2s. 6d.; sewed, 25 Henry IV. Part II. By the same. Is. 9d. 2s. 6d.; sewed, 2s. 2s. 6d.; sewed, 25. Is. 9d. Is. 9d. Julius Cæsar. By the same. Macbeth. By the same. Hamlet. By the same. 2s. 6d.; sewed, 2s. King Lear. By the same. Is. 9d. Othello. By the same. 25. Antony and Cleopatra. By the same. 2s. 6d.; sewed, 25. Guardian-"Speaking generally of Macmillan's series, we may say that they approach more nearly than any other edition we know to the ideal school Shakespeare. The introductory remarks are not too much burdened with controversial matter; the notes are abundant and to the point, scarcely any difficulty being passed over without some explanation, either by a paraphrase or etymological and grammatical notes." Speaker-"Few men have done more than Mr. Deighton to bring about a critical study of Shakespeare in English colleges and schools. His admirable editions of The Tempest, Much Ado about Nothing, Macbeth, Henry V., and The Winter's Tale are well known to schoolmasters, as well as private students, and it is hardly too much to say that their merits as practical introductions to the plays have one general recog. nition." Southey.-Life of Nelson. By Michael Macmillan, B.A. 35. 2s. 6d. Book I. By H. M. Percival, M.A. STEELE, M.A. 25. 35. By L. E. Tennyson.-Selections. By F. J. Rowe, M.A., and W. T. Webb, M.A. 3s. 6d. Part I. Recollections of the Arabian Nights, The Lady of Shalott, Enoch Arden. By W. T. Webb, M.A. Aylmer's Field. By W. T. Webb, M.A. 2s. 6d. 2s. 6d. The Princess. By P. M. Wallace, M.A. 3s. 6d. 2s. 6d. The Coming of Arthur; The Passing of Arthur. By F. J. Rowe, M. A. 2s. 6d. 2s. 6d. 2s. 6d. 2s. 6d. The Lotos Eaters, Ulysses, Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington, 2s. 6d. Wordsworth.-Selections. By W. T. Webb, M.A. Is. 9d.; Complete, 2s. 6d. Part I., Is. 9d.; Part II., Now Ready. 536 pages. Globe 8vo. Price 4s. 6d. A HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE BY E. J. MATHEW, M.A., LL.B. London MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION; II. The Old English Times; III. Norman Times; few things more just or more fine than his analysis of these two poor men. "With him there was a ploughman, was his brother-... An honest labourer, and a good was he, Living in peace and perfect charity. God loved he best, with all his holè hertè, At any time, though him it pleased or smerte, And then his neighbour rightly as himself. He oft would thresh, and also dyke and delve For Christ His sake for every poor wight, Withouten hire, if it lay in his might. His tithes he ever paid full fair and well, Both of his own labòur, and his catèl. In a tabard, he rode upon a mare." Herte, heart. Smerte, displeased. It lay in his might, if only it was in his power. Catel, cattle; property. Tabard, originally a herald's coat, then a loose blouse worn by ploughmen. Rode upon a mare, people of quality thought this an undignified thing to do. The Clerk of Oxford, who had not yet got a living, made a worthy companion to the Parson and the Ploughman. He was as fond of learning, and of teaching others to learn, as the Parson was of looking after his parish. The Parson and the Clerk represent the best and purest aspects of the Church that are to be found at the end of the fourteenth century. "A Clerk there was of Oxenford also, Lene, poor, lean. Thereto soberly, In consequence sad. Full, quite. Psaltery, a musical instrument something like a harp. Hente, get. Scoleye, study. The Moral Essays and the Imitations from Horace furnish themes not so liable to discussion. They show Pope at his best as a satirist; but they are wanting in strength of argument, and the first of them, on the Characters of Men, had to be entirely rearranged by Warburton. It is the weakest of the four; still it contains passages which could only have been produced by Pope. The subject of the second essay was badly chosen. In women, with perhaps one exception, Pope hardly saw anything except their faults. There is an objectionable allusion in the essay to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and coarse satire in the portrait of Atossa, the Duchess of Marlborough. Over the third essay, again largely altered by Warburton, Pope took great pains. Among many vigorous passages, the most notorious is the scene of the Duke of Buckingham's deathbed. The Imitations from Horace, prefaced by an Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, are even more notorious for the vigour of their satire. Some of Pope's most famous dissections of character are to be found in the epistle-the attack upon Addison under the name of Atticus, the description of Lord Hervey as Sporus, and of the Duke of Marlborough as Bestia. Atticus (Joseph Addison). But were there one whose fires While wits and Templars every sentence raise, Pope was never in any sense a poet of the emotions. He can better be called a poet of the understanding. The one metrical form which he could control was the heroic couplet; his mastery was only over the verse belonging to his age. The PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH London MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY PRESS OPINIONS. Times.-"Appears to us destined to take an important place in the higher educational literature, a place to which the author's immense erudition and clearness of view undoubtedly entitle it. Glasgow Herald.-"A careful examination of this volume leads us to the belief that it will secure a unique place for itself. The abundance of its facts and the convenience of its arrangements, the complete mastery of his subject by the author, the width of his view and his power of exposition, added to the handy size of the volume, will all tend to make it at once a useful book for high schools and colleges, and a good book for reference. 33 Globe." He achieves this task within the limits of 797 pages, into which he has managed to compress a very large amount of fact and comment. That the book is remarkably comprehensive will at once be conceded. The narrative has the attraction of readableness." |