National Ideals in British and American Literature (Volume 1, No. 14) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II The English Renaissance Part I. The Epic of the Thirty Years I. The Argument. 1. England at the Accession of Elizabeth (1558). From a contemporary account: "The Queen poor; the realm exhausted; the nobility poor and decayed; good captains and soldiers wanting; the people out of order; justice not executed; all things dear; division among ourselves; war with France; the French king bestriding the realm, having one foot in Calais and the other in Scotland; steadfast enemies, but no steadfast friends." 2. The England of the Armada (1588). Thirty years progress from weakness to power. The interpretation of it, with a prophecy of England's future greatness, in Spenser's Faerie Queene; the spirit of it in Shakespeare's historical plays; the record of it in the deeds of the seafarers, in the victory over the Spanish tyranny, in the foundation of the British imperial domain. II. The Historical Basis. 1. The Powers at Play. a. Free England. The dispute about the Queen's right to the throne, necessitating a complete break with Rome, helped make England free. The decline of the old feudal nobility and the development of something analogous to cabinet government aided further in the identification of prince and state. Not only opportunities for political advancement offered to men of outstanding ability, but also freedom from religious and civil persecution and encouragement to success in business made of England a nation approaching Pasteur's ideal of a democracy as "that order in the state in which every man has the opportunity to make the most of himself." b. The Antagonist: The Spanish Tyranny. Philip II, the head of a powerful and wealthy state, with great American dominions and a powerful fleet; a Kaiser claiming divine authority to spread Kultur thr...