SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
asrr
all and singular, as wel exempt as not exempt, dwelling within your arch deaconries, that within XXX days space, whereof x dayes shall be for die fint, X for the second, and x for the third peremptory terme, under paine of excommuni- cation, and incurring the suspicion of heresie, they do bring in, and really deliver unto our Ticare genenul, all and sing^ular such bookes conteyning the translation of the New Tatammt in the EngUshe tongue; and that you doe cer- tifie us, or our sayd comissarye, within ii monethes after the day of the date of these pre- sentes, duely, persoiuilly, or by your letters, togetluer with these presents, under your seals, what you have done in the premisses, under pain of contempt. Given under our seale the xxiii of October, in the t yere of our consecra- tion, anno 1526."*
1526. At this time appeared a singular book, entitled Champ Flmry, 4to., par A&tre Oeof- 6oy Tory, of Paris, who was himself the author and printer, and who greatly contributed to- wards the improvement of the art. His book was in its day of considerable utility. Accord- ing to Foumier, he derives the letters of the Latin alphabet from the goddess 10, pretending that they are all formed of I and 0. He then brings the letters into proportion with the hu- man body and countenance; and, after intro- ducing a variety of extianeous matter, he gives the due and true proportions of letters. For this purpose, he divides a square into ten lines, perpendicular and transverse, which form one hundred squares completely filled with circles formed by the compass; the whole of which serve to give form and figure to the letters.
Tory was a person of considerable erudition and ingenuity. He translated into the French langnage various Greek works; and La Caille says, that Francis I. honoured him with a spe- cial privilege for the impression of the above ■woA and similar devotional books, in conside- ration of the choice ornaments with which he embellished them. — His insigne, or mark, was " vn Pot casse remply de tonte, tortt tPinitru- mau," and the wonu nonp/tw. La Caille gives the history of Geofioy lory, who died in the year 1550, at considerable length.
TR« MyrrouT of good Manen ^. — trandaU ktto engfyithe tfc. by Alexander Bercley prette jrc. JmprynUd by me By chard Pynton prynter viUo the liynyet nobU grace i-e. Folio. Without date.
Over the presentation wood-cut is the follow- ing full title: — ^" Here begynnyth a ryght frute- iiiU treatyse, intitnlyd the myrrour of ^)od man- ers, conteynynge the iiii. vertues, callyd cardy- nall, compyled in latyn by Domynike Mancyn : And translate into Englysshe, at the desyre of
- TindaD'i TatamaU condsts cf 363 leaves, besides tile
tisisae to the reader and ensta j no margiinal texts bnt wbat are wrote, and the initial letters beautUolljr gQt and Ulnminated. In 1838 Mr. Samael Bagster, of London, re- frinted, verbatim, an edition of Tyndall's New Ttttamtni, irith a memoir of hli life and wrttinn, by George Offer, tocether with the proceedings and correspondence of Rinii7 VIII., Sir T. More, and Lord OromweU.
Syr Gyles Alyngton knyght by Alexander Ber- cley preste and monke of Ely."
This volume has neither running-titles, catch- words, nor numerals; but the signatures are h 8, in sixes. Colophon: — ^"Thus endyth the lyght frutefull matter of the fower virtues car- mnall. Jmpryntyd, &c." as before, "with his gracyous pryuylege the whiche boke I haue pryntyd at the instance and request of the ryght noble Rvchard yerle of Kent."
The lollowing extract will at once shew the subject of the book, and the manner in which it is executed. The original is printed in roman letters in the margin.
ms ptajme lytell treatrse, in style cnmpendyous Moche brefly conteyneth, toot rlrtues cardynall In rycht plesant proceise, playne Ic conunodyoas With light fote of meter, and style herocyall Rode people to enfomme in langage matemall To whose Tnderstanding, maydens of tender age And rude lytell chyldeme, shall fynde easy
Ye sodie as the mother, doth cherisshe on her 1^ With swete blandyment ) of wordes smyable Cherysshyng with myilce, and norlsshyng with pappe Shall fynde tills small doctryne : both pUyne and pro-
Old men, wtilche haae vsed in tyme passed to bahle In barbaryke langage, and wordes coarse & ydle Hay leme here, Uieyrmaners & tonges newe to fyle.
1527. It will not be improper at this period to turn our attention to the state of literature in Scotland, when the effects of the reformation extended its influence to that kingdom; and when it began to experience the happy result of a more general acquaintance with the sacred writings. Before the Lutheran reformation ex- tended its influence to that kingdom, "g^ss daikness," the result of popish superstition, " covered the land." " Even bishops were not ashamed to confess that they were unacquainted with the canon of their faith, and had never read any part of the Sacred Scriptures, except what they met with in their missals. Under such pastors the people perished for lack of knowledge. That book which was able to make them wise unto salvation, and intended to be equally accessible to ' Jew and Greek, Barbarian and Scythian, bond and free,' was locked up irom them, and the use of it, in their own tongue, prohibited under the heaviest penalties. The religious service was mumbled over in a dead language, which many of the priests did not understand, and some of them could scarcely read; and the greatest care was taken to prevent even catechisms, composed and approved by the clergy, from coming into the hands of the laiW.
By many of the Scottish clergy it was affirmed, " That Martin Luther had lately composed a wick^ book called the New Testament; but that they, for their part, would adhere to the Old Testament." Even the libraries of their monasteries were some of them without a com- plete copy of the Scriptures. In the catalo^e of the library at Stirling, at the beginning of this century, we find only two Psalters, and one copy of the Gospels and Epistles, in manuscript, most probably in Latin; the rest of
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