N the study of great movements in the history of our literature we should observe certain principles. We should not attempt to place rigid boundaries to these movements; we should view literature as an organic whole,

the revelation of the complex life which created it. As the soil, atmosphere, and general environment determine the growth of the plant and the character of its fruit, so every

experience through which a nation passes modifies its literature and its art.

Every literature has its formative period, - a period in which its soil is being prepared through a variety of experiences. England produced a soil for the reception of that many-sided and complex awakening of the human spirit, the Renaissance, - that movement of childlike wonder, curiosity, and abounding enthusiasm,

-in a long period of unconscious preparation. She experienced the following modifying influences: contact with the Romans in war, the refining element which came with the introduction of Christianity, the establishment of the schools of Cadmon at Whitby and of Alfred at Winchester, the destruction wrought by the inroads of the Danes, the removal of anarchy by the Normans, and the splendid energy of the native tongue as it broke forth in the full-throated ease of Chaucer. During the sixteenth century, art, philosophy, poetry, history, romance, and religious idealism flourished under the magic of More, Raleigh, and Sidney, Spenser, Bacon, and Shakespeare,- all children of the Renaissance.

If we are to understand the mind and art of the greatest of these, Shakespeare, - we must know first, the origin and nature of the Renaissance in Europe; second, how it reached England, and through what channels its influence spread; and, third, how this spirit found expression in the drama which grew, put forth its blossom, and bore abundant fruit under the influence of Shakespeare and his companions. The régime of the Middle Ages - with its contempt of human loves and human sorrows; its relinquishment of things of sense for a vision of Paradise; its belief that the earth was in the power of Satan, and that the only escape was in the mystic joys of asceticism, with its reaction in a life of mere physical pleasure, shallow skepticism, and mocking irony was at an end, and in its place came that new spirit of intellectual and

spiritual delight in the newly discovered world and the newly created man.

A preparatory stage to this new impulse of the Renaissance is to be found in the awakening of the mind of Europe by the discussions of the Schoolmen; the rise of schools and universities in Italy, France, and England; the wealth of scientific lore brought to light by Arabian scholars; the expansion of ideas through the Crusades; and the rise of modern language and literature with its wealth of song and romance.

There were other causes which prepared the way for the Renaissance. The study of Roman law in the city republics of Italy led naturally to the study of the Latin poets. Under Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, Italian scholars were conducted to the fountain-head of Humanism - the Greek and Latin classics. The search for old manuscripts began; monasteries, libraries, and cathedrals were visited by these pious pilgrims, and great was their transport when they discovered some dusty and begrimed scrap of a Greek or Latin author.

This outburst of enthusiasm, this revolution in human tastes and sympathies which was to leave no province of human intelligence and action untouched, was augmented by the downfall of Constantinople in 1453. Scholars fled from the ruins of the Empire to Western Europe, carrying with them the precious manuscripts of the old masters, and so the torch of learning was lighted anew in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and England. The exiles became leaders in the schools and universities of the West, and the young world spoke in

the language of genius and power. It was the beginning of the grand age of Europe, the most significant epoch of the human mind. The cities of Italy vied with each other in their passion for the new ideas, but Florence, under the splendid patronage of the Medici, surpassed them all. Michael Angelo, her greatest son, is the typical Renaissance spirit. He was the embodiment of the soul of this glorious city, in the creation of which poet, architect, sculptor, and painter united in love and holy passion to reveal

"The truth of man, as by God first spoken."

The reaction from the life of the Middle Ages which manifested itself in the unbounded energy and enthusiasm of the English people under the reign of the Tudors produced conditions which fostered the ideas of the Renaissance. The expansion of commercial enterprise, by which English merchants traversed all seas and visited all lands, stimulated the adventures of Raleigh, Drake, and Frobisher, by which the imagination was dazzled with visions of wealth, power, and extended influence. The growth of religious ideals through the Reformation enabled the English people to win a measure of political and intellectual freedom. The new impulse in literary and educational activity through the printing press, and the founding of schools and colleges, enabled England to become a leader in thought. The enrichment of social life through the Court of Elizabeth, and the recognition of the unity of the people in the plays, pageants, and progresses, prepared the