lland |
|
1667. Dutch fleet in the Thames | 1667. Milton's Paradise Lost.
| Dryden's Annus Mirabilis
|
| 1663-1694. Dryden's dramas
|
| 1671. Paradise Regained
|
| 1678. Pilgrim's Progress
| published
1680. Rise of Whigs and Tories |
| 1681. Dryden's Absalom and
| Achitophel
1685. James II |
Monmouth's Rebellion |
| 1687. Newton's Principia
| proves the law of
| gravitation
1688. English Revolution, William of |
Orange called to throne |
|
1689. Bill of Rights. Toleration Act |
| 1690. Locke's Human
| Understanding
| 1698. Jeremy Collier attacks
| stage
| 1700. Death of Dryden
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* * * * *

CHAPTER IX

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE (1700-1800)

I. AUGUSTAN OR CLASSIC AGE

HISTORY OF THE PERIOD. The Revolution of 1688, which banished the last of
the Stuart kings and called William of Orange to the throne, marks the end
of the long struggle for political freedom in England. Thereafter the
Englishman spent his tremendous energy, which his forbears had largely
spent in fighting for freedom, in endless political discussions and in
efforts to improve his government. In order to bring about reforms, votes
were now necessary; and to get votes the people of England must be
approached with ideas, facts, arguments, information. So the newspaper was
born,[182] and literature in its widest sense, including the book, the
newspaper, and the magazine, became the chief instrument of a nation's
progress.

The first half of the eighteenth century is remarkable for the rapid socia