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and excellence the period has been styled "The Augustan Age of English Divinity." Foremost among the Puritan theologians was Richard Baxter (1615-1691), a distinguished defender of religious liberty. His zeal exposed him to persecution, and under James II. he experienced the cruelty of Jeffreys. His most famous works are "The Saint's Everlasting Rest" and "A Call to the Unconverted." But the greatest theological writer of the seventeenth century, and by general consent the most eloquent pulpit orator of the English Church, was Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667). He was opposed to Puritanism, and several times imprisoned during the Commonwealth. Charles II., at his restoration, bestowed on him the bishopric of Down and Connor, in Ireland, and soon after he became privy councillor, and Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin. His best-known treatise (1647) is entitled "On the Liberty of Prophesying

the "first famous plea for tolerance in religion on a comprehensive basis and on deep-seated foundations" ever made. Two other popular works were "On the Rule and Exercises of Holy Living" and "On the Rule and Exercise of Holy Dying," published in the first years of the Commonwealth. His sermons are among the finest religious writings in literature, and are distinguished for their poetic eloquence. Other theologians who figured prominently as defendants of the English Church against Puritanism were Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), and Leighton, Tillotson, Barrow, and Robert South of the succeeding age.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONTEMPORARY LITERATURES OF FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, AND SPAIN,

WITH HISTORICAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND ART NOTES.

I. France.-Age of Louis XIV.

Anne of Austria, the king's mother, during his minority.

Production of the "Provincial Letters" of Pascal. Regency of The long reign of Louis XIV., from 1643 to 1710, was the golden age of French literature and art: the talents of the monarch, the splendid achievements under his administration, his successes and reverses, and the brilliant galaxy of intellects that flourished under his patronage, combined to make the epoch most glorious. The finest models of composition in the French language were produced in his reign, but they belong to the period succeeding the year 1660. No important work appeared during the decade under consideration except the "Provincial Letters" of Pascal in 1656, which first formed a standard for French prose. The other work by which he is best of Cardinal known, "The Pensées," universally ranked among productions distinguished for eloquent thought and profound theology, was not published till after his death, in 1662. Corneille still wrote, but his dramas were greatly inferior to those of his early literary career, and added nothing to his fame and reputation, while Molière, Racine, Boileau, and La Fontaine had not yet made their appearance on the literary field.

Administration

Mazarin, the
Italian adviser
of Anne of
Austria.

II. Germany.-House of Austria: FERDINAND III., -1658. LEOPOLD I., 1658

Dearth and Duiness in Literature.-The same intellectual darkness which characterized Germany during the preceding age still prevailed. Poetry was represented by the miserable poetasters who imitated

Political degradation and

dissolution of

the Empire: the effect of the

Thirty Years'

War on Ger

many was most disastrous.

Martin Opitz, and regarded him as the "Horace of his times." Hymns continued to be poured forth in abundance, and constituted the best literature of the time. At the head of the sacred lyrists was Paul Gerhardt (1606-1676), whose hymns are sung in the churches of Germany at the present day. Andreas Gryphius (b. 1616) was another prominent religious poet, but the prevailing plaintive tone of his verses becomes monotonous. No important production was brought forth in any department of prose during the age.

III. Italy.-INNOCENT X., -1655. ALEXANDER VII., 1655–

Political disor

ganization and confusion.

Poetry in the Hands of the Marinisti. [See “Elizabethan Age-Italy."]

IV. Spain.-PHILIP IV.

Philip IV. was

very fond of theatrical entertainments, and had magnificent thea

royal palaces.

Dramatic Brilliancy of Calderon and his School.— The reign of Philip IV. was the most brilliant period of the Spanish drama. Calderon stood high in the tres built in the royal favor, and constituted the centre of a throng of lesser dramatists. The most famous of his disciples were: Moreto, author of "The Handsome Don Diego," a title which became a national proverb; Solis, a favored writer for the king's private theatre; and Tirso de Molina, whose play "Deceiver of Seville" is the origin of the "Don Juan" of Molière, Byron, and other writers.

No important

work produced during this age

in any department of litera

ture except the drama.

Godwin's

wealth."

BOOKS OF REFERENCE.

History of the Common- | Robert Southey's "Life of John

Bunyan."

Carlyle's "Letters and Speeches of Macaulay's “Essay on Bunyan and Cromwell."

Guizot's "Life of Cromwell."

Vaughan's "Protectorate of Crom

well."

Sir Walter Scott's "The Legend of
Montrose" and "Woodstock."

'Pilgrim's Progress.""

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