of his sovereign, which originated about the reign of Edward IV. Until recent times the duty of the laureate was to write an ode on the birthday of the sovereign, and on the occasion of a national victory. The office is now honorary, the emoluments amounting to $850, annually. He was created a Baron in 1883. B. 1810. D. 1892. 53. It is a collection of valuable manuscripts in the British Museum, purchased by Parliament in the reign of George IV. The collection was formed by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, an eminent statesman and patron of literature, who died in 1724. 54. They were forgeries of various documents alleged to be the writings of Shakespeare, executed by a youth, W. H. Ireland. For a time they imposed on the public, but the fraud was at length detected and acknowledged in 1805. 55. The earliest English newspapers belong to the reign of James I., and are in the form of small quarto pamphlets. They first appeared in 1619, but newspapers embracing general intelligence did not appear until the reign of Charles I. 56. Blind Harry is the name given to a wandering poet, blind from his infancy, who recited The Adventures of William Wallace in verse. He flourished in 1640. SOCIAL HOURS AMERICAN LITERATURE. GIVE IT UP HOME GULTURE TEST EXERCISES. 1. What department of literature did the intellect of the country first develop? 2. What was the first book written and printed in the Colonies? 3. Who were the principal writers of what was generally known as the Colonial Age? Why are the following persons distinguished in American literature— 4. Benjamin Franklin, 5. Patrick Henry, 6. Charles Brockden Brown, 7. William Ellery Channing, 8. Washington Irving, 9. Joseph Rodman Drake, 10. Francis Scott Key, 11. Samuel Woodworth, 12. William Cullen Bryant, 13. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 14. John Greenleaf Whittier, 15. Oliver Wendell Holmes, 16. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 22. J. G. Holland, 23. Thomas B. Aldrich, 24. Alice and Phoebe Cary, 26. Who are recognized as the best orators of the century? 27. Who are the most noted historical writers ? 28. What can you say of the following: James Fenimore Cooper, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Harriet Beecher Stowe ? 31. Religious? 29. Who have won celebrity as humorous writers? KEY TO SOCIAL HOURS AMERICAN LITERATURE. HOME GUTTURK 1. The theological. This was a natural consequence of immigration induced by different religious opinions. 2. The Bay Psalm Book, printed at Cambridge in 1639, and written mainly by New England divines. 3. Increase and Cotton Mather, John Eliott, Roger Williams, and Jonathan Edwards, who wrote The Treatise on the Will. 4. Franklin was a man of science and a statesman, who besides essays and miscellaneous papers, wrote his autobiography, an amusing work, which details his youthful struggles as a printer. B. 1706. 1790. D. 5. Henry deserves mention for his fervid eloquence, and artistic finish in his speeches. He edited an edition of Butler's Analogy to Religion, and circulated it at his own expense. B. 1736. D. 1799. 6. Brown was celebrated for his novels. The novel Willand, published in 1798, introduced fiction into American literature. He was the first author in America who supported himself wholly by literary labors. D. 1809. 7. Channing's works fill six volumes; he stands at the head for his ethical literature. B. 1780. D. 1842. 8. Irving was a historical and miscellaneous writer. He wrote in 1809, Knickerbocker's History of New York. The Sketch-Book is considered his best work. B. 1783. D. 1859. 9. Drake wrote The Culprit Fay, which was his chief work, and appeared in 1819. He also wrote The American Flag, a National lyric. B. 1795. D. 1820. 10. Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner, in 1812, while a prisoner during the siege of Fort McHenry, Baltimore. B. 1779. D. 1843. 11. Woodworth wrote The Old Oaken Bucket. B. 1785. D. 1842. |