1757, laid the foundaEngland was felt to part of a great em

England. The victory of Plassey, in tion of English supremacy in India. be, to use the words of Burke, "but pire, extended by our virtue and our fortune to the farthest limits of the east and the west."

The inevitable result of all these conditions was an increasing sense of power, a greater breadth of view, and especially a clearer recognition of the rights of men. The foundations were laid for a vigorous literature, but the completed results were not to appear till the succeeding period. A noteworthy feature of the time is the predominance of prose. Poetry retires somewhat into the background; fancy gives place to reason. It was a practical age, largely absorbed in material advancement and political and social reform.

The period of Johnson was brilliant in its oratory. The world has never seen a group of greater orators than Pitt, Fox, Chatham, Sheridan, Burke. Great questions of government presented themselves for consideration and action. Through the activity of the press, eloquence was no longer bounded by the halls of Parliament, but extended to the limits of the kingdom. Much of the eloquence of the time is imperishable. The principles of human liberty, of sound political economy, and of manly integrity have never had better utterance. "Sir," exclaimed Pitt, after the passage of the Stamp Act had aroused resistance, "I rejoice that America has resisted. Three million of people, so dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest."

The most prominent figure in this group of orators was

Edward Burke. "I have learned more from him," exclaimed Fox in a burst of admiration, "than from all the books I ever read." To philosophical depth Burke added the glow of imagination; and to vast resources of fact, he joined the warmth of ardent feeling. His grasp of principles and his expression of lofty sentiment give a permanent value to his masterful speeches. Though he sometimes wearied his auditors by his profundity and length, his efforts at their best have the immortality that belongs to the orations of his master Cicero. Among his many able speeches, that on "Conciliation with America' is usually regarded as the best.

But Burke was an author as well as orator. In 1756 he wrote an "Inquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful," which, though highly esteemed in its day, has been superseded by later works on art criticism. In 1770 appeared his "Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents," which is an elevated, philosophical discussion of existing political conditions. His most important work is his "Reflections on the French Revolution." It was a passionate arraignment of the revolutionary movement. "Its appeal to the passions, its cruel force and wit," says Gosse, "its magnificent, direct incentive to reaction, all these gave the 'Reflections' an amazing interest to those who had just witnessed, with bewilderment, the incomprehensible and unexampled progress of events in France. Upon all the trembling kings of Europe, upon the exiles on the Rhine especially, the book fell like rain after a long drought."

In his political career Burke kept himself infinitely above the hypocrisy and sycophancy of the demagogue. Not for a moment did he lay aside the independence and dig

nity of a great statesman.

No other representative of the

people ever gave a manlier account of his stewardship than did he to the electors of Bristol. After meeting in perfect frankness and candor the objections that had been urged against his conduct in Parliament, he concluded: "And now, gentlemen, on this serious day when I come, as it were, to make up my account with you, let me take to myself some degree of honest pride on the nature of the charges that are against me. I do not here stand before you accused of venality or neglect of duty. It is not said that, in the long period of my service, I have, in a single instance, sacrificed the slightest of your interests to my ambition or to my fortune. It is not alleged that, to gratify any anger or revenge of my own or of my party, I have had a share in wronging or oppressing any description of men, or any one man in any description. No! The charges against me are all of one kind: that I have pushed the principles of general justice and benevolence too far further than a cautious policy would warrant, and further than the opinions of many would go along with me. In every accident which may happen through life, in pain, in sorrow, in depression, and distress, I will call to mind this accusation and be comforted."

During the period before us, historical writing attained an excellence that has scarcely been surpassed. There arose three great historians who brought to their narratives philosophical insight and a finished excellence of style. Among the historians of the world, there are few greater names than Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon.

Hume very early developed a passion for literature, which continued through life his ruling purpose and chief

enjoyment. He was encouraged by his family to devote himself to law, but he felt a strong aversion to everything but philosophy and general learning. He went to France to prosecute his studies in a country retreat. "I there laid that plan of life," he says, "which I have steadily and successfully pursued. I resolved to make a very rigid frugality supply my deficiency of fortune, to maintain unimpaired my independency, and to regard every object as contemptible, except the improvement of my talents in literature."

His earlier publications-a "Treatise on Human Nature" and his "Philosophical Essays"-slowly gained recognition. His sceptical and philosophical views were attacked. The sale of his works increased. But he never allowed himself to be drawn into controversy.

"I had a fixed resolution," he says, "which I inflexibly maintained, never to reply to anybody; and not being very irascible in my temper, I have easily kept myself clear of literary squabbles. These symptoms of a rising reputation gave me encouragement, as I was ever more disposed to see the favorable than the unfavorable side of things; a turn of mind which is more happy to possess than to be born to an estate of ten thousand a year."

In 1751 he removed from the country to Edinburgh, where the most of his subsequent life was spent. Here he soon began his "History of England," the work that has given him a permanent place in English literature. The successive volumes appeared at intervals between 1754 and 1762. At first coldly received, it gradually forced itself into notice and became the source of a considerable income. It is characterized by great clearness and elegance

of narrative, but is not always trustworthy and judicial in its conclusions. His judgment was sometimes warped by his sceptical and Tory prejudices. Macaulay pronounces him "an accomplished advocate."

William Robertson, like Hume, early manifested a strong literary enthusiasm and ambition. The commonplace books of his student days bore the motto, "Vita sine literis mors est"-life without literature is death. He was indifferent to mathematics and mediocre in metaphysics; but in moral and religious truth, as well as in historical investigations, he showed marked aptitude and proficiency. Desirous of excelling in oratory, he studied the ancient and modern orators, and united with some fellow-students in establishing a literary society, the purpose of which was to "cultivate the study of elocution and to prepare themselves, by the habits of extemporary discussion and debate, for conducting the business of popular assemblies."

In 1741 he entered the ministry and endeared himself to his people by his kindness, fidelity, and eloquence. He employed his leisure in historical researches and in 1759 published his "History of Scotland," which met with instantaneous success. Fourteen editions were called for during the author's life, and the work has taken permanent rank as a standard history. For a time he dreaded the rivalry of Hume, who in his "History of England" traversed in part the same ground. But his fears proved groundless; and it is highly creditable to these two great historians that their literary labors and successes did not in the least interrupt the course of their friendship. "I have not had in a long time," wrote Hume, "a more sen