In our reading of the lyrics of the Elizabethan age, we shall notice a certain soundness and health, vigor and energy, caiety and mirth, sparkle and brilliance, and why should we not expect this? The literary world was in the full flush of youth youth with its high hopes and as pirations youth that saw the world only as one vast expanse of loveliness and trembled with excitement. The feelings were easily moved, for the heart-blood throbbed in every bosom, it had not become cold with the doubt and cynicism that found its way into the Victorian life. The Victorian Age marks a great advance in democracy, great increase in power, greater progress. in physical science and invention, and a change in philosophy and religion. Men's minds broaden and seek for just conclusions. It is an age that has for its prime object a search for truth and a desire to understand. It is the age of Tennyson, Brown ing and Arnold. The first two nared had a literary career of over half a century, and what they wrote was, to a great extent, determined by the circumstances and spirit of the time in which they wrote. After the French Revolution there was a lull in the literary world - men were weary of struggle, depressed in spirit. The empire that had sprung from the revolutionary republic was crushed, order in politics was not restored, and the whole revolution seemed a dismal failure. Two generations sought to establish equilibrium, but there was not the hope of Revolutionary days and the progress was slow. Democracy, however, was established in the principal countries of Europe, and its power is still advancing; government is not being meddled with, and the questions are now labor and social problems. In all these struggles for existence, the men of literature have taken a part. Probably no advancement has so affected the literary men as the advancement of science and the change in religious views. Hopes that were centered in politics. have been transferred to science. The advance in science has been so rapid that the whole world at one time was in a perfect whirl of excitement it seemed that science might do everything, and it threatened everything. The material results have been great; railways have been laid, commerce expanded, inventions brought forth, and all these things have necessarily affected the life of the people and the people's literature the influence may be negative, but it is none the less an influence. These changes have affected the poetry least, the fundamental principles have done more. The idea of a universal law, the idea of all nature being the parts of a great unit whole, the idea of evolution all these appeal to the im agination and thus directly effect a change in poetry. Philosophy, as applied to social and economic ques tions, was of practical interest to the people of England, but this century has seen its rapid development, decline and, in the opinion of some, its fall. The most vital change has been a change in religion, and it has most positively affected poetry. To many the Victorian period marks a decay of faith, but this is scarcely true. There has been a breaking down of religious dogmas that were worn threadbare, but this affected but few, more have been influenced by doubt rather than absolute negation. This is very curiously and nicely shown in a passage from BrownBishop Blongram says, in his trial for his relig ing. ious faith: "Had I been born three hundred years ago, They'd say, 'What's strange? Blougram of course And seventy years since, 'disbelieves, of course' Apart from religious circles there have been men who have held their minds open, not being prejudiced in favor of against any one so-called established belief. Such a man was Arnold. He believed the whole matter must be reasoned out, and he had no patience with those who thought every one should believe without questioning. That he was a skeptic may be doubted, but that he was an agnostic is evident. In Arnold's case, particularly, the cause of |