to the ignorant peasant, and the words of his song lingered in his memory when he awoke.)-Shaw.

It is said that Milton got his idea of "Paradise Lost" from the poem of Caedmon.

Before a man can express himself, he must have the form arranged for him. Things are transmitted from one generation to another.

The monastery at Whitby is described as a "wild, wind-swept place and the sea beats furiously beneath, and standing there we feel that is a fitting birth-place for the poetry of the sea-ruling nation. Nor is the verse of the first poet without the stormy note of the scenery among which it was written, nor without the love of the stars or the dread of the waste-land."

The schools were always associated with the monasteries. In 669 at the Council, the monasteries were given over to the control of the church at Rome.

The monks wrote their books in the Latin language, because it was the language for the learned.

St. Augustine preached at Canterbury in 597. He was sent to England by Pope Gregory I, in 596 to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.

ALFRED THE GREAT.

Alfred and his successors struck the shackles from the common people and made them free by writing in English instead of Latin. Alfred believed in the education of all the people. No literature was written in English till his time. Prior to this time any thought or sentiment deemed worthy of preservation was written in Latin. Alfred bitterly complained of this practice in the following language: Formerly men came hither from foreign lands to seek for instruction,

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and now when we desire it we can only obtain it from abroad." As his closest intercourse was with the Franks he chose his scholars to aid him in his work from them.

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF ALFRED'S WORK.

He established a school in his court for the young nobles and translated and edited the popular manuals of his age into English. He omitted and expanded in his translations wherever his judgment dictated.

In his selections from Baeda he gives his theory of government.

He "changed the whole front of our literature." He encouraged the study of the language of the common people.

The efforts put forth by Alfred to educate his people had much to do in making the English language finally succeed as the language of Britain.

His power was felt nearly two centuries after his death in the contest between the Saxons and the Norman French. Although the Saxons were overwhelmingly defeated in the battle of Hastings, yet they retained their language. When these two branches of the Teutons began to intermarry their languages blended and the result is a composite language, rich in synonyms. Alfred the Great lived at Winchester, Southern England. Winchester was the cradle of English poetry and Alfred rocked that cradle.

Alfric (or Aelfric,) a monk, really did more for literature than Alfred. He wrote "Chronicles on sheepskin which have been preserved. He wrote homilies, or sermons, in Saxon. His religion was freer from superstition than that of any of his contemporaries.

RELIGION.

The Christian idea has been the modifying idea throughout English Literature.

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If one word expresses the creed of early Saxons, that word is fatalism." They believed that some time or other their gods would pass away for the real or true God.

The epoch known as "The Dark Ages" extends from 449 to 1056. The people of that epoch had a wonderful faith in their religion. They were superstitious, but this beautiful faith is something to be admired. The literature then had the simplicity and ardor of childhood.

THREE DIVISIONS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

Ist. Division, "Old English," or Anglo-Saxon. From 450 to 1154. (In 1154 Henry II. became King of England, making a new era.)

FIRST DIVISION SUBDIVIDED INTO THREE

PERIODS.

(I) 450-925. The Anglo-Saxon, Tribal period. The chief dialects prevailing at that time were, 1st. Northumbrian, 2nd. Mercean, 3rd. Saxon, 4th. Kentish, or Kembish.

The language then was rich in inflections, and the Vocabulary purely Teutonic. The greatest missionary

of that day was Cuthbert; the greatest writer Baeda, and the poet of that period was Caedmon.

Middle Division. 925-1016. The epoch of National Feeling.

The syntax is improved; the inflection about the

same.

This is the time of West Saxon supremacy and it includes the work of Alfred and Alfric.

LAST DIVISION.

Beginning with the close of Alfric's work and ending with the accession of Henry II.

ERA OF CONQUEST.

The inflections decay. The language becomes pliant. It exists only in the mouth of the people, but Latin and French are taught in the schools.

1066. Formation of a new state of society in Feudalism. In the feudal state there were three classes of people; the nobility, the clergy, the serfs, or villeins. 1066. Battle of Hastings.

1078. "William the Conqueror" died.

1135. Stephen, son of a daughter of William, was king.

1154. Stephen died. During this year the last entry was made in the "Saxon Chronicles."

1066-1154. A very important century. It was the period of isolation, for then, the English (Saxons) lived to themselves and the French (Normans) to themselves.

PART II.

CHIVALRY, FEUDALISM, MONKS, MONASTERIES, AND KINDRED TOPICS.

CHIVALRY. THE DAWN OF CHIVALRY.

HENRY II., Stephen's successor, was not a Norman, but the son of a French peasant, yet his mother-had royal blood-was of the house of Angerin.

Feudalism itself could never produce literature. Chivalry, an institution closely connected with feudalism, has been an important force in the production of literature. It was developed by feudalism, forming in the course of time the materials out of which English Literature has been wrought.

I. The first great cause productive of the institution of Chivalry-The Crusades.

II. Causes of long standing.

III. The influence of the Normans gave a wonderful impetus.

Chivalry never assumed a regular and solemn character until Nov. 1096 the beginning of the Crusades. (Crusade means "cross.")

GOLDEN AGE OF CHIVALRY. 1096-1400.

THE first assembly of Knights was at Clermont in Southern France. The orator of that occasion was Peter the Hermit. The words that inspired them were, "Let the cross glitter upon your arms, upon your standards, and upon your breasts. It will become for

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