History of English Literature Volume 2 (of 3)

#THE WORLD'S#
GREAT CLASSICS

LIBRARY
COMMITTEE

TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D.D. LLD.
RICHARD HENRY STODDARD
ARTHUR RICHMOND MARSH. A.B.
PAVL VAN DYKE, D.D.
ALBERT ELLERY BERGH

•ILLUSTRATED•WITH•NEARLY•TWO•
•HUNDRED•PHOTOGRAVURES•ETCHINGS•
•COLORED•PLATES•AND•FULL•
•PAGE•PORTRAITS•OF•GREAT•AUTHORS•

CLARENCE COOK--ART EDITOR

•THE•COLONIAL•PRESS•

•NEW•YORK•MDCCCXCIX•




[Illustration: LONDON BRIDGE.

_After an etching by Edwin Edwards._

The artist has chosen for his masterly work the moment when the sun,
long before toiling London is awake, rises amid vapors from the eastern
horizon. The river reflects the dawn,

"All bright and glittering in the smokeless air."

In the placid stream are mirrored the shadows of the bridge; to the west
of which appear the façades of Fishmonger's Hall, and Billingsgate
market, radiant with morning. To appreciate the full charm and fidelity
to nature of this etching one should read Wordsworth's sonnet written on
Westminster bridge, beginning "Earth has not anything to show more
fair," and ending with the words


"The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still."


HISTORY OF
ENGLISH LITERATURE

HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE TAINE

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY
HENRY VAN LAUN

WITH A SPECIAL INTRODUCTION BY

J. SCOTT CLARK, A. M.

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

REVISED EDITION

VOLUME II




CONTENTS


BOOK II--THE RENAISSANCE
(_CONTINUED_)

CHAPTER FIFTH
The Christian Renaissance

SECTION I.--Decay of The Southern Civilizations
SECTION II.--Luther and the Reformation in Germany
SECTION III.--The Reformation in England
SECTION IV.--The Anglicans
SECTION V.--The Puritans
SECTION VI.--John Bunyan

CHAPTER SIXTH
Milton

SECTION I.--Milton's Family and Education
SECTION II.--Milton's Unhappy Domestic Life
SECTION III.--Milton's Combative Energy
SECTION IV.--Milton's Personal Appearance
SECTION V.--Milton as a Prose Writer
SECTION VI.--Milton as a Poet


BOOK III.--THE CLASSIC AGE

CHAPTER FIRST
The Restoration

_Part I.--The Roisterers_

SECTION I.--The Excesses of Puritanism
SECTION II.--A Frenchman's View of the Manners of the Time
SECTION III.--Butler's Hudibras
SECTION IV.--Morals of the Court
SECTION V.--Method and Style of Hobbes
SECTION VI.--The Theatre
SECTION VII.--Dryden and the Drama
SECTION VIII.--Wycherley

_PART II.--The Worldlings_

SECTION I.--Court Life in Europe
SECTION II.--Dawn of the Classic Spirit
SECTION III.--Sir William Temple
SECTION IV.--Writers à la Mode
SECTION V.--Sir John Denham
SECTION VI.--Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and Farquhar
SECTION VII.--Superficiality of English Comedy
SECTION VIII.--Natural Characters
SECTION IX.--Artificial Characters
SECTION X.--Sheridan.--Decadence of the Theatre

CHAPTER SECOND
Dryden

SECTION I.--Dryden's Début
SECTION II.--Dryden's Family and Education
SECTION III.--Dramatic Theories of Dryden
SECTION IV.--The Style of Dryden's Plays
SECTION V.--His Merit as a Dramatist
SECTION VI.--His Prose Style
SECTION VII.--How Literature in England is Occupied with Politics and
Religion
SECTION VIII.--Development of the Art of Writing
SECTION IX.--Dryden's Translations and Adaptations.--His Occasional
Soul--Stirring Verses
SECTION X.--Misfortunes of Dryden's Old Age

CHAPTER THIRD
The Revolution

SECTION I.--The Moral Revolution
SECTION II.--Brutality of The People.--Private Morals.--Chesterfield
and Gay
SECTION III.--Principles of Civilization in France and England
SECTION IV.--Religion
SECTION V.--The Pulpit
SECTION VI.--Theology
SECTION VII.--The Constitution.--Locke's Theory of Government
SECTION VIII.--Parliamentary Orators
SECTION IX.--Doctrines of the French Revolution Contrasted with the
Conservative Tendencies of the English People

CHAPTER FOURTH
Addison

SECTION I.--The Significance of the Writings of Addison and Swift
SECTION II.--Addison's Character and Education
SECTION III.--Addison's Seriousness.--His Nobility of Character
SECTION IV.--The Morality of Addison's Essays
SECTION V.--How Addison made Morality Fashionable.--Characteristics
of his Style
SECTION VI.--Addison's Gallantry.--His Humor.--Sir Roger de Coverley.--The
Vision of Mirza

CHAPTER FIFTH
Swift

SECTION I.--Concerning Swift's Life and Character
SECTION II.--Swift's Prosaic and Positive Mind
SECTION III.--Swift as a Political Pamphleteer
SECTION IV.--Swift as a Humorist.--As a Poet
SECTION V.--Swift as a Narrator and Philosopher

CHAPTER SIXTH
The Novelists

SECTION I.--The Anti-Romantic Novel
SECTION II.--Daniel De Foe
SECTION III.--The Evolution of the Eighteenth Century Novel
SECTION IV.--Samuel Richardson
SECTION V.--Henry Fielding
SECTION VI.--Tobias Smollett
SECTION VII.--Laurence Sterne
SECTION VIII.--Oliver Goldsmith
SECTION IX.--Samuel Johnson
SECTION X.--William Hogarth