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ENGLISH SATIRES
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
OLIPHANT SMEATON
LONDON
THE GRESHAM PUBLISHING COMPANY
34 SOUTHAMPTON STREET
STRAND
TO THE MEMORY OF
ALEXANDER BALLOCH GROSART
D.D., LL.D., F.S.A.
WITH A GRATEFUL SENSE OF ALL IT OWES TO
HIS TEACHING
THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED BY
THE AUTHOR
PREFACE.
In the compilation of this volume my aim has been to furnish a work that would be representative in character rather than exhaustive. The restrictions of space imposed by the limits of such a series as this have necessitated the omission of many pieces that readers might expect to see included. As far as possible, however, the most typical satires of the successive eras have been selected, so as to throw into relief the special literary characteristics of each, and to manifest the trend of satiric development during the centuries elapsing between Langland and Lowell.