expense of time and labor, and with an industry to which all obstacles will ever give way, made himself coinplete master of it, as then known. He first employed himself in translating from French into English, The Recuyell1 of the Histories of Troye, which was published at Cologne, 1471, and is the first book ever printed in the English language. The next year Caxton returned to England, and in 1474 put forth The Game of Chess, remarkable as being the first book ever printed in England. It was entitled, The Game and Playe of the Chesse: Translated out of the French, and imprynted by William Caxton. Fynyshed the last day of Marche, the yer of our Lord God, a thousand foure hundred, lxxiiij. Caxton was a man who united great modesty and simplicity of character to indefatigable industry. He styled himself "simple William Caxton." He printed, in all, about sixty-four different works, a great number of which he translated as well as printed; and those which he did not translate, he often revised and altered; so that, in point of language, they may be considered as his own. He continued to prepare works for the press to the very close of his life; and though of no brilliancy of talent, he exemplifies, in a remarkable degree, how much good one man may do, of even moderate powers, provided he industriously and faithfully employs all that has been given to him with an eye single to one great object.2 Among other works3 printed by Caxton were the Chronicles of England, which contained indeed some true history, but much more of romantic fable. As a specimen of the latter, the following may be given upon the ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF ALBION. 4 Before that I will speak of Brute, it shall be shewed how the land of England was first named Albion, and by what encheson5 it was so named. Of the noble land of Syria, there was a royal king and mighty, and a man of great renown, that was called Dioclesian, that well and worthily him governed and ruled thro' his noble chivalry; so that he conquered all the lands about him; so that almost all the kings of the world to him were attendant. It befel thus that this Dioclesian spoused a gentle damsel that was wonder fair, that was his uncle's daughter, Labana. And she loved him as reason would; so that he had by her thirty-three daughters; of the which the eldest was called Albine. And these damsels, when they came unto age, became so fair that it was wonder. Whereof Dioclesian anon let make a summoning, and commanded by his letters, that all the kings that held of him, should come at a certain day, as in his letters were contained, to make a feast royal. At which day, thither they came, and brought with them admirals, princes, and dukes, and noble chivalry. The feast was royally arrayed; and there they lived in joy and mirth enough, that 1 Compilation-selection. fusion of Useful Knowledge. 2 Read-"Life of Caxton," published by the Society for the Dir 3 For a full list of his works, see Ames's "Typographical Antiquities," or "Timperley's History of Printing," page 155. 4 This Brute was the grandson of Æneas and the old chronicles derived the descent of the Britons from the Trojans. 5 Chance it was wonder to wyte.1 And it befel thus, that Dioclesian thought to marry his daughters among all those kings that were of that solemnity. And so they spake and did, that Albine, his eldest daughter, and all her sisters, richly were married unto thirty-three kings, that were lords of great honour and of power, at this solemnity. And when the solemnity was done, every king took his wife, and led them into their own country, and there made them queens. The story then goes on to relate how these thirty-three wives conspired to kill their husbands, all on the same night, and "anon, as their lords were asleep, they cut all their husbands' throats; and so they slew them all.' When that Dioclesian, their father, heard of this thing, he became furiously wroth against his daughters, and anon would them all have brente." But all the barons and lords of Syria counseled not so for to do such straitness3 to his own daughters; but only should void the land of them for evermore; so that they never should come again; and so he did. And Dioclesian, that was their father, anon commanded them to go into a ship, and delivered to them victuals for half a year. And when this was done, all the sisters went into the ship, and sailed forth in the sea, and took all their friends to Apolin, that was their God. And so long they sailed in the sea, till at the last they came and arrived in an isle, that was all wilderness. And when dame Albine was come to that land, and all her sisters, this Albine went first forth out of the ship, and said to her other sisters: For as much, (said she,) as I am the eldest sister of all this company, and first this land hath taken; and for as much as my name is Albine, I will that this land be called Albion, after mine own name. And anon, all her sisters granted to her with a good will. WILLIAM DUNBAR. 1465-1530. WILLIAM DUNBAR is pronounced by Ellis,4 to be "the greatest poet Scotand has produced." His writings, however, with scarcely an exception, remained in the obscurity of manuscript, till the beginning of the last century; but his fame since then has been continually rising. His chief poems are THE THISTLE AND THE ROSE, THE DANCE, and THE GOLDEN TERGE. The Thistle and the Rose was occasioned by the marriage of James IV. of Scotland with Margaret Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VII. of England, an event in which the whole future political state of both nations was vitally interested, and which ultimately produced the union of the two crowns and 2 Burnt. 3 Strictness. 1 Know. 4 Specimens of the Early English Poets," vol. i. p. 77: but should he not have excepted Burns and Sir Walter Scott? kingdoms, in the person of James VI. of Scotland, and I. of England, 1603--1625. This poem opens with the following stanzas, remarkable for their descriptive and picturesque beauties: Quhen1 Merche wes with variand windis past, In bed at morrow sleiping as I lay, Methocht fresche May befoir my bed upstude, Hevinly of color, quhyt, reid, brown, and blew, THE DANCE of the Seven Deadly Sins through Hell has much merit. On the eve of Lent, a day of general confession, the poet, in a dream, sees a display of heaven and hell. Mahomet,18 or the devil, commands a dance to be performed by a select party of fiends, and immediately the Seven Deadly Sins appear. The following is a description of ENVY:- Next in the dance followit Invy, Fild full of feid 14 and fellony, Hid malyce and dispyte; For pryvie haterit 15 that tratour trymlit,16 And flattereis into mens facis, With rownaris 20 of fals lesingis: 21 Of tham can nevir be quyte!" 22 As a specimen of one of his minor poems take the following, containing nuch wholesome advice: 1 When, Qu has the force of w. 2 Taken leave. 8 Mother. 4 Whose. 5 Looked. 6 Hailed. 7 With good will. 8 Lovers. 9 Slumbering. 10 Attire. 11 Forged, made. 12 Brightness. 13 The Christians, in the crusades, were accustomed to hear the Saracens swear by their Prophet Mahomet, who then became, in Europe, another name for the Devil. 14 Enmity. 16 Hatred. 16 Trembled. 17 Dissembling gallant. 18 Backbiters. 19 Lie. 20 Rounders, whispers. To round in the ear, or simply to round, was to whisper in the ear. 21 Falsities. 22 Free. 1 Wisdom. NO TREASURE WITHOUT GLADNESS. I. Be merry, man! and take not sair in mind And with thy neighbours gladly lend and borrow. For oft with wysure1 it has been said aforrow,2 II. Make thee good cheer of it that God thee sends, In dolour lang thy life may not endure; III. Follow on pity;5 flee trouble and debate ; Be rich in patience, gif thou in goods be poor; Without gladnéss availis no treasure. IV. Though all the werk that ever had livand wight 2 A-fore, before. 3 Merchandise, treasure; that is, world's trash without health. Here we see the original, etymological meaning of the preposition but to be without. 4 Thou canst enjoy all the remainder only with bale, or sorrow. 5 Originally pity and piety are the 6 No longer than a sound. 7 Possessions. 8 Clothes. 9 Remainder. 10 One accompt. same. SIR THOMAS MORE. 1480-1535. MORE, Who, with a generous though mistaken zeal, Like Cato firm, like Aristides just, Like rigid Cincinnatus nobly poor A dauntless soul erect, who smiled on death. THOMSON. SIR THOMAS MORE was, without doubt, the most prominent character of the reign of Henry VIII. He was born in London in the year 1480. When a boy he was in the family of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who used to say of him to his guests, "This boy who waits at my table, who lives to see it, will prove a marvellous man." He entered the University of Oxford at the age of seventeen, and at the age of twenty-two was elected member of Par liament. In 1516 he was sent to Flanders on an important mission, and on his return, the king conferred on him the honor of knighthood, and appointed him one of his privy council. In 1529, on the disgrace of Cardinal Wolsey, he was appointed Lord Chancellor, being the first layman who ever held the office. But he was soon to experience in himself the language which Shak speare puts into the mouth of Wolsey to Cromwell, "How wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors." Henry VIII. doubtless raised More to this high office, that he might aid him to obtain a divorce from his wife, and to marry Anne Boleyn. But More was sincerely attached to the Roman church, and looked with horror upon any thing that was denounced by the supreme head of the church, as the king's divorce was by the pope. He therefore begged that monster of wickedness, Henry VIII., to excuse him from giving an opinion. But the tyrant was relentless, and the result was, that when the Act of Supremacy was passed by Parliament, 1534, declaring Henry to be the supreme head of the church, More refused to take the oath required of him, and he died on a scaffold, a martyr to his adhesion to the papal church, and the supremacy of the pope, on the 5th of July, 1535. "Nothing is wanting," (says Mr. Hume,) "to the glory of this end but a better cause. But as the man followed his principles and sense of duty, however misguided, his constancy and integrity are not the less objects of our admiration.' More was a man of true genius, and of a mind enriched with all the learning of his time, and no one had a greater influence over his contemporaries. He held continued correspondence with the learned men of Europe. The great Erasmus went to England on purpose to enjoy the pleasure of his con versation. It is said that their first meeting was at the lord mayor's table, at that time always open to men of learning and eminence, but they were unknown to each other. At dinner, a dispute arising on some theological points, Erasmus expressed himself with great severity of the clergy, and ridiculed, with considerable acrimony, the doctrine of transubstantiation. More rejoined with all his strength of argument and keenness of wit. Erasmus, thus assailed, exclaimed with some vehemence, "Aut tu Morus es, aut nullus ;”1 to which More with great readiness replied, "Aut tu es Erasmus, aut Diabolus.” 2 1 "You are either More or no one.” 2 "Either you are Erasmus or the Devil.” |