its triumphs and its sorrows; but the history is formless legend, incredible and unintelligible; the figures of the actors are indistinct as the rude ballad or ruder inscription which may be the only authentic record of them. We do not see the men and women; we see only the outlines of them which have been woven into tradition 120 as they appeared to the loves or hatreds of passionate admirers or enemies. Of such times we know nothing, save the broad results as they are measured from century to century, with here and there some indestructible pebble, some law, some fragment of remarkable poetry, 125 which has resisted decomposition. These periods are the proper subject of the philosophic historian, and to him we leave them. But there are others, a few, at which intellectual activity was as great as it is now, with its written records surviving, in which the passions, the 130 opinions, the ambitions of the age, are all before us-where the actors in the great drama speak their own thoughts in their own words; where we hear their enemies denounce them and their friends praise them; where we are ourselves plunged amidst the hopes and fears of the hour, 135 to feel the conflicting emotions and to sympathize in the struggles which again seem to live; and here philosophy is at fault. Philosophy, when we are face to face with real men, is as powerless as over the Iliad or King Lear. The overmastering human interest transcends explanation. 140 We do not sit in judgment on the right or the wrong; we do not seek out causes to account for what takes ANALYSIS.-117. rude ballad. What is the meaning of rude here? 123. save the broad results. Give the grammatical construction of save. 125. Point out the figure in the line. 132. Give the meaning of actors as used here. Give the meaning of drama in this line. 138. face to face. Give the grammatical construction. place, feeling too conscious of the inadequacy of our analysis. We see human beings possessed by different impulses, and working out a preordained result, as the 145 subtle forces drive each along the path marked out for him; and history becomes the more impressive to us where it least immediately instructs. ANALYSIS.-148. least immediately. Give the meaning of the ex pression. CONTEMPORANEOUS WRITERS. 1. POETS. Robert Browning (1812-1889).-Known as the head of the psychological school of poets. Husband of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Educated at London University. Author of Paracelsus, Pippa Passes, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, The Ring and the Book, etc. Mrs. C. E. S. Norton (Miss SHERIDAN), (1808–1877).—Was the granddaughter of the celebrated dramatist Sheridan. Her chief poems are The Sorrows of Rosalie, The Undying One, The Dream, and The Child of the Islands. She wrote also the novel Stuart of Dunleith. Adelaide A. Procter (1825-1864).—The daughter of Bryan Waller Procter. Author of Words, One by One, A New Mother, and many other poems. Gerald Massey (1828-).-A journalist and poet. An errand-boy up to his eighteenth year. Author of Babe Christabel, Craigcrook Castle, Havelock's March, and Tale of Eternity. Charles Mackay (1814 -).—A journalist and poet. Wrote The Hope of the World, The Salamandrine, Voices from the Crowd, Town Lyrics, Studies from the Antique, etc. Also a number f prose works. William Morris (1834–1896).—A great narrative poet. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford. Wrote The Life and Death of Jason and The Earthly Paradise. Owen Meredith (EDWARD ROBERT LYTTON, now LORD LYг TON), (1831-1891).—A son of the great novelist. Wrote under the pseudonym "Owen Meredith." Author of The Wanderer, Lucile, Chronicles and Characters, and Fables in verse. Prof. William E. Aytoun (1813–1865).—A native of Edinburgh. Educated at the University of Edinburgh. Was afterward Professor of Belles Lettres in the same University. Wrote Lays of Scottish Cavaliers, Bothwell, an historical romance, and a satire Firmilian, a Spasmodic Tragedy. Sydney Dobell (1824-1874).-A poet who wrote under the pseudonym "Sydney Yendys." Was employed regularly in his father's counting-house at Cheltenham. Wrote The Roman Englund in Time of War, England's Day, etc. Martin Farquhar Tupper (1810-1889).-A London barrister and poet. Author of Proverbial Philosophy, An Author's Mind The Crock of Gold. Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837- -).-Son of Admiral Swinburne. Educated at Eton and Oxford. A highly imaginative and classical poet. Author of Atalanta in Calydon, Chaste lard, A Song of Italy, Bothwell, a tragedy, etc. Robert Buchanan (1841— -).—A native of Scotland. Educated at the High School and the University of Glasgow. Wrote Undertones when still a minor. Wrote also Idyls of Inverburn London Poems, The Book of Orni, etc. 2. DRAMATISTS. Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854).—An eloquent English barrister and judge. Was called to the bar in 1821, and made judge in 1833. Author of the tragedies Ion, The Athenian Captive, and The Castilian. Wrote also Vacation Rambles, Life of Charles Lamb, and an Essay on the Greek Drama. Henry Taylor (1800).-Distinguished both as a poet and as an essayist. Was the literary executor of Southey, and author of Philip Van Artevelde, Isaac Comnenus, Edwin, and other dramas. Douglas Jerrold (1803-1857).-Son of an actor, and distin. guished as a witty and satiric writer of plays, tales, and sketches. Began writing for the Coburg Theatre, on a salary, at eighteen years of age. Author of Black-Eyed Susan, Nell Gwynne, RentDay, The Housekeeper, Time Works Wonders, Retired from Busi ness, Heart of Gold, and many other dramas. Author also of Caudle Lectures, Men of Character, and other popular sketches. Tom Taylor (1817-1880).-Educated at Glasgow University and Cambridge. Was Professor of English Literature in University College, London. Author of more than a hundred dramas. Some of his best are Still Waters Run Deep, The Ticket-of-Leave Man, Victims, An Unequal Match, The Contested Election, The Overland Route, 'Twixt Axe and Crown, and Joan of Arc. 3. HISTORIANS AND BIOGRAPHERS. Sir Archibald Alison (1792-1867).-Son of Rev. Archibald Alison, author of an Essay on Taste. Distinguished as a writer on law and history. Was lord rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen, and Glasgow University. Author of History of Europe from the French Revolution to the Restoration of the Bourbons, ten volumes, and a History of Europe from the Fall of Napoleon 1815, to the Accession of Napoleon, 1852, eight volumes. George Grote (1794-1871).—An English historian of German descent. Was a banker and a member of Parliament. Wrote History of Greece, twelve volumes, and Plato and the Other Companions of Socrates, three volumes. Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868).-Dean of St. Paul's. Author of History of the Jews and History of Latin Christianity. One of the greatest of English historians. Thomas Arnold (1795-1842).—The celebrated head-master of Rugby School. Educated at Oxford. Author of Roman History, an edition of Thucydides, and a number of Historical Lectures and Sermons. Connop Thirlwall (1797-1875).-Bishop of St. David's. Educated at Cambridge. Began life as a lawyer, but after three years' experience entered the Church instead. Author of a History of Greece, eight volumes. Sir Francis Palgrave (1788-1861).—Son of Myer Cohen. Changed his name to his wife's mother's maiden name. Au. thor of The History of the Anglo-Saxons, The Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth, The History of Normandy and of England. George Henry Lewes (1817-1878).-A philosophical essayist and biographer. Studied for the medical profession, but aban doned it for literature. Some of his best works are Biograph ical History of Philosophy, Physiology of Common Life, The Spanish Drama, The Life and Works of Goethe. John Richard Green (- -1883).-Examiner in the School of Modern History, Oxford. Author of A Short History of the English People and Stray Studies. Miss Agnes Strickland (1801-1874).-A writer on historic scenes and stories for children. Aided by her sister, she wrote Lives of the Queens of England, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, etc. John Forster (1812-1876).—A tireless literary student and biographer. His chief works were Statesmen of the Commonwealth of England, Life of Goldsmith, Life of Dickens, Biographical and Historical Essays, etc. Charles Knight (1790-1873).-Both publisher and author. Wrote Old Printer and Modern Press and a Popular History of England. -).-Special correspondent William Howard Russell (1816for the London Times. A native of Dublin. Educated at Trinity College. His chief literary work has been his articles for the Times. He published also Diary in India, Diary North and South, and My Diary during the Great War. William Hepworth Dixon (1821-1879).—A miscellaneous writer. Studied law, but devoted himself to literature. Author of Life of John Howard, Life of Admiral Blake, New America, Her Majesty's Tower, Free Russia, etc. Edward A. Freeman (1823-1892).—A prominent writer on history, politics, and architecture. Noted also as a lecturer. Author of History and Conquest of the Saracens, History of the Norman Conquest, Growth of the English Constitution, A History of Architecture, Comparative Politics, etc. 4. NOVELISTS. George Payne Rainsford James (1801-1860).-A voluminous writer of fiction. Said to have written one hundred and eightynine volumes. Author of Richelieu, Darnley; or, The Field of the Cloth of Gold, One in a Thousand, Edward the Black Prince, etc. Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton (1805–1873).-Assumed the name |