sacrifice in
Wesley and Whitefield, her statesmanship in Walpole, in Chatham, and in
William Pitt. In oratory as everyone knows, the eighteenth century was
surpassingly great, and never before or since has the country produced a
political philosopher of the calibre of Burke. What England reaped in
literature during the period of which Pope has been selected as the most
striking figure, it will be my endeavour to show in the course of these
pages.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] M. Sainte-Beuve, the greatest of French critics, frankly
acknowledges his indebtedness to Boileau, whom he styles Louis the
Fourteenth's 'Controleur General du Parnasse.' 'S'il m'est permis de
parler pour moi-meme,' he writes, 'Boileau est un des hommes qui m'ont
le plus occupe depuis que je fais de la critique, et avec qui j'ai le
plus vecu en idee.'--_Causeries du Lundi_, tome sixieme, p. 495.

[2] Lecky's _England_, vol. i. p. 373.

[3] The epithet is used in the Preface to the First Edition of Waller's
_Posthumous Poems_, which Mr. Gosse believes was written by Atterbury,
and he considers that this is the original occurrence of the
phrase.--_From Shakespeare to Pope_, p. 248.

[4] Messrs. Besant and Rice's novel, _The Chaplain of the Fleet_, gives
a vivid picture of the life led in the Fleet, and also of the period.

[5] _Life and Correspondence of Mrs. Delany_, vol. ii. p. 55.

[6] Lecky's _England_, vol. i. p. 479.

[7] Shaftesbury's _Characteristics_, vol. i. p. 270.

[8] _Spectator_, No. 126.

[9] Lecky's _England_, vol. i. p. 522.

[10] According to Hallam the thirty years which followed the Treaty of
Utrecht 'was the most prosperous season that England had ever
experienced.'--_Const. Hist._ ii. 464.

PART I.

THE POETS.

CHAPTER I.

ALEXANDER POPE.

It is not unreasonable to call the period we are considering 'the Age of
Pope.' He is the representative poet of his century. Its literary merits
and defects are alike conspicuous in his verse, and he stands
immeasurably above the numerous versifiers who may be said to belong to
his school. Savage Landor has observed that there is no such thing as a
school of poetry, and this is true in the sense that the essence of this
divine art cannot be transmitted, but the form of the art may be, and
Pope's style of workmanship made it readily imitable by accomplished
craftsmen. Although he affected to call poetry an idle trade he devoted
his whole life to its pursuit, and there ar