HUNNIS (A. 1550), one of the gentlemen of Queen Elizabeth's chapel, and the author of some moral and religious poems printed separately. and a contributor to a collection called England's Helicon, published in 1600, which comprises many of the fugitive pieces of the preceding twenty years. Sidney, Raleigh, Lodge, Marlowe, Greene are among the other contributors to this collection. FRANCIS DAVISON (1575-1618), the son of the secretary Davison, deserves mention as the editor and a contributor to the Poetical Rhapsody, published in 1602, and often reprinted. Like "England's Helicon" it is a collection of poems by various writers. WILLIAM WARNER (1558-1609), a native of Oxfordshire, an attorney of the Commou Pleas, and the author of Albion's England, first published in 1586, and frequently reprinted. This poem, which is written in the fourteen-syllable line, is a history of England from the Deluge to the reign of James I. It supplanted in popular favour the Mirrour for Magistrates. The style of the work was much admired in its day, and Meres, in his "Wit's Treasury," says, that by Warner's pen the English tongue was "mightily enriched and gorgeously invested in rare ornaments and resplendent habiliments." The tales are chiefly of a merry cast, and many of would have made a great epic poet," says them indecent. THOMAS WATSON (1560-1592), the author of some sonnets, which have been much admired. JOSHUA SYLVESTER (1563-1618), a merchant, who translated The Divine Weeks and Works of the French poet Du Bartas, and obtained in his day the epithet of the Silver-tongued. The work went through seven editions, the last being published in 1641. It was one of Milton's early favourites. ARTHUR BROOKE (ob. 1563), the author of The Tragical History of Romeo and Juliet, published in 1562, a metrical paraphrase of the Italian novel of Bandello, on which Shakspeare founded his tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Brooke's poem is one of considerable merit. ROBERT SOUTHWELL (1560-1595), born in Norfolk, of Catholic parents, educated at Douay, became a Jesuit, and returned to England in 1584 as a missionary. He was arrested in 1592, and was executed at Tyburn in 1595, on account of his being a Romish priest, though not involved in any political plots. His poems breathe a spirit of religious resignation, and are marked by beauty of thought and expression. Ben Jonson said that Southwell "had so written that piece of his, The Burning Babe, he (Jonson) would have been content to destroy many of his." THOMAS STORER (1587-1604), of Christ Church, Oxford, the author of a poem on The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal, published in 1599, in which he followed closely Cavendish's Life of Wolsey. NICHOLAS BRETON (1558-1624?) the author of a considerable number of poems, GEORGE CHAPMAN (1557-1634), also a dramatic poet, but most celebrated for his translation of Homer, which preserves much of the fire and spirit of the original. The Iliad is in the fourteen-syllable verse so common in the Elizabethan era. "He Charles Lamb, "if, indeed, he has not abundantly shown himself to be one: for his Homer is not so properly a translation as the stories of Achilles and Ulysses rewritten. The earnestness and passion which he has put into every part of these poems would be incredible to a reader of more modern translations." Chapman was born at Hitching Hill, in Hertfordshire. His life was a prosperous one, and he lived on intimate terms with the great men of his day. EDWARD VERE, EARL OF OXFORD (15341604), the author of some verses in the Paradise of Dainty Devices. He sat as Great Chamberlain of England upon the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. HENRY CONSTABLE (1568?-1604?), was celebrated for his sonnets, published in 1592, under the name of Diana. It is conjectured that he was the same Henry Constable who, for his zeal in the Catholic religion, was long obliged to live in a state of banishment. SIR FULK GREVILLE, LORD BROOKE (1554-1628), a friend of Sir Philip Sidney, was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a peer in 1621. He died by the stab of a revengeful servant, in 1628. His poems are a Treatise on Humane Learning, a Treatise of Wars, a Treatise of Monarchy, a Treatise of Religion, and an Inquisition upon Fame and Fortune. He also wrote two tragedies, entitled Alaham and Mustapha, neither of which was ever acted, being written after the model of the ancients, with choruses, &c. Southey remarked that Dryden appeared to him to have formed his tragic style more upon Lord Brooke than upon any other author. SAMUEL ROWLANDS (d. 1634), whose history is quite unknown, except that he was a prolific pamphleteer in the reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. Campbell remarks that "his descriptions of contemporary follies have considerable humour. I think he has afforded in the story of Smug and Smith a hint to Butler for his apologue of vicarious justice, in the case of the brethren who hanged a 'poor weaver that was bed-rid,' instead of the cobbler who had killed an Indian, 'Not out of malice, but mere zeal, Hudibras, Part. ii. Canto ii. 1. 420." SIR JOHN HARRINGTON (1561-1612), born at Kelston, near Bath, in Somersetshire, and celebrated as the first English translator of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, published in 1591. Harrington also wrote a book of epigrams, and several other works. His father, John Harrington (1534-1582) was the author of some poems published in the " Nuga Antiquæ." He was imprisoned in the Tower under Queen Mary, for holding a correspondence with Eliza beth. EDWARD FAIRFAX (fl. 1600), the translator of Tasso's Jerusalem, was a gentleman of fortune. The first edition was published in 1600, and was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. This translation is much superior to that of Ariosto by Sir John Harrington. "It has been considered as one of the earliest works in which the obsolete English which had not been laid aside in the days of Sackville, and which Spenser affected to preserve, gave way to a style not much differing, at least in point of single words and phrases, from that of the present day." ." But this praise, adds Mr. Hallam, is equally due to Daniel, to Drayton, and to others of the later Elizabethan poets. The first five books of Tasso had been previously translated by CAREW in 1594. This translation is more literal than that of Fairfax, but far inferior in poetical spirit. THOMAS LODGE (1556-1625 ?), also a physician and a dramatic poet, was born in Lincolnshire, was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, and first appeared as an author about 1580. Ten of Lodge's poems are contained in the "English Helicon," published in 1600. To his prose work entitled Rosolynde: Eupheus Golden Legacie (1590), Shakspeare was indebted for the plot and incidents of his drama, As you like it. For his dramatic works, see p. 131. THOMAS CAREW (1589-1639), a poet at the court of Charles I., where he held the office of gentleman of the Privy-chamber, and server in ordinary to the king. His poems, which are mostly short and amatory, were greatly admired in their day Campbell remarks that" the want of boldness and expansion in Carew's thoughts and subjects excludes him from rivalship with great poetical names; nor is it difficult, even within the narrow pale of his works, to discover some faults of affecta tion, and of still more objectionable indelicacy. But among the poets who have walked in the same limited path he is preeminently beautiful, and deservedly ranks among the earliest of those who gave a cultivatedgrace to our lyrical strains." SIR HENRY WOTTON (1568-1639), a distinguished diplomatist in the reigns of Flizabeth and James I. He was secretary to the Earl of Essex; but, upon the apprehension of his patron, he left the kingdom. He returned upon the accession of James, and was appointed ambassador to Venice. Later in life he was appointed Provost of Eton, and took deacon's orders. His principal writings were published in 1651, under the title of Reliquia Wottoniana, with a memoir of his life by Isaak Walton. His literary reputation rests chiefly upon his poems. His Elements of Architecture were long held in esteem. The Reliquiæ also contain several other prose works. RICHARD BARNFIELD (b. 1574), educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, wrote several minor poems, distinguished by elegance of versification. His ode, "As it fell upon a day," which was reprinted in the "English Helicon" under the signature of "Ignoto," in 1600, had been falsely attributed to Shakspeare in a volume entitled "The Passionate Pilgrim" (1599). RICHARD CORBETT (1582-1635), bishop of Oxford, and afterwards of Norwich, celebrated as a wit and a poet in the reign of James I. His poems were first collected and published in 1647. The best known are his Journey into France and his Farewell to the Fairies. They are lively and witty. SIR JOHN BEAUMONT (1582-1628), elder brother of Francis Beaumont the dramatist, wrote in the heroic couplet a poem entitled Bosworth Field, which was pub lished by his son in 1629. PHINEAS FLETCHER (1584-1650), and his younger brother, GILES FLETCHER, mentioned in the text (p. 84), deserve a fuller notice; and we cannot do better than quote Mr. Hallam's discriminating critic. * Ism respecting them. "An ardent admiration for Spenser inspired the genius of two young brothers, Phineas and Giles Fletcher. The first, very soon after the queen's death, as some allusions to Lord Essex seem to denote, composed, though he did not so soon publish, a poem, entitled The Purple Island. By this strange name he expressed a subject more strange; it is a minute and elaborate account of the body and mind of man. Through five cantos the reader is regaled with nothing but allegorical anatomy, in the details of which Phineas seems tolerably skilled, evincing a great deal of ingenuity in diversifying his metaphors, and in presenting the delineation of his imaginary island with as much justice as possible to the allegory without obtruding it on the reader's view. In the sixth canto he rises to the intellectual and moral faculties of the soul, which occupy the rest of the poem. From its nature it is insuperably wearisome, yet his language is often very poetical, his versification harmonious, his invention fertile. ** Giles Fletcher, brother of Phineas, in Christ's Victory and Triumph, though his subject has not all the unity that might be desired, had a manifest superiority in its choice. Each uses a stanza of his own; Phineas one of seven lines, Giles one of eight. This poem was published in 1610. Each brother alludes to the work of the other, which must be owing to the alterations made by Phineas in his Purple Island, written probably the first, but not published, I believe, till 1633. Giles seems to have more vigour than his elder brother, but less sweetness, less smoothness, and more affectation in his style. This, indeed, is deformed by words neither English nor Latin, but simply barbarous, such as elamping, eblazon, deprostrate, purpured, glitterand, and many others. They both bear much resemblance to Spenser; Giles sometimes ventures to cope with him, even in celebrated passages, such as the description of the Cave of Despair. And he has had the honour, in turn, of being followed by Milton, especially in the first meeting of our Saviour with Satan in the Paradise Regained. Both of these brothers are deserving of much praise; they were endowed with minds eminently poetical, and not inferior in imagination to any of their contemporaries. But an injudicious taste, and an excessive fondness for a style which the public was rapidly abandoning, that of allegorical personification, prevented their powers from being effectively displayed." SCOTTISH POETS. SIR ALEXANDER SCOTT (fl. 1562) wrote Several amatory poems, which have procured him the title of the Scottish Anacreon. SIR RICHARD MAITLAND (1496-1586), which bear his name than as an original more celebrated as a collector of the poems poet, but his own compositions are marked by good taste. ALEXANDER MONTGOMERY, the author of an allegorical poem called The Cherry and the Slae, published in 1597, which long continued to be a favourite, and the metre of which was adopted by Burns. ALEXANDER HUME (d. 1609), a clergyman, published in 1599 a volume of Hymns or Sacred Songs. KING JAMES VI. published, in 1584, a volume of poetry, entitled Essayes of a Prentice in the Divine Art of Poesie, with the Rewlis and Cautelis to be pursued and avoided. EARL OF ANCRUM (1578-1654), wrote some sonnets of considerable merit. GEORGE BUCHANAN (1506-1582), celebrated for his Latin version of the Psalms, is spoken of among the prose writers (p. 110). DR. ARTHUR JOHNSTON (1587-1641), also celebrated for his Latin version of the Psalms, was born near Aberdeen, studied medicine at Padua, and was appointed physician to Charles I. He died at Oxford. According to the testimony of Mr. Hallam, "Johnston's Psalms, all of which are in the elegiac metre, do not fall short of those of Buchanan, either in elegance of style or correctness of Latinity." Johnston also wrote several other Latin poems. EARL OF STIRLING (1580-1640), published in 1637 a collation of his works entitled Recreations with the Muses, consisting of heroic poems and tragedies, of no great merit, but Campbell observes that "there is elegance of expression in a few of his shorter pieces." One of his tragedies is on the subject of Julius Cæsar. WILLIAM DRUMMOND of Hawthornden (1585-1649), the most distinguished of the Scottish poets of this era, was the friend of Ben Jonson and Drayton. Jonson visited him in Hawthornden in 1619. His best poems are his sonnets, which Mr. Hallam describes as "polished and elegant, free from conceit and bad taste, in pure unblemished English." CHAPTER V. THE NEW PHILOSOPHY AND PROSE LITERATURE IN THE REIGNS OF ELIZABETH AND JAMES I. A.D. 1558-1625. § 1. Introduction. § 2. Chroniclers: STOW, HOLLINSHED, SPEED. § 3. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. § 4. Collections of Voyages and Travels: HAKLUYT, PURCHAS, DAVIS. § 5. The English Church: HOOKER'S Ecclesiastical Polity. § 6. Life of LORD BACON. § 7. Services of Bacon: the scholastic philosophy. § 8. History of previous attempts to throw off the yoke of the scholastic philosophy. § 9. Bacon's Instauratio Magna. § 10. First and Second Books: De Augmentis Scientiarum and the Novum Organon: the Inductive Method. § 11. Third Book: Silva Silvarum : collection and classification of facts and experiments: remaining books. § 12. Estimate of Bacon's services to science. § 13. His Essays and other English writings. § 14. BURTON'S Anatomy of Melancholy. LORD HERBERT OF CHERBURY. § 15. THOMAS HOBBES. § 1. THE principal object of the present chapter is to trace the nature and the results of that immense revolution in philosophy brought about by the immortal writings of Bacon. It will, however, be unavoidable, in accordance with the chronological order generally adopted in our work, to sketch the character of other authors, of great though inferior importance, who flourished at the same time. Of the general intellectual character of the Age of Elizabeth, something has already been said: it may be observed that much of the peculiarly practical character which distinguishes the political and philosophical literature of this time is traceable to the general laicising of the higher functions of the public service, and is not one of the least valuable results of the Protestant Reformation. The clergy had no longer the monopoly of that learning and those acquirements which during the Catholic ages secured them the monopoly of power: and the vigorous personal character of the great queen combined with her jealousy of dictation to surround her throne with ministers chosen for the most part among the middle classes of her people, and to whom she accorded unshaken confidence, while she never allowed them to obtain any of that undue influence which the weaknesses of the woman experienced from unworthy favourites like Leicester and Essex. Such men as Burleigh, Walsingham, and Sir Thomas Smith belong to a peculiar type and class of statesmen; and their administration, though less brilliant and dramatic than might be found at other periods of our history, was incontestibly more wise and patriotic than can easily be paralleled. § 2. In the humble but useful department of historical chronicles a few words must be said on the labours of JOHN STOW * (1525-1605) and RAPHAEL HOLLINSHED (d. 1580), the former of whom, a London citizen of very slight literary pretensions, devoted the whole of his long life to the task of collecting materials for numerous chronicles and descriptions of London. The latter undertook a somewhat similar work, though intended to commemorate the history of England generally. From Hollinshed, it may be remarked, Shakspeare drew the materials for many of his half-legendary, half-historical pieces, such as Macbeth, King Lear, and the like; and it is curious to observe the mode in which the genius of the great poet animates and transfigures the flat and prosaic language of the old chronicler, whose very words he often quotes textually. Striking examples of this will be found in Henry V. and Henry VI. § 3. The most extraordinary and meteor-like personage in the literary history of this time is SIR WALTER RALEIGH (1552-1618), the brilliancy of whose courtly and military career can only be equalled by the wonderful variety of his talents and accomplishments, and by the tragic heroism of his death. He was born in 1552, and early attracted the favour of Elizabeth by an act of romantic gallantry, which has furnished the theme of a famous anecdote; and, both by his military exploits and his graceful adulation, he long maintained possession of her capricious favour. He highly distinguished himself in the wars in Ireland, where he visited Spenser at Kilcolman, and was consulted by the great poet on the Faery Queen, and no less as a navigator and adventurer in the colonization of Virginia and the conquest of Guiana. He is said to have first introduced the potato and the use of tobacco into England. On the accession of James I. he seems to have been, though without the least grounds, involved in an accusation of high treason connected with the alleged plot to place the unfortunate Arabella Stuart upon the throne, and he was confined for many years in the Tower under sentence of death. Proposing a new expedition to South America, he was allowed to undertake it; but, it proving unsuccessful, the miserable king, in order to gratify the hatred of the Spanish court, which Raleigh's exploits had powerfully excited, allowed him to be exccuted under the old sentence in 1618. During his imprisonment of twelve years Raleigh devoted himself to literary and scientific * Stow's chief works are a Summary of English Chronicles, first published in 1565, his Annals in 1573, and his Survey of London in 1598. To the names of Stow and Hollinshed should be added that of JOHN SPEED (1552-1629), who published in 1614 A History of Great Britain, from the earliest times to the reign of James I. |