those who are so highly favored, have human passions and weaknesses like other men, and thus the light that shines through them is often more or less obscured. Like flaws in glass, their imperfections of character may sometimes produce distorted images. In literature, as in mining, even in the richest of mines, the sands of error must be washed from the pure gold of truth. Nothing but direct revelation can be absolutely perfect. Yet we can find many writings whose chief tendency is in the right direction, — writings that will bring us into closer touch with nature, into truer sympathy with humankind, and into a better attitude for receiving the truth and light with which the great All-Father is ever trying to impress us. 5. The Relation of History to Literature.— The inner life of men is revealed through their words and through their deeds. Great events are first worked out in some one's brain. The scheme is made known to others by means of language, and then by the united action of many-the event is consummated. Naturally, the thought the conception comes first, and then the deed. Literature is a record of thoughts; history is a record of deeds: hence the former takes precedence of the latter. But they mutually react upon each other, and it is almost impossible to treat of them separately. So, in order to trace the literature of English-speaking people through its different periods, it is necessary to know something of their history. Part First contains a brief account of the forming of the nation, and of the development of its language, its thought, its literature, tracing their progress through successive periods, from the rudest beginnings to the highest state of enlightenment and literary achievement. Part Second will be devoted more to studies in literature, as such, without direct reference to the date of the selections introduced. CHAPTER ONE. ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH NATION AND LANGUAGE. 6. The People. It is supposed that the early inhabitants of England came originally from the far East, probably from Western Asia. One wave of emigration followed another, until - in the course of many generations the foremost of them was crowded westward to the shores of the Atlantic. From the coast of what is now France and Spain some of these people, known as the Kelts, found their way to the British Isles, and were there called Britons. These ancient Keltic Britons were in two divisions,two divisions, the Kimry and the Gaels. The Gaelic Kelts spread into Scotland, and were afterward known as Picts and Scots. About sixty years before Christ, the Romans, under Cæsar, conquered the Britons, and held possession of Southeastern England for more than four hundred years. Meantime, another branch, belonging to the same great family as the Kelts, had in the course of centuriesmade their way by degrees across the continent, and settled in Northwestern Europe. These Teutons, as they were called, were bold and warlike in temper, quite unlike the more peaceful and beauty-loving Kelts. After the Romans left England, the adventurous Teutons made their way into that country, and also took possession of Northern France. Some of the Teutons who gained a foothold in England were known as Angles, and from |