l; but it
expresses the general spirit of the age in which he lived.

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, Percy's _Reliques_ marks an epoch in the
history of Romanticism, and it is difficult to measure its influence on the
whole romantic movement. Scott says of it, "The first time I could scrape a
few shillings together, I bought myself a copy of these beloved volumes;
nor do I believe I ever read a book half so frequently, or with half the
enthusiasm." Scott's own poetry is strongly modeled upon these early
ballads, and his _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_ is due chiefly to the
influence of Percy's work.

Besides the _Reliques_, Percy has given us another good work in his
_Northern Antiquities_ (1770) translated from the French of Mallet's
_History of Denmark_. This also was of immense influence, since it
introduced to English readers a new and fascinating mythology, more rugged
and primitive than that of the Greeks; and we are still, in music as in
letters, under the spell of Thor and Odin, of Frea and the Valkyr maidens,
and of that stupendous drama of passion and tragedy which ended in the
"Twilight of the Gods." The literary world owes a debt of gratitude to
Percy, who wrote nothing of importance himself, but who, by collecting and
translating the works of other men, did much to hasten the triumph of
Romanticism in the nineteenth century.

III. THE FIRST ENGLISH NOVELISTS

The chief literary phenomena of the complex eighteenth century are the
reign of so-called Classicism, the revival of romantic poetry, and the
discovery of the modern novel. Of these three, the last is probably the
most important. Aside from the fact that the novel is the most modern, and
at present the most widely read and influential type of literature, we have
a certain pride in regarding it as England's original contribution to the
world of letters. Other great types of literature, like the epic, the
romance, and the drama, were first produced by other nations; but the idea
of the modern novel seems to have been worked out largely on English
soil;[211] and in the number and the fine quality of her novelists, England
has hardly been rivaled by any other nation. Before we study the writers
who developed this new type of literature, it is well to consider briefly
its meaning and history.

MEANING OF THE NOVEL. Probably the most significant remark made by the
ordinary reader concerning a work of fiction takes the form of a question:
Is it a