The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-11-06
The Scribe's Report.

2 have been received from Sylvia,-a !
new member whom we are glad to well
come, Kate F. r., and b. II. a.
O The reasons given why litera-
ture did not flourish between 1925 and
1860 are substantially alike and correct.
One says it was because of the state
of political and religious confusion into
which England was thrown at that
time. The writers turned their atten-
ton to questions of the day and but lit
tie of what they wrote has survived"
Another speaks of the civil war and the
changes of government that took place
during this period; and the third an
swer mentions the fact that the Com
monwealth not only prohibited every
thing in the dramatic line, but even the
most innocent recreations of the peo-
pie. All these things operated in one
way and another to quench the literary
glow of the Elizabethan period. AS
might naturally be expected, the writ
ings of that period which had merit
enough to save them from oblivion
have to do with theology or politics;
those of the latter class sometimes being
satirical compositions aimed at the po-
litical opponents of the author.
(2) Among prose writers of this Pc
Rod the following have been mentioned
in the answers received: Joseph Hall,
more often spoken of as Bishop Hall;
Jeremy Taylor, well known as the au-
thor of Holy Living" and " Holy Dy-
ing" Born the same year as Taylor
was William Chillingworth, an able OPP
ponent of the Romish church; Sir
Thomas Browne, a noted physician of
this time; Sir Matthew Hale, who is
characterized as 6 one of the most up
right judges that ever sat upon the Eng
fish bench"; Thomas Fuller, a quaint
historian and author of s. Good Thoughts
in Bad Tines; and Samuel Butler, the
author of "Hudibras. Baxter and
Bunyan are also mentioned; but, al
though they were living during this Pc
Rod, their greatest works were not pro-
duced until later. Hence it is better to
associate their names with later pc
Rod. We would add to the list the
poet-preacher John Dome, whose SER
mons, according to old Izaak Walton, -
were capable of carrying some to
heaven in holy raptures, and enticing
others by sacred art to amend their
lives"
(3) The following names of poets
of this period have been received:
Abraham Cowley, who was ranked as
the first poet of his time until eclipsed
by Milton; Sir William Davenant, Ed
mund Waller and Richard Fanshawe.
Dryden is also mentioned; but as he
lived until the year 100, his name be-
longs more appropriately to a later
period, the period following Milton
rather than that which preceded him.
We would not, however, omit the quaint
George Herbert from our list. Shake
speare's friend, Ben Jonson, may
also be counted in this period, as
he survived Shakespeare twenty-one
years.
(4) Although Chaucer and some
other early poets occupied position
similar to that of the Poet Laureate,
the title-as is stated in one of the
answers-wa first formally conferred
upon John Kay, in the reign of Ed
ward ". The same answer says that
"the first patent of the Office was
granted in 1880. The salary was fixed
at a hundred pounds per year and a
tierce of canary" Another one gives
correctly the first five poets .laureate
after this date, as follows: Ben jon
son, William Davenant, John Dryden,
Thomas Shadwell, and Nahum Tate"
Another gives the five who came after
these, as follows: Nicholas Rowe,
Lawrence Eusden, Colley Cibber, Will
lam Whitehead, Thomas Wharton"
Having so many, we may as well COM
plete the list down to the present in
cumbent, although this was not in
tended when the question was asked
The remaining ones were Henry James
Pye, Robert Southey and William
Wordsworth.
(5) One answer to the fifth question
says: "The custom was once common
in English universities of presenting a
laurel wreath to the winning graduate
in rhetoric and versi6cation, and he
was then styled Poeta Laureotus.'
From this the name came to be applied
to the poet who was chosen to serve the
king, or the court poet, as he is some
times called. The English custom here
referred to can be traced back to the
Roman custom of browning poets at
the public games. This was revived at
Rome in the thirteenth century, when
the crown of laurel was publicly placed
on the head of the Italian poet Petrarch
and from there it spread to other parts
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