PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION. THIS edition of Taine's History of English Literature has been carefully revised and compared with the original. All the quotations have been collated and verified anew, and no trouble has been spared to make it as accurate as possible. For the favorable reception this translation has met with from the press and the public, I feel much indebted. H. VAN LAUN. THE ACADEMY, EDINBURGH, May 31, 1873. CONTENTS. Historical documents serve only as a clue to reconstruct the visible indi- The outer man is only a clue to study the inner, invisible man . The state and the actions of the inner and invisible man have their causes in certain general ways of thought and feeling Chief causes of thoughts and feeling. Their historical effects History is a mechanical and psychological problem. Within certain lim- Composition of groups. Law of formation of a group. Examples and indications PAGE. Their original country-Soil, sea, sky, climate—Their new coun- try-A moist land and a thankless soil-Influence of climate on |