FROM THE HYMN TO PAN.* "O thou for whose soul-soothing quiet turtles Through sunny meadows, that outskirt the side By every wind that nods the mountain pine, Other Poets.-Among the notable religious poets of the time were REGINALD HEBER, bishop of Calcutta, the writer of well known Missionary Hymns; JAMES GRAHAME, the author of The Sabbath, a poem somewhat in the style of Cowper; ROBERT POLLOK, whose Course of Time is gloomy in character, but contains passages reminding the reader of Milton; and lastly, JOHN KEBLE, an English clergyman, whose work, entitled The Christian Year, has long been a favourite. The more illustrious descriptive poets were SAMUEL ROGERS, a London banker, whose Italy, Pleasures of Memory, &c., are marked by that refinement which was characteristic of the man; JAMES MONTGOMERY, author of The Pelican Island, The World before the Flood, &c. ; and HENRY KIRKE WHITE, a butcher's son, who wrote Clifton Grove, and other poems. He enjoyed the patronage of Southey, and was rapidly making his way to distinction as a poet, when he died of consumption at the age of twenty-one. WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES was a famous sonnet writer, whose works had a marked influence on those of Coleridge; WILLIAM GIFFORD, the editor of the Quarterly Review, * The god of the woods, of shepherds, and of huntsmen. distinguished himself as a satirist; and MRS. HEMANS, though the writer of ambitious poems of some length, will be best remembered as a lyric poetess, her Graves of a Household, and Homes of England, being well known examples of her style. Among Scotch Poets may be named JAMES HOGG, commonly known as the Ettrick Shepherd, and author of a beautiful imaginative poem called the Queen's Wake, &c., &c.; and ROBERT TANNAHILL, the luckless Paisley poet, who committed suicide in consequence, it is supposed, of certain literary disappointments. He was the writer of several Scotch songs, of which Gloomy Winter's noo Awa', and Jessie, the Flower o' Dunblane, are good examples. DRAMATISTS. JAMES SHERIDAN Knowles (b. 1784, d. 1862) was the son of a teacher of English, residing at Cork. In his boyhood he was fond of writing little plays to be acted by his schoolfellows. In after years he went to London, where he published some of his works, and was befriended oy Hazlitt, the celebrated critic, who also gave him useful hints as to the art of play-writing. Knowles next became an actor, and learned by experience the kind of play that pleased an audience most. His best known dramas are Virginius, the Hunchback, and William Tell, which were performed by the greatest actors of the age. In 1849 Knowles received a pension of £200 a year. retirement from the stage, he became a teacher of elocution, and preached occasionally in the chapels of the Baptist church. His plays are interesting, because the plot or plan of the stories upon which they are based is usually arranged with great skill. Knowles also excelled in the delineation of character. After his JOANNA BAILLIE (b. 1762, d. 1851), the daughter of a Scotch minister, wrote plays to illustrate single passions, and of these she published several volumes. They are, on the whole, good, but they might have been better had Miss Baillie known more of the business of the stage. From the very first act of her plays, it is possible to foretell what the end will be, and hence the other acts lose their interest. Her best tragedies are Count Basil and De Montfort. Other Dramatists.-Dramatic poems were attempted by most of the great poets of the age. They were nearly all tragedies, and were more suitable for private reading than for public performance. Of such a character was the Borderers of Wordsworth; the Remorse of Coleridge; the Manfred of Byron, and the Cenci of Shelley. Of the comedies which were written at this period, and which have since kept possession of the stage, that of the Honeymoon, by JOHN TOBIN, is the best. CHAPTER XV. PROSE LITERATURE-FROM 1800 TILL 1830. NOVELISTS.-Scott-Maria Edgeworth-Other Novelists. HISTORIANS.-Hallam-Other Historians. WRITERS ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS.-Hall-Foster-Chalmers-Other Writers on Re ligious Subjects. PHILOSOPHERS.-Stewart-Mackintosh— Other Philosophers. MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS, CRITICS, &c.-Smith-Jeffrey-Hazlitt-Other Critics-Lamb-Wilson-Other Miscellaneous Writers. THE leading feature of the prose literature of the time was the production of the Waverley Novels, in which series the historical romance was founded by Sir Walter Scott. These novels exercised a powerful influence by diverting public taste from the unhealthy novel literature of the preceding period, and by providing a pleasant and innocent source of mental recreation and amusement. The historians now dealt not with general history, as did Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon, but with particular departments and periods. Biographers were numerous, and critics and essayists contributed in abundance to the periodical literature of the day. NOVELISTS. SCOTT-The Waverley Novels. In 1814 Scott issued Waverley, the first novel of the series which bears its name. It was published anonymously. The reason was that Scott, having gained a great name as a poet, was not sure that he would be equally successful as a novelist, and so withheld his name, till he saw how Waverley should be received by the public. The book was an extraordinary success; and, as novel after novel made its appearance, the people were delighted and the critics were enthusiastic in their praise. These novels are twenty-nine in number, and, for the sake of convenience, have been divided into four groups-1st, those connected with Scottish history, like Waverley, which describes scenes in connection with the Rebellion of 1745; and Old Mortality, connected with the times of the Covenanters; 2nd, those referring to English History, like Ivanhoe (time of Richard Cœur de Lion); and Kenilworth (time of Queen Elizabeth); 3rd, those dealing with Continental History, like Quentin Durward (time of Louis XI. of France); and 4th, those bearing on Private Life, like Guy Mannering and the Antiquary, the latter of which contains the best description of Scottish life and character ever written. It is unnecessary to enter into any description of works so widely known. Of the illustrious novelist it has been well remarked, that he "revived the glories of past ages; illustrated the landscape and the history of his native country; painted the triumphs of patriotism and virtue, and the meanness and misery of vice; awakened our best and kindliest feelings in favour of suffering and erring humanity of the low born and the persecuted, the peasant, the beggar, and the Jew; he has furnished an intellectual banquet, as rich as it is various and picturesque, from his curious learning, extensive observation, forgotten manners, and decaying superstitions-the whole embellished with the lights of a vivid imagination, and a correct and gracefully regulated taste. In the number and variety of his conceptions and characters, Scott is entitled to take his seat beside the greatest masters of fiction, British or foreign. Some have excelled him in particular qualities of the novelist, but none in their harmonious and rich combination." APPROACH OF A STORM. "With a mind employed in admiration of the romantic scene, or perhaps on some more agitating topic, Miss Wardour advanced in silence by her father's side. Following the windings of the beach, they passed one projecting point of headland of rock after another, and now found themselves under a huge and continued extent of the precipices by which that iron bound coast is in most places defended. Long projecting reefs of rock, extending under water, and only evincing their existence by here and there a peak entirely bare, or by the breakers which foamed over those that were partially covered, rendered Knockwinnock bay dreaded by pilots and ship-masters. The crags which rose between the beach and the mainland, to the height of two or three hundred feet, afforded in their crevices shelter for unnumbered sea fowl, in situations seemingly secured by their dizzy height from the rapacity of man. Many of these wild tribes, with the instinct which sends them to seek the land before a storm arises, were now winging towards their nests with the shrill and dissonant clang which announces disquietude and fear. The disk of the sun became almost totally obscured ere he had altogether sunk below the horizon, and an early and lurid shade of darkness blotted the serene twilight of a summer evening. The wind began next to arise; but its wild and moaning sound was heard for some time, and its effects became visible on the bosom of the sea, before the gale was felt on shore. The mass of waters, now dark and threatening, began to lift itself in larger ridges, and sink in deeper furrows, forming waves that rose high in foam upon the breakers, or burst upon the beach with a sound resembling distant thunder." MARIA EDGEWORTH (b. 1767, d. 1849) was born in Berkshire, but brought up in Ireland. In 1801, she issued her first novel, Castle Rackrent, giving an account of the follies and vices of Irish landlords, and describing the good points and the bad in the character of the poorer |