THE

LITERARY HISTORY

OF

ENGLAND

IN THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND BEGINNING

OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

BY MRS. OLIPHANT

AUTHOR OF 'MAKERS OF FLORENCE,' ETC.

Reading maketh a full man.”"-BACON, On Study.

"A good book is the precious life blood of a master spirit embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life."-MILTON, Areopagitica. C'est la meilleure munition que j'aye trouvé à cet humain voyage."-MONTAIGNE, Livre iii. Chap. iii. "Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind.". ADDISON, Spectator.

"Je ne voyage sans livres, ny en paix, ny en guerre.

IN THREE VOLUMES

VOL. IL

New York

MACMILLAN AND CO.

1882

THE LITERARY HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAPTER I.

CHARLES LAMB- -THOMAS DE QUINCEY.

AMID the greater forms that rose in the new flood of genius and life, in the end of the old century, to give the world assurance of a new epoch coming in, there is no attendant figure more attractive, more delightful, than that of Charles Lamb. No face can frown, no brow be overcast, when Elia-the gentle, the tender, the humorous, and ever-smiling, notwithstanding the deep dew of anguish which was never quite dried in his eyes-makes his appearance upon the scene. No man ever had a sweeter or more lightsome nature, and few men, even in this world of trouble, have been so heavily weighted. He was the schoolfellow of Coleridge at Christ's Hospital, and it is enough to warm the heart of all beholders to every wearer of the blue gown and yellow stockings to remember the two lads, who once strayed about the narrow streets in these habiliments, and ate the poor fare and bore the hardships which, in these days, were inseparable from the lot of a Blue-coat boy. Coleridge was a Grecian, a scholar, and credit to the school, although he prized the position so little that he desired (as is recorded) to be bound apprentice to a kind cobbler, who had been VOL. II.

B