ODE. The spacious firmament on high, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, The unwearied sun, from day to day, The work of an Almighty hand. Soon as the evening shades prevail, Whilst all the stars that round her burn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole. What, though in solemn silence, all STEELE. From THE TATLER, No. 117. THE DREAM. I was once myself in agonies of grief that are unutterable, and in so great a distraction of mind, that I thought myself even out of the possibility of receiving comfort. The occasion was as follows: When I was a youth, in a part of the army which was then quartered at Dover, I fell in love with an agreeable young woman of a good family in those parts, and had the satisfaction of seeing my addresses kindly received, which occasioned the perplexity I am going to relate. We were in a calm evening diverting ourselves upon the top of a cliff with the prospect of the sea, and trifling away the time in such little fondnesses as are most ridiculous to people in business and most agreeable to those in love. In the midst of these our innocent endearments, she snatched a paper of verses out of my hand and ran away with them. I was following her when, on a sudden, the ground, though at a considerable distance from the verge of the precipice, sunk under her, and threw her down from so prodigious a height upon such a range of rocks, as would have dashed her into ten thousand pieces had her body been made of adamant. It is much easier for my reader to imagine my state of mind upon such an occasion than for me to express it. I said to myself, It is not in the power of heaven to relieve me! when I awaked, equally transported and astonished, to see myself drawn out of an affliction which, the very moment before, appeared to me altogether inextricable. The impressions of grief and horror were so lively on this occasion, that while they lasted they made me more miserable than I was at the real death of this beloved person, which happened a few months after, at a time when the match between us was concluded; inasmuch as the imaginary death was untimely, and I myself in a sort an accessory; whereas her real decease had at least these alleviations, of being natural and inevitable. The memory of the dream I have related still dwells so strongly upon me, that I can never read the description of Dover-cliff in Shakespeare's tragedy of King Lear without a fresh sense of my escape. The prospect from that place is drawn with such proper incidents, that whoever can read it without growing giddy must have a good head, or a very bad one. SYLLABUS. The Augustan age of literature extends from 1700-1727. It includes the reigns of Anne and of George I. Pope, Addison, Steele, and Swift were the principal writers. Pope implicitly followed Dryden. Pope aimed at accuracy, not originality. He perfected the classical or artificial school which Dryden began. Pope's principal works are Pastorals, The Messiah, Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, Essay on Criticism, Rape of the Lock, The Temple of Fame, Elegy on an Unfortunate Lady, Windsor Forest, Translation of the Iliad, Epistle from Eloise to Abelard, Essay on Man, Miscellanies, Dunciad, Epistles, Satires, Moral Essays, The Universal Prayer, The Dying Christian to His Soul, etc. Pope's mission was to teach correctness of style. His residence was at Twickenham. This age was too keen and critical for poetry to thrive. Allan Ramsay, a Scotch poet, was the most natural of the poets. John Gay's chief work is The Beggars' Opera. Matthew Prior, associated with Charles Montague, wrote The Country Mouse and the City Mouse. Other poets of the time were Thomas Parnell, Dr. Watts, Blackmore, and Robert Blair. This age, with the preceding and following, constitute the artificial age of poetry. No sonnets were written during this time. It was an age of satire. The character of the drama was a continuation of that of the previous period. The critical age was unfavorable for poetry, but excellent for prose. Swift was one of the most vigorous prose writers. Satire was his forte. Swift became Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin. His principal works are The Battle of the Books, Tale of a Tub, Gulliver's Travels, Drapier's Letters, Verses on his Own Death, contributions to the Scriblerus Club, etc. Swift lived an unhappy life, and made a sorrowful end. Addison was a genial writer. In conjunction with Steele, he began The Spectator. The influence of The Spectator was great. It ended in 1712. Addison's first literary attempts were in poetry. The Campaign was a poem in honor of Marlborough's victory at Blenheim. Addison was patronized by Whigs. The tragedy of Cato was written in the latter part of Anne's reign. He wrote The Christian Hero during the wildest period of his life. The Guardian was the last journal in which Steele and Addison joined. De Foe was persecuted for his liberal sentiments. De Foe wrote over two hundred and fifty works, many of them fictions. Other prose writers were Arbuthnot, Bolingbroke, Shaftesbury, Bentley, Bishop Atterbury, Bishop Berkeley, and Lady Mary Wortley Montague. DR. JOHNSON. CHAPTER IX. No THE AGE OF DR. JOHNSON. 1727-1784. O period is more interesting in its literary or political history than that upon which we are now entering,—Dr. Johnson the central figure in the one and the "Great Commoner," William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, in the other. It is a period fraught with events which shaped the destinies of nations. In 1727 George II. succeeded his father to the throne, and engaged in a war in which nearly all Europe took part-the war of the Austrian succession.* During the King's absence on the continent, Charles Edward, the young Pretender, landed in Scotland to make one more effort to secure the throne of his ancestors, but was defeated in the battle of Culloden, 1745. This was the last attempt of the Stuarts to regain the throne of England. In 1760 George III., grandson of George II., ascended the throne, and Bute was created prime minister, but, becoming unpopular, he soon resigned, and the ministry fell upon Grenville. It was during this ministry that the American colonies offered resistance to the unjust taxation imposed upon them. In William Pitt they had a strong friend. Through his exertions the Stamp Act was repealed. His acceptance of the * George espoused the cause of Maria Theresa, the heir to the throne of Austria, and in person defeated the French at the battle of Dettingen. Earldom of Chatham somewhat affected his popularity, for the people loved to think of him as the "Great Commoner." The House of Commons had ceased to represent the people. It had become as arrogant as royalty itself; but when, in 1771, it issued a proclamation forbidding the publication of its debates, the indignation of the people arose. Meetings were held, the politics of the nation discussed in towns and boroughs, and a public sentiment created which the press reëchoed, until the House of Commons was made to feel that there was a power in the will of the people which they were bound to respect. The right of the press to discuss public affairs was established when, in Grenville's ministry, the North Briton, a journal published by John Wilkes, was prosecuted for a free discussion of the affairs of government, and when the "LETTERS OF JUNIUS" appeared in the Public Advertiser, in which not only the ministry but the King himself was attacked. Not least among the prominent events of this period was the establishment of the British empire in India, with which the names of Clive and Warren Hastings are connected. Aside from the selfish aggrandizement of the scheme, the intercourse which it opened up with the East awakened an interest in oriental studies and researches. It was an era of beginnings. New fields were opening in literature, science, and politics. The history of the literature of this time until the accession of George III. in 1760 presents a striking contrast to the preceding age of Pope-the age of patronage, when successful writers were rewarded by substantial gifts of office.* In Johnson's time "the harvest was over and famine began. All that was squalid and miserable might be summed up in the word poet." It was an age which separated two great epochs in literary history-a pause when patronage had ceased and the public taste had not begun to demand the productions of literary Addison was Secretary of State; Steele was a member of Parliamen ud Commissioner of Stamps; Sir Isaac Newton was Master of the Mint; Locke was Commissioner of Appeals and of the Board of Trade; Gay, at twenty-five, was Secretary of Legation; Congreve, Rowe, Prior and Montague, Tickell and Ambrose Philips, were all employed in offices of state. |