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Outlines of English and American Literature
III. Victorian Essayists and Historians
by Long, William J.
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There is rich reading in Victorian essays, which reflect not only the
practical affairs of the age but also the ideals that inspire every great
movement whether in history or literature. For example, the intense
religious interests of the period, the growth of the Nonconformists or
Independents, the Oxford movement, which aimed to define the historic
position of the English Church, the chill of doubt and the glow of renewed
faith in face of the apparent conflict between the old religion and the new
science,--all these were brilliantly reflected by excellent writers, among
whom Martineau, Newman and Maurice stand out prominently. The deep thought,
the serene spirit and the fine style of these men are unsurpassed in
Victorian prose.
Somewhat apart from their age stood a remarkable group of
historians--Hallam, Freeman, Green, Gardiner, Symonds and others no less
praiseworthy--who changed the whole conception of history from a record of
political or military events to a profound study of human society in all
its activities. In another typical group were the critics, Pater, Bagehot,
Hutton, Leslie Stephen, who have given deeper meaning and enlarged pleasure
to the study of literature. In a fourth group were the scientists--Darwin,
Wallace, Lyell, Mivart, Tyndall, Mill, Spencer, Huxley, and their
followers--some of whom aimed not simply to increase our knowledge but to
use the essay, as others used the novel, to portray some new scene in the
old comedy of human life. Darwin was a great and, therefore, a modest man;
but some of his disciples were sadly lacking in humor. Spencer and Mill
especially wrote with colossal self-confidence, as if the world no longer
wore its veil of mystery. They remind us, curiously, that while poetry
endures forever, nothing on earth is more subject to change and error than
so-called scientific truth.
Typical Writers
It is impossible in a small volume to do justice to so many writers,
reflecting nature or humanity from various angles, and sometimes insisting
that a particular angle was the only one from which a true view could be
obtained. Some rigorous selection is necessary; and we name here for
special study Macaulay, Carlyle, Ruskin, who are commonly regarded as the
typical Victorian essayists. This selection does not mean, however, that
some other group might not be quite as representative of their age and
nation. Our chosen authors stand not for Victorian thought but only for
certain interesting phases thereof. Macaulay, the busy man of affairs,
voiced the pride of his generation in British traditions. Carlyle lived
aloof, grumbling at democracy, denouncing its shams, calling it to
repentance. Ruskin, a child of fortune, was absorbed in art till the burden
of the world oppressed him; whereupon he gave his money to the cause of
social reform and went himself among the poor to share with them whatever
wealth of spirit he possessed. These three men, utterly unlike in
character, were as one in their endeavor to make modern literature a power
wherewith to uplift humanity. They illustrate, better even than poets or
novelists, the characteristic moral earnestness of the Victorian era.
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