This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1903. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X. THE MODERN PERIOD, 1832 SOVEREIGNS OF THE PERIOD. William IV. . . . 1830-1837. Victoria .... 1837-1901. Edward VII 1901 The Modern Period was ushered in by the passage of the Reform Bill (1832), which gave the British people more just representation in Parliament, and by acts which freed the slaves in the English colonies (1833), and corrected abuses among the English laboring classes. It therefore began as an age of reform and progress, and as such it has continued. In regard to thought, this period is scientific, philosophic, and sceptical. It weighs all theories, social, political, religious, and seeks to find the truth. It is influenced by German ideas, and the investigations and speculations of such men as Jeremy Bentham, Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, and Herbert Spencer. It is an age of fine intellectual prose and much thoughtful poetry. The names which stand high in literature are so many that one is bewildered at every turn. The reviews continue to exert a strong influence, and through them many writers bring their works before the public. CHARLES DICKENS. 157 THE PROSE. The novel is the most popular prose form of this period. It is to the moderns what the drama was to the people of the sixteenth century. In it a person can find almost any picture of real or ideal life which he chooses to have. He has history spread before him in the novels of Bulwer-Lytton; delineation of character in the novels of Charlotte Bronte; the reforms of the period in Walter Besant; fine analysis of action and thought in George Meredith; the pure romance and sensational stories from the pens of others. The three novelists that stand out most prominently -- Dickens, Thackeray, and George Eliot--are the ones that we shall discuss particularly. Charles Dicken... Authors: Abby Willis Howes Binding: Hardcover Label: Heath Manufacturer: Heath Publication Date: 1903 Publisher: Heath Studio: Heath