A history of English literature

by Edward Albert

OTHER WRITERS OF MISCELLANEOUS PROSE

1. John Addington Symonds (1840–93) was among the foremost of the literary critics who flourished after the middle of the century. He was the son of a Bristol physician, and was educated at Harrow and Oxford. A tendency to consumption checked whatever desire he had to study the law, and much of his life was spent abroad.

A large proportion of his work was contributed to periodicals, and was collected and issued in volume form. The best collection is Studies of the Greek Poets (1873). His longest work is The Renaissance in Italy (1875–86), in which he contests Ruskin’s views on art. In style he is often ornate and even florid, and in treatment he can be diffuse to tediousness; but as a critic he is shrewd and well informed.

2. Walter Horatio Pater (1839–94) was, both as a stylist and as a literary critic, superior to Symonds. Born in London, he was educated at Canterbury and Oxford, becoming finally a Fellow of Brasenose. He devoted himself to art and literature, producing some remarkable volumes on these subjects.

His first essays appeared in book-form as Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1878), and were concerned chiefly with art; Marius the Epicurean (1885) is a remarkable philosophical novel, and is the best example of his distinguished style; Imaginary Portraits (1887) deals with artists; and Appreciations (1889) is on literary themes, and is prefaced by an important essay on style.

Pater’s individual style is among the most notable of the latter part of the century. It is the creation of immense application and forethought; every word is conned, every sentence proved, and every rhythm appraised, until we have the perfection of finished workmanship. It is never cheap, but firm and equable, with the strength and massiveness of bronze. Its very perfections are a burden, especially in his novel; it tends to become frigid and lifeless, and the subtle dallyings with refinements of meaning thin it down to mere euphuism. In the novel the action is chilled, and the characters frozen until they resemble rather a group of statuary than a collection of human beings.

3. James Anthony Froude (1818–94) was born near Totnes, where his father was archdeacon. After three years at Westminster School he proceeded to Oxford, where he was not long in feeling the effects of the High Church movement led by Newman. From this he afterward broke away, and was elected to a fellowship at Exeter College. He toiled ardently at literary work, contributing freely to The Westminster Review and other magazines. In 1860 he became editor of Fraser’s Magazine.

Froude was a man of strong opinions, to which he gave free expression both by voice and pen, and his career was often marked with controversy. His handling of the life of Carlyle provoked much angry comment. In the course of time his true merits came to be valued adequately, and after being appointed to several Government commissions he was elected (1892) Regius Professor of History at Oxford.

Froude’s miscellaneous work was published in four volumes called Short Studies on Great Subjects (1867–83). His History of England (1856–69) was issued in twelve volumes. In period it covers the time of the Reformation, and in method it follows the lead of Carlyle in its great detail and picturesque description. In its general attitude it is an indirect, and therefore an unfair, attack upon the High Church views of Newman. The work, nevertheless, is composed with much vigor, and is in the main accurate, though slightly lax in detail. Other books are The English in Ireland (1871–74), Cæsar (1879), Oceana (1886), and an Irish novel, The Two Chiefs of Dunboy (1889). His biography of Carlyle was issued during the period 1882–84.

4. The Historians. The nineteenth century produced many historical writers, of whom only a very few can find a place here.

(a) Alexander Kinglake (1809–91) was born near Taunton, and educated at Eton and Cambridge. He was called to the Bar, and practiced with some success, but in 1856 he retired to devote himself to literature. He saw much of the world, and watched the progress of the war in the Crimea. In 1857 he became Member of Parliament for Bridgwater.

His History of the Crimean War (1863–87) is enormously bulky and full of detail. In attitude it is too favorable to the British commander, Lord Raglan, and in style it is tawdry; at its best, however, it is a picturesque narrative. His other work of note is Eothen (1844), a clever account of Eastern travel.

(b) John Richard Green (1837–83) was born and educated at Oxford, and became a curate in the East End of London. He was delicate in health, and was compelled to retire from his charge in 1869. His last years were spent in writing his historical works.

Of these works the best is A Short History of the English People (1874), which at once took rank as one of the few popular text-books which are also literature. It is devoted to the history of the people and not to wars and high politics. It is told with a terse simplicity that is quite admirable. The Making of England (1882) and The Conquest of England (1883) are the only two other works he lived to finish.

(c) Edward Augustus Freeman (1823–92) was celebrated as the chief opponent of Froude. He was educated privately, and then at Oxford, where he became a Fellow of Trinity College and Regius Professor of Modern History (1884). He wrote many historical works, the most valuable of which are The History of the Norman Conquest (1867–79) and The Reign of William Rufus (1882). Freeman specialized in certain periods of English history, which he treated laboriously and at great length. This, as well as his arid style, makes his history unattractive to read, but he did much solid and enthusiastic work for the benefit of his students and successors.

5. The Scientists. The nineteenth century beheld the exposition of scientific themes raised to the level of a literary art.

(a) Hugh Miller (1802–56) was a natural genius, self-taught and self-inspired. He was born at Cromarty, in the north of Scotland, and became a stonemason, in which capacity he studied geology. In 1835 he became an accountant in a bank. He wrote much for the periodical press, and his writing attracted considerable notice. Latterly he suffered from mental disorder, and in the end committed suicide.

The Old Red Sandstone (1841) contains much patient observation of geological fact, and is still regarded as a valuable contribution to the subject; The Testimony of the Rocks (1857) appeared after his death. He wrote a little fiction of mediocre quality, published as Tales and Sketches (1863). Miller’s style is unforced and often impressive, and for sincerity, piety, and homely wisdom his books leave little to be desired.

(b) Charles Darwin (1809–82) is one of the greatest names in modern science. He was born at Shrewsbury, where he received his early education, passing later to Cambridge. In 1831 he became naturalist in The Beagle, a man-of-war that went around the world on a scientific mission. This lucky chance determined his career as a scientist. The remainder of his life was laboriously uneventful, being devoted almost wholly to biological and allied studies.

His chief works are The Voyage of the Beagle (1836), a mine of accurate and interesting facts; The Origin of Species (1859), which is to modern science what The Wealth of Nations is to modern economics—the foundation of belief; and The Descent of Man (1871). We cannot discuss his theories of evolution, but as general literature his books possess a living interest owing to their rich array of garnered evidence and their masterly gifts of exposition and argument.

(c) Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) was one of the ablest and most energetic of Darwin’s supporters. He was born at Ealing, and became a surgeon in the Navy. His first post was on Nelson’s Victory. Like Darwin, he traveled abroad on a warship, The Rattlesnake, and during these four years (1846–50) he saw and learned much. Retiring from the Navy, he took enthusiastically to scientific research, and became President of the Royal Society and a prominent public figure in the heated discussions concerning the theories that were then so new and disturbing.

Huxley produced no work in the same class as The Origin of Species. His work consisted of lectures and addresses, which were issued in volume form as Man’s Place in Nature (1863), Lay Sermons and Addresses (1870), and American Lectures (1877).