impression--that is
impossible--but any impression at all of the subject. To do this I
have crowded out everything but _belles-lettres_. Books in philosophy,
history, science, etc., however important in the history of English
thought, receive the merest incidental mention, or even no mention at
all. Again, I have omitted the literature of the Anglo-Saxon period,
which is written in a language nearly as hard for a modern Englishman
to read as German is, or Dutch. Caedmon and Cynewulf are no more a
part of English literature than Vergil and Horace are of Italian. I
have also left out {8} the vernacular literature of the Scotch before
the time of Burns. Up to the date of the union Scotland was a separate
kingdom, and its literature had a development independent of the
English, though parallel with it.

In dividing the history into periods, I have followed, with some
modifications, the divisions made by Mr. Stopford Brooke in his
excellent little _Primer of English Literature_. A short reading
course is appended to each chapter.

HENRY A. BEERS.

{9}

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

I. FROM THE CONQUEST TO CHAUCER, 1066-1400 . . . . . 11
II. FROM CHAUCER TO SPENSER, 1400-1599 . . . . . . . 42
III. THE AGE OF SHAKSPERE, 1564-1616 . . . . . . . . . 76
IV. THE AGE OF MILTON, 1608-1674 . . . . . . . . . . 125
V. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE DEATH OF
POPE, 1660-1744 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
VI. FROM THE DEATH OF POPE TO THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION, 1744-1789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
VII. FROM THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE DEATH
OF SCOTT, 1789-1832 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
VIII. FROM THE DEATH OF SCOTT TO THE PRESENT
TIME, 1832-1886 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
IX. THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN
GREAT BRITAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

{11}

OUTLINE SKETCH

OF

ENGLISH LITERATURE.

CHAPTER I.

FROM THE CONQUEST TO CHAUCER.

1066-1400.

The Norman conquest of England, in the 11th century, made a break in
the natural growth of the English language and literature. The old
English or Anglo-Saxon had been a purely Germanic speech, with a
complicated grammar and a full set of inflections. For three hundred
years following the battle of Hastings this native tongue was driven
from the king's court and the courts of law, from parliament, school,
and university. During all this time th