A century of English essays

Title: A century of English essays

An anthology ranging from Caxton to R. L. Stevenson & the writers of our own time

Compiler: Ernest Rhys

Lloyd Vaughan

Release date: May 5, 2010 [eBook #32267]

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32267

Credits: E-text prepared by David Clarke, Chandra Friend, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)

E-text prepared by David Clarke, Chandra Friend, and the Project Gutenberg

Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)

Transcriber's note:

A very small number of printer's errors have been corrected by reference to other editions.

Footnotes have been moved from the bottom of the original page to just below the referring paragraph, or in a few cases, to just after the referring sentence.

Author attribution lines have been regularized so that all appear one line below the essay to which they apply.

See also the detailed transcriber's note at the end of the work.

Everyman's Library

Edited by Ernest Rhys

ESSAYS

A Century of English Essays Chosen by Ernest Rhys and Lloyd Vaughan

* * * * *

This is No. 653 of Everyman's Library. The publishers will be pleased to send freely to all applicants a list of the published and projected volumes arranged under the following sections:

TRAVEL * SCIENCE * FICTION

THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY

HISTORY * CLASSICAL

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

ESSAYS * ORATORY

POETRY & DRAMA

BIOGRAPHY

REFERENCE

ROMANCE

In four styles of binding: cloth, flat back, coloured top; leather, round corners, gilt top; library binding in cloth, & quarter pigskin.

LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, Ltd. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.

* * * * *

[Illustration: Most current … For that they come home to men's business & bosoms.—Lord Bacon]

[Illustration: A CENTURY of ENGLISH ESSAYS: an ANTHOLOGY RANGING FROM CAXTON TO R. L. STEVENSON & THE WRITERS OF OUR OWN TIME.

LONDON TORONTO & PARIS: J.M. DENT & SONS LTD. NEW YORK E.P. DUTTON AND CO.]

First Issue of this Edition 1913 Reprinted 1915, 1916

INTRODUCTION

This is a book of short essays which have been chosen with the full liberty the form allows, but with the special idea of illustrating life, manners and customs, and at intervals filling in the English country background. The longer essays, especially those devoted to criticism and to literature, are put aside for another volume, as their different mode seems to require. But the development of the art in all its congenial variety has been kept in mind from the beginning; and any page in which the egoist has revealed a mood, or the gossip struck on a vein of real experience, or the wise vagabond sketched a bit of road or countryside, has been thought good enough, so long as it helped to complete the round. And any writer has been admitted who could add some more vivid touch or idiom to that personal half meditative, half colloquial style which gives this kind of writing its charm.

We have generally been content to date the beginning of the Essay in English from Florio's translation of Montaigne. That work appeared towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's time, in 1603, and no doubt it had the effect of setting up the form as a recognized genre in prose. But as we go back behind Florio and Montaigne, and behind Francis Bacon who has been called our "first essayist," we come upon various experiments as we might call them—essays towards the essay, attempts to work that vein, discursively pertinent and richly reminiscent, out of which the essay was developed. Accordingly for a beginning the line has been carried back to the earliest point where any English prose occurs that is marked with the gossip's seal. A leaf or two of Chaucer's prose, a garrulous piece of the craftsman's delight in his work from Caxton, and one or two other detachable fragments of the same kind, may help us to realize that there was a predisposition to the essay, long before there was any conscious and repeated use of the form itself. By continuing the record in this way

we have the advantage of being able to watch its relation to the whole growth in the freer art of English prose. That is a connection indeed in which all of us are interested, because however little we write, whether for our friends only, or for the newspapers, we have to attempt sooner or later something which is virtually an essay in everyday English. There is no form of writing in which the fluid idiom of the language can be seen to better effect in its changes and in its movement. There is none in which the play of individuality, and the personal way of looking at things, and the grace and whimsicality of man or woman, can be so well fitted with an agreeable and responsive instrument. When Sir Thomas Elyot in his "Castle of Health" deprecates "cruel and yrous[1] schoolmasters by whom the wits of children be dulled," and when Caxton tells us "that age creepeth on me daily and feebleth all the body," and that is why he has hastened to ordain in print the Recule of the Historeys of Troyes, and when Roger Ascham describes the blowing of the wind and how it took the loose snow with

it and made it so slide upon the hard and crusted snow in the field that he could see the whole nature of the wind in that act, we are gradually made aware of a particular fashion, a talking mode (shall we say?) of writing, as natural, almost as easy as speech itself; one that was bound to settle itself at length, and take on a propitious fashion of its own.

[Footnote 1: Irascible.]

But when we try to decide where it is exactly that the bounds of the essay are to be drawn, we have to admit that so long as it obeys the law of being explicit, casually illuminative of its theme, and germane to the intellectual mood of its writer, then it may follow pretty much its own devices. It may be brief as Lord Verulam sometimes made it, a mere page or two; it may be long as Carlyle's stupendous essay on the Niebelungenlied, which is almost a book in itself. It may be grave and urbane in Sir William Temple's courtly style; it may be Elian as Elia, or ripe and suave like the "Spectator" and the "Tatler." The one clause that it cannot afford to neglect is that it be entertaining, easy to read, pleasant to remember. It may preach, but it must never be a sermon; it may moralize, but it must never be too forbidding; it may be witty, high-spirited, effervescent as you like, but it must never be flippant or betray a mean spirit or a too conscious clever pen.

Montaigne, speaking through the mouth of Florio, touched upon a nice point in the economy of the essay when he said that "what a man directly knoweth, that will he dispose of without turning still to his book or looking to his pattern. A mere bookish sufficiency is unpleasant." The essayist, in fact, must not be over literary, and yet, if he have the habit, like Montaigne or Charles Lamb, of delighting in old authors and in their favourite expressions and great phrases, so that that habit has become part of his life, then his essays will gain in richness by an inspired pedantry. Indeed the essay as it has gone on has not lost by being a little self-conscious of its function and its right to insist on a fine prose usage and a choice economy of word and phrase.

The most perfect balance of the art on its familiar side as here represented, and after my Lord Verulam, is to be found, I suppose, in the creation of "Sir Roger de Coverley." Goldsmith's "Man in Black" runs him very close in that saunterer's gallery, and Elia's people are more real to us than our own acquaintances in flesh and blood. It is worth note, perhaps, how often the essayists had either been among poets like Hazlitt, or written poetry like Goldsmith, or had the advantage of both recognizing the faculty in others and using it themselves, like Charles Lamb; and if we were to take the lyrical temperament, as Ferdinand Brunetiere did in accounting for certain French writers, and relate it to some personal asseveration of the emotion of life, we might end by claiming the essayists as dilute lyrists, engaged in pursuing a rhythm too subtle for verse and lifelike as common-room gossip.

And just as we may say there is a lyric tongue, which the true poets of that kind have contributed to form, so there is an essayist's style or way with words—something between talking and writing. You realize it when you hear Dame Prudence, who is the Mother of the English essay, discourse on Riches; Hamlet, a born essayist, speak on acting; T.T., a forgotten essayist of 1614, with an equal turn for homily, write on "Painting the Face"; or the "Tatler" make good English out of the first thing that comes to hand. It is partly a question of art, partly of temperament; and indeed paraphrasing Steele we may say that the success of an essay depends upon the make of the body and the formation of the mind, of him who writes it. It needs a certain way of turning the pen, and a certain intellectual gesture, which cannot be acquired, and cannot really be imitated.

It remains to acknowledge the friendly aid of those living essayists who are still maintaining the standards and have contributed to the book. This contemporary roll includes the Right Hon. Augustine Birrell, Mr. Hilaire Belloc, Mr. G.K. Chesterton, Mr. Austin Dobson, Mr. Edmund Gosse, Mr. E.V. Lucas, Mrs. Meynell, Mr. Edward Thomas and Mr. W.B. Yeats. In addition a formal acknowledgment is due to Messrs. Chatto and Windus for leave to include an essay by Robert Louis Stevenson; to Messrs. Longmans and Co. for an essay of Richard Jefferies; and Messrs. Methuen and Co. for two by Mr. Lucas, and one by Mr. Belloc. Mr. A.H. Bullen has very kindly given his free consent in the case of "The Last of the Gleemen,"—a boon to be grateful for. Without these later pages, the book would be like the hat of Tom Lizard's ceremonious old gentleman, whose story, he said, would not have been worth a farthing if the brim had been any narrower. As to the actual omissions, they are due either to the limits of the volume, or to the need of keeping the compass in regard to both the subjects

and the writers chosen. American essayists are left for another day; as are those English writers, like Sir William Temple and Bolingbroke, Macaulay and Matthew Arnold, who have given us the essay in literary full dress.

E.R.

* * * * *

The following is a bibliography in brief of the chief works drawn upon for the selection:

Caxton, Morte D'Arthur, 1485; Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 1532; Bacon, Essays, 1740; Thos. Dekker, Gull's Horn Book, 1608; Jeremy Taylor, Holy Dying, 1651; Thos. Fuller, Holy and Profane States, 1642; Cowley, Prose Works, Several Discourses, 1668; The Guardian, 1729; The Examiner, 1710; The Tatler, 1709; Wm. Cobbett, Rural Rides, 1830; Goldsmith, The Citizen of the World, 1762; Addison and Steele, The Spectator, 1711; The Rambler, 1750-52; The Adventurer, 1753; Lamb, Essays of Elia, 1823, 1833; Hazlitt, Comic Writers, 1819; Table Talk, 1821-22; The New Monthly Magazine, 1826-27; Coleridge, Literaria Biographia, 1817; Wordsworth, Prose Works, 1876; John Brown, Rab and his Friends, 1858; Thackeray, Roundabout Papers, 1863; Carlyle, Edinburgh Review, 1831; Dickens, The Uncommercial Traveller, 1857; Shelley, Essays, 1840; Leigh Hunt, The Indicator, 1820; Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village, 1827-32; De Quincey, Collected Works, 1853-60; R.L. Stevenson, Memories and Portraits, 1887; Edmund Gosse (The Realm), 1895; Austin Dobson, Eighteenth Century Vignettes, 1892; Alice

Meynell, Colour of Life, 1896; G.K. Chesterton, The Defendant, 1901; E.V. Lucas, Fireside and Sunshine, 1906, Character and Comedy, 1907; Augustine Birrell, Obiter Dicta (second series), 1887; W.B. Yeats, Celtic Twilight, 1893; Edward Thomas, The South Country, 1909; Hilaire Belloc, First and Last, 1911.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction vii

1. A Printer's Prologue Wm. Caxton, Morte D'Arthur 1

2. Dame Prudence on Riches Geoffrey Chaucer, Tale of Melibeus 4

3. Of Painting the Face T.T., New Essays, 1614 8

4. Hamlet's Advice to the Players Shakespeare, Hamlet 10

5. Of Adversity Francis Bacon, Essays 11

6. Of Travel " " " 12

7. Of Wisdom for a Man's Self " " " 14

8. Of Ambition " " " 15

9. Of Gardens " " " 17

10. Of Studies " " " 22

11. The Good Schoolmaster Thomas Fuller, Holy and Profane States 24

12. On Death Jeremy Taylor, Holy Living and Holy Dying 27

13. Of Winter Thomas Dekker 30

14. How a Gallant should behave himself in a Play-house Thomas Dekker, Gull's Horn Book 31

15. Of Myself Abraham Cowley, Discourses 35

16. The Grand Elixir Pope, The Guardian, No. 11 39

17. Jack Lizard Steele, The Guardian, No. 24 43

18. A Meditation upon a Broomstick, According to the Style and Manner of the Hon. Robert Boyle's Meditations Swift, Prose Writings 47

19. Pulpit Eloquence Swift, The Tatler, No. 66 48

20. The Art of Political Lying Swift, The Examiner, No. 15 51

21. A Rural Ride Wm. Cobbett, Rural Rides 56

22. The Man in Black (1) Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, No. 25 58

23. " " " (2) " " " " No. 26 61

24. Old Maids and Bachelors " " " " No. 27 66

25. The Important Trifler " " " " No. 53 69

26. The Trifler's Household " " " " No. 54 72

27. Westminster Hall " " " " No. 97 75

28. The Little Beau " " " " No. 98 78

29. The Club Steele, The Spectator 80

30. The Meeting of the Club Addison " " 85

31. Sir Roger de Coverley at Home (1) " " " 88

32. " " " " (2) " " " 91

33. " " " " (3) Steele " " 94

34. " " " " (4) Addison " " 97

35. Sir Roger at Church " " " 100

36. Sir Roger on the Widow Steele " " 103

37. Sir Roger in the Hunting Field Addison " " 107

38. Sir Roger at the Assizes " " " 110

39. Gipsies " " " 114

40. Witches " " " 117

41. Sir Roger at Westminster Abbey " " " 120

42. Sir Roger at the Play " " " 123

43. Sir Roger at Spring-Garden " " " 126

44. Death of Sir Roger " " " 129

45. A Stage Coach Journey Steele " " 131

46. A Journey from Richmond " " " 135

47. A Prize Fight " " " 139

48. Good Temper " " " 144

49. The Employments of a Housewife in the Country Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 51 147

50. The Stage Coach " " The Adventurer, No. 84 152

51. The Scholar's Complaint of His Own Bashfulness Johnson, The Rambler, No. 157 156

52. The Misery of a Modish Lady in Solitude Johnson, The Rambler, No. 42 160

53. The History of an Adventurer in Lotteries Johnson, The Rambler, No. 181 164

54. Christ's Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago Lamb, Essays of Elia 168

55. All Fools' Day " " 180

56. Witches, and Other Night-Fears " " 184

57. My First Play " " 190

58. Dream-Children; a Reverie " " 194

59. The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers " " 198

60. A Dissertation upon Roast Pig " " 205

61. Poor Relations " " 211

62. The Child Angel " " 218

63. Old China " " 220

64. Popular Fallacies (I) " " 226

65. " " (II) " " 227

66. " " (III) " " 228

67. Whitsun-Eve Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village 230

68. On Going a Journey Hazlitt, Essays 234

69. On Living to One's-Self " " 244

70. Of Persons One would wish to have seen " " 257

71. On a Sun-Dial " " 271

72. Of the Feeling of Immortality in Youth Hazlitt, The New Monthly Magazine 280

73. A Vision Coleridge, A Lay Sermon, 1817 292

74. Upon Epitaphs Wordsworth 297

75. Jeems the Doorkeeper John Brown, Rab and His Friends 311

76. On Life Shelley, Essays 323

77. Walking Stewart De Quincey, Notes of an Opium Eater 327

78. On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth De Quincey, Collected Essays 340

79. The Daughter of Lebanon " " " 345

80. Getting up on Cold Mornings Leigh Hunt, Essays, Indicator, 1820 351

81. The Old Gentleman " " " " 355

82. The Old Lady " " " " 359

83. The Maid-Servant " " " " 363

84. Characteristics Carlyle, Miscellanies 366

85. Tunbridge Toys Thackeray, Roundabout Papers 404

86. Night Walks Dickens, The Uncommercial Traveller 410

87. "A Penny Plain and Twopence Coloured" R. L. Stevenson, Memories and Portraits 419

88. July Grass Richard Jefferies, Field and Hedgerow 425

89. Worn-out Types Augustine Birrell, Obiter Dicta 428

90. Book-buying " " " " 433

91. The Whole Duty of Woman Edmund Gosse, The Realm, 1895 436

92. Steele's Letters Austin Dobson, Eighteenth Century Vignettes 441

93. A Defence of Nonsense G. K. Chesterton, The Defendant 446

94. The Colour of Life Alice Meynell, The Colour of Life 450

95. A Funeral E. V. Lucas, Character and Comedy 453

96. Fires " " Fireside and Sunshine 456

97. The Last Gleeman W. B. Yeats, The Celtic Twilight 462

98. A Brother of St. Francis Grace Rhys, The Vineyard 467

99. The Pilgrim's Way Edward Thomas, The South Country 469

100. On a Great Wind H. Belloc, First and Last 471

A PRINTER'S PROLOGUE

After that I had accomplished and finished divers histories, as well of contemplation as of other historical and worldly acts of great conquerors and princes, and also of certain books of ensamples and doctrine, many noble and divers gentlemen of this realm of England, came and demanded me, many and ofttimes, why that I did not cause to be imprinted the noble history of the Sancgreal, and of the most renowned Christian king, first and chief of the three best Christian and worthy, King Arthur, which ought most to be remembered among us Englishmen, before all other Christian kings; for it is notoriously known, through the universal world, that there be nine worthy and the best that ever were, that is, to wit, three Paynims, three Jews, and three Christian men. As for the Paynims, they were before the Incarnation of Christ, which were named, the first, Hector of Troy, of whom the history is common, both in ballad and in prose; the second, Alexander the Great; and the third, Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome, of which the histories be well known and had. And as for the three Jews,

which also were before the Incarnation of our Lord, of whom the first was Duke Joshua, which brought the children of Israel into the land of behest; the second was David, King of Jerusalem; and the third Judas Maccabeus. Of these three, the Bible rehearseth all their noble histories and acts. And, since the said Incarnation, have been three noble Christian men, stalled and admitted through the universal world, into the number of the nine best and worthy: of whom was first, the noble Arthur, whose noble acts I purpose to write in this present book here following; the second was Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, of whom the history is had in many places, both in French and in English; and the third, and last, was Godfrey of Boulogne, of whose acts and life I made a book unto the excellent prince and king, of noble memory, King Edward the Fourth.

The said noble gentlemen instantly required me for to imprint the history of the said noble king and conqueror, King Arthur, and of his knights, with the history of the Sancgreal, and of the death and ending of the said Arthur, affirming that I ought rather to imprint his acts and noble feats, than of Godfrey of Boulogne, or any of the other eight, considering that he was a man born within this realm, and king and emperor of the same; and that there be in French divers and many noble volumes of his acts, and also of his knights. To whom I have answered, that divers men hold opinion that there was no such Arthur, and that all such books as be made of him be but feigned and fables, because that some chronicles make of him no mention, nor remember him nothing, nor of his knights. Whereto they answered, and one in especial said, that in him that should say or think that there was never such a king called Arthur, might well be aretted great folly and blindness; for he said there were many evidences to the contrary. First ye may see his sepulchre in the monastery of Glastonbury. And