ESSAYIST See also:

• ESSAYIST ESSAY (Fr. essai, Late Lat. exagium, a weighing or balance; exigere, to examine; the term in general meaning any trial or effort)

ESSAY (Fr. essai, See also:

• LATE

Late See also:

• LAT

Lat. exagium, a weighing or See also:

• BALANCE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. bilantia, an apparatus for weighing, from bi, two, and lanx, a dish or scale)

balance; exigere, to examine; the See also:

• TERM

term in See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general meaning any trial or effort)  . As a See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of literature, the See also:

• ESSAY, ESSAYIST (Fr. essai, Late Lat. exagium, a weighing or balance; exigere, to examine; the term in general meaning any trial or effort)

essay is a See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition of moderate length, usually in See also:

• PROSE

prose, which deals in an easy, cursory way with the See also:

• EXTERNAL

external conditions of a subject, and, in strictness, with that subject, only as it affects the writer . Dr See also:

• JOHNSON, ANDREW
• JOHNSON, ANDREW (1808–1875)
• JOHNSON, BENJAMIN (c. 1665-1742)
• JOHNSON, EASTMAN (1824–1906)
• JOHNSON, REVERDY (1796–1876)
• JOHNSON, RICHARD (1573–1659 ?)
• JOHNSON, RICHARD MENTOR (1781–1850)
• JOHNSON, SAMUEL (1709-1784)
• JOHNSON, SIR THOMAS (1664-1729)
• JOHNSON, SIR WILLIAM (1715–1774)
• JOHNSON, THOMAS

Johnson, himself an eminent essayist, defines an essay as " an irregular, undigested piece "; the irregularity may perhaps be admitted, but want of thought, that is to say lack of proper See also:

• MENTAL

mental digestion, is certainly not characteristic of a See also:

• FINE

fine example . It should, on the contrary, always be the brief and See also:

• LIGHT

light result of experience and profound meditation, while " undigested " is the last epithet to be applied to the essays of See also:

• MONTAIGNE, MICHEL DE (1533-1592)

Montaigne, See also:

• ADDISON, JOSEPH (1672-1719)

Addison or See also:

• LAMB (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Lamm)
• LAMB, CHARLES (1775–1834)

Lamb . See also:

• BACON
• BACON (through the O. Fr. bacon, Low Lat. baco, from a Teutonic word cognate with " back," e.g. O. H. Ger. pacho, M. H. Ger. backe, buttock, flitch of bacon)
• BACON, FRANCIS (BARON VERULAM, VISCOUNT ST ALBANS) (1561-1626)
• BACON, JOHN (1740–1799)
• BACON, LEONARD (1802–1881)
• BACON, ROGER (c. 1214-c. 1294)
• BACON, SIR NICHOLAS (1509-1579)

Bacon said that the Epistles of See also:

• SENECA

Seneca were " essays," but this can hardly be allowed . Bacon himself goes on to admit that " the word is See also:

• LATE

late, though the thing is See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient." The word, in fact, was invented for this See also:

• SPECIES

species of See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing by Montaigne, who merely meant that these were experiments in a new See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of literature . This See also:

• ORIGINAL

original meaning, namely that these pieces were attempts or endeavours, feeling their way towards the expression of what would need a far wider space to exhaust, was lost in See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England in the course of the eighteenth See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . This is seen by the various attempts made in the nineteenth century to See also:

• COIN
• COIN (older forms of the word are coyne, quoin and coign, all derived through the O. Fr. coing, and cuigne from Lat. cuneus, a wedge)

coin a word which should See also:

• EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express a still smaller See also:

• WORK

work, as distinctive in comparison with the essay as the essay is by the See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side of the monograph; none of these linguistic experiments, such as essayette, essaykin (See also:

• THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE (1811-1863)

Thackeray)and essaylet (See also:

• HELPS, SIR ARTHUR (1813-1875)

Helps) have taken hold of the See also:

• LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language . As a See also:

• MATTER

matter of fact, the journalistic word See also:

• ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article covers the lesser form of essay, although not exhaustively, since the essays in the monthly and quarterly reviews, which are fully as extended as an essay should ever be, are frequently termed " articles," while many " articles" in See also:

• NEWSPAPERS

newspapers, dictionaries and encyclopaedias are in no sense essays . It may be said that the See also:

• IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of a detached work is combined with the word " essay," which should be neither a See also:

• SECTION
• SECTION (Lat. sectio, cutting, secare, to cut)

section of a disquisition nor a See also:

• CHAPTER (a shortened form of chapiter, a word still used in architecture for a capital; derived from O. Fr. chapitre, Lat. capitellum, diminutive of caput, head)

chapter in a See also:

• BOOK

book which aims at the systematic development of a See also:

• STORY, JOHN (c. 1510-1571)
• STORY, JOSEPH (1779-1845)
• STORY, ROBERT HERBERT (1835-1907)
• STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819—1895)

story . See also:

• LOCKE, GOTTFRIED CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH (1791–1855)
• LOCKE, JOHN (1632-1704)
• LOCKE, MATTHEW (c. 1630-1677)

Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding is not an essay at all, or cluster of essays, in this technical sense, but refers to the experimental and tentative nature of the inquiry which the philosopher was undertaking . Of the curious use of the word so repeatedly made by See also:

• POPE (Gr. irarraas, post-classical Lat. papa, father)
• POPE, ALEXANDER (1688–1744)
• POPE, ALEXANDER (1763-1835)
• POPE, JANE (1742-1818)
• POPE, JOHN (1822-1892)
• POPE, SIR THOMAS (c. 1507-1559)

Pope mention will be made below .

The essay, as a species of literature, was invented by Montaigne, who had probably little suspicion of the far-reaching importance of what he had created . In his dejected moments, he turned to See also:

• RAIL

rail at what he had written, and to See also:

• CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call his essays "inepties" and " sottises." But in his own See also:

• HEART
• HEART, LUNG

heart he must have been well satisfied with the new and beautiful form which he had added to See also:

• LITERARY

literary tradition . He was perfectly aware that he had devised a new thing; that he had invented a way of communicating himself to the See also:

• WORLD

world as a type of human nature . He designed it to carry out his See also:

• PECULIAR

peculiar See also:

• OBJECT

object, which was to produce an accurate portrait of his own soul, not as it was yesterday or will be to-morrow, but as it is to-See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day . It is not often that we can date with any approach to accuracy the arrival of a new class of literature into the world, but it was in the See also:

• MONTH
• MONTH (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. Mond, Du. maand, Dan. maaned, &c., and cognate with Lat. mensis, Gr. µi7v, &c., in other branches of the Indo-Germanic family; all ultimately from the root seen in the word for the moon in nearly all those languages

month of See also:

• MARCH
• MARCH (1) (from Fr. marcher, to walk; the earliest sense in French appears to be " to trample," and the origin has usually been found in the Lat. marcus, hammer; Low Lat. marcare, to hammer; hence to beat the road with the regular tread of a soldier: cf.
• MARCH, AUZIAS (c. "1395-1458)
• MARCH, EARLS OF
• MARCH, FRANCIS ANDREW (1825– )

March 1571 that the essay was invented . It was started in the second story of the old See also:

• TOWER (Lat. turris; Fr. tour, clocker; Ital. torre; Ger. Thurm)

tower of the See also:

• CASTLE
• CASTLE (Lat. castellum, a fort, diminutive of castra, a camp; Fr. chateau and chdtel)

castle of Montaigne, in a study to which the philosopher withdrew for that purpose, surrounded by his books, See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close to his See also:

• CHAPEL

chapel, sheltered from the excesses of a fatiguing world . He wrote slowly, not systematically; it took nine years to finish the two first books of the essays . In 1574 the See also:

• MANUSCRIPT

manuscript of the work, so far as it was then completed, was nearly lost, for it was confiscated by the pontifical See also:

• POLICE (Fr. police, government, civil administration, a police force, Gr. sroXumeia, constitution, condition of a state, roars, city, state)

police in See also:

• ROME
• ROME (Roma)

Rome, where Montaigne was residing, and was not returned to the author for four months . The earliest imprint saw the light in 158o, at See also:

• BORDEAUX

Bordeaux, and the See also:

• PARIS
• PARIS (also called ALEXANDROS)
• PARIS, ALEXIS PAULIN (1800-x881)
• PARIS, BRUNO PAULIN GASTON (1839-1903)
• PARIS, FRANCOIS DE (169o-1727)
• PARIS, LOUIS PHILIPPE ALBERT
• PARIS, TREATIES OF (1814-1815)

Paris edition of 1588, which is the fifth, contains the final See also:

• TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text of the See also:

• GREAT

great author . These See also:

• DATES

dates are not negligible in the briefest See also:

• HISTORY

history of the essay, for they are those of its See also:

• REVELATION, BOOK OF

revelation to the world of readers . It was in the delightful chapters of his new, See also:

• STRANGE, SIR ROBERT (1721-1792)

strange book that Montaigne introduced the See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion of writing briefly, irregularly, with See also:

• CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant digressions and interruptions, about the world as it appears to the individual who writes . The Essais were instantly welcomed, and few writers of the See also:

• RENAISSANCE, THE

Renaissance had so instant and so vast a popularity as Montaigne .

But whilethe See also:

• PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

philosophy, and above all the graceful stoicism, of the great See also:

• MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master were admired and copied in See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France, the exact shape in which he had put down his thoughts, in the exquisite See also:

• NEGLIGENCE (Lat. negligentia, from negligere, to neglect, literally " not to pick up ")

negligence of a See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of essays, was too delicate to tempt an imitator . It is to be noted that neither See also:

• CHARRON, PIERRE (1541-1603)

Charron, nor Mlle de Gournay, his most immediate disciples, tried to write essays . But Montaigne, who liked to See also:

• FANCY (a shortened form, dating from the 15th century, of " fantasy," which is derived through the O. Fr. fantasie, modern fantaisie. from the Latinized form of the Gr. cbavraoia, Oavrai'ecv, Oat Pais, to show)

fancy that the Eyquem See also:

• FAMILY

family was of See also:

• ENGLISH

English extraction, had spoken affably of the English See also:

• PEOPLE

people as his " See also:

• COUSINS, SAMUEL (18o1-1887)

cousins," and it has always been admitted that his See also:

• GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius has an See also:

• AFFINITY (Lat. affinitas, relationship by marriage, from offinis, bordering on, related to; finis, border, boundary)
• AFFINITY, CHEMICAL

affinity with the English . He was See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early read in England, and certainly by Bacon, whose is the second great name connected with this form of literature . It was in 1597, only five years after the See also:

• DEATH

death of Montaigne, that Bacon published in a small See also:

• OCTAVO

octavo the first ten of his essays . These he increased to 38 in 1612 andto 58 in 1625 . In their first form, the essays of Bacon had nothing of the fulness or See also:

• GRACE (Fr. grace, Lat. gratia, from grates, beloved, pleasing; formed from the root cra-, Gr. xav-, cf. xaipw, x6p,ua, Xapts)
• GRACE, WILLIAM GILBERT (1848– )

grace of Montaigne's; they are meagre notes, scarcely more than the headings for discourses . It is possible that when he wrote them he was not yet See also:

• FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar with the See also:

• STYLE
• STYLE (from Gr. a-6'1ms, a column; a different word from that used in literature, see below)

style of his predecessor, which was first made popular in England, in 1603, when See also:

• FLORIO, GIOVANNI (1553?-1625)

Florio published that See also:

• TRANSLATION

translation of the Essais which See also:

• SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616)

Shakespeare unquestionably read . In the later See also:

• EDITIONS

editions Bacon greatly See also:

• EXPANDED

expanded his theme, but he never reached, or but seldom, the freedom and ease, the seeming formlessness held in by an invisible See also:

• CHAIN (through the O. Fr. citable, chcene, &c., from Lat. catena)

chain, which are the See also:

• GLORY (through the O. Fr. glorie, modern gloire, from Lat. gloria, cognate with Gr. KXebs, abets)

glory of Montaigne, and distinguish the typical essayist . It would seem that at first, in England, as in France, no lesser writer was willing to adopt a See also:

• TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title which belonged to so great a presence as that of Bacon or Montaigne . The one exception was See also:

• SIR

Sir See also:

• WILLIAM
• WILLIAM (1143-1214)
• WILLIAM (1227-1256)
• WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
• WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
• WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
• WILLIAM, 13TH

William See also:

• CORNWALLIS, CHARLES CORNWALLIS
• CORNWALLIS, SIR WILLIAM (1744-1819)

Cornwallis (d . 1631), who published essays in r600 and 1617, of slight merit, but popular in their day .

No other English essayist of any importance appeared until the Restoration, when See also:

• ABRAHAM, or ABRAM (Hebrew for " father is high ")

Abraham See also:

• COWLEY, ABRAHAM (1618-1667)
• COWLEY, HANNAH (1743-1809)
• COWLEY, HENRY RICHARD CHARLES WELLESLEY

Cowley wrote eleven " Several Discourses by way of Essays," which did not see the light until 1668 . He interspersed with his prose, See also:

• TRANSLATIONS

translations and original pieces in See also:

• VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse, but in other respects Cowley keeps much nearer than Bacon to the form of Montaigne . Cowley's essay " Of Myself " is a See also:

• MODEL (0. Fr. modelle, mod. modele; It. modello, pattern, mould; from Lat. modus, measure, standard)

model of what these little compositions should be . The name of Bacon inspires See also:

• AWE, LOCH

awe, but it is really not he, but Cowley, who is the See also:

• FATHER

father of the English essay; and it is remarkable that he has had no warmer panegyrists than his great successors, See also:

• CHARLES
• CHARLES (1270-1325)
• CHARLES (1421-1461)
• CHARLES (1525-1574)
• CHARLES (c. 1319-1364)
• CHARLES (Fr. Charles; Span. Carlos; Ital. Carlo; Ger. Karl; derived from O.H.G. Charal,latinized as Carolus, meaning originally " man ": cf. Mod.Ger., Kerl," fellow," A.S. ceorl, Mod. Eng. " churl ")
• CHARLES (KARL EITEL ZEPHYRIN LUDWIG; in Rum. CAROL)
• CHARLES [KARL ALEXANDER] (1712-1780)
• CHARLES, ELIZABETH (1828-1896)
• CHARLES, JACQUES ALEXANDRE CESAR (1746-1823)
• CHARLES, THOMAS (1755-1814)

Charles Lamb and See also:

• MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, BARON (1800-1859)

Macaulay . Towards the end of the century, Sir See also:

• GEORGE
• GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
• GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
• GEORGE, LAKE
• GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)

George See also:

• MACKENZIE
• MACKENZIE, ALEXANDER (1822-1892)
• MACKENZIE, HENRY (1745-1831)
• MACKENZIE, SIR ALEXANDER (c. 1755-1820)
• MACKENZIE, SIR ALEXANDER CAMPBELL (1847— )
• MACKENZIE, SIR GEORGE (1636-1691)
• MACKENZIE, SIR MORELL (1837-1892)
• MACKENZIE, WILLIAM LYON (1795-1861)

Mackenzie (1636—1691) wrote witty moral discourses, which were, however, essays rather in name than form . When-ever, however, we reach the eighteenth century, we find the essay suddenly became a dominant force in English literature . It made its See also:

• APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance almost as a new thing, and in See also:

• COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination with the earliest developments of journalism . On the 12th of See also:

• APRIL

April 1709 appeared the first number of a See also:

• PENNY (Mid. Eng. peni or peny, from O. Eng. form penig, earlier penning and pending; the word appears in Ger. Pfennig and Du. penning; it has been connected with Du. pand, Ger. Pfand, and Eng. " pawn,". the word meaning a little pledge or token, or with G
• PENNY, GIANFRANCESCO (1488–1528)

penny newspaper, entitled the Tatter, a See also:

• MAIN (from the Aryan root which appears in " may " and " might," and Lat. magnus, great)
• MAIN (Lat. Moenus)

main feature of which was to amuse and instruct fashionable readers by a series of See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short papers dealing with the manifold occurrences of See also:

• LIFE

life, quicquid agunt homines . But it was not until See also:

• STEELE
• STEELE, ANNE (1717-1778)
• STEELE, SIR RICHARD (1672-1729)
• STEELE, THOMAS (1788-1848)
• STEELE, WILLIAM (d. 1680)

Steele, the founder of the Tatter, was joined by Addison that the eighteenth-century essay really started upon its course . It displayed at first, and indeed it See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long retained, a mixture of the manner of Montaigne with that of La Bruyere, combining the form of the pure essay with that of the See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character-study, as modelled on See also:

• THEOPHRASTUS

Theophrastus, which had been so popular in England throughout the seventeenth century . Addison's early Tatter portraits, in particular such as those of " Tom See also:

• FOLIO (properly the ablative case of the Lat. folium, leaf, but also frequently an adaptation of the Ital. foglio)

Folio " and " Ned Softly," are hardly essays . But Steele's " Recollections of Childhood " is, and here we may observe the type on which See also:

• GOLDSMITH
• GOLDSMITH, LEWIS (c. 1763–1846)
• GOLDSMITH, OLIVER (1728–1774)

Goldsmith, Lamb and R .

L . See also:

• STEVENSON, ADLA1 EWING (1835- )
• STEVENSON, ROBERT (1772-1850)
• STEVENSON, ROBERT LEWIS BALFOUR (1850-1894)

Stevenson afterwards worked . In See also:

• JANUARY

January 1711 the Taller came to an end, and was almost immediately followed by the Spectator, and in 1713 by the See also:

• GUARDIAN

Guardian . These three newspapers are storehouses of admirable and typical essays, the See also:

• MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of them written by Steele and Addison, who are the most celebrated eighteenth-century essayists in England . Later in the century, after the publication of other less successful experiments, appeared See also:

• FIELDING, ANTHONY VANDYKE COPLEY (1787-1855)
• FIELDING, HENRY (1707-1754)
• FIELDING, WILLIAM STEVENS (1848– )

Fielding's essays in the Covent See also:

• GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

Garden See also:

• JOURNAL
• JOURNAL (through Fr. from late Lat. diurnalis, daily)

Journal (1752) and Johnson's in the Rambler (1750), the Adventurer (1752) and the Idler (1759) . There followed a great number of polite See also:

• JOURNALS

journals, in which the essay was treated as " the See also:

• BOW (pronounced " bo ")

bow of Ulysses in which it was the fashion for men of See also:

• RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank and genius to try their strength." See also:

• GOLD
• GOLD [symbol Au, atomic weight 195.7(H = 1),197.2(0 =16)]

Gold-See also:

• SMITH
• SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790)
• SMITH, ALEXANDER (183o-1867)
• SMITH, ANDREW JACKSON (1815-1897)
• SMITH, CHARLES EMORY (1842–1908)
• SMITH, CHARLES FERGUSON (1807–1862)
• SMITH, CHARLOTTE (1749-1806)
• SMITH, COLVIN (1795—1875)
• SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY (1824-1893)
• SMITH, G
• SMITH, GEORGE (1789-1846)
• SMITH, GEORGE (184o-1876)
• SMITH, GEORGE ADAM (1856- )
• SMITH, GERRIT (1797–1874)
• SMITH, GOLDWIN (1823-191o)
• SMITH, HENRY BOYNTON (1815-1877)
• SMITH, HENRY JOHN STEPHEN (1826-1883)
• SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED (1847– )
• SMITH, JAMES (1775–1839)
• SMITH, JOHN (1579-1631)
• SMITH, JOHN RAPHAEL (1752–1812)
• SMITH, JOSEPH, JR
• SMITH, MORGAN LEWIS (1822–1874)
• SMITH, RICHARD BAIRD (1818-1861)
• SMITH, ROBERT (1689-1768)
• SMITH, SIR HENRY GEORGE WAKELYN
• SMITH, SIR THOMAS (1513-1577)
• SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893)
• SMITH, SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY (1764-1840)
• SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845)
• SMITH, THOMAS SOUTHWOOD (1788-1861)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (1769-1839)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (c. 1730-1819)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (fl. 1596)
• SMITH, WILLIAM FARRAR (1824—1903)
• SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1808—1872)
• SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1825—1891)
• SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-'894)

smith reached a higher level than the Chesterfields and Bonnel Thorntons had dreamed of, in the delicious sections of his See also:

• CITIZEN (a form corrupted in Eng., apparently by analogy with " denizen," from O. Fr. citeain, mod. Fr. citoyen)

Citizen of the World (1760) . After Goldsmith, the eighteenth-century essay declined into tamer hands, and passed into final feebleness with the pedantic See also:

• RICHARD
• RICHARD (d. 1184)
• RICHARD, FRANCOIS MARIE BENJAMIN (18,9-1908)
• RICHARD, HENRY (1812-1888)
• RICHARD, ST

Richard See also:

• CUMBERLAND
• CUMBERLAND, DUKES AND EARLS OF
• CUMBERLAND, RICHARD (1632-1718)
• CUMBERLAND, RICHARD (1732-1811)
• CUMBERLAND, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS

Cumberland and the sentimental See also:

• HENRY
• HENRY (1129-1195)
• HENRY (c. 1108-1139)
• HENRY (c. 1174–1216)
• HENRY (Fr. Henri; Span. Enrique; Ger. Heinrich; Mid. H. Ger. Heinrich and Heimrich; O.H.G. Haimi- or Heimirih, i.e. " prince, or chief of the house," from O.H.G. heim, the Eng. home, and rih, Goth. reiks; compare Lat. rex " king "—" rich," therefore " mig
• HENRY, EDWARD LAMSON (1841– )
• HENRY, JAMES (1798-1876)
• HENRY, JOSEPH (1797-1878)
• HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714)
• HENRY, PATRICK (1736–1799)
• HENRY, PRINCE OF BATTENBERG (1858-1896)
• HENRY, ROBERT (1718-1790)
• HENRY, VICTOR (1850– )
• HENRY, WILLIAM (1795-1836)

Henry Mackenzie . The corpus of eighteent h-century essayists is extremely voluminous, and their reprinted See also:

• WORKS

works fill some fifty volumes . There is, however, a great sameness about all but the very best of them, and in no See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case do they surpass Addison in freshness, or have they ventured to modify the form he adopted for his lucubrations . What has survived of them all is the lightest portion, but it should not be forgotten that a very large section of the essays of that See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age were deliberately didactic and " moral." A great revival of the essay took See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place during the first See also:

• QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter of the nineteenth century, and foremost in the history of this See also:

• MOVEMENT

movement must' always be placed the name of Charles Lamb . He perceived that the real business of the essay, as Montaigne had conceived it, was to be largely See also:

• PERSONAL

personal . The famous Essays of Elia began to appear in the See also:

• LONDON

London See also:

• MAGAZINE

Magazine for See also:

• AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1820, and proceeded at fairly See also:

• REGULAR

regular intervals until See also:

• DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1822; early in 1823 the first series of them were collected in a See also:

• VOLUME

volume .

The peculiarity of Lamb's style as an essayist was that he threw off the Addisonian and still more the Johnsonian tradition, which had become a See also:

• BURDEN, or BURTHEN

burden that crushed the life out of each conventional essay, and that he boldly went back to the See also:

• RICH, BARNABE (c. 1540-1617)
• RICH, CLAUDIUS JAMES (1787-1821)
• RICH, JOHN (1692-1761)
• RICH, PENELOPE, LADY (c. 1562–1607)
• RICH, RICHARD, 1ST BARON RICH (1490?-1567)

rich verbiage and brilliant imagery of the seventeenth century for his See also:

• INSPIRATION (Lat. inspirare, breathe upon or into)

inspiration . It is true that Lamb had great ductility of style, and that, when he pleases, he can write so like Steele that Steele himself might scarcely know the difference, yet in his freer flights we are conscious of more exalted masters, of See also:

• MILTON
• MILTON, JOHN (1608–1674)

Milton, See also:

• THOMAS
• THOMAS (c. 1654-1720)
• THOMAS (d. 110o)
• THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850-1892)
• THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811-1896)
• THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802)
• THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816-187o)
• THOMAS, ISAIAH (1749-1831)
• THOMAS, PIERRE (1634-1698)
• THOMAS, SIDNEY GILCHRIST (1850-1885)
• THOMAS, ST
• THOMAS, THEODORE (1835-1905)
• THOMAS, WILLIAM (d. 1554)

Thomas See also:

• BROWNE
• BROWNE, EDWARD HAROLD (18,1–1891)
• BROWNE, ISAAC HAWKINS (1705-1760)
• BROWNE, JAMES (1793–1841)
• BROWNE, MAXIMILIAN ULYSSES, COUNT VON, BARON DE CAMUS AND MOUNTANY (1705-1757)
• BROWNE, PETER (?1665-1735)
• BROWNE, ROBERT (1550-1633)
• BROWNE, SIR JAMES (1839–1896)
• BROWNE, SIR THOMAS (1605-1682)
• BROWNE, WILLIAM (1591–1643)
• BROWNE, WILLIAM GEORGE (1768-1813)

Browne and See also:

• JEREMY, EPISTLE OF

Jeremy See also:

• TAYLOR
• TAYLOR, ANN (1782-1866)
• TAYLOR, BAYARD (1825–1878)
• TAYLOR, BROOK (1685–1731)
• TAYLOR, ISAAC (1787-1865)
• TAYLOR, ISAAC (1829-1901)
• TAYLOR, JEREMY (1613-1667)
• TAYLOR, JOHN (158o-1653)
• TAYLOR, JOHN (1704-1766)
• TAYLOR, JOSEPH (c. 1586-c. 1653)
• TAYLOR, MICHAEL ANGELO (1757–1834)
• TAYLOR, NATHANIEL WILLIAM (1786-1858)
• TAYLOR, PHILIP MEADOWS (1808–1876)
• TAYLOR, ROWLAND (d. 1555)
• TAYLOR, SIR HENRY (1800-1886)
• TAYLOR, THOMAS (1758-1835)
• TAYLOR, TOM (1817-1880)
• TAYLOR, WILLIAM (1765-1836)
• TAYLOR, ZACHARY (1784-1850)

Taylor . He succeeded, moreover, in reaching a poignant See also:

• NOTE
• NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know)

note of personal feeling, such as none of his predecessors had ever aimed at; the essays called " See also:

• DREAM (from a root dreug, connected with Germ. trugen, to deceive)

Dream See also:

• CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

Children " and Blakesmoor " are examples of this, and they display a degree of See also:

• HARMONY (Gr. dpµovia, a concord of musical sounds, dpA'ew to join; &plan midi (sc. TeXvil)

harmony and perfection in the writing of the pure essay such as had never been attempted before, and has never since been reached . See also:

• LEIGH
• LEIGH, EDWARD (1602–1671)

Leigh See also:

• HUNT, ALFRED WILLIAM (183o-1896)
• HUNT, HENRY (1i73-1835)
• HUNT, HENRY JACKSON (1819-1889)
• HUNT, JAMES HENRY LEIGH (1784-1859)
• HUNT, ROBERT (1807-1887)
• HUNT, THOMAS STERRY (1826-1892)
• HUNT, WILLIAM HENRY (1790—1864)
• HUNT, WILLIAM HOLMAN (1827-1910)
• HUNT, WILLIAM MORRIS (1824-1879)

Hunt, clearing away all the didactic and pompous elements which had overgrown the essay, restored it to its old Spectator grace, and was the most easy nondescript writer of his See also:

• GENERATION (from Lat. generare, to beget, procreate; genus, stock, race)

generation in See also:

• PERIODICALS

periodicals such as the See also:

• INDICATOR (from Lat. indicare, to point out)

Indicator (1819) and the See also:

• COMPANION (through the O. Fr. compaignon or compagnon, from the Late Lat. companio,—cum, with, and panis, bread,—one who shares meals with another; the word has been wrongly derived from the Late Lat. compagnus, one of the same pages or district)

Companion (1828) . The sermons, letters and See also:

• PAMPHLETS

pamphlets of See also:

• SYDNEY

Sydney Smith were really essays of an extended See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order . In See also:

• HAZLITT, WILLIAM (1778-1830)

Hazlitt and See also:

• FRANCIS
• FRANCIS (FRarrcols) OF SALES, ST (1567-1622)
• FRANCIS (Lat. Franciscus, Ital. Francesco, Span. Francisco, Fr. Francois, Ger. Franz)
• FRANCIS, SIR PHILIP (174o-1818)

Francis See also:

• JEFFREY, FRANCIS JEFFREY

Jeffrey we see the form and method of the essay beginning to be applied to literary See also:

• CRITICISM
• CRITICISM (from the Gr. KpiTrlS, a judge, Kpivew, to decide, to give an authoritative opinion)

criticism . The writings of De Quincey are almost exclusively essays, although many of the most notable of them, under his vehement See also:

• PEN (Lat. penna, a feather, pen)

pen, have far outgrown the limits of the length laid down by the most indulgent formalist . His See also:

• BIOGRAPHICAL

biographical and See also:

• CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical essays are interesting, but they are far from being See also:

• TRUST

trust-worthy See also:

• MODELS

models in form or substance . In a See also:

• SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

sketch, however rapid, of the essay in the nineteenth century, prominence must be given to the name of Macaulay . His earliest essay, that on Milton, appeared in the See also:

• EDINBURGH

Edinburgh See also:

• REVIEW (Fr. revue, from revoir, to see again, Lat. re and videre)

Review in 1825, very shortly after the revelation of Lamb's genius in " Elia." No two products See also:

• CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast in the same See also:

• MOULD

mould could, however, be more unlike in substance . In the hands of Macaulay the essay ceases to be a See also:

• CONFESSION (Lat. confessio, from confiteor, acknowledge, confess)

confession or an autobiography; it is strictly impersonal, it is literary, See also:

• HISTORICAL

historical or controversial, vigorous, trenchant and full of party See also:

• PREJUDICE (Lat. praejudicium)

prejudice . The periodical publication of Macaulay's Essays in' the Edinburgh Review went on until 1844; when we cast our eyes over this See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass of brilliant writing we observe with surprise that it is. almost wholly contentious .

Nothing can be more remarkable than the difference in this respect between Lamb and Macaulay, the former for ever demanding, even cajoling, the sympathy of the reader, the latter scanning the See also:

• HORIZON (Gr. 6pfTwv, dividing)

horizon for an enemy to controvert . In later times the essay in England has been cultivated in each of these ways, by a thousand journalists and authors . The " leaders' of a daily newspaper are examples of the popularization of the essay, and they point to the danger which now attacks it, that of producing a purely ephemeral or even momentary species of effect . The essay, in its best days, was intended to be as lasting as a poem or a historical monograph; it aimed at being one of the most durable and See also:

• PRECIOUS (O. Fr. precios, mod. precieux, Lat. pretiosus, of high value or price, pretium)

precious departments of literature . We still occasionally see the See also:

• PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of essays which have this more ambitious aim; within the last quarter of the nineteenth century the essays of R . L . Stevenson achieved it . His Familiar Studies are of the same class as those of Montaigne and Lamb, and he approached far more closely than any other contemporary to their high level of excellence . We have seen that the See also:

• TONE, THEOBALD WOLFE (1763-1798)

tone of the essay should be personal and confidential; in Stevenson's case it was characteristically so . But the voices which please the public in a See also:

• STRAIN (through O. Fr. straindre, estraindre, mod. i treindre, from Lat. stringere, to draw tight, related to stress, stretch, string, &c.)

strain of pure self-study are fewat all times, and with the cultivation of the See also:

• ANALYTIC (the adjective of " analysis," q.v.)

analytic See also:

• HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit they tend to become less original and attractive . It is possible that the essay.may See also:

• DIE
• DIE (Fr. de, from Lat. datum, given)

die of exhaustion of See also:

• INTEREST

interest, or may survive only in the modified form of accidental journalism . The essay, although invented by a great See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French writer, was very late in making itself at See also:

• HOME
• HOME, DANIEL DUNGLAS (1833-1886)
• HOME, EARLS OF

home in France .

The so-called Essais of See also:

• LEIBNITZ (LEIBNIZ), GOTTFRIED WILHELM

Leibnitz, See also:

• NICOLE, PIERRE (1625–1695)

Nicole, Yves See also:

• MARIE

Marie See also:

• ANDRE, JOHN (1751-178o)

Andre and so many others were really See also:

• TREATISES

treatises . See also:

• VOLTAIRE, FRANCOIS MARIE AROUET DE (1694–1778)

Voltaire's famous Essai sur See also:

• LES

les mcsurs See also:

• DES

des nations is an elaborate historical disquisition in nearly two See also:

• HUNDRED

hundred chapters . Later, the voluminous essays of See also:

• JOSEPH
• JOSEPH, COMTE DE (1785-1870)
• JOSEPH, FATHER (FRANCOIS LECLERC DU TREMBLAY) (1577-1638)

Joseph de See also:

• MAISTRE, JOSEPH DE (1754-1821)
• MAISTRE, XAVIER DE (1763-1852)

Maistre and of See also:

• LAMENNAIS, HUGUES

Lamennais were not essays at all in the literary sense . On the other See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, the admirable Causeries du lundi of Sainte-Beuve (1804—1869) are literary essays in the fulness of the See also:

• TERM

term, and have been the forerunners of a great See also:

• ARMY
• ARMY (from Fr. armee, Lat. armata)

army of brilliant essay-writing in France . Among those who have specially distinguished themselves as French essayists may be mentioned See also:

• THEOPHILE

Theophile See also:

• GAUTIER
• GAUTIER, EMILE THEODORE LEON (1832-1897)
• GAUTIER, THEOPHILE (1811-1872)

Gautier, See also:

• PAUL
• PAUL (PAULUS)

Paul de See also:

• SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

Saint-See also:

• VICTOR
• VICTOR, GAIUS JULIUS (4th cent. A.D.)
• VICTOR, SEXTUS AURELIUS

Victor, Anatole France, Jules See also:

• LEMAITRE, FRANCOIS ELIE JULES (1853— )

Lemaitre, See also:

• FERDINAND
• FERDINAND (1577-1650)
• FERDINAND (COLOGNE)
• FERDINAND (Span. Fernando or Hernando; Ital. Ferdinando or Ferrante; in O. H. Ger. Herinand, i.e. " brave in the host," from O. H. G. Heri, "army," A. S. here, Mod. Ger. Heer, and the Goth. nan]jan, " to dare ")
• FERDINAND, MAXIMILIAN KARL LEOPOLD MARIA

Ferdinand Brunetiere a4nd Emile See also:

• FAGUET, EMILE (1847- )

Faguet . All these are literary critics, and it is in the form of the See also:

• ANALYSIS (Gr. avci and Meta, to break up into parts)

analysis of manifestations of intellectual See also:

• ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy that the essay has been most successfully illustrated in France . All the countries of See also:

• EUROPE

Europe, since the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle of the 19th century, have adopted this form of writing; such monographs or reviews, however, are not perfectly identical with the essay as it was conceived by Addison and Lamb . This last, it maybe supposed, is a definitely English thing, and this view is confirmed by the fact that in several See also:

• EUROPEAN

European See also:

• LANGUAGES

languages the word " essayist " has been adopted without modification . In the above remarks it has been taken for granted that the essay is always in prose . Pope, however, conceived an essay in heroic verse . Of this his Essay on Criticism (1711) and his Essay on See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

Man (1732—1734) are not See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good examples, for they are really treatises . The so-called Moral Essays (1720—1735), on the contrary, might have been contributed, if in prose, either to the Spectator or the Guardian .

The idea of pure essays, in verse, however, did not take any See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root in English literature . (E .