SHORT COURSE IN LITERATURE, English and American. BY JOHN S. HART, LL.D., PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE PHILADELPHIA: No. 17 North Seventh Street. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. PREFACE. THE present volume is in the main an abridgment of two larger works by the same author, one on English Literature, the other on American Literature. In many schools, it is found impracticable to devote to the subject of Literature the amount of time needed to master the two volumes named, and yet it is thought best not to omit the study altogether. For the accommodation of such schools this compend has been prepared. In using it, great advantage will arise from having copies of the larger works accessible to the scholars, as well as to the teachers, for the purpose of reference. iii |