II.

FIRST CREATIVE PERIOD.

1558-1625.

GENERAL SURVEY. This period, which includes the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., is one of great interest. In the long course of English literature there is no other period that deserves more careful attention. It was the natural outcome of forces that had been accumulating for a hundred years. It is sometimes called the Elizabethan era, because the successful reign of that queen supplied the opportunity for a splendid manifestation of literary genius. Peace, prosperity, and general intelligence are the necessary conditions for the creation of a great national literature-a truth that finds abundant exemplification in the age of Pericles in Athens, of Augustus in Rome, and of Louis XIV. in France. While these conditions do not explain genius, which must be referred to the immediate agency of the Creator, they make it possible for genius to realize its best capabilities. The reign of Elizabeth, with its increase of intelligence and national power, furnished the occasion and the stimulus under which Spenser, Shakespeare, and Bacon produced their immortal works. At one great bound English literature reached an excellence that for variety of interest and weight of thought has scarcely been surpassed.

The century and a half lying between the death of

Chaucer and the accession of Elizabeth may be considered as a retrogressive era. The potential forces that called the father of English poetry into being seemed to subside; and not a single writer in either prose or poetry attained to the first or even the second rank. English lit erature, as a whole, did not reach respectable mediocrity. The only names that need to be mentioned here are Caxton, who introduced printing into England, and Sir Thomas More, a brilliant courtier under Henry VIII., whose "Utopia - the land of Nowhere - has the rare distinction of having contributed a new word to our language. The cause of this barrenness is to be found partly in the repression of free inquiry by the church and Parliament, partly in the social disorder connected with the Wars of the Roses, and partly in the varied and important interests that engaged general attention.

"

The century preceding the accession of Elizabeth was an era of awakened mind and intellectual acquisition. The revival of learning was an event of vast importance, not only in the intellectual life of England, but also of all Europe. It had its central point in the capture of Corstantinople by the Turks in 1453, which caused many Greek scholars to seek refuge in Italy. As ancient learning had already begun to receive attention there, these scholarly fugitives were warmly welcomed. Noble and wealthy patronage was not wanting; and soon the classic literature of Greece and Rome was studied with almost incredible enthusiasm. The Popes received the new learning under their protection; libraries were founded, manuscripts collected, and academies established.

Eager scholars from England, France, and Germany sat at the feet of Italian masters, in order afterward to bear

Its

beyond the Alps the precious seed of the new culture. beneficent effects soon became apparent. Greek was introduced into the great universities of England. Erasmus, the most brilliant scholar of his time, taught at Oxford. It became the fashion to study the ancient classics; and Elizabeth, Jane Grey, and other noble ladies are said to have been conversant with Plato, Xenophon, and Cicero in the original. The taste, the eloquence, the refined literary culture, of Athens and pagan Rome were restored to the world; and "gradually, by an insensible change, men were raised to the level of the great and healthy minds which had freely handled ideas of all kinds fifteen centuries. before."

The remarkable inventions and discoveries of the fifteenth century contributed, in a noteworthy degree, to awaken intellect, and lift men to a higher plane of knowledge. The printing-press was invented about the middle of the century, and in less than a decade it was brought to such perfection that the whole Bible appeared in type in 1456. It became a powerful aid in the revival of learning. It at once supplanted the tedious and costly process of copying books by hand, and brought the repositories of learning within reach of the common people. Gunpowder, which had been invented the previous century, came into common use, and wrought a salutary change in the organization of society. It destroyed the military prestige of the knightly order, brought the lower classes into greater prominence, and contributed to the abolition of serfdom. The mariner's compass greatly furthered navigation. Instead of creeping along the shores of the Mediterranean or the Atlantic, seamen boldly ventured upon

1 Taine, English Literature, Vol. I.

unknown waters. In 1492 Columbus discovered America; and six years later Vasca da Gama, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, sailed across the Indian Ocean to Calcutta. Voyages of discovery followed in rapid succession, new continents were added to the map, and the general store of knowledge was greatly increased.

The greatest event in history since the advent of Christ is the Reformation of the sixteenth century. It was essentially a religious movement which sought to correct the errors in doctrine and practice that had crept into the church and long given rise to deep dissatisfaction. In connection with the co-operating influences spoken of in the preceding paragraphs, the Reformation began a new stage in human progress, marking the close of the Middle Ages and the dawn of the modern era. There is scarcely an important interest that it did not touch. It secured greater purity and spirituality in religion, contributed much to the elevation of the laity and the advancement of woman, confirmed the separation of the secular and the ecclesiastical power, established the right of liberty of conscience, gave an extraordinary impulse to literature and science, and, in a word, promoted all that distinguishes and ennobles our modern civilization.

When the reformatory movement, which began with Martin Luther in Germany in 1517, extended to England, it found a receptive soil. Traditions of Wycliffe still survived; the new learning was friendly to reform; and men of high civil and ecclesiastical rank had inveighed against existing abuses. Though Henry VIII. at first remained faithful to the Roman Catholic Church, and even wrote a book against the German reformer, he afterwards, for personal and selfish reasons, withdrew his support, and

encouraged the reformatory work of his ministers and of Parliament. In 1534 the Act of Supremacy was passed, by which the king was made the supreme head of the Church of England, and empowered to "repress and amend all such errors and heresies as, by any manner of spiritual jurisdiction, might and ought to be lawfully reformed."

Without attempting to trace the general effects of the Reformation in England - a factor that enters with a moulding influence into all the subsequent history of the country some of its immediate results upon English literature are briefly indicated. In 1526 Tyndale published his translation of the New Testament, which was followed soon afterwards by other portions of the Bible. Nearly every year, for half a century, saw a new edition issue from the press. Tyndale's translation was made with great ability, and served as the basis of subsequent versions until, in 1611, King James's version, embodying all the excellences of previous efforts, gained general accept

ance.

The Scriptures in English were seized upon with great avidity by the common people. The results were farreaching and salutary. The study of the Bible stimulated mental activity; its precepts ennobled character and governed conduct; its language improved the common speech; and its treasures of history and poetry added to the popular intelligence. It gave an impulse to general education; and it became at once, what it has since remained, the occasion of high scholarship and of a considerable body of literature. Latimer, whose vigorous sermons advanced the cause of the Reformation in different parts of England, is a type of the unbroken line of able preachers whose influence since upon the social, moral, and