Excerpt from A Popular Manual of English Literature Containing Outlines of the Literature of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United States of America, Vol. 1 of 2 The following work on English literature has been prepared for the purpose of serving three practical ends: I. As a School Manual. II. As a Guide to the General Reader. III. As a Book of Reference. I. As a School Manual. - That the present is a favorable time for the production of such a Manual scarcely admits of a doubt, the last decade of years having formed an epoch in the study of literature and in the methods of instruction. During this period English literature has been assuming a more prominent place in the curricula of schools and colleges, and great success has been made in devising improved methods of instruction. From these educational centres the more enterprising teachers all over the country have caught the spirit of improvement, and are calling for a better method of instruction than has hitherto prevailed in this department of study. To explain the general plan of the work as a text-book, the following points may be specified: (a.) This Manual aims to present, in a manner at once simple, attractive, and philosophical, a general survey of the historical development of English literature by dividing it into ten ages, with their respective characteristics - an arrangement exhibiting the successive stages of its growth, and those vital principles which underlie, determine, and explain them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.