and so on to the philosophical dialogues of that latter age. Finally we shall note the work of Landor, in the nineteenth century, emphasizing the characterelement of dialogue, as earlier times had emphasized the thought-element; and discover, it may be, certain new tendencies in the English dialogues of the present day.

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II.

1. THE DIALOGUE IN THE MIDDLE

AGES

It was natural enough that an age which had not attained to social and intellectual cultivation, however rich in the possibilities of growth, could not spontaneously bring to its fullest perfection a literary form that associates itself with the ripest developments of social intercourse. Nor was the mediæval period ready even to make its own, in the fullest sense, the achievement of earlier times. Hence it is that the dialogues of Early English literature are very imperfect products, from an artistic standpoint; few of them, indeed, true dialogues in any sense, or from any standpoint. Yet they sprang as directly from the life of their time as did the dialogues of the Greeks from the richer intellectual life that forms their background; and they kept alive a native tradition that helped to link ancient and modern times, in some such way as the mystery and morality plays of the Middle Ages helped to link classic and modern drama.

In most European countries, the mediæval dialogue, usually a catechism or debate, grew out of native tendencies that combined readily with the literary influence of Cicero and of Prudentius, and of the Latin writers of eclogues. From Cicero came an impulse toward didacticism that fitted in perfectly with mediæval methods of religious instruction, and led to the writing of catechisms and catechetical expositions of doctrine to be used for the most practical purposes. From. Prudentius, who had represented life as a con

flict between the forces of good and evil, came an impulse that combined with the native love of verbal contests and the tradition handed down from Theocritus and Virgil, and helped to develop the contention-poem or débat, with its narrative or sometimes dramatic tendencies.

Between the extremes of the catechism and the formal débat there developed many intermediate types; for in England, even more than elsewhere, these two forms overlap, as do the religious and secular matters with which they deal. But before attempting even to suggest their general course of development, we must linger for a moment over some direct borrowings from the Latin civilization which entered English literature at so early a time that they became thoroughly incorporated in it. The Consolation of Boethius, the Soliloquies of Augustine, and the Dialogues of Gregory the Great, were among the translations given to his people by King Alfred, beginner of many good things in England, and all three were widely read and known. The Consolation of Philosophy is a philosophical dialogue, touched with a little of the spirit of Plato, though mediæval in its general method. When the allegorical figure of Philosophy visits Boethius in prison, and when she there cheers and comforts him by discussing with him the problems that vex his soul, she speaks as a teacher, but as the Socratic teacher who draws out thought by suggestion and skilful questioning, rather than as a teacher who awaits catechetical and prescribed answers. The larger part of the discussion, indeed, is hers, but it is broken up by the songs she sings, and the questions asked and answered, and thus impresses the reader quite otherwise than as a merely expository treatise. The Consolation portrays a struggle of thought with thought,

and hence is of Plato's line, though it is mediæval, too. The limitation of the number of his speakers to two, and the fact that these speakers in some sense represent two conflicting tendencies in the writer's own mind-these conditions show a trend toward the distinctly medieval debate, and link Boethius with later as well as earlier times, not only in his thought, which strongly colored that of several centuries, but also in the shape it here assumed. Furthermore, the Consolation in the translation of Alfred is an English dialogue, too, as well as a mediæval one, and this is due to the many additions to the original, as well as interpretations of it, that were made by the king. All of these show the poetic impulse toward greater concreteness. The twinkling gleam of light seen from out the darkness, the eagle soaring above the clouds in stormy weather, bring truth home through figure and the famous passage as to the duty of a ruler, in all its sweetness and humility of spirit, certainly adds to the intrinsic value of this version of the dialogue.

The Soliloquies of the great Latin churchman, Augustine, are in many ways close to the dialogue of Boethius. Again Reason converses with a troubled being, who desires to understand God and know his own soul; and again Alfred-if, as is probable, he translated this dialogue also-adds to his translation passages which make the thought more concrete, and always more poetic. These additions are of considerable length in proportion to the whole; the second book, indeed, is mainly Alfred's, and the third wholly his. Such dramatic touches as were given by Boethius when he represented the womanly figure of Philosophy as clothed in tattered garments are lacking here; for the deep earnestness of Augustine

in this search for truth lingered over no external matters. As his mind went faring after wisdom, there addressed him something, I know not what, whether myself or another thing; nor know I whether it was within me or without,' and Reason began her converse with him. The title of the dialogue indicates Augustine's prominence in it, and a long prayer uttered by him shows his yearning after God.

Gregory's Dialogues, the other foreign work that entered English literature about the same time, was translated at Alfred's request-so runs the tradition— by Wærferth, bishop of Worcester. These dialogues are a group of tales linked together by conversation. As Gregory sat in sad meditation, the younger friend, whom he calls 'my son Peter, dearest of my deacons,' came to him and saw his grief. After some conversation, in which Gregory referred to miracles performed in Lombardy, Peter asks him to tell of these wonderful events. Gregory agrees, and soon proceeds with the tale of Honoratus. In the midst of this, Peter interrupts him with one question, and at the end declares his pleasure, and asks for a new tale. Dialogue enters into the structure of the whole no more fully than this, and it is therefore unimportant for our purpose to enter into any consideration of the character of the individual tales. Such groups of tales were included among dialogues in classical times when they centred on one thought or subject, as in the case of Lucian's Toxaris, which is a group of tales on friendship; and the test, applied somewhat leniently, holds for Gregory's Dialogues. Hence this collection of stories is equivalent to an expository dialogue, merely substituting stories that point a moral for direct expository preachments.

These early translations brought into England actual