his grandson. Then came the usurpation of Bolingbroke; the rebellion of Northumberland; and afterwards the long and bloody wars of the Roses. Henry the Eighth mounted the throne with an undisputed title. He himself possessed some Literary talent, and made a shew,-probably in emulation of his illustrious contemporary, Francis of France, of patronising letters and the Arts. Hence his reign was adorned by the productions of some men of real taste and genius, particularly by those of Lord Surrey, and Sir Thomas Wyatt. Neither of them were men of very commanding powers, but they were both elegant and accomplished writers, and certainly did much to refine our English versification. Surrey is also distinguished as the first writer of narrative blank verse in our language, although he principally wrote in rhyme. Lord Vaux was also a very elegant lyrical writer, and some verses from one of his songs are quoted by Shakspeare in the grave-digging scene in "Hamlet.” Lord Buckhurst was,-in conjunction with Thomas Norton, the Author of the first English Tragedy, "Gorboduc;" a heavy, cumbrous performance, of but little value, except as a curious piece

of antiquity.

The noble Poet's fame is much better supported by his " Induction to the Mirror of Magistrates," a production of great power and originality. The tyrannical temper of the Sovereign, however, soon became manifest; and, together with the contests between the Papists and the Reformers, diverted the attention of the nation from Literature. The noblest and the best were seen daily led to the scaffold; and, among them, Surrey, the accomplished Poet whom I have just mentioned. The barbarous feuds stirred up by political and polemical animosity, which now again deluged the nation with blood, did not subside until Elizabeth ascended the throne. The reign of Queen Elizabeth is the most illustrious period in the Literary history of modern Europe. Much has been said of the ages of Leo the Tenth, of Louis the Fourteenth, and of Queen Anne, but we are prepared to shew that the Literary trophies of the age of Elizabeth are more splendid and important, than those of all the other three united. We are not alluding merely to what passed in our own country. The superiority of the literary efforts of that time to all the productions of English genius before or since,

is too trite a truism to need our advocacy. But it is not so generally known, or, at least, remembered, that during the same period the other nations of Europe produced their master Spirits; and that Tasso, Camoens, and Cervantes, were contemporary with Shakspeare. Weigh these four names against those of all who have ever written, since the revival of Learning to the present time, and the latter will be found to be but as dust in the balance. The accomplished scholars and elegant writers who adorned the Courts of Leo, of Louis, and of Anne, enjoy and deserve their fame; but they must not be put in competition with the mighty geniuses, who each, as it were, made the Literature of his respective country; whose works are columns 'high o'er the wrecks of Time that stand sublime;" and whose reputations are independent of all the adventitious advantages of Schools and Courts, and are the self-reared monuments of great and original minds, which no time shall ever be able to disturb.

But though we have named only the four master Spirits of that period, yet is there a troop behind, more numerous than that which was shewn in Banquo's glass. Spenser, Ben

Jonson, Fletcher, Massinger, Lope de Vega, Calderon, Marino - these are bright names, which cannot be lost, even in the overwhelming splendour of those which we have already mentioned. In Spain and England, Literature, and especially Dramatic Literature, flourished simultaneously; and a similarity of taste and genius appears to have pervaded both Nations. The same bold and irregular flights of Fancy; the same neglect of all classical rules of composition, more than atoned for by the same original and natural beauties of thought and diction; and the same less venial violations of time, place, and costume, characterise both the Castilian and the English Muses. There appears then to have existed an intercourse of Literature and intellect between the two Nations, the interruption of which is much to be deplored. The Spanish language was then much studied in England; Spanish plots and scenery were chosen by many of our Dramatists; and their dialogues, especially those of Jonson and Fletcher, were thickly interspersed with Spanish phrases and idioms. The marriage of Philip and Mary might probably conduce greatly to this effect; though the progress of the Reformation in

England, and the strong political and commercial hostility, which afterwards existed between the two nations, appear to have put an end to this friendly feeling. English Literature then began to be too closely assimilated to that of France; and sustained, in my opinion, irrepable injury by the connection. Spain appears to be our more natural ally in Literature; and it is a curious fact, that after the Poetry of both nations had for a long period been sunk in tameness and mediocrity, it should at the same time suddenly spring into pristine vigour and beauty, both in the Island and in the Peninsula ; for Melandez, Quintana, and Gonsalez, are the worthy contemporaries of Byron, Wordsworth, Scott, and Moore.

Two great Authors of each nation have also exhibited some curious coincidences, both in the structures of their minds, and in the accidents of their lives. Ben Jonson fought in the English Army against the Spaniards in the Netherlands, and Lope de Vega accompanied the Spanish Armada for the invasion of England. Shakspeare and Cervantes, the profoundest masters of the human heart which the modern world has produced, were neither of