to be had upon it: wherfore nedis folewith, that of no vertu or gouernaunce or trouthe into which the doom of mannis resoun may sufficientli ascende and come to, for to it fynde, leerne, and knowe withoute reuelacioun fro God mad ther vpon, is groundid in Holi Scripture.

The firste premisse of this argument muste needis be grauntid. Forwhi, if the sufficient leernyng and kunnyng of eny gouernaunce or eny trouthe schulde as miche or more come fro an other thing, as or than fro this thing which is seid to be his ground, thanne thilk other thing schulde be lijk miche or more and rather the ground of thilk gouernaunce than this thing schulde so be; and also thilk gouernaunce or trouthe schuld haue ij. diuerse groundis and schulde be bildid vpon ij. fundamentis, of which the oon is dyuers atwyn fro the other, which forto seie and holde is not takeable of mannis witt. Wherfore the first premisse of the argument is trewe. Ensaumple her of is this: But if myn hous stode so in this place of erthe that he not stode so in an othir place of erthe ellis, this place of the erthe were not the ground of myn hous; and if eny othir place of the erthe bare myn hous, certis myn hous were not groundid in this place of the erthe: and in lijk maner, if this treuthe or gouernaunce, that ech man schulde kepe mekenes, were knowe bi sum other thing than bi Holi Scripture, and as weel and as sufficiently as bi Holi Scripture, thilk gouernaunce or trouth were not groundid in Holi Scripture. Forwhi he stood not oonli ther on; and therfore the first premisse is trewe. Also thus: Ther mai no thing be fundament and ground of a wal, or of a tree, or of an hous, saue it upon which the al hool substaunce of the wal, or of the tree, or of the hous stondith, and out of which oonly the wal, tree, or hous cometh. Wherfore bi lijk skile, no thing is ground and fundament of eny treuthe or conclusioun, gouernaunce or deede, saue it upon which aloon al the gouernaunce, trouthe, or vertu stondith, and out of which aloon al the same treuthe or gouernance cometh.

That also the ije. premisse is trewe, y proue thus: What euer deede or thing doom of resoun dooth as fulli and as perfitli as Holi Scripture it dooth, Holi Scripture it not dooth onli or al oon; but so it is, that what euer leernyng and kunnyng Holi Scripture geueth upon eny of the now seid gouernauncis, trouthes, and vertues, (that is to seie, upon eny gouernaunce, trouthe, and vertu of Goddis lawe to man, in to whos fynding, leernyng, and knowing mannis resoun may bi him silf aloon, or with natural helpis, rise and come,) mannis resoun may and can geue the same leerning and knowing, as experience ther upon to be take anoon wole schewe; for thou canst not fynde oon such gouernaunce tauzt in Holi Scripture to be doon, but that resoun techeth it lijk weel

and lijk fulli to be doon; and if thou wolt not trowe this, assigne thou summe suche and assaie. Wherfore folewith that of noon suche now seid gouernauncis the leernyng and knowing is had and taught bi Holi Scripture oonli or aloone; and therfore the ije. premisse of the firste principal argument must needis be trewe.

And thanne ferther, thus: Sithen the bothe premissis of the first principal argument ben trewe, and the argument is formal, nedis muste the conclusioun concludid bi hem in the same arguyng be trewe, which is the bifore set first principal conclusioun.

The Paston Letters contain many very curious specimens of epistolary composition belonging to this and the preceding century. They are principally written by persons of rank and condition, but often betray a singular ignorance of the rules of grammar and orthography.

There is no doubt that English was now the almost universal spoken language of all classes of English society; but it does not even yet seem to have been regarded as a fit medium of formal communication in official circles. The first volume of Royal and Historical Letters during the reign of Henry IV.the only volume yet published-embracing official correspondence from 1399 to 1400, contains upwards of sixty letters, reports, and other communications, the parties to which were English or Scotch. All these, with the exception of one in Scotch, and one and part of another in English, are in Latin or in French; laymen generally using the latter, while ecclesiastics commonly preferred the more learned language. It is, however, a singular fact, that two of Henry's ambassadors to France, Swynford and De Ryssheton, at a period when French was so commonly used in public documents in England, professed themselves as ignorant of that language as of Hebrew. 'Vestras litteras,' say they in a letter to the French Commissioners, dated October 21, 1404, 'scriptas in Gallico, nobis indoctis tanquam in idiomate Hebraico recepimus.'

These same persons write to Henry IV. in Latin, and in all probability their grammatical knowledge of English was about on a par with their attainments in French.

The solitary English letter in this volume is as follows:

LORD GREY DE RUTHYN TO GRIFFITH AP DAVID AP GRIFFITH.

Gruffuth ap David ap Gruffuth.

We send the greting welle, but no thyng with goode hert.

And we have welle understande thy lettre to us sent by Deykus Vaghan, our tenaunt, which maken mention and seist that the fals John Weele hath disseyved the. And seist that alle men knowne welle that thu was under the protectioun of Mered ap Owyn, and sent to the as thu seist by trete of thy cousynes, Maester Edward, and Edwarde ap David, and asked the if thu woldest come inne, and he wolde gette the thy chartere of the Kyng, and that thu sholdest be Keyshate in Chirklond; and other thyngis he beheght the, which he fullfylled noght, as thu seiste; and after warde asked the whether thu woldest go over the see with him, and he wolde gette the thy chartere of the King, and bryng the to hym sounde and saufe, and thu sholdest have wages as moche as any gentelle man that went with hym. And overe thus thu seideist that John Welle seide befor the Bishope of Seint Assaph, and befor thy cousynes, that, rather than thu sholdest faile, he wolde spenne of his oun goode xx marcis.

Heer up on thu trusted, as thu seiste, and duddest gete the two men, and boght the armoure for alle peces, horsen, and other araie, and comest to Oswaldestree a nyght befor that thei went; and on the morowe after thu sendest Piers Cambr, the receyvour of Chirklonde, thries to hym, to telle hym that thu was redy, and he seide that thu sholdest speke no worde with him. And at the last he saide he hadde no wages for the, as thu seiste, and he hadde fully his retenue, and bade the goo to Sir Richarde Laken to loke whether he hadde nede of the other noo, with the which thu, as thu seiste, haddest nevere ado, ne nevere madest covenaunt with. For thu woldest, as thu seiste, have goon for no wages with hym over see, but for to have thy chartere of the Kyng, and sume lyvyng that thu myghtest dwelle in pees.

And, as thu seist, Sir Richard Laken and Straunge wolle berre wittenesse that thu was redy and wylly for to goon with hym giffe he hadde be trewe. And also thu seiste he cam to Laken and to Straunge and wolde have made hem to take the, and thu haddest wittyng ther of, as thu seiste, and trussed the fro thennes, and knowelecliest that thy men cam and breeke our parke by nyght, and tooke out of hyt two of our horses, and of our menis.

And, as hit is tolde the, thu seiste, that we ben in pourpose to make our men brenne and slee in what so ever cuntree thu be inne, and wilt

withouten doute, as thu seiste, as many men as we slee and as many housen that we brenne for thy sake, as many brenne and slee for our sake. And, as thu seiste, thu wilt have bothe breede and ale of the best that is in our lordshipe; and heer of thu biddest us have no doute, the whiche is agayn our wylle, gife any thu have breede other ale so, and ther as thu berrest up on us that we sholde ben in pourpose to brenne and sleen men and housen for thy sake, or for any of thyn enclinant to the, or any of hem that ben the Kinges trewe liege men, we was nevere so mys avised to worch agayn the Kyng no his lawes, whiche giffe we dudde, were heigh tresoun; but thu hast hadde fals messageres and fals reportoures of us touchyng this matere; and that shalle be welle knowen un to the King and alle his Counsaile.

Ferthermore, ther as thu knowlechest by thyn oun lettre that thy men hath stolle our horsen out of our parke, and thu recettour of hem, we hoope that thu and thy men shalle have that ye have deserved. For us thynketh, thegh John Welle hath doon as thu aboven has certefied, us thynketh that that sholde noght be wroken towarde us. But we hoope we shalle do the a pryve thyng; a roope, a ladder, and a ring, heigh on gallowes for to henge. And thus shalle be your endyng. And he that made the be ther to helpyng, and we on our behalfe shalle be welle willyng. For thy lettre is knowlechyng.

Written, etc.

LECTURE XI.

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE FROM CAXTON TO THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH.

THE importance of the invention of printing, startling and mysterious as it seemed, was very imperfectly appreciated by contemporary Europe. It was at first regarded only as an economical improvement, and in England it was slow in producing effects which were much more speedily realized on the Continent. In England, for a whole generation, its influence was scarcely perceptible in the increase of literary productivity, and it gave no sudden impulse to the study of the ancient tongues, though the printing-offices of Germany and Italy, and, less abundantly, of France, were teeming with editions of the Greek and Latin classics, as well as of the works of Gothic and Romance writers, new and old.

The press of Caxton, the first English printer, was in activity from 1474 to 1490. In these sixteen years, it gave to the world sixty-three editions, among which there is not the text of a

* The whole number of productions issued by Caxton is stated, in the Appendix to the late reprint of The Game of the Chesse, by Mr. Vincent Figgins, at sixtyseven, three of which were printed before Caxton's return to England. Several of these were but pamphlets, or perhaps single sheets. They may be classed as follows: In French, two; in Latin, seven; two or three with Latin titles, but language of text not indicated in the list; the remainder in English. The only original works of native English authors are: The Chronicles of Englond, The Descripcioun of Britayne, The Polycronycon, Gower's Confessio Amantis, Chaucer's Tayles of Cantyrburye, Chaucer's and Lydgate's Minor Poems, Chaucer's Book of Fame, Troylus and Creseide, Lydgate's Court of Sapience, Lydgate's Lyf of our Ladye, and possibly one or two others. These, with the exception of the poems of Lydgate, and of Caxton's own additions to the works he published, all belong to the preceding century.