century. Some refer it to the battle of Bicoigne in 1521; others to the reign of Francis I, though they did not become common until about 1567; and others to the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands in 1569. Soon after its invention, however, it was adopted in England, where it speedily supplanted the harquebuse; and small wooden arrows called Spirites, were shot from it with great success. The length and weight of these early pieces introduced Rests, a kind of fork stuck into the ground before the soldier when the musket was fired, and carried in the right hand in marching. Some of these were armed with a sword-blade, called a Swine's feather, for keeping off the cavalry; which in the time of Charles II. was used as a separate weapon to fix on the muzzle of the gun, and became the origin of the bayonet, so called from being manufactured at Bayonne. They were first introduced into the French army in 1671, and in England supersed the pike. In addition to the previous notice of the Pistol, it may be observed, that it is mentioned in 1544; that it was used by the Germans before the French; that the most ancient are of iron, excepting the ramrod, very thick in the barrels, and having iron hooks to hang them to the girdles; and that a second pistol was given to horse-soldiers in the reign of Elizabeth. Of the means used for discharging fire-arms, the match-lock and separate match, have been already mentioned. In the time of Henry VIII., was invented the wheel-lock in Italy, for producing sparks of fire by a notched wheel of steel grating against a flint, the wheel being wound up by an instrument called a Spanner. This contrivance lasted until the time of Charles II., when the

wheel was exchanged for a steel hammer, which formed the Snap-haunce lock; about 1669, the modern firelock is supposed to have come into use. To this very extended article it remains only to be added, that until the invention of cartridgeboxes, belts called Bandoleers were worn over the left shoulders; consisting of twelve small cylindrical tin or leathern boxes, each holding a charge of powder. Flasks were also carried for primingpowder, and a bag for bullets: cartridges were generally adopted about 1680, and the first cartridge-boxes were worn round the waist.

With respect to the banners of the fifteenth century, it may be noticed, that the principal one used by Henry V. at Agincourt, preceded the Royal presence on a car; it being too heavy to be otherwise carried. The armorial ensigns of the same Sovereign, are remarkable for being the first wherein the Fleurs-de-lys in the Coat of France are reduced to three, as they have ever since remained. Henry VI. adopted the present motto of "Dieu et mon droit; under Henry VIII. the golden lion was first assumed as the dexter royal supporter; and the Lion Crest was re-established by Elizabeth.

CHAPTER III.

LITERATURE AND ARTS OF ENGLAND, IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURies.

THE extent of the Antiquarian notices upon these subjects, contained in the former Chapters, have left but a very limited space for the continuance of the subject in the present. This, however, is perhaps of the less importance; since, if there be more to narrate, the information is more COpious, and more easily to be procured than the memoirs of ancient times contained in the preceding pages.

If the literature of the reign of James I. were of an imperfect character, it was certainly more from the prevalence of a bad taste, than from the want of eminent and learned authors. The best erudition of the age, was the study of the ancients; which, however, probably tended to introduce the pedantry, and forced conceits and sentiments, so prevalent in the writing of the time. The English language, after having been improved by Spenser, and Sir Philip Sidney, and almost rendered perfect by Richard Hooker in his immortal books of the Ecclesiastical Polity, had begun, after the middle of the reign of Elizabeth, to lose some of its own native stamina, being moulded by every

writer according to his own fancy. The Latin idiom, which had made some of its innovating progress in the last reign, greatly increased under James I., who was himself infected with the bad taste of his time. The prose composition has been considered to be more imperfect than the verse; for the purest language spoken in the Courts of Elizabeth and James I., is thought to have differed but little from the best of modern times; and therefore the unpolished and Latinised prose of the seventeenth century, has been attributed to the imperfect knowledge of the authors. But the English tongue could still boast of Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Edward Fairfax, the translator of Tasso; Sir John Harrington, who rendered Ariosto into British verse; Dr Donne, whose wit and deep feeling thrown into his lines, are almost entirely obscured by an uncommon harsh and uncouth expression; Dr Joseph Hall, Bishop of Exeter, the first author of satires in English; Sir Walter Raleigh; Burton, who wrote the curious and learned Anatomy of Melancholy, Beaumont and Fletcher; Owen Feltham, and Lord Bacon. The last was one of the greatest glories of the literature of this period. He wrote more in Latin than in English, and perhaps had more strength than elegance in either; but he is rendered famous by the great variety of his talents as a public speaker, a statesman, a wit, a courtier, an author, a philosopher, and a companion. The Civil wars of the seventeenth century, were but little more favourable to the interests of literature, than those of the fifteenth; though learning was more generally and more accurately esteemed. Charles I. was a lover and promo

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ter of letters, he was himself a good scholar,—— wrote well in English for his time, and has even been strongly accused of having more regard to the purity of language, than actually became his exalted station. Nor was Cromwell himself wholly insensible to literary merit. Archbishop Usher received a pension from him; Andrew Marvell and Milton were in his service; and the latter always affirmed of him, that he was not so illiterate as was commonly supposed. He gave 1007. yearly to the Professor of Divinity at Oxford; and it is said, that he intended to have erected at Durham a college for the northern counties of England. The literary characters of the period were, in many instances, great and eminent; the most splendid of whom was Milton, though he received not in his life the reputation he deserved. Edmund Waller was the first refiner of English poetry, or at least of rhyme; their principal features being gaiety, wit, and ingenuity. Cowley was more admired during his life than Milton, and more celebrated after his death; he possessed great force of thought, but he was corrupted by the bad taste of his time. Sir John Denham had a loftiness and vigour, which had scarcely been attained by any previous poet who wrote in rhyme. The Oceana of James Harrington was political romance, well adapted to an age when the systems of imaginary republics occupied so much attention; and even to the present day, it is admired as a work of considerable genius. There was also much fine writing in the English language, both under Charles I. and II., by William Chillingworth, in his " Religion of Protestants, a safe way to Salvation;" in Cleveland's noble letter to Oliver Cromwell; in