p of the index.--References,
where no other indication is given, will be understood to be to the work
under discussion. The Shakespeare references are to the one-volume Globe
edition.]

THE AGE OF ELIZABETH

This lecture forms the introduction to the series on the "Literature of
the Age of Elizabeth." Hazlitt might have derived hints for it from
Schlegel, who speaks of the zeal for the study of the ancients, the
extensive communication with other lands, the interest in the literature
of Italy and Spain, the progress in experimental philosophy represented by
Bacon, and contrasts the achievements of that age, in a vein which must
have captured Hazlitt's sympathy, with "the pretensions of modern
enlightenment, as it is called, which looks with such contempt on all
preceding ages." The Elizabethans, he goes on to say, "possessed a
fullness of healthy vigour, which showed itself always with boldness, and
sometimes also with petulance. The spirit of chivalry was not yet wholly
extinct, and a queen, who was far more jealous in exacting homage to her
sex than to her throne, and who, with her determination, wisdom, and
magnanimity, was in fact, well qualified to inspire the minds of her
subjects with an ardent enthusiasm, inflamed that spirit to the noblest
love of glory and renown. The feudal independence also still survived in
some measure; the nobility vied with each other in the splendour of dress
and number of retinue, and every great lord had a sort of small court of
his own. The distinction of ranks was as yet strongly marked: a state of
things ardently to be desired by the dramatic poet." "Lectures on Dramatic
Literature," ed. Bohn, p. 349.

P. 1. _Raleigh_, Sir Walter (1552-1618), the celebrated courtier,
explorer, and man of letters.

_Drake_, Sir Francis (1545-1595), the famous sailor, hero of the Armada.

_Coke_, Sir Edward (1552-1634), the great jurist, whose "Institutes,"
better known as Coke upon Littleton, became a famous legal text-book.

_Hooker_, Richard (1553-1600), theologian, author of the "Laws of
Ecclesiastical Polity" (1593), a defense of the Anglican Church against
the Puritans and notable also as a masterpiece of English prose.

P. 2. _mere oblivion_. "As You Like It," ii, 7, 165.

_poor, poor dumb names_ [mouths]. "Julius Caesar," iii, 2, 229.

_Marston_, John (1575-1634). In the third lecture on the "Age of
Elizabeth," Hazlitt calls him "a writer of great merit, who rose to
tragedy from t