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evidence of the author's study of the early poet; but throughout the eighteenth century little attention was given him. The parodies of Pope were poor versions of Chaucer's poems, and his works, if read at all, were read only with the eye of ridicule. During the present age, however, the study of Chaucer has been entered into with enthusiasm, appreciation of his poetical talents constantly increases, his works are admired, and one of the leading contemporary poets in England, William Morris, acknowledges him as his master.

ORIGIN AND WORK OF THE CHAUCER SOCIETY.

The establishment of the Chaucer Society in 1868 was mainly due to Mr. Furnivall. Its object is the study of the old Chaucer manuscripts, and, embracing as it does the best of Chaucerian scholars, the work accomplished by it is the united labor of accurate scholarship in reproducing the old texts. One important result of this labor has been the publication of "A Six-text Print of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales,' in Parallel Columns, from the following MSS.: I. The Ellesmere; 2. The Hengwrt; 3. The Cambridge University Library; 4. The Corpus Christi College, Oxford; 5. The Lansdowne; 6. The Petworth." This work practically amounts to six manuscript copies, and by it Americans have the opportunity of personally comparing the old texts. It is dedicated to Professor Child, of Harvard College.

FAMOUS STUDENTS OF CHAUCER.

Leland, Urry, and Godwin were the earliest Chaucerian. scholars. Among those of modern times Tyrwhitt is uneclipsed. Professor Child, of Harvard College, is the best American student of Chaucer, and Professor Teubrink the best German; while Furnivall, Fleay, Bradshaw, Ellis, Skeat, Morris, Lounsbury, Bell, Professor Corson, of Cornell University, and Herr Hertzeberg, of Germany, are all distinguished for Chaucerian scholarship. The latest Chaucerian scholars are Gilman and Ward.

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EDITIONS OF CHAUCER'S WORKS.

I. Old Manuscripts, -those of 1532, 1542, 1561, 1598, 1602, 1687, and 1781. That of 1532 is the most valuable. II. Modern Editions.-The best are: Tyrwhitt's, published in 1798, on account of the essays which it contains; Wright's, published in 1847, which is remarkable for its numbered lines; Morris's, of 1866, valuable on account of the text; and Bell's, of 1878, which contains excellent notes.

III. Latest Editions,-Pickering's, in French; Gilman's Riverside; and the partial editions of Skeat, Carpenter, Lounsbury, and Corson.

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III.

DARK AGE.

A.D. 1400-1558.

DESTITUTION OF EMINENT LITERARY GENIUS.

CHAUCERIAN INFLUENCE OVER POETRY IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

REVIVAL OF CLASSICAL LEARNING.

DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH PROSE STYLE BY SIR THOMAS MORE AND JOHN TYNDALE.

INTRODUCTION OF ITALIAN INFLUENCE BY WYATT AND

SURREY.

DAWN OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA.

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Persecution of the Lollards.

Discovery of ands, 1405.

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DESTITUTION OF EMINENT LITERARY GENIUS. AFTER the death of Chaucer no literary masterpiece was produced for more than one hundred and fifty years. From 1400 there was a steady intellectual decline, and the reigns of Edward IV., Edward V., Richard III., and Henry VII. constitute the darkest period in English literature; but under Henry VIII. appeared a gleam of light which waxed brighter till the brilliant Elizabethan Age. The causes of this dark age are manifest: 1. The Hundred Years' War oppressed the people with heavy taxations -thereby producing a civil discontent, greatly aggregated by the losses in France under the Lancastrian House; 2. The Wars of the Roses filled England for thirty years with bloodshed and political confusion-rendering the country

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