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History is the relation of events. It must be understood that relating" means more than mere telling; it means showing the relationships of, or interpreting, as well as telling. An Oration is a spoken discourse; there is nearly always associated with it the purpose of moving hearers to action, either at once or in the future. Philosophy is the attempt to discover and explain, by harmonizing them, the principles underlying the sciences. Science is the search for knowledge and the ordering of knowledge when found, usually with the end in view of making that knowledge of use to man. The daily journal, or the newspaper, is a record of current events and an attempt to interpret their meaning.

And now, with a broad general view of the periods of English literature in mind, and some idea of the meaning and importance of each of the types of literature, we are ready to study the details of the relations of periods and types to each other. The following list of authors, grouped under the various periods, with a masterpiece named after each author, will be found convenient to refer to from time to time. The heavier type indicates the more important authors in the period.