Book excerpt: Excerpt from A Survey of English Literature 1780-1880, Vol. 3 of 4 In a Survey, published eight years ago, of the English literature written between 1780 and 1830, the motto was taken from Hazlitt: 'I have endeavoured to feel what is good, and to give a reason for the faith that was in me, when necessary, and when in my power.' The present work is a continuation; the motto and spirit, the plan and arrangement, are the same as before. Here are another fifty years chronicled; that they form a real, not an artificial, period, the book itself must prove. And the aim is still critical, rather than simply historical, although the historical pattern and background have been kept well in mind. I hope at least to have shown that more Victorian prose and verse deserves to live than is sometimes imagined. No doubt, if any one born in the present century reads these pages, and is led back by them to the literature itself, it is he that will be the real judge of my findings. He will turn away, very properly, from whatever seems an unearthing of dead bones. But I have tried to be on guard against the treacherous glow that is felt by the mere excavator, and to admit nothing that has failed to give me pleasure or entertainment, or to inspire a living interest, or at any rate an active distaste. Another motto, indeed, was suggested by Goethe's remark to Crabb Robinson: - I do hate the Egyptians and all that are connected with them. I am glad that I have something to hate, otherwise one is in danger of falling into the dull liberal habit of finding all things tolerable and good in their place, and that is the ruin of all good sentiments. To-day that sounds too like the wrong kind of morning hymn; nor have I written in such a spirit. Still, those of us who went to college about 1880, who thought that we were beginning to think, and who either found in the Victorian authors our mental food and vital air, or else sharply rejected what they offered us - we cannot speak of them remotely, as if they were three centuries old. Shall we deny our fathers, who begat us? Somebody, within twenty years or less, will rewrite the whole story with exemplary coolness. So the attempt may as well be made, while yet there is time, by any one who remembers those likes and dislikes. I speak of artistic, not of political or doctrinal preferences. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.