1 
during ,mallet's lifetime1 in the second
 edition of a  well-known song book1    
entitled ,the ,charmer1 with ,thomson's 
initials  appended to it4 ,it is certain
 that ,mallet had friends in ,edinburgh1
 and  it is equally certain that neither
 he nor any of his friends raised any   
objection to its ascription to ,thomson4
 ,in #agdc1 in #agei1 and in #agfb      
,mallet published collections of poems1 
but in none of these collections  does  
he lay claim to ,rule ,britannia1 and1  
though it was printed in  song-books in 
#agdi1 #agej1 and #agfa1 it is in no    
case assigned to  ,mallet4 ,none of his 
contemporaries1 so far as we know1      
attributed it to  him1 and it is        
remarkable that1 in a brief obituary    
notice of him which  appeared in the    
,scots ,magazine in #agfe1 he is spoken 

of as the author  of the famous ballad  
,william and ,margaret1 but not a word  
is said  about ,rule ,britannia4 ,a     
further presumption in ,thomson's favour
 is  this3 in all probability ,dr4      
,arne1 who set it to music1 knew the    
authorship1 and he survived both        
,thomson and ,mallet1 dying in #aggh4   
,the  song had become very popular and  
celebrated1 so that if ,mallet had      
desired to have the credit of its       
composition1 it is strange that he      
should not have laid claim to it1 had   
his claim been a good one4 ,but if  his 
claim was not good1 he could hardly have
 ventured to claim the  authorship1 as  
,dr4 ,arne would have been in his way4  
,it is quite possible  that the         
ambiguity in the advertisement to the   
recension of #agea was  designed2 it    
certainly left the question open1 and we
 cannot but think  there is something   
very suspicious in what follows the     
sentence in  ,mallet's advertisement1   
where he speaks of his having used so   

little of  his friend's work4 8,i       
mention this expressly10 he adds1 8that1
 whatever  faults are found in the      
present performance1 they may be        
charged1 as  they ought to be1 entirely 
to my account40 ,a vainer and more      
unscrupulous man than ,mallet never     
existed2 and1 while it is simply        
incredible that he should not have      
claimed what would have constituted  his
 chief title to popularity as a poet1   
had he been able to do so1 it  is in    
exact accordance with his established   
character that he should1 as  he did in 
the advertisement of #agea1 have left   
himself an opportunity of  asserting    
that claim1 should those who were privy 
to the secret have  predeceased him1 and
 thus enabled him to do so with         
impunity4    ,the internal evidence--and
 on this alone the question must now be 
argued--seems to us conclusive in       
,thomson's favour4 ,the ,ode is simply a
  translation into lyrics of what finds 
embodiment in ,thomson's  ,britannia1 in

 the fourth and fifth parts of ,liberty1
 and in his  ,verses to the ,prince of  
,wales4 ,coming to details1 there can be
 no doubt  that the third stanza--      
8,still more majestic shalt thou rise1  
,more dreadful from each foreign stroke2
    ,as the loud blast that tears the   
skies      ,serves but to root thy      
native oak0--    was suggested by       
,horace's      8,duris ut ilex tonsa    
bipennibus    ,nigr feraci frondis in   
,algido1      ,per damna1 per cdes1 ab  
ipso        ,ducit opes animumque       
ferro40    ,now1 not only was ,horace1  
as innumerable imitations and           
reminiscences  prove1 one of ,thomson's 
favourite poets1 but ,thomson has1 in   
the third  part of ,liberty translated  
this very passage3--                    
8,like an oak1    ,nurs'd on feracious  
,algidum1 whose boughs    ,still        
stronger shoot beneath the rigid axe    
,by loss1 by slaughter1 from the steel  
itself    ,e'en force and spirit drew40 
,he has1 elsewhere1 two other           

reminiscences of the same passage1 once 
in  the third part of ,liberty--        
8,every tempest sung    ,innoxious by1  
or bade it firmer stand0--    and once  
in ,sophonisba 7,act ,v4 sc4 ii473--    
8,thy rooted worth    ,has stood these  
wintry blasts1 grown stronger by them40 
,the epithet 8azure0 employed in the    
first stanza is1 with 8cerulean0 and    
8aerial10 one of the three commonest    
epithets in ,thomson1 the three         
occurring at least twenty times in his  
poetry4 ,a somewhat cursory  examination
 of his works has enabled us to find    
that 8azure0 or 8azured0  alone occurs  
ten times4 8,generous10 too1 in the     
,latin sense of the term1  is another of
 his favourite words1 it being used no  
less than sixteen  times in ,britannia  
and ,liberty alone4 ,another of his     
favourite  allusions is to ,england's   
8native oaks40 ,thus in ,britannia he   
speaks  of--              8,your oaks1  
peculiar harden'd1 shoot    ,strong into
 sturdy growth20    in the last part of 

,liberty we find 8,let her own naval oak
 be basely  torn10 and in the same part 
of the poem he speaks of the 8venerable 
oaks0 and 8kindred floods40 ,the epithet
 8manly0 and the phrase 8the            
fair0--8manly hearts to guard the       
fair0--are also peculiarly ,thomsonian1 
being repeatedly employed by him1 the   
phrase 8the fair0 occurring in his      
poetry at least six times1 if not       
oftener4 8,flame10 too1 is another of   
his favourite words4      8,all their   
attempts to bend thee down    ,will but 
arouse10 etc41    is exactly the        
sentiment in ,britannia4                
8,your hearts    ,swell with a sudden   
courage1 growing still    ,as danger    
grows40    ,the stanza beginning 8,to   
thee belongs10 etc41 is simply a lyrical
  paraphrase of the passage in          
,britannia commencing 8,oh first of     
human  blessings10 and of a couplet in  
the last part of ,liberty3--      8,the 
winds and seas are ,britain's wide      
domain2    ,and not a sail but by       

permission spreads40    ,the couplet    
8,all thine shall be the subject main1  
,and every shore it circles thine0    is
 simply the echo of a couplet in the    
fifth part of ,liberty--      8,all     
ocean is her own1 and every land    ,to 
whom her ruling thunder ocean bears40   
,the phrase 8blessed isle10 as applied  
to ,england1 he employs three  times in 
,liberty4 ,again1 the stanza in which   
,rule ,britannia is  written is the     
stanza in which the majority of         
,thomson's minor lyrics  are written1   
and the rhythm and cadence1 not less    
than the tone1 colour  and sentiment1   
are exactly his4    ,mallet was         
undoubtedly an accomplished man and a   
respectable poet1 as  his ballad        
,william and ,margaret1 his ,edwin and  
,emma1 and his ,birks  of ,invermay     
sufficiently prove1 but he has written  
nothing tolerable in  the vein of ,rule 
,britannia4 ,neatness1 and tenderness   
bordering on  effeminacy1 mark his      
characteristic lyrics1 and1 if we except

 a few  lines in his ,tyburn and the    
eight concluding lines in a poem        
entitled  ,a ,fragment1 there is no     
virility in his poetry at all4 ,of the  
patriotism and ardent love of liberty   
which pervade ,thomson's poems1 and     
which glow so intensely in ,rule        
,britannia1 he has absolutely nothing4  
,nor are there any analogues or         
parallels in his poems to this lyric    
either in form--for if we are not       
mistaken1 he has never employed the     
stanza in which it is written--or in    
imagery1 or phraseology4 ,like          
,thomson1 whom1 in his narrative        
blank-verse poems1 he servilely         
imitates1 he is fond of the words       
8azure0 and 8aerial02 and the word      
8azure0 is the only verbal coincidence  
linking the phraseology of his          
acknowledged poems with the lyric in    
question4 ,it may be added1 too1  that a
 man who was capable of the jingling    
rubbish of such a masque as  ,britannia1
 and who had the execrable taste to     

substitute ,bolingbroke's  stanzas for  
the stanzas which they supersede1 could 
hardly have been  equal to the          
production of this lyric4 ,we believe1  
then1 that there can  be no reasonable  
doubt that the honour of composing ,rule
 ,britannia  belongs to ,thomson the    
bard1 and not to ,mallet the fribble4   
,but to return to ,mr4 ,tovey and the   
8mare's-nest0 to which we have          
referred4 ,this mare's-nest is the      
assumption that ,pope assisted ,thomson 
in revising ,the ,seasons4 ,since       
,robert ,bell's edition this has come to
  be received as an established fact1   
but we propose to show that it rests  on
 a hypothesis demonstrably baseless4    
,there is1 in the ,british ,museum1 an  
interleaved copy of the first volume  of
 the ,london edition of ,thomson's      
works1 dated #agch1 and the part of  the
 volume which contains ,the ,seasons is 
full of manuscript deletions1           
corrections1 and additions4 ,these are  
in two handwritings1 the one being      

unmistakably the handwriting of         
,thomson1 the other beyond all question 
the handwriting of some one else4       
,almost all these corrections were      
inserted in the edition prepared for the
 press in #agdd1 and now1  consequently1
 form part of the present text4 ,the    
corrections in the hand  which is not   
the hand of ,thomson are1 in many cases1
 of extraordinary  merit1 showing a     
fineness of ear and delicacy of touch   
quite above the  reach of ,thomson      
himself4 ,we will give two or three     
samples4 ,thomson  had written in       
,autumn #bij seqq43--      8,with       
harvest shining all these fields are    
thine1    ,and if my rustics may presume
 so far1    ,their master1 too1 who then
 indeed were blest    ,to make the      
daughter of ,acasto so40    ,the unknown
 corrector substitutes the present      
reading3--      8,the fields1 the       
master1 all1 my fair1 are thine2    ,if 
to the various blessings which thy house
    ,has lavished on me thou wilt add   

that bliss1    ,that dearest bliss1 the 
power of blessing thee60    ,the other  
is famous4 ,thomson had written3--      
8,thoughtless of beauty1 she was        
beauty's self1    ,recluse among the    
woods1 if ,city-dames    ,will deign    
their faith4 ,and thus she went         
compell'd    ,by strong necessity1 with 
as serene    ,and pleased a look as     
patience can put on1    ,to glean       
,palemon's fields40    ,for these vapid 
and dissonant verses is substituted by  
the corrector1  who very properly       
retains the first verse1 what is now the
 text3--      8,recluse amid the close  
embow'ring woods1    ,as in the hollow  
breast of ,apennine1    ,beneath the    
shelter of encircling hills1    ,a      
myrtle rises1 far from human eyes1      
,and breathes its balmy fragrance o'er  
the wild4    ,so flourished blooming1   
and unseen by all1    ,the sweet        
,lavinia10 etc4    ,the transformation  
of a single line is often most          
felicitous3 thus in  ,winter the flat   

line      8,through the lone night that 
bids the waves arise0    is grandly     
altered into      8,through the black   
night that sits immense around40        
,thus1 in ,spring1 ,thomson had merely  
written      8,whose aged oaks and      
venerable gloom    ,invite the noisy    
rooks20    but his corrector alters and 
extends the passage into      8,whose   
aged elms and venerable oaks    ,invite 
the rooks1 who high amid the boughs     
,in early spring their airy city build1 
,and caw with ceaseless clamour40       
,indeed1 throughout ,the ,seasons       
,thomson's indebtedness to his corrector
  is incalculable2 many of the most     
felicitous touches are due to him4      
,now1 who was this corrector8 ,let ,mr4 
,tovey answer4 8,it has long been       
accepted as a fact among scholars that  
,pope assisted ,thomson in the          
composition of ,the ,seasons4 ,our      
original authority is1 we suppose1      
,warton40 ,the truth is that our        
original authority for this statement is

  neither ,warton nor any other writer  
of the eighteenth century1 but  simply  
the conjecture of ,mitford--in other    
words1 ,mitford's mere  assumption that 
the handwriting of the corrector is the 
handwriting of  ,pope2 and1 if we are   
not mistaken1--for ,mitford may have    
given earlier  currency to it in some   
other place--the conjecture appeared for
 the  first time in ,mitford's edition  
of ,gray1 published in #ahad4 ,in his   
copy  of the volume1 containing the     
,,ms4 notes1 he bolsters up his         
statement  by two assertions and        
references3 8,that ,pope saw some pieces
 of  ,thomson's in manuscript is clear  
from a letter in ,bowles's ,supplement1 
page #aid0 7an obvious misprint for     
#bid74 ,but on turning to the           
references all that we find is--it is in
 a letter dated ,february               
#agch_/i--8;,i have yet seen but three  
acts of ,mr4 ,thomson's1 but ,i am told1
  and believe by what ,i have seen that 
it excels in the pathetic02 the         

reference is plainly to ,thomson's      
tragedy1 ,edward and ,eleonora4 ,again1 
,mitford writes3 8,on ,thomson's        
submitting his poems to ,pope0 7see     
,warton's edition1 vol4 viii41 page     
#cdj71 and again we get no proof4 ,all  
that ,pope says is1 8,i am just taken   
up0--he is writing to ,aaron ,hill      
under date ,november #agcb--8;by ,mr4   
,thomson in the perusal of a new poem   
he has brought me20 this new poem being 
almost certainly ,liberty1 in  the      
composition of which ,thomson was then  
engaged4 ,so far from the  tradition    
having any countenance from ,warton1 it 
is as certain as  anything can be1 that 
,warton knew nothing about it4 ,in his  
,essay on  ,pope he gives an elaborate  
account of ,the ,seasons1 and he has    
more  than once referred to ,pope and   
,thomson together2 but he says not a    
word1  either in this ,essay or in his  
edition of ,pope's ,works1 about ,pope  
having corrected ,thomson's poetry4 ,if 
,pope assisted ,thomson1 to the  extent 

indicated in these corrections1 such an 
incident1 considering  the fame of      
,thomson and the fame of ,pope1 must    
have been known to some  at least of the
 innumerable editors1 biographers1 and  
anecdotists  between #agdb and #ahad4   
,it could hardly have escaped being     
recorded by  ,murdoch1 ,mallet1 or      
,warburton1 by ,ruffhead1 by ,savage or 
,spence1 by  ,theophilus ,cibber or     
,johnson4 ,it is incredible that such an
 interesting  secret should have been   
kept either by ,thomson himself or by   
,pope4  ,again1 whoever the corrector   
was1 he had a fine ear for blank verse1 
and  must indeed have been a master of  
it4 ,there is no proof that ,pope ever  
wrote in blank verse2 indeed1 we have   
the express testimony of ,lady  ,wortley
 ,montagu that he never attempted it1   
and his ,shakespeare  conclusively      
proves that he had anything but a nice  
ear for its rhythm4  ,with all this     
collateral evidence against the         
probability of the  corrector being     

,pope1 we come to the evidence which    
should settle the  question1 the        
evidence of handwriting4 ,there is no   
lack of material for  forming an opinion
 on this point4 ,pope's autograph ,,mss4
 are abundant1  illustrating his hand at
 every period in his life4 ,it is       
amazing to find  ,mitford asserting that
 his friends ,ellis and ,combe1 at the  
,british  ,museum1 had no doubt about   
the hand of the corrector being the hand
 of  ,pope4 ,mr4 ,tovey candidly admits 
that1 8if the best authorities at the   
,museum many years ago were positive    
that the handwriting was ,pope's1  their
 successors at the present time are     
equally positive that it is  not40 ,such
 is the very decided opinion of ,mr4    
,warner2 such1 also1 as ,mr4  ,tovey    
acknowledges1 is the opinion of         
,professor ,courthope1 and such1 we     
venture to think1 will be the opinion of
 every one who will take the  trouble to
 compare the hands4 ,mr4 ,tovey himself 
is plainly very uneasy1  and indeed goes

 so far as to say that 8it has all along
 been perplexing  to me how the opinion 
that this was ,pope's handwriting could 
ever have  been confidently0 7the       
italics are his7 8entertained02 and yet 
in his  notes he follows ,bell1 and     
inserts these corrections with ,pope's  
initials4    ,we search in vain among   
those who are known to have been on     
friendly  terms with ,thomson for a     
probable claimant4 ,it could not1 as his
 other  stupid revisions of ,thomson's  
verses sufficiently show1 have been     
,lyttleton4 ,mallet's blank verse is    
conclusive against his having had any   
hand in the corrections4 ,collins and   
,hammond are out of the question4 ,it   
is just possible1 though hardly likely1 
that the corrector was  ,armstrong4 ,he 
was on very intimate terms with         
,thomson4 ,his own poem  proves that he 
could sometimes write excellent blank   
verse1 but the  touch and rhythm of the 
corrections are1 it must be admitted1   
not the  touch and rhythm of ,armstrong4

    ,what has long1 therefore1 been     
represented and circulated as an        
undisputed fact--namely1 that ,pope     
assisted ,thomson in the revision of    
,the ,seasons--rests not1 as all        
,thomson's modern editors have supposed1
  on the traditions of the eighteenth   
century1 and on the testimony of        
authenticated handwriting1 but on a mere
 assumption of ,mitford4 ,that the      
volume in question really belonged to   
,thomson1 and that the corrections  are 
originals1 hardly admits of doubt1      
though ,mitford gives neither the       
pedigree nor the history of this most   
interesting literary relic4 ,it is1  of 
course1 possible that the corrections   
are ,thomson's own1 and that the        
differences in the handwriting are      
attributable to the fact that in some   
cases he was his own scribe1 that in    
others he employed an amanuensis2  but  
the intrinsic unlikeness of the         
corrections1 made in the strange  hand1 
to his characteristic style renders this

 improbable4 ,in any case  there is     
nothing to warrant the assumption that  
the corrector was ,pope4                
,,catullus ,,and ,,lesbia4#dg           
,footnote #dg3 ,the ,lesbia of          
,catullus4 ,arranged and translated by  
,j4 ,h4  ,a4 ,tremenheere4 ,london4     
,perhaps the best thing in this world is
 youth1 and the poetry of  ,catullus is 
its very incarnation4 ,the 8young       
,catullus0 he was to his                
contemporaries1 and the young ,catullus 
he will be to the end of time4 ,to  turn
 over his pages is to recall the days   
when all within and all  without        
conspire to make existence a perpetual  
feast1 when life's lord  is pleasure1   
its end enjoyment1 its law impulse1     
before experience and  satiety have     
disillusioned and disgusted1 and we are 
still in ,dante's  phrase1 8trattando   
l'ombre come cosa salda40 ,and the poet 
of youth had  the good fortune not to   
survive youth2 of the dregs and lees of 
the life  he chose he had no taste4     

,while the cup which 8but sparkles near 
the  brim0 was still sparkling for him1 
death dashed it from his lips4 ,at      
thirty his tale was told1--and a radiant
 figure1 a sunny memory and a  golden   
volume were immortal4    ,revelling     
alike in the world of nature1 and in the
 world of man1 at once  simple and      
intense1 at once playful and pathetic1  
his poetry has a  freshness as of the   
morning1 an abandon as of a child at    
play4 ,he has  not1 indeed1 escaped the 
taint of ,alexandrinism any more than   
,burns  escaped the taint of the        
pseudo-classicism of the conventional   
school of  his day1 but this is the only
 note of falsetto discernible in what he
  has left us4 ,it is when we compare   
him with ,horace1 ,propertius1 and      
,martial that his incomparable charm is 
most felt4 ,as a lyric poet1  except    
when patriotic1 and when dealing with   
moral ideas1 ,horace is as  commonplace 
as he is insincere2 he had no passion2  
he had little pathos2  he had not much  

sentiment2 he had no real feeling for   
nature1 he was  little more than a      
consummate craftsman1 to adopt an       
expression from  ,scaliger 8ex alienis  
ingeniis poeta1 ex suo tantum           
versificator40 ,in his  ,greek models he
 found not merely his form1 but his     
inspiration4 ,most of  his love odes    
have all the appearance of being mere   
studies in fancy4  ,when he attempts    
threnody he is as frigid as ,cowley4    
,whose heart was  ever touched by the   
verses to ,virgil on the death of       
,quintilian1 or by  the verses to       
,valgius on the death of his son8 ,the  
real ,horace is the  ,horace of the     
,satires and ,epistles1 and the real    
,horace had as little of  the           
temperament of a poet as ,la ,fontaine  
and ,prior4 ,propertius had  passion1   
and he had certainly some feeling for   
nature1 but he was an  incurable pedant 
both in temper and in habit4 ,martial   
applied the  epigram1 in elegiacs and in
 hendecasyllabics1 to the same purposes 

to  which it was applied by ,catullus1  
with more brilliance and finish1 but  he
 had not the power of informing trifles 
with emotion and soul4 ,what  became    
with ,catullus the spontaneous          
expression of the dominant mood1  became
 in the hands of ,martial the mere tour 
de force of the ingenious  wit4         
,catullus is the most ,greek of all the 
,roman poets2 ,greek in the  simplicity1
 chastity and propriety of his style1 in
 his exquisite  responsiveness to all   
that appeals to the senses and the      
emotions1 in  his ardent and abounding  
vitality4 ,but1 in his enthusiasm for   
nature1 in  the intensity of his        
domestic affections1 and in his         
occasional touches  of moral            
earnestness--and we have seldom to go   
far for them--he was  ,roman4 ,his      
sketches from nature are delightful4    
,what could be more  perfect than the   
following8 ,has even ,tennyson equalled 
it8--      ,hic1 qualis flatu placidum  
mare matutino    ,horrificans ,zephyrus 

proclivas incitat undas1    ,auror      
exoriente1 vagi sub lumina solis2    ,qu
 tarde primum clementi flamine puls     
,procedunt1 leviterque sonant plangore  
cachinni3    ,post1 vento crescente1    
magis magis increbescunt1    ,purpureque
 procul nantes a luce refulgent4        
8,as in early morning when ,zephyr's    
breath1 ruffling the stilly       sea1  
stirs it into slanting waves up against 
the glow of the       travelling sun2   
and at first1 while the impelling breeze
 is       gentle1 they move in slow     
procession1 and the plash of their      
ripples is not loud2 but then1 as the   
breeze freshens1 they       crowd faster
 and faster on1 and far out at sea1 as  
they float1       flash back the        
splendour of the crimsoning day in their
 front40    ,or1 again1 in the epistle  
to ,manlius--      ,qualis in aerii     
pellucens vertice montis      ,rivus    
muscoso prosilit e lapide4    ,how vivid
 is the picture of the rising sun and of
 early morning in the  ,attis1 #ci-da4  

,ubi oris aurei sol radiantibus oculis  
,lustravit thera album1 sola dura1 mare 
ferum1    ,pepulitque noctis umbras     
vegetis sonipedibus4    ,in his 8,asian 
,myrtle1 in all the beauty of its       
blossom-laden branches1  which the      
,wood-,nymphs feed with honey dew to be 
their toy30--      ,floridis velut      
enitens    ,myrtus ,asia ramulis1       
,quos ,hamadryades ,de    ,ludicrum sibi
 roscido    ,nutriunt humore4--    --who
 does not recognise ,matthew ,arnold's  
8natural magic08    ,flowers he loved1  
as ,shakespeare loved them4 ,what       
tenderness there is in  the image of the
 love that perished--                   
,prati    ,ultimi flos1 prtereunte      
postquam                        ,tactus 
aratro est1      7xi4 #ai-ba47    --in  
the beautiful simile1 so often imitated 
in every language in  ,europe1 where the
 unmarried maiden is compared to the    
uncropped flower1  lxii41 #ci-de2 or    
where in the      ,alba parthenice1     
,luteumve papaver1      7lxi4 #aid-e47  

he sees the symbol of maidenhood2 or    
where ,ariadne is compared to the       
myrtles on the banks of the ,eurotas1   
and to the 8flowers of diverse hues     
which the spring breezes evoke02 and1   
again1 the exquisite simile  picturing  
the husband's love binding fast the     
bride's thoughts1 as a  tree is entwined
 in the clinging clasp of the gadding   
ivy--      ,mentem amore revinciens1    
,ut tenax hedera huc et huc             
,arborem implicat errans4    ,then we   
have the garland of ,priapus with its   
felicitous epithets 7xix41  xx474    ,it
 may be said of ,catullus as ,shelley   
said of his ,alastor--                  
,every sight    ,and sound from the vast
 earth and ambient air    ,sent to his  
heart their choicest impulses4    ,what 
rapture inspires and informs the lines  
to his yacht1 and to ,sirmio1  as well  
as the ,jam ver egelidos refert tepores6
    ,as the author of the ,attis        
,catullus stands alone among poets4     
,there  was1 so far as we know1 nothing 

like it before1 and there has been      
nothing like it since4 ,if it be a study
 from the ,greek1 as it is  generally   
supposed to be1 it is very difficult to 
conjecture at what  period its original 
could have been produced4 ,there is     
nothing at all  resembling it which has 
come down from the lyric period2 its    
theme is  not one which would have been 
likely to attract the ,attic poets4 ,if 
its  model was the work of some         
,alexandrian1 we can only say that such 
a poem  must have been an even greater  
anomaly in that literature than ,smart's
  ,song to ,david is to our own         
literature1 in the eighteenth century4  
,it  may1 of course1 be urged that it is
 equally anomalous in ,latin poetry1    
and that1 if resolved into its elements1
 it has much more affinity with  what   
may be traced to ,greek than to ,roman  
sources4 ,in its compound  epithets1 and
 more particularly in the singular use  
of 8foro10 so  plainly substituted for  
the ,greek  and its associations1  it   

certainly reads like a translation from 
the ,greek2 and yet1 in the  total      
impression made by it1 the poem has not 
the air of a translation1  but of an    
original1 and of an original struck out1
 in inspiration1 at  white heat4        
,only by an extraordinary effort of     
imaginative sympathy are we now able  to
 realize to ourselves the tragedy of the
 ,attis1 while its rushing  galliambics 
whirl us through the panorama of its    
swift-succeeding  pictures4 ,but home to
 every heart must come the poems which  
,catullus  dedicates to the memory of   
his brother1 and the poem in which he   
tries  to soothe ,calvus for the death  
of ,quintilia4      ,multas per gentes1 
et multa per aequora vectus             
,advenio has miseras1 frater1 ad        
inferias1    ,ut te postremo donarem    
munere mortis1      ,et mutum nequidquam
 alloquerer cinerem3    ,quandoquidem   
fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum3       
,heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi6 
,nunc tamen interea prisco qu more      

parentum      ,tradita sunt tristi      
munere ad inferias1    ,accipe1 fraterno
 multum manantia fletu3      ,atque in  
perpetuum1 frater1 ave atque vale4      
8,many are the peoples1 many the seas ,i
 have passed through to       be here1  
dear brother1 at this1 thine untimely   
grave1 that ,i       might pay thee     
death's last tribute1 and greet1--how   
vainly1--the dust that has no response4 
,for well ,i know ,fortune       hath   
bereft me of thy living self--,ah6      
hapless brother1 cruelly       torn from
 me6 ,yet here1 see1 be the offerings   
which1 from of       old1 the custom of 
our fathers hath handed down as a sad   
oblation to the grave--take them--they  
are streaming with a       brother's    
tears4 ,and now--for evermore--brother1 
hail and       farewell60    ,could     
pathos go further8 ,how exquisite1 too1 
is the following3--      ,si quidquam   
mutis gratum acceptumque sepulcris      
,accidere a nostro1 ,calve1 dolore      
potest1    ,quum desiderio veteres      

renovamus amores1      ,atque olim      
amissas flemus amicitias3    ,certe non 
tanto mors immatura dolori est          
,quintili1 quantum gaudet amore tuo4#dh 
,shakespeare merely unfolded what was   
included here1 when he wrote those      
haunting lines3--      ,when to the     
sessions of sweet silent thought    ,i  
summon up remembrance of things past1   
,i sigh the lack of many a thing ,i     
sought1    ,and with old woes new wail  
my dear time's waste    ,then can ,i    
drown an eye1 unus'd to flow1    ,for   
precious friends hid in death's dateless
 night1    ,and weep afresh love's      
long-since cancell'd woe1    ,and moan  
the expense of many a vanish'd sight4   
,never1 too1 has any poet given such    
pathetic expression to a sorrow1  which 
to the young is even harder to bear than
 the loss inflicted by  death1 the      
perfidy and treachery of friends4 ,the  
verses to ,alphenus  7xxx471 to the     
anonymous friend in lxviii41 and the    
epigram to ,rufus  7lxxvii471 are       

indescribably touching4 ,what infinite  
sadness there is  in3--      ,si tu     
oblitus es1 at ,dii meminerunt1 meminit 
,fides1    ,qu te ut pniteat postmodo   
facti faciet tui4    ,what passion of   
grief in3--            ,heu1 heu1 nostr 
crudele venenum    ,vit1 heu1 heu1 nostr
 pestis amiciti6    ,but nothing that   
,catullus has left us equals in         
fascinating interest1 or  exceeds in    
charm1 the poems inspired by the woman  
who was at once the  bliss and the curse
 of his life--      ,lesbia nostra1     
,lesbia illa1    ,illa ,lesbia1 quam    
,catullus unam    ,plusquam se1 atque   
suos amavit omnes4    ,whether she is to
 be identified with the sister of ,p4   
,clodius ,pulcher1  and the wife of     
,metellus ,celer1 seems to us1 in spite 
of the arguments  of ,schwaber1 ,munro1 
,ellis1 and ,sellar1 extremely doubtful4
 ,it is a point  which need not be      
discussed here1 and is1 indeed1 of      
little importance4  ,that she was a     
woman of superb and commanding beauty1 a

 false wife1 a  false mistress1 and of  
immeasurable profligacy1 ,catullus has  
himself  told us4 ,there could only be  
one end to a passion of which such a    
siren  was the object2 and1 exquisite as
 the poems are which precede the        
breaking of the spell1 it is in the     
poems recording the gradual process  of 
disenchantment1 and the struggle between
 the old love and the new  loathing1    
that ,catullus touches us most4 ,how    
piercing is the pathos of  such a poem  
as the ,si qua recordanti 7lxxvi471 or  
the epigram in which  he says that he   
loves and loathes1 but knows not why1   
only knows that it  is so1 and that he  
is on the rack3--      ,odi et amo4     
,quare id faciam1 fortasse requiris4    
,nescio3 sed fieri sentio et excrucior4 
,or where he says that1 pest as she is1 
he cannot curse a love who is  dearer to
 him than both his eyes3--      ,credis 
me potuisse me maledicere vit1          
,ambobus mihi qu carior est oculis8     
,non potui1 nec1 si possem1 tam perdite 

amarem4    ,and he suffered the more1 as
 he had lavished on her the purest      
affections of his heart4 ,his love for  
her--such was his own  expression--was  
not simply that which men ordinarily    
feel for their  mistresses1 but such as 
the father feels for his sons and his   
sons-in-law3--      ,dilexi tum te1 non 
tantum ut vulgus amicam1      ,sed pater
 ut gnatos diligit et generos4    ,but  
shameless as she is1 and it is an       
impossibility for her to be  otherwise1 
he cannot abandon her4 ,do what she will
 he is her slave4 ,his  mind1 he says1  
was so straitened by her frailty1 so    
beggared by its own  devotion1 that1    
even if she became virtuous1 he could   
not love her with  absolute goodwill1   
and if she stuck at nothing--drained    
vice to its very  dregs--he could not   
give her up3--      ,huc est mens       
deducta tu1 mea ,lesbia1 culp           
,atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo1
    ,ut jam nec bene velle queam tibi1  
si optima fias1      ,nec desistere     

amare1 omnia si facias4    ,he compares 
himself to a man labouring under a cruel
 and incurable  disease1 a disease which
 is paralysing his energy1 and draining 
life of  its joy3--      ,me miserum    
adspicite1 et si vitam puriter egi1     
,eripite hanc pestem perniciemque mihi1 
,qu mihi subrepens imos1 ut torpor1 in  
artus      ,expulit ex omni pectore     
ltitias4    ,nearly sixteen hundred     
years had to pass before the world was  
to have  any parallel to these poems4   
,and the parallel is certainly a        
remarkable  one4 ,in the 8,dark ,lady0  
of ,shakespeare's ,sonnets1 ,lesbia     
lives again2 in  the lover of the dark  
lady1 ,lesbia's victim4 ,once more a    
false wife and  a false mistress1 not   
indeed beautiful1 but with powers of    
fascination  so irresistible that       
deformity itself becomes a charm1 makes 
havoc of a  poet's peace4 ,once more a  
passion1 as degraded as it is degrading1
 sows  feuds among friends1 and 8infects
 with jealousy the sweetness of         

affiance40 ,once more rises the bitter  
cry of a soul1 conscious of the         
unspeakable degradation of a thraldom   
which it is agony to endure1 and  from  
which it would be agony to be           
emancipated4 ,compare for instance3--   
,my love is as a fever1 longing still   
,for that which longer nurseth the      
disease1    ,feeding on that which doth 
preserve the ill1    ,the uncertain     
sickly appetite to please4              
99       99       99       99       99  
,past cure ,i am1 now reason is past    
care1    ,and frantic mad with evermore 
unrest1    ,my thoughts and my discourse
 as madman's are1      7,sonnet cxlvii47
    with ,catullus1 lxxvi4    ,and3--   
,whence hast thou this becoming of      
things ill1    ,that in the very refuse 
of thy deeds    ,there is such strength 
and warrantise of skill1    ,that in my 
mind thy worst all best exceeds4    ,who
 taught thee how to make me love thee   
more1    ,the more ,i hear and see just 
cause of hate8      7,sonnet cl47       

with ,catullus1 lxxii41 lxxiii41 lxxv42 
while ,sonnet cxxxvii4 presents a       
ghastly parallel with ,catullus1 lviii4 
,again1 how exactly analogous is  the   
adjuration to ,quintius in ,epigram     
lxxxii41 with what finds  expression in 
,sonnets xl4-xlii41 and ,sonnet cxx4    
,but it would be tedious  as well as    
superfluous to cite particular parallels
 where the whole  position--which may be
 summed up in the two words of          
,catullus1 8,odi et  amo10--is          
identical4    ,not the least remarkable 
thing about ,catullus is his range and  
his  versatility4 ,it is truly          
extraordinary that the same pen should  
have  given us such finished social     
portraits as 8,suffenus iste0 7xxii471  
8,ad  ,furium0 7xxiii471 8,in ,egnatium0
 7xxxix472 the perfection of such       
serious  fooling as we find in the      
8,lugete1 ,o ,veneres0 7iii471 and1 if  
we may  apply such an expression to the 
most delicious love poem ever written1  
the 8,acme and ,septimius0 7xlv472 of   

such humorous fooling as we find in  the
 8,varus me meus ad suos amores0 7x471  
the 8,o ,colonia qu cupis0  7xvii471 the
 8,adeste1 hendecasyllabi10 the         
8,oramus1 si forte non  molestum0 7lv472
 such epic as we have in the 8,peleus   
and ,thetis02 such  triumphs of         
richness1 splendour1 and grace as we    
have in the three  marriage poems2 such 
a superb expression of the highest      
imaginative  power1 penetrated with     
passion and enthusiasm1 as we have in   
the  ,attis2 such concentrated invective
 and satire as mark some of the         
lampoons2 such mock heroic as we have in
 the ,coma ,berenices2 such  piercing   
pathos as penetrates the                
autobiographical poems1 and the poems   
dedicated to ,lesbia4    ,catullus has  
been compared to ,keats1 but the        
comparison is not a happy  one4 ,his    
nearest analogy among modern poets is   
,burns4 ,both were1 in  ,tennyson's     
phrase1 8dowered with the love of love1 
the scorn of scorn10  and1 in the poems 

of both1 those passions find the        
intensest expression4  ,both had an     
exquisite sympathy with all that        
appeals1 either in nature  or in        
humanity1 to the senses and the         
affections4 ,both were sensualists  and 
libertines without being effeminate1 or 
without being either  depraved or       
hardened4 ,in both1 indeed1 an infinite 
tenderness is perhaps  the predominating
 feature4 ,both had humour1 that of     
,catullus being the  more caustic1 that 
of ,burns the more genial4 ,both were   
distinguished by  sincerity and         
simplicity2 both waged war with         
charlatanry and baseness4  ,burns had   
the richer nature and was the greater as
 a man2 ,catullus was  the more         
accomplished artist4    ,but it is time 
to turn to the book which has recalled  
,catullus and  ,lesbia4 ,mr4            
,tremenheere has1 with great ingenuity1 
succeeded in  concocting by a process of
 elaborate dovetailing a very pretty    
romance  which he divides into nine     

chapters1 the first being 8,the ,birth  
of  ,love10 the second1 third and       
fourth1 8,possession10 8,quarrels0 and  
8,reconciliation10 the fifth1 sixth1 and
 seventh1 8,doubt10 8,a ,brother's      
,death0 and 8,unfaithfulness10 the last 
two1 8,avoidance0 and 8,the ,death of   
,love40 ,the chief objection to this is 
that it is for the most part  fanciful1 
and is absolutely without warrant1      
either from tradition or  from          
probability4 ,many of the poems pressed 
into the service of his  narrative by   
,mr4 ,tremenheere have nothing whatever 
to do with ,lesbia4  ,such would be     
xiii41 8,the invitation to ,fabullus10  
xiv41 8,the ,acme and  ,septimius40     
,the translations are very unequal4 ,of 
many of them it may be said in          
,dogberry's phrase that they 8are       
tolerable and not to be endured10 or to 
borrow an expression from ,byron 8so    
middling bad were better40 ,thus the    
powerful poem to ,gellius 7xci47 is     
attenuated into3--      ',twas not that 

,i esteem'd you were    ,as constant or 
incapable    ,of vulgar baseness1 but   
that she    ,for whom great love was    
wasting me1    ,the spice of incest     
lacked for you2    ,and though we were  
old friends1 'tis true1    ,that seem'd 
poor cause to my poor mind1    ,not so  
to yours4    ,sometimes the versions are
 detestable4 ,nothing could be worse    
than to  turn3--      ,nulli illum pueri
 null optavere puell      ,no more is   
she glad to the eyes of a lad1          
,to the lasses a pride1--    or         
,dulcis pueri ebrios ocellos    as      
,her minion's passion-sodden eyes1--    
which might do very well for a coarse   
phrase like 8,in ,venerem putres10  but 
not for 8,ebrios40 ,but sometimes the   
renderings are very felicitous4  ,as    
here3--      ,quid vis8 qulubet esse    
notus optas    ,eris3 quandoquidem meos 
amores    ,cum long voluisti amare pn4  
,cost what it may1 you'll win renown6   
,you shall1 such longing you exhibit    
,both for my mistress--and a gibbet6    

,and the following is happy3--          
,nullum amans vere1 sed identidem omnium
                            ,ilia       
rumpens4    ,nec meum respectet1 ut     
ante1 amorem    ,qui illius culp        
cecidit2 velut prati    ,ultimi flos1   
prtereunte postquam                     
,tactus aratro est4      ,ah1 shameless1
 loveless lust1 sweet1 seek no more     
,to win love back1 by thine own fault it
 fell1    ,in the far corner of the     
field though hid1    ,touch'd by the    
plough at last1--the flower is dead4    
,the following also is neat and skilful1
 but how inferior to the almost         
terrible impressiveness of the          
original3--      ,o ,di si vostrm est   
misereri1 aut si quibus unquam          
,extrem jam ips in morte tulistis opem4 
,me miserum adspicite1 et si vitam      
puriter egi1      ,eripite hanc pestem  
perniciemque mihi1    ,qu mihi subrepens
 imos1 ut torpor1 in artus      ,expulit
 ex omni pectore ltitias4      ,oh ,god6
 if ,thine be pity1 and if ,thou        

,e'en in the jaws of death ere now1     
,hast wrought salvation--look on me2    
,and if my life seem fair to ,thee    ,o
 tear this plague1 this curse away1     
,which gaining on me day by day1    ,a  
creeping slow paralysis1    ,hath driven
 away all happiness4    ,six love       
stories stand out conspicuous in the    
records of poetry--those  which find    
expression in the ,elegies of           
,propertius1 in the ,sonnets  and       
,canzoni of ,dante and ,petrarch1 in the
 ,sonnets of ,camoens1 in the           
,astrophel and ,stella of ,sidney1 in   
the ,sonnets of ,shakespeare4 ,but      
never has passion1 never has pathos1    
thrilled in intenser or more  piercing  
utterance than in the poems which that  
fatal 8,clytemnestra  quadrantaria0--to 
employ the phrase which may actually    
have been applied  to her--inspired1 and
 in which the rapture and loathing and  
despair of  ,catullus found a voice4    
,,footnotes3    ,footnote #dh3 8,if the 
silent dead can feel any pleasure1 or   

solace from  our sorrow1 ,calvus1 when1 
in wistful regret1 we recall past loves1
 and  weep for the friendships severed  
long ago1 then be sure that ,quintilia's
  grief for her early death is not so   
great as the joy she feels in  knowing  
your love for her40          ,,the      
,,religion ,,of ,,shakespeare#di        
,footnote #di3 ,the ,religion of        
,shakespeare4 ,chiefly from the writings
  of the late ,mr4 ,richard ,simpson4   
,by ,henry ,sebastian ,bowden4 ,london4 
,this book1 which is partly a           
compilation from the uncollected        
writings  of the late ,richard ,simpson 
and partly the composition of ,father   
,bowden  himself1 is an attempt to show 
that ,shakespeare was a ,roman          
,catholic4 ,it  contains much           
interesting information2 it is well     
written1 and we have  read it with      
pleasure4 ,with much which we find in it
 we entirely concur  and are in full    
sympathy4 ,we take ,shakespeare quite as
 seriously as  ,father ,bowden does4 ,we

 believe that the greatest of dramatic  
poets is  also one of the greatest of   
moral teachers1 that his theology and   
ethics  deserve the most careful study1 
and that they have1 too frequently1 been
  either neglected or misinterpreted4   
,we agree with ,father ,bowden that     
nothing could be sounder and more       
persistently emphasised than the        
ethical element in this poet's dramas2  
that his ethics are1 in the  main1 the  
ethics of ,christianity1 and that so far
 from ,shakespeare being  simply an     
agnostic and having no religion at all1 
as ,birch and others  have contended1 he
 is1 if not formally1 at least in       
essence1 as  religious as schylus and   
,sophocles4    ,and now ,father ,bowden 
must forgive us if we are unable to go  
further  with him4 ,we have no prejudice
 against ,roman ,catholicism1 or against
 any  of the creeds in which religious  
faith and reverence have found          
expression1--8,tros ,rutulusve fuat     
nullo discrimine agetur40 ,our sole     

wish is1 if possible1 to get at the     
truth4 ,it is of comparatively little   
consequence now to what form of religion
 ,shakespeare belonged1 but it  would be
 at least interesting1 if it could be   
shown that any particular  sect could   
legitimately claim him4    ,in          
discussing this question we must bear in
 mind that in ,shakespeare's  time1 as  
in the time of the ancients1 religion   
had two aspects1 its  private and its   
public4 ,in its public aspect it was a  
part of the  machinery of the state1 an 
essential portion of the political      
fabric4  ,till the ,reformation there   
had been practically no schism and no   
difficulty4 ,after the ,reformation a   
most perplexing problem presented       
itself4 ,roman ,catholicism and         
,protestantism1 in a long and terrible  
conflict1 struggled for the mastery4 ,at
 the accession of ,elizabeth the        
victory had been won1 so far as ,england
 was concerned1 by ,protestantism1  and 
,protestantism was the accepted religion

 of the nation4 ,as such1 it  was the   
duty of every loyal citizen to uphold   
it2 it became with the  throne one of   
the two pillars on which the fabric of  
the state rested4  ,roman ,catholicism  
became identified with the political    
rivals and  enemies of ,england4        
,protestantism became identified with   
her lovers and  upholders4 ,thus the    
,church and the ,throne became          
indissoluble1 at once  the symbols1     
centres1 and securities of political    
harmony and union4  ,this accounts for  
the attitude of ,hooker1 ,spenser1      
,shakespeare and ,bacon  towards        
,episcopalian ,protestantism on the one 
hand1 and towards  ,puritanism on the   
other4 ,about ,shakespeare's political  
opinions there  can be no doubt at all1 
for1 if we except the ,comedies1 he     
preaches them  emphatically in almost   
every drama which he has left us4 ,they 
were those  of an uncompromising and    
intolerant ,royalist1 in whose eyes the 
only  security for all that is dear to  

the patriot lay in implicit obedience   
to the will of the sovereign1 and in    
upholding a system to which that  will  
was law4 ,that he should1 therefore1    
have had any sympathy with the  ,roman  
,catholics is1 on a priori grounds1     
exceedingly improbable4 ,we  turn to his
 ,dramas1 and what do we find8 ,it would
 be no exaggeration to  say1 that there 
is not a line in them which indicates   
that he regarded  the ,roman ,catholics 
with favour4 ,on the contrary1 they     
abound in points  directed against them4
 ,thus he twice goes out of his way1    
once in  ,henry ,v4#ej and once in      
,all's ,well that ,ends ,well1 to       
observe that  8miracles have ceased40   
,there is a bitter sneer at them in the 
reference  to the sanctimonious pirate  
and the commandments1 in ,measure for   
,measure4#ea ,there can be little doubt 
that the words in the porter's  speech  
in ,macbeth1 8here's an equivocator that
 could swear in both the  scales against
 either scale1 who committed treason    

enough for ,god's  sake1 yet could not  
equivocate to ,heaven10 have sarcastic  
reference to  the doctrine of           
equivocation avowed by ,garnett and     
popularly associated  with the ,jesuits2
 while the remark about the fitness of  
8the nun's lip  to the friar's mouth0#eb
 in ,all's ,well that ,ends ,well is    
another  concession to ,protestant      
prejudice4    ,in ,king ,john such a    
speech as the following may be dramatic1
 but who  can doubt that it expressed   
the poet's own sentiments8--      ,tell 
him this tale2 and from the mouth of    
,england    ,add thus much more1--that  
no ,italian priest    ,shall tithe or   
toll in our dominions2    ,but1 as we   
under ,heaven are supreme head1    ,so1 
under ,him1 that great supremacy1       
,where we do reign1 we will alone       
uphold1    ,without the assistance of a 
mortal hand3    ,so tell the ,pope2 all 
reverence set apart    ,to him1 and his 
usurp'd authority4    ,king ,john is1   
indeed1 simply the manifesto of         

,protestantism against  papal           
aggression4 ,what could be more         
contemptible than the character of      
,pandulph and the part which he plays8  
,is it credible that ,shakespeare  could
 have had any sympathy with a religion  
whose minister is one whom  he          
represents as saying3      ,meritorious 
shall that hand be called1              
,canonized1 and worshipped as a saint1  
,that takes away by any secret course   
,thy hateful life4    ,in ,henry        
,,viii41 again1 we have an elaborate    
eulogy of the ,reformation1  ,cranmer   
being presented in the most favourable  
light1 ,gardiner in the  most           
unfavourable1 while ,wolsey is almost as
 detestable as ,pandulph4    ,it is     
really pitiable to see the shifts to    
which the authors of this  book are     
reduced to make out their theory4 ,they 
have even pressed into  its service     
,jordan's palpable and long-exploded    
forgery of ,john  ,shakespeare's ,will1 
and the fact that ,john ,shakespeare's  

name is found  on a list of ,recusants1 
when it is1 in that very list1 expressly
 stated  that he had absented himself   
from church1 simply from fear of process
  for debt4 ,passages in the dramas are 
similarly perverted4 ,shakespeare's     
hostility to the ,protestants induced   
him1 we are told1 to pour contempt  on  
,oldcastle by depicting him as          
,falstaff4 ,his delineation of          
,malvolio1  and his frequent sneers at  
the ,puritans1 are attributed to the    
same  motive4 ,the famous lines in      
,hamlet1 placed in the mouth of the     
,ghost1  are cited to prove his belief  
in purgatory2 the comical penances      
imposed  on ,biron and his friends in   
,love's ,labour ,lost to prove his      
belief in  penance4 ,when in ,lear it is
 said of ,cordelia that3--              
,she shook    ,the holy water from her  
heavenly eyes4    we are to see another 
indication of ,shakespeare's religion as
 8they have  a ,catholic ring about     
them40 ,sentiments which are common to  

all sects of  ,christians are regarded  
as peculiar to ,roman ,catholicism2 mere
 dramatic  utterances are forced into   
illustrations of supposed personal      
convictions4 ,what is habitually and    
systematically ignored is1 that         
,shakespeare1 being a dramatic poet1    
must necessarily make his characters    
express themselves dramatically1 and    
that1 as he was depicting times         
preceding the ,reformation1 his         
sentiments and expressions very         
naturally  took the colour of the world 
in which his characters moved4 ,the     
wonder  is not that this should have    
occurred1 but that ,shakespeare should1 
in  spite of the gross anachronism of   
such a process1 have so  ,protestantized
 pre-,reformation times4 ,we are quite  
willing to concede  to ,father ,bowden  
that there is enough to warrant us in   
assuming that  ,shakespeare did not     
regard the ,puritans with favour4 ,but  
his dislike to  them arose not from the 
fact that they were ,protestants1 but   

that they  were not orthodox            
,protestants4 ,he was opposed to them   
for the same  reasons that ,elizabeth   
and ,james1 ,hooker and ,bacon were     
opposed to them4  ,their hostility to   
his profession1 their sanctimonious     
cant1 and the  surly asceticism of their
 lives1 no doubt contributed to his     
prejudice  against them4    ,nor are we 
in any way justified in concluding that 
,shakespeare accepted  the teaching of  
the ,church of ,rome in spiritual       
matters4 ,nothing could  be more        
unwarranted than what is assumed by     
,father ,bowden in the  following       
passage4 ,he is speaking of             
,shakespeare's attitude in relation  to 
death4 8#8,ripeness is all'2 and he     
shows us in all his penitents how  that 
ripeness is secured1 sin forgiven1 and  
heaven won on the lines of  ,catholic   
dogma and by the ,sacraments of the     
,church40    ,what are the facts8       
,shakespeare's reticence about a future 
state1 and  what may await man1 in the  

form of reward and punishment hereafter1
 is  one of his most striking           
characteristics4 ,neither ,cordelia nor 
,desdemona1 neither ,constance nor      
,imogen in their darkest hours expresses
  any confidence in the final mercy and 
justice of ,heaven4 ,othello1  falling  
by a fate as terrible as it was         
undeserved1 dies without a  syllable of 
hope4 8,the rest is silence0 are the    
ominous words with which  ,hamlet takes 
leave of life4 ,when ,gloucester        
believes himself to be  standing on the 
brink of death1 in the farewell which he
 takes of the  world he has no          
anticipation of any other2 all he       
contemplates is 8to  shake patiently his
 great affliction off40 ,so die ,lear1  
,hotspur1 ,romeo1  ,antony1 ,eros1      
,enobarbus1 ,macbeth1 ,beaufort1        
,mercutio1 ,laertes4 ,so die  ,brutus1  
,coriolanus1 ,king ,john4 ,in the       
,duke's speech in ,measure for          
,measure1 where he is preparing ,claudio
 to meet death1 death is merely         

contemplated as an escape from the pains
 and discomforts of life4  ,macbeth     
would #8jump' the world to come if he   
could escape punishment in  this4       
,prospero suggests no hope of any waking
 from the 8rounding sleep40  ,even      
,isabella1 dedicated as she was to      
religion1 in fortifying ,claudio        
against his fate draws no weapon from   
the armoury of faith4 ,it is just  the  
same in the dirge in ,cymbeline1 in the 
soliloquy of ,posthumus1 in  the        
consolations addressed by the gaoler to 
,posthumus4#ec    ,the last passage is  
perhaps more remarkable than any1       
because it shows  the utter ambiguity of
 the directest expression which the poet
 has left  on the subject4              
,gaol4--,look you1 sir1 you know not    
which way you go4         ,post4--,yes1 
indeed do ,i1 fellow4                   
,gaol4--,your death has eyes in 's head 
then2 ,i have not seen       him so     
pictured3 you must either be directed by
 some that take       upon them to know1

 or take upon yourself1 that which ,i am
 sure       you do not know2 or jump the
 after inquiry on your own peril2       
and how you shall speed in your         
journey's end1 ,i think you'll          
never return to tell one4               
,post4--,i tell thee1 fellow1 there are 
none want eyes to       direct them the 
way ,i am going1 but such as wink1 and  
will not       use them4                
,cymbeline1 ,v4 #d4    ,shakespeare1 in 
truth1 never attempts to lift the veil  
which for living  man can be raised only
 by ,revelation4 ,the silence of his    
philosophy1--for we must not confound   
occasional sentiments and mere  dramatic
 utterances with what justifies us in   
deducing that  philosophy1--in relation 
to a life after this1 is unbroken4 ,it  
is1  indeed1 remarkable that he         
represents such speculations1--the      
dwelling  on such problems1--as more    
likely to disturb1 perplex1 and hamper  
us1  than to give us any comfort4 ,as   
,hamlet puts it in the well-known       

lines3--            ,the native hue of  
resolution    ,is sicklied o'er with the
 pale cast of thought1    ,and          
enterprises of great pith and moment1   
,with this regard1 their currents turn  
awry1    ,and lose the name of action4  
,did he believe in the immortality of   
the soul and in a future state8 ,who    
can say8 ,what we can say is1 that if we
 require affirmative evidence of  such a
 faith1 we shall seek for it in vain4   
,in the ,sonnets1 where he  seems to    
speak from himself1 the only immortality
 to which he refers is  the permanence  
of the impression which his genius as a 
poet will  leave--immortality in the    
sense in which ,cicero and ,tacitus have
 so  eloquently interpreted the term4   
,but on the other hand1 if there is     
nothing to warrant a conclusion in the  
affirmative1 there is nothing to        
warrant one in the negative4 ,his       
attitude is precisely that of ,aristotle
  in the ,ethics2 a life beyond this is 
neither affirmed nor denied1 but  the   

scale of probability inclines towards   
the negative1 and his moral  philosophy 
proceeds on the assumption that life is 
the end of life4#ed    ,goethe has said 
that man was not born to solve the      
problems of the  universe1 but to       
attempt to solve them1 that he might    
keep within the  limits of the knowable4
 ,and it is within the limits of the    
knowable that  ,shakespeare's theology  
confines itself4 ,starting simply1 as   
,gervinus  says1 from the point1 that   
man is born with powers and faculties   
which  he is to use1 and with powers of 
self-regulation and self-determination  
which are to direct aright the powers of
 action1 the 8,whence we are10  and the 
8,whither we are going10 are problems   
for which he has no  solution4#ee       
,men must endure    ,their going hence  
e'en as their coming hither3            
,ripeness is all4    ,and for ripeness  
or unripeness1 man's will is            
responsible4 ,he would  probably have   
agreed with the saying of ,heraclitus1  

4 ,throughout his ,dramas all is        
explicable1 with the  single exception  
of ,macbeth1 without reference to       
supernaturalism4  ,perfectly            
intelligible effects follow perfectly   
intelligible causes2 the  moral law     
solves all4 ,but especially conspicuous 
is the absence of the  theological      
element where we should especially have 
looked for it4 8,men  and women10 says  
,brewer1 8are made to drain the cup of  
misery to the  dregs2 but1 as from the  
depths into which they have fallen1 by  
their own  weakness1 or by the weakness 
of others1 the poet never raises them1  
in  violation of the inexorable laws of 
nature1 so neither does he put a new    
song in their mouths1 or any expression 
of confidence in ,god's righteous       
dealing4 ,with as hard and precise a    
hand as ,bacon does he sunder the       
celestial from the terrestrial kingdom1 
the things of earth from the  things of 
heaven40#ef    ,his theology1 indeed1 in
 its application to life1 seems to      

resolve  itself into the recognition of 
universal law1 divinely appointed1      
immutable1 inexorable1 ubiquitous1      
controlling the physical world1         
controlling the moral world1 vindicating
 itself in the smallest facts of  life1 
and in the most stupendous convulsions  
of nature and society4 ,in  morals it is
 maintained by the observance of the    
mean on the one hand1  and the due      
fulfilment of duty and obligation on the
 other4 ,in politics  it is maintained  
by the subordination of the individual  
to the state1  and of the state to the  
higher law4 ,hooker says of ,law1 that  
as her  voice is the harmony of the     
world1 so her seat is the bosom of ,god4
 ,the  ,law ,shakespeare recognises2 of 
the ,law-giver he is silent4 ,as he is  
dumb  before the mystery of death1 so is
 he equally reticent in the face of     
that other mystery4 ,he has nothing of  
the anthropomorphism of the ,old        
,testament1 of the ,homeric poems1 and  
of ,milton4 ,nor has he ever  expressed 

himself as ,goethe has done in the      
famous passage in ,faust1  beginning3   
8,wer darf ihn nennen40 ,in two         
important respects he seems to  differ  
from the ,christian conception4 ,he     
represents no miraculous  interpositions
 of ,providence1 no suspension of       
natural laws in favour of  the          
righteous1 and to the detriment of the  
wicked4 ,he is too reverend to  say with
 ,goethe1 that man1 so far as direction 
in action goes1 is  practically his own 
divinity4 ,but he does say and          
represent--and that  repeatedly--what is
 expressed in such passages as these3-- 
,our remedies oft in ourselves do lie   
,which we ascribe to ,heaven3 the fated 
sky    ,gives us full scope4            
,all's ,well that ,ends ,well4      ,men
 at some time are masters of their fate4
          ,julius ,csar4      ,omission 
to do what is necessary    ,seals a     
commission to a blank of danger4        
,troilus and ,cressida4    ,and we have 
no right to expect that ,providence will

 cancel it4 ,if deeds  do not go with   
prayer1 prayer is not likely to be of   
much avail4 ,so the  ,bishop of         
,carlisle in ,richard ,,ii43--      ,the
 means that ,heaven yields must be      
embrac'd    ,and not neglected2 else if 
,heaven would    ,and we will not1      
,heav'n's offer we refuse3--    while   
the words which he puts into the mouth  
of ,leonine in ,pericles  are1 we feel1 
significant3--            ,pray3 but be 
not tedious1    ,for the ,gods are quick
 of ear1 and ,i am sworn    ,to do my   
work with haste4    ,he has no sympathy 
with pious recluses4 ,he has depicted no
 saint or  religious enthusiast1 or     
written a line to indicate that he had  
any  respect for their ideals4 ,with    
him1--      ,spirits are not finely     
touched    ,but to fine issues4         
,they say best men are moulded out of   
faults1    ,and1 for the most1 become   
much more the better    ,for being a    
little bad4      ,most subject is the   
fattest soil to weeds    are typical    

axioms in his philosophy of life4 ,and  
the nearest approaches  he has given us 
to the saintly type of character are the
 sentimental  pietists1 ,henry ,,vi4 and
 ,richard ,,ii41 both of whom are       
failures1 and  border closely on moral  
imbecility4 ,on the spiritual and moral 
efficacy  of faith1 he has nowhere laid 
stress4 ,in his innumerable reflections 
on  life and man1 in his maxims and     
precepts1 there is1 as a rule1 scarcely 
any flavour of ,christian theology4     
,they are just such as might be         
expected from a pure rationalist4 ,such 
is the philosophy of ,hamlet1 of        
,jacques1 of the ,duke in ,measure for  
,measure1 and of ,prospero4 ,even       
,friar ,laurence1 though an             
ecclesiastic1 reasons and advises just  
as a  ,stoic philosopher might have     
done4 ,the friars in ,much ,ado about   
,nothing1 and in ,measure for ,measure1 
the ,bishop of ,carlisle in  ,richard   
,,ii41 and the ,archbishops of          
,canterbury and ,york in ,henry ,,iv4   

and ,henry ,v41 and ,cardinal ,beaufort 
in ,henry ,,vi41 act and speak like     
mere men of the world4 ,a bulky volume  
would scarcely sum up the ethical  and  
political reflections scattered up and  
down his plays2 a few pages  would      
comprise all that could be put down as  
exclusively theological4  ,this complete
 subordination of the theological       
element to the ethical is  the more     
conspicuous when we compare his dramas  
with the ,homeric ,epics1  and with the 
tragedies of schylus and ,sophocles4    
,and yet if a thoughtful person1 after  
going attentively through the           
thirty-six plays1 were asked what the   
prevailing impression made on him  was1 
he would probably reply the profound    
reverence which ,shakespeare  shows     
universally for religion--his deep sense
 of the mysterious  relation which      
exists between ,god and man4 ,we feel   
that his silence on  transcendental     
subjects springs not from indifference1 
but from awe4 ,the  remarkable words    

which he places in the mouth of ,lafeu1 
in ,all's ,well  that ,ends ,well 7,act 
,,ii4 #c71 merely sum up what we hear   
sotto voce in  various forms of         
expression throughout his dramas2 8we   
have our  philosophical persons1 to make
 modern and familiar1 things            
supernatural  and causeless4 ,hence it  
is that we make trifles of terrors1     
ensconcing  ourselves into seeming      
knowledge1 when we should submit        
ourselves to an  unknown fear40 ,and the
 same reverence and humility find a     
voice in the  verses in which1 in all   
probability1 he took leave of the world 
of  active life4      ,now my charms are
 all overthrown1    ,and what strength  
,i have's mine own1    ,which is most   
faint4    444 ,now ,i want    ,spirits  
to enforce1 art to enchant1    ,and my  
ending is despair    ,unless ,i be      
relieved by prayer1    ,which pierces so
 that it assaults    ,mercy itself1 and 
frees all faults4    ,no poet has dwelt 
more on the duty and moral efficacy of  

prayer1 on the  omnipresence of ,god1   
and on the fact that in conscience we   
have a  ,divine monitor4    ,of the     
respect which ,shakespeare entertained  
for ,christianity as a  creed1 of his   
conviction of its competency to fulfil  
and satisfy all the  ends of religion in
 men of the highest type of intelligence
 and ability1  we require no further    
proof than his ,henry ,v4 ,henry ,v4 is 
undoubtedly  his ideal man1 as ,theseus 
in the dipus ,coloneus is the ideal man 
of ,sophocles4 ,and ,henry ,v4 is       
pre-eminently a ,christian4 ,wherever   
,shakespeare refers to the person and to
 the teachings of ,christ1 it is  always
 with peculiar tenderness and solemnity4
 ,his ethics are in one  respect        
essentially ,christian1 and that is in  
their emphatic insistence  on the       
virtues of mercy and forgiveness of     
injuries4 ,in ,measure for  ,measure1 he
 stretched the first as far as the      
,master ,himself stretched  it1 at the  
eleventh hour1 to the penitent thief4   

,and in the ,tempest1  that play which  
seems to embody in allegory             
,shakespeare's mature and  final        
philosophy of life1 who does not        
recognise the symbol of ,him who  rules1
 not merely in justice and              
righteousness1 but in benevolence and   
mercy1 when ,prospero1 with sinners and 
traitors and foes in his power1         
proclaims--                             
,the rarer action is    ,in virtue than 
in vengeance3 they being penitent1      
,the sole drift of my purpose doth      
extend    ,not a frown further4    ,he  
struck this note in one of the earliest 
of his plays3--      ,who by repentance 
is not satisfied1    ,is nor of heaven1 
nor earth3 for these are pleas'd4    ,by
 penitence th' ,eternal's wrath's       
appeas'd4#eg    and the note vibrates   
through his works4 ,it is the crowning  
moral of  ,measure for ,measure2 it is  
one of the dominant notes in ,cymbeline4
  ,he also reflects ,christianity in the
 beautiful optimism which discerns  in  

evil the agent of good1 and in calamity 
and sorrow the benevolence  and mercy of
 ,god4 ,this is the philosophy which    
penetrates what were  probably his last 
three dramas1 ,the ,winter's ,tale1     
,cymbeline1 and  ,the ,tempest4    ,in  
these respects1 then1 it may fairly be  
maintained that ,shakespeare is         
,christian4 ,for the rest his dramas    
might1 so far as their philosophy is    
concerned1 have come down to us from    
classical antiquity4 ,nothing can be    
more ,greek than the main basis on which
 his ethics rest--the observance  of the
 mean1 and the recognition of the       
relation of virtue to the  becoming4    
,when ,claudio says3--      ,as surfeit 
is the father of much fast1    ,so every
 scope by the immoderate use    ,turns  
to restraint2    when ,norfolk says3--  
,the fire that mounts the liquor till 't
 o'erflow    ,in seeming to augment it  
wastes it2    when ,friar ,laurence     
tells us that3--      ,virtue itself    
turns vice1 being misapplied1    ,and   

vice sometime 's by action dignified2   
and ,portia that      ,there is no good 
without respect1    we have not only the
 keys to his ethics but the texts for   
sermons which  find living illustrations
 in the fall of ,angelo1 of ,coriolanus1
 of  ,timon1 and of many others of his  
protagonists4 ,thus do his ethics temper
  and readjust for the sphere of working
 life1 those of the ,divine  ,enthusiast
 who legislated1 in some respects1 too  
exclusively perhaps1  for a kingdom     
which is not of this world4    ,and so1 
his #8religion' being1 to borrow an     
expression of his own1 8as  broad and   
general as the casing air10 it has come 
to pass1 that  ,shakespeare has been    
claimed as an orthodox ,protestant by   
,knight1 ,bishop  ,wordsworth1 and      
,trench2 as an orthodox ,roman ,catholic
 by ,m4 ,rio1 ,mr4  ,simpson1 and       
,father ,bowden2 and as a simple        
agnostic by ,gervinus1  ,kreysig1 and   
,professor ,caird4    8,he hath10 says  
,sir ,thomas ,browne speaking of        

himself1 8one common and  authentic     
philosophy which he learnt in the       
schools1 whereby he reasons  and        
satisfies the reason of other men3      
another more reserved and drawn  from   
experience whereby he satisfies his     
own40 ,it may be1 it may quite  well be1
 for he has left nothing to justify     
conclusion to the contrary1  that the   
words of ,shakespeare's ,will--mere     
formula though they be--are  the        
expression of what he 8reserved0 to     
satisfy himself1 and that he  accepted  
the ,christian ,revelation4 ,it may be1 
that what we are  certainly warranted in
 concluding about him1 represents all   
that can  be concluded1 namely1 that3-- 
,he at least believed in soul1 was very 
sure of ,god4    ,,footnotes3           
,footnote #ej3 ,act ,i4 ,sc4 i4 ,this is
 a very pointed reference1 but in the   
second instance1 in ,all's ,well that   
,ends ,well1 ,act ,,ii4 ,sc4 i41 8,they 
say miracles are past10 he gives a turn 
to the expression which converts  it    

into a rebuke of ,rationalism4          
,footnote #ea3 ,act ,i4 ,sc4 ii4        
,footnote #eb3 ,act ,,ii4 ,sc4 ii4      
,footnote #ec3 ,in opposition to these  
may1 it is true1 be cited ,othello's    
words to ,desdemona--,othello1 ,v4 #b3  
the ,duke's remark about putting the    
unrepentant ,barnardine to              
death--,measure for ,measure1 ,,iv4 #c3 
the dying  speeches of ,buckingham and  
,catharine in ,henry ,,viii41 ,,ii4 #a2 
,,iv4 #b3  ,laertes on                  
,ophelia1--,hamlet1 ,v4 #a4 ,but these  
passages1 and others like  them1 cannot 
be cited as evidence to the contrary2   
they are merely  dramatic utterances4   
,footnote #ed3 ,cf4 ,ethics1 ,i4 x4 #aa1
 and ,,iii4 vi4 #f4    ,footnote #ee3   
,shakespeare ,commentaries1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 
#fbj-a4    ,footnote #ef3 ,article on   
,shakespeare1 ,quarterly ,review for    
,july1 #ahga1  p4 #df4    ,footnote #eg3
 ,two ,gentlemen of ,verona3 ,v4 #d4    
,,index        ,,accius quoted1 #bdd    
,,addison1 #ae3 #bgb3 #bha              

,,schylus1 #ei2      quoted1 #fb2       
his descriptions of ,nature1 #bda2      
his theology1 #bfg3 #bfa3 #cfd          
,,alc,,us1 #bhg      ,,alcman quoted1   
#bdj      ,,alamanni1 #abc              
,,anacreon1 #bhf      ,,anthology1      
,greek1 #aaf3 #aag3 #bdc                
,,antimachus of ,colophon1 his ,poems1  
#bhi      ,,antipater of ,sidon1 #aaf   
,,apollonius ,,rhodius1 #gh2      beauty
 of his descriptions1 #bdb-c            
,,archilochus quoted1 #bhg              
,,ariosto quoted1 #gi2      his         
,orlando1 #aac      ,,aristophanes1     
#bdb3 #bfj3 #bhj2      his censure of   
,euripides1 #bfe      ,,aristotle1 #fc3 
#fg2      influence on ,spenser1 #abj-a2
      style1 #abb2      his doctrine of 
the 1 #bfd-e2      his sthetics1 #bfe-f2
      ,poetics1 #bgd-f2      his        
,rhetoric1 #bhg      ,,armstrong1 ,dr4  
,john1 his connection with ,thomson1    
#ccc      ,,arnold1 ,matthew1 #fc2      
quoted1 #ba3 #aje3 #ajf3 #aid3 #bgb-c   
,,athen,,us1 #bic      ,,ausonius1 his  

,ros1 #bdf      ,,avitus1 #bea          
,,bacon1 ,lord1 his ,sylva ,sylvarum1   
#aad2      his ,latin style1 #abb2      
quoted1 #ahb2      on poetry1 #bgi      
,,barclay1 his ,argenis1 #abi           
,,barnum1 the late ,mr41 on             
,advertisement1 #aeh                    
,,beaconsfield1 ,lord1 quoted1 #bai     
,,benecke1 ,mr4 ,e4 ,f4 ,m41 his        
,antimachus of ,colophon and            
,position of ,women in ,greek ,poetry   
reviewed1 #bee-ic      ,,bentley1       
,richard1 #aef      ,,bernays1 ,prof41  
on the  of ,aristotle1 #bfe             
,,boileau1 #abe      ,,bolingbroke1     
,lord1 #aai3 #cba      ,,boswell1       
,james1 #acd      ,,bowden1 ,rev4 ,h4   
,sebastian1 his ,religion of            
,shakespeare reviewed1 #cea-fi          
,,brewer1 ,rev4 ,prof41 quoted1 #cfa    
,,brown1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,t4 ,t41 his          
,authorship of        the ,kingis ,quair
 reviewed1 #agb-hb      ,,browne1 ,sir  
,thomas1 his ,hydriotaphia1 #ajb2       
quoted1 #cfh      ,,browning1 ,robert1  

on the ,comparative ,study of ,ancient  
and        ,modern ,classical           
,literature1 #fd      ,,browning1 ,mrs41
 #big      ,,burke1 ,edmund1 #ga3       
#ajj-a3 #abe3 #abf      ,,burns1        
,robert1 #ade2      ,comparison with    
,catullus1 #cdg      ,,butcher1 ,prof4  
,s4 ,h41 his ,some ,aspects of          
the ,greek ,genius reviewed1 #bee-fi    
,,butler1 ,bishop1 quoted1 #bad         
,,butler1 ,mr4 ,samuel1 on              
,shakespeare's ,sonnets1 #bbb-d         
,c,,dmon quoted1 #ie      ,,caine1 ,mr4 
,hall1 #bh      ,,callimachus1 #bdb     
,,camoens1 #cej      ,,campbell1 ,prof4 
,lewis1 #bei      ,,carew1 ,thomas1 #cje
      ,,catullus1 his descriptions of   
,nature1 #bde3 #ccf-i2      quoted1     
#bhe2      characteristics of his       
genius1 #cce2      his ,attis1 #cci-dj2 
his pathos1 #ccg-h2      his connection 
with ,lesbia1 #cdb-e2      parallel     
between ,poems to ,lesbia and           
,shakespeare's ,sonnets1 #cde-f2        
his versatility1 #cdf2      comparison  

with ,burns1 #cdg2      ,mr4            
,tremenheere's version of the ,love     
,poems1 #cdg-i      ,,cawthorn1 ,john1  
#fj      ,,chaucer1 #ec3 #h3 #abb-c     
,,churchill1 ,charles1 quoted1 #aei     
,,cicero1 influence on ,english prose1  
#fa2      as a critic of rhetoric1      
#bgh-i2      on immortality1 #cfj       
,,clarendon1 #abc      ,,classics1      
influence of the ,greek and             
,roman ,classics on ,english            
,literature1 #eh-fc2      exclusion of  
from ,schools of ,literature        by  
the ,english ,universities1 #de-fd2     
effects of this illustrated1 #gf-hc     
,,claudian quoted1 #bdf      ,,colvin1  
,mr4 ,sidney1 his edition of            
,stevenson's ,letters reviewed1 #afe-ga 
,,coleridge1 ,s4 ,t41 #abg3 #acj3 #bha  
,,coleridge1 the late ,lord1 on ,greek1 
#bee      ,,cory1 ,william1 #bec        
,,cousin1 ,victor1 his theory of beauty 
and art1 #bgb      ,,criticism1 reasons 
of present degraded state of1 #ac-bf2   
characteristics of current criticism    

described1 #bf-cj3 #bgj-a2      effects 
on literature generally1 #ca-d2         
refusal of the ,universities to train   
critics and men of letters1 #ch-dd2     
lethargy and indifference of scholars1  
progressive degradation of literature   
the certain result1 #dc-dd              
,,critics1 characteristics of popular1  
#bg-ca3 #ic-aji3 #aaj-cb3 #aea-g        
,,crowe1 ,william1 #bdi      ,,cynewulf1
 #ie        ,,dante1 #di2      quoted1  
#cce2      his ,sonnets and ,canzoni1   
#cej      ,,de ,,quincey1 ,thomas1      
characteristics of1 #bjc-d2      his    
comparative failure1 #cje2      ,mr4    
,hogg's recollections of1 #bjc-aj       
,,douglas1 ,gavin1 his translation of   
,virgil1 #if-g      ,,drayton1 ,michael1
 #fj      ,,dryden1 his ,discourse on   
,epic ,poetry1 #fe2      quoted1 #aec2  
on the functions of poetry1 #bhj2       
his translations1 #adh      ,,dubos1 the
 ,abb1 #bha      ,,dunbar1 ,william1    
#agf2      ,mr4 ,smeaton's ,life of1    
reviewed1 #ahc-ib2      characteristics 

of his poetry1 #aij-a      ,,dyer1      
,john1 his descriptive poetry1 #bdh     
,,earle1 ,prof41 on relation of         
,classics to ,english ,literature1 #ei  
7note7      ,,earle1 ,john1 his         
,microcosmographie1 #abi      ,,editors1
 their relation to current literature1  
#bb2      in no way responsible for the 
present condition        of current     
literature1 #bc-bd      ,,ennius1 #ei   
,,euripides1 #hb2      his fine pictures
 of ,nature1 #bdb2      quoted1 #bfb2   
his ,alcestis quoted1 #bhf              
,,feltham1 ,owen1 his ,resolves1 #abi   
,,flaccus1 ,valerius1 #bdf              
,,fletcher1 ,phineas1 #aja      ,,foote1
 ,samuel1 quoted1 #bje      ,,fox1      
,john1 his ,book of ,martyrs1 #aac      
,,fraunce1 ,abraham1 his ,countess of   
,pembroke's ,ivy ,church1 #cji          
,,froude1 ,james ,anthony1 on the effect
 of discouraging        the study of the
 ,classics1 #fe        ,,garnett1       
,father1 #ced      ,,geoffrey of        
,monmouth1 #ajb      ,,gervinus1 ,prof41

 quoted1 #cfj      ,,glanville1 ,joseph1
 #ajd      ,,gibbon1 ,edward1 #abe3     
#aej3 #aih      ,,goethe1 #di3 #hf2     
quoted1 #bgc3 #cfj3 #cfb                
,,goldsmith quoted1 #bdg      ,,gosse1  
,edmund1 his ,short ,history of ,modern 
,english ,literature reviewed #aaj-cb   
,,gossing1 analysis of the              
accomplishment1 #aae2      compared with
 ,euphuism1 id4      ,,gower1 ,john1    
#abd2      ,confessio ,amantis1 #aif    
,,gray1 ,thomas1 on ,lydgate1 #ih       
,,greene1 ,robert1 #ad        ,,hall1   
,william1 ,mr4 ,sidney ,lee on1 #baf    
,,hampole1 ,richard of1 his ,pricke of  
,conscience1 #agi      ,,harrison1 ,mr4 
,frederic1 #ce      ,,hawes1 ,stephen1  
his ,pastime of ,pleasure1 #bjj         
,,heraclitus quoted1 #cfa               
,,hermesianax quoted1 #bhg      ,,hill1 
,aaron1 #cca      ,,hoccleve1 ,thomas1  
#aih      ,,hogg1 ,mr4 ,james1 his      
,recollections of ,de ,quincey reviewed1
 #bjc-aj      ,,homer quoted1 his fine  
descriptions of ,nature1 #bcg-i2        

his women1 #bhf3 #bhh2      his         
description of ,hades1 #big             
,,hooker quoted1 #cfb      ,,horace1    
influence of his ,epistles and ,satires 
on ,english poetry1 #fj2      quoted1   
#aea3 #big3 #cja2      deficient in     
poetic sensibility1 #ccf                
,,hroswitha1 #bea      ,,huxley1 ,prof41
 on ,merton ,chair at ,oxford1 #ch      
,,ibycus1 #bdj        ,,jago1 ,richard1 
#bdi      ,,james ,i4 of ,scotland1 his 
,kingis ,quair1 #agb2      its          
genuineness vindicated1 #agd-hb         
,,japp1 ,dr4 ,alexander1 ,life of ,de   
,quincey1 #bji      ,,jebb1 ,prof41 his 
services to ,greek ,literature1 #beh    
,,johnson1 ,dr41 quoted1 #aeb           
,,jonson1 ,ben1 on ,poetry1 #bhj        
,,jowett1 ,prof41 quoted1 #fd           
,,jusserand1 ,m41 his ,literary ,history
 of        the ,english ,people         
reviewed1 #aic-bjb        ,,keats1      
,john1 #abg3 #bih3 #cdg        ,,landor1
 ,w4 ,s41 #bih      ,,lang1 ,mr4        
,andrew1 #bei      ,,lauderdale1 #caj   

,,leaf1 ,mr4 ,walter1 #bei      ,,lee1  
,mr4 ,sidney1 his ,life of ,shakespeare 
reviewed1 #baa-h2      on ,shakespeare's
 ,sonnets1 #bbi-cj      ,,le            
,,gallienne1 ,mr4 ,richard1 his         
,retrospective ,reviews reviewed1 #aea-g
      ,,leopardi quoted1 #bj3 #cjj      
,,lesbia and ,,catullus1 #cce-ej        
,,lessing1 on ,philologists1 #hf2       
his ,laocoon1 #da2      his ,hamburgishe
 ,dramaturgie1 #fg      ,,log-,,rolling1
 its pernicious effects1 #acc-dd        
,,longinus1 the ,treatise attributed to1
 discussed1 #bgf-h2      quoted1 #bgj   
,,lydgate1 his style and versification1 
#ih2      id41 #aae2                    
characteristics of his poetry1 #aih-i   
,,macaulay1 ,lord1 #ade3 #aea           
,,mallet1 ,david1 claim to authorship of
 ,rule ,britannia discussed1 #cba-d     
,,malory1 ,thomas1 #bja      ,,mannyng1 
his ,handlying of ,synne1 #aie          
,,marlowe1 ,christopher1 #ad            
,,martial1 his epigrams1 #ccg      ,,max
 ,m,,ller1 ,prof41 #eb      ,,meleager1 

his ,anthology1 #aaf-g2      quoted1    
#bdc      ,,menander quoted1 #bfb       
,,mimnermus1 his love poetry to ,nanno1 
#bhg      ,,milton quoted1 #da 7note73  
#fb2      his apology for ,smectymnuus1 
quoted1 #ajc2      on poetry1 #bfg2     
quoted1 #bab2      music of his verse1  
#cag      ,,mitford1 ,rev4 ,j41 on the  
corrections in ,thomson's ,seasons1     
#ccj-d      ,,montague1 ,lady ,mary     
,wortley1 #abe3 #cjf      ,,morel1 ,m4  
,lon1 his ,monograph on ,thomson1 #cai  
,,more1 ,sir ,thomas1 his ,utopia1 #aja 
,,more1 ,henry1 #bgd      ,,morgan1 ,sir
 ,george ,osborne1 his ,translation     
of ,virgil's ,eclogues reviewed1 #cjh-ag
      ,,morley1 ,mr4 ,john1 #fc2        
quoted1 #fd      ,,myers1 ,mr4 ,ernest1 
#bei      ,m,,ller1 ,prof4 ,e41 his     
,geschichte der ,theorie        der     
,kunst bei den ,alten1 #bfd             
,,ogilvie1 ,john1 #caj      ,,ovid1 #fj3
 #agg3 #agh3 #bdf        ,,pacuvius1 his
 ,dulorestes quoted1 #bdd               
,,palgrave1 ,francis ,turner1 his       

,landscape in ,poetry reviewed1 #bcf-di2
      an appreciation of1 #bej-d        
,,pater1 ,walter1 #fb3 #aeb3 #bfe3 #bfg 
,,pecock1 ,reginald1 his ,repressor1    
#abh-i      ,,petrarch1 #bhg3 #bif      
,,persius quoted1 #ae      ,,phillips1  
,mr4 ,stephen1 his poems reviewed1      
#bid-cjj      ,,pindar quoted1 #bfb2    
his word pictures1 #bdj      ,,plato1   
his ,symposium1 #gh-i2      quoted1     
#bfc2      his theory of poetry1 #bgd3  
#bgf      ,,plutarch1 his pictures of   
women1 #bij      ,,pomfret1 ,john1 his  
,choice1 #aja      ,,pope quoted1 #hd2  
on ,philologists1 #hf2      quoted1     
#aci2      his ,satires and ,epistles1  
#abe2      his alleged revision of      
,thomson's ,seasons discussed1 #cbh-cb  
,,propertius quoted1 #bdf               
,,publishers1 honourable character of   
the leading1 #bc        ,,quarterly     
,,review1 article on ,from ,shakespeare 
to ,pope1 #dj      ,,quintilian as a    
critic1 #bgh        ,,raffety1 ,mr4     
,frank ,w41 his ,books worth ,reading   

reviewed1 #ade-ej      ,,rossetti1      
,dante ,gabriel1 quoted1 #agc           
,,rossetti1 ,william ,michael1 his      
edition of ,shelley's ,adonais1 #gf-hc  
,,rucellai1 his dramas and his ,l',api1 
#abd        ,,sainte-,,beuve1 his       
essays1 #da2      on ,philologists1 #hf2
      his criticism1 #bgj2      the     
master of ,matthew ,arnold1 #bha        
,,saintsbury1 ,prof41 his ,short        
,history        of ,english ,literature 
reviewed1 #ic-aji      ,,sallust1 #fa   
,,schiller1 #da      ,,schick1 ,dr41 on 
,lydgate's versification1 #ii           
,,schipper1 ,dr4 ,j41 on ,dunbar1 #ahc  
,,schmeding1 ,dr4 ,g41 his ,monograph on
 ,thomson1 #cah      ,,school ,,of      
,,english ,,literature ,,at ,,oxford1   
its deplorable organization1 #de-gb2    
how this may be remedied1 #gc-e         
,,scott ,,of ,,amwell1 #bdi             
,,scott1 ,sir ,walter1 on ,dunbar1 #ahf 
,,self-,,advertisement1 its organization
 and effects1 #aeh-fd      ,,seneca1    
influence on ,english prose1 #fa        

,,sedulius1 #bea      ,,shaftesbury1    
third ,earl of1 his style1 #aag-i       
,,shakespeare1 #fb3 #ha-b2              
,clarendon ,press edition of his        
,hamlet1 #hd-ib2      quoted1 #aed3     
#aeh2      ,mr4 ,lee's ,life of1 #baa-h2
      scantiness of traditions of1 #bac2
      his sonnets1 various theories1    
#bai-bj2      about difficulties of     
supposing them autobiographical1 #bbe-f2
      his relations with ,southampton   
and ,pembroke1 #bbh-cd2      story in   
the ,sonnets probably fictitious1 #bce2 
religion of ,shakespeare1 #cea-fi2      
his politics1 #ceb-c2      not a ,roman 
,catholic1 #ceb-f2      on death1       
#ceg-h2      silence about a future     
life1 #cei1      and about metaphysical 
questions1 #cfj2      comparison in this
 respect with ,aristotle1 #cfj2      his
 theology1 #cfb-d2      on prayer1 #cfe2
      on conscience1 #cff2      his     
attitude to ,christianity1 #cff2        
when his ethics are ,christian1 #cfh2   
his religious ideas summed up1 #cfh-i   

,,sharp1 ,archbishop1 quoted1 #bah      
,,shelley1 his ,adonais1 #gf-hc2        
absurd criticism of his style1 #abf     
,,shenstone1 ,william1 #bdi             
,,sidney1 ,sir ,philip1 #aca            
,,simpson1 ,richard1 #cea3 #cfh         
,,smart1 ,christopher1 his ,song to     
,david1 #cdj      ,,smeaton1 ,mr4       
,oliphant1 his life of ,dunbar reviewed1
 #ahc-ib      ,,sophocles1 #bdb2        
his ethics1 #bfg-i2      quoted1 #bhe2  
his ideal man1 #cff      ,,spenser1     
,edmund1 #aab3 #aac2      influence of  
,greek and ,latin ,classics on1 #abj-a2 
influence of1 on ,milton1 #aba2      on 
the functions of poetry1 #bhj           
,,stanihurst1 ,richard1 #cjh            
,,stephen1 ,mr4 ,leslie1 #ce            
,,stesichorus1 his ,calyce1 #bhg        
,,stevenson1 ,r4 ,l41 ,letters reviewed1
 #afe-ga      ,,strabo quoted1 #bhg     
,,swift1 ,jonathan1 his ,sentiments of a
 ,church of ,england ,man1 #aac2        
,tale of a ,tub1 #add        ,,tacitus  
quoted1 #bj3 #aib3 #bed2      as a      

critic1 #bgh-i2      on immortality1    
#cfj      ,,talleyrand quoted1 #baj     
,,tennyson1 ,lord1 #fb3 #afb-c3 #bde3   
#bdg3 #bih3 #ccg2      as a critic1 #beb
      ,,terence1 women of1 #bib         
,,text-,,books on ,english ,literature1 
specimens of1 #gf-aej      ,,thackeray  
on ,wordsworth and ,moore1 #bej         
,,theocritus1 #bdc      ,,theognis      
quoted1 #bfb      ,,thomson1 ,james1    
#bdc2      quoted1 #bdh2      claim to  
the authorship of ,rule ,britannia      
vindicated1 #cba-h2      corrections in 
the ,seasons discussed1 #cbh-cd         
,,thorpe1 ,thomas1 #baf3 #bbg3 #bce     
,,tovey1 ,rev4 ,d4 ,c41 his edition of  
,thomson's poems reviewed1 #cah-cd      
,,tremenheere1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,h4 ,a41 his    
version of ,catullus' ,love ,poems1     
#cce-ej      ,,trissino1 his ,sofonisba1
 #abc      ,,thucydides1 #beh3 #bfj2    
on hope1 #bfb      ,,tupper1 ,martin1   
#bea      ,,tyler1 ,mr4 ,thomas1 on     
,shakespeare's ,sonnets1 #bbh           
,,tyrwhitt1 ,thomas1 #bbc3 #bcd         

,,universities1 their indifference to   
the interests of literature1 #ch-dj3    
#de-ej2      effects of the exclusion of
 the ,greek and ,roman ,classics from   
the so-called ,schools of ,literature at
 ,oxford and ,cambridge1 #ee-ga         
,,varro1 as a critic1 #bgh              
,,virgil1 his beautiful descriptions of 
,nature1 #bde-f2      his ,eclogues1    
#cjh-ag      ,,voltaire on              
,philologists1 #hf        ,,walters1    
,cuming1 on ,shakespeare's ,sonnets1    
#bbj-a      ,,warburton1 ,bishop1 #bje2 
quoted1 #bgj      ,,warton1 ,dr4        
,joseph1 on ,thomson's poetry1 #ccj     
,,warton1 ,thomas1 on ,lydgate1 #ih     
,,watson1 ,mr4 ,william1 great beauty of
 his ,english hexameters1 #cag          
,,wharton1 ,dr41 his ,sappho1 #adh      
,,willmott1 ,rev4 ,aris1 his ,gems from 
,english ,literature1 #afc-d            
,,willoughby1 his ,avisa1 #aja3 #bbe    
,,wordsworth1 ,william1 #aec2      on   
,dyer's poetry1 #bdh2      his poems on 
classical legends1 #bih      ,,worsfold1

 ,mr4 ,basil1 his ,principles of        
,criticism reviewed1 #bgj-hb            
,,wrangham1 ,archdeacon1 #caj           
,,wright1 ,dr4 ,aldis1 his edition of   
,shakespeare's ,hamlet1 #hd-ib          
,,wright1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,kearley1 his    
,west ,country ,poets reviewed1 #cja-g  
,,wyntown1 his ,chronicle1 #ahj-a       
,,xenophon on women1 #bij               
,,young1 ,edward1 quoted1 #hg           
,butler  ,tanner1 ,the ,selwood         
,printing ,works1 ,frome1 and ,london4  
--------------------  ,corrections3     
,page #ha 8,hamlet1 act iv4 sc 4#a0     
should be sc4 #e 7,there is pansies7    
,the following errors have been         
corrected in the text4        ,page #h  
changed #8,jasserand' to #8,jusserand'  
7done ,m4 ,jusserand               grave
 injustice7      ,page #fc    added     
space 7,addington ,symonds7      ,page  
#ij    added single quotes 7,the rest is
 silence4' #8,o1 ,o17      ,page #ij    
changed #8than' to #8that' 7it would be 
more natural that7      ,page #if-g     

moved double quotes from 7evicit gurgite
 moles107               to end of last  
line 7armenta trahit407      ,page #ig  
added opening double quotes 78,not sa   
fersly7      ,page #aja   added double  
quotes 7,lord1 #agij40 ,a ,letter to7   
,page #ajg   changed #807' to #870'     
7teeth of its subject704 8,his          
voluminous7      ,page #ahd   added     
comma 7and the few outsiders1 whether7  
,page #bje   added single quote         
7,warburton on ,shakespeare4'07         
,page #bab   added comma 7every alley   
green17      ,page #beb   changed       
#8charactistic' to #8characteristic'    
7distinctive               feature is   
the characteristic7      ,page #cba     
changed comma to period 7both these     
questions47      ,page #cbf   changed   
period to semicolon 7,britain's wide    
domain27      ,the following            
inconsistencies have been left as       
printed4      #8bookmaker' vs4          
#8book-maker' vs4 #8book maker'         
#8notebooks' vs4 #8note-books'          

#8overestimated' vs4 #8over-estimated'  
#8overestimation' vs4 #8over-estimation'
      #8rodomontade' vs4 #8rhodomontade'
      #8,wriothesley' vs4 #8,wriothesly'
      #8analysed' vs4 #8analyzed'       
#8,mort d',arthur' vs4 #8,morte         
d',arthur'      #8,quinctilian' vs4     
#8,quintilian'        7#8,quintilia'    
7,latin #8,quintili'7 is a different    
person7  --------------------