CHAPTER III.

THE ENGLISH PRECURSORS.

The first group 53 Mediæval reaction 53 Gray 54 Peculiarity of his critical position 55 The Letters 56 The _Observations_ on Aristophanes and Plato 59 The _Metrum_ 60 The Lydgate Notes 61 Shenstone 63 Percy 64 The Wartons 66 Joseph’s _Essay on Pope_ 66 The _Adventurer_ Essays 67 Thomas Warton on Spenser 68 His _History of English Poetry_ 70

Hurd: his Commentary on Addison 72

The Horace 73

The Dissertations 74

Other Works 75

The _Letters on Chivalry and Romance_ 75

Their doctrine 76

His real importance 78

Alleged imperfections of the group 79

Studies in Prosody 80

John Mason: his _Power of Numbers_ in Prose and Poetry 81

Mitford: his _Harmony of Language_ 83

Importance of prosodic inquiry 86

Sterne and the stop-watch 86