A History of English Literature

Froude too this results in exaggeration, and further he is sadly
inaccurate, but his books are splendidly fascinating. His great 'History of
England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Armada' is his longest work; his
'Sketch' of Julius Casar is certainly one of the most interesting books of
biography and history ever written. John Richard Green (1837-1883), who was
a devoted clergyman before he became a historian, struggled all his life
against the ill-health which finally cut short his career. His 'History of
the English People' is an admirable representative of the modern historical
spirit, which treats general social conditions as more important than mere
external events; but as a narrative it vies in interest with the very
different one of Macaulay. Very honorable mention should be made also of W.
E. H. Lecky, who belongs to the conscientiously scientific historical
school. His 'History of Rationalism in Europe,' for example, is a very fine
monument of the most thorough research and most effective statement; but to
a mature mind its interest is equally conspicuous.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Beginning as early as the latter part of the eighteenth century literary
production, thanks largely to the tremendous increase of education and of
newspapers and magazines, has steadily grown, until now it has reached
bewildering volume and complexity, in which the old principles are partly
merged together and the new tendencies, for contemporary observers, at
least, scarcely stand out with decisive distinctness. Most significant
to-day, perhaps, are the spirit of independence, now carried in some
respects beyond the farthest previous Romantic limits, and the realistic
impulse, in which the former impulses of democracy and humanitarianism play
a large part. Facts not to be disregarded are the steady advance of the
short story, beginning early in the Victorian period or before, to a
position of almost chief prominence with the novel; and the rise of
American literature to a position approaching equality with that of
England. Of single authors none have yet certainly achieved places of the
first rank, but two or three may be named. Mr. William De Morgan, by
profession a manufacturer of artistic pottery, has astonished the world by
beginning to publish at the age of sixty-five a series of novels which show
no small amount of Thackeray's power combined with too large a share of
Thackeray's diffuseness. Mr. Alfred Noyes (born 1880) is a refreshingly
true lyric poet and balladist, and Mr. John Masefield has daringly enlarged
the field of poetry by frank but very sincere treatment of extremely
realistic subjects. But none of these authors can yet be termed great.
About the future it is useless to prophesy, but the horrible war of 1914 is
certain to exert for many years a controlling influence on the thought and
literature of both England and the whole world, an influence which, it may
be hoped, will ultimately prove stimulating and renovating.
Whatever may be true of the future, the record of the past is complete. No
intelligent person can give even hasty study to the fourteen existing
centuries of English Literature without being deeply impressed by its range
and power, or without coming to realize that it stands conspicuous as one
of the noblest and fullest achievements of the human race.
A LIST OF AVAILABLE EDITIONS FOR THE STUDY OF IMPORTANT AUTHORS