This, it must be allowed, if not quite a Homeric strain, is strenuous and valiant writing for a Scottish archdeacon, advanced in years, of the fourteenth century.

COMPOUND ENGLISH PROSE.-MANDEVIL.-TREVISA.-WICLIF.

CHAUCER.

To the fourteenth century belong the earliest specimens of prose composition in our present mixed English that have been preserved. Among Sir Henry Ellis's contributions to the Pictorial History of England are two very curious extracts from the Arundel MS., No. 57, in the British Museum, entitled Ayenbyte of Inwyt, exemplifying the dialect of Kent in 1340. At the beginning of the MS. is this inscription :— "This boc is dan Michelis of Northgate, ywrite an Englis of his ozene hand; and is of the bochouse of Saynt Austine's of Canterberi under the letters CC." The first of the passages (which occurs on folio 48), is as follows:

The yonge grihound thet is yet al novis that yernth efter eche beste that yernth bevore him, and ne maketh bote him weri and his time lyese. Ther of zet Ysopes the fable of the little hounde and of the lesse. The hond at eche time that he yherth his lhord cometh hom, he yernth to yens hym, and lharth about his zwere, and the lhord him maketh uayre chiere and him froteth, and maker him greate feste. The asse him be thozte thous ssolde ich do, and zuo wolde mi lhord me louie, beterre he ssolde me make joye

1 It should probably be wraught (wrought).

3 Recoil for fear.

5 That their combination was worse and worse.

2 Make.

4 Die.

thet ich serui eche daye thanne thise hounde thet him serueth of nazt. Hit nes naz longe efterward thet the asse ne yzez his lhord come hom, he beginth to lheap and yernth to yens him, and him prauth the uet aboute his zuere and beginth zinge grauntliche. The sergons thet hit y zeze nome steues and byete than asse rizt to the uolle, and ther of thet he wende habbe worthssipe and guod he hedde ssame and harm.

The other passage (which occurs on folio 82, and which gives the date of the manuscript) comprises the Kentish version of the Lord's Prayer, Ave Maria, and Creed, after an introductory paragraph, which, it will be observed, although written as prose, is really in rhyme :—

:

Nou iche wille that ye ywryte hou hit is y went: thet this boc is ywrite mid Engliss of Kent. This boc is ymad uor lewede men, vor uader and uor moder and uor other ken ham uor to berze uram alle manyere zen that ine hare in wytte ne bleue ne uoul wen. Huo ase God is his name yred thet this boc made God him yeue thet bread of angles of heuene and ther to his red and onderuonge his zaule huanne thet he is dyad. Amen.

Ymende thet this boc is uolueld ine the eue of the holy apostles Symon and Judas of ane brother of the cloystre of Sauynt Austin of Caunterberi ine the yeare of our lhordes beringe, 1340.

Pater Noster.-Vader oure thet art ine heuenes y halzed by thi name, cominde thi riche, y worthe thi wil ase in heuene ine erthe, bread oure eche dayes yef ous to day, and uor let ous oure yeldinges ase and we norleteth oure yelderes, and ne ous led nazt in to uondinge, ac vri ous uram queade. zo by hit.

Ave Maria.-Hayl Marie of thonke uol. H..dby mid the, yblissed thou ine wymmen, and yblissed thet ouet of thine wombe.

zuo by hit. Credo. Ich leue ine God uader almizti, makere of heuene and of erthe, and ine Jesu Crist his zone onlepi our lhord, that ykend is of the holy Gost, ybore of Marie mayde, ypyned under Pontis Pilate, ynayled a rode, dyade and be bered, yede down to helle, thane thridde day aros uram the dyade, steaz to heuenes, zit athe rizt half of God the uader almizti, thannes to comene he is to deme the quike and the dyade. Ich yleue ine the holy Gost, holy cherche generalliche, menesse of halzen, lesnesse of zennes, of ulesse arizinge, and lyf eurelestinde. zuo by hit.

The sound here represented by z in certain words, such as almizti, it should be noticed, is really a guttural, the same which at a later date came to be usually indicated by gh. In fact the character is a g, or something between a g and a y, and not at all our modern z.

Sir Henry adds that the Harleian MS., No. 1022, contains several tracts in Northern English, of nearly the same age; among which is a poem on the Decalogue, translated from the Latin in 1357, at the request of Archbishop Horesley, by John

"The reader," it is

de Taystoke, a monk of St. Mary's, York. further stated, “who is inquisitive as to dialects will find among the Harleian manuscripts one, No. 221, which contains a Dictionary in English and Latin, the former language in the dialect of the East Country, compiled ninety years later by a friar preacher, a recluse at Lynne in Norfolk."

Our oldest Mixed English prose author is Sir John Mandevil, whose Voyages and Travels, a singular repertory of the marvellous legends of the middle ages, have been often printed. The best editions are that published in 8vo., at London, in 1725, and the reprint of it in the same form in 1839, "with an introduction, additional notes, and a glossary, by J. O. Halliwell, Esq., F.S.A., F.R.A.S." The author's own account of himself and of his book is given in an introductory address, or Prologue :—

And, for als moch as it is long time passed that there was no general passage ne vyage over the sea, and many men desiren for to hear speak of the Holy Lond, and han1 thereof great solace and comfort, I, John Maundeville, knight, all be it I be not worthy, that was born in Englond, in the town of Saint Albons, passed the sea in the year of our Lord Jesu Christ 1322, in the day of Saint Michel; and hider-to have ben 2 longtime over the sea, and have seen and gone thorough many divers londs, and many provinces, and kingdoms, and isles, and have passed thorough Tartary, Persie, Ermonie3 the Little and the Great; thorough Libye, Chaldee, and a great part of Ethiop; thorough Amazoyn, Ind the Lass and the More, a great party; and thorough out many other isles, that ben abouten Ind; where dwellen many divers folks, and of divers manners and laws, and of divers shapps of men. Of which londs and isles I shall speak more plainly hereafter. And I shall devise you some party of things that there ben,* whan time shall ben after it may best come to my mind; and specially for hem that will and are in purpose for to visit the Holy City of Jerusalem, and the holy places that are thereabout. And I shall tell the way that they should holden thider. For I have often times passed and ridden the way, with good company of many lords, God be thonked. And ye shull understond that I have put this book out of Latin into French, and translated it agen out of French into English, that every man of my nation may understond it. But lords and knights, and other noble and worthy men, that con Latin but little, and han ben beyond the sea, knowen and understonden gif I err in devising, for forgetting or else; that they mowe redress it and amend it. For things passed out, of long time, from a man's mind, or from his sight, turnen soon into forgetting; because that mind of man ne may not ben comprehended ne withholden for the freelty of mankind.

Mandevil is said to have returned to England in 1356, or after an absence of thirty-four years; and, as he is recorded to have died at Liege in 1371, his book must have been written early in the latter half of the fourteenth century. Of the many copies of it which exist in manuscript, some are as old as the close of that century; so that the language may be presumed to have been. preserved nearly as he wrote it. Divested of the old spelling, it will be seen from the above specimen to be still very readily intelligible; indeed it is remarkable for its clearness and correctness. Our other extracts, however, shall be given with the spelling of the time, as exhibited in the Cottonian MS. Titus c. xvi., which is believed to have been written about the year 1400. The following is the Seventh Chapter, entitled Of the Pilgrimages in Jerusalem, and of the Holy Places thereaboute, as contributed after that MS. to the Pictorial History of England by Sir Henry Ellis.

After for to speke of Jerusalem the holy cytee, zee schull undirstonde that it stont full faire betwene hilles, and there be no ryveres ne welles, but watar cometh by condyte from Ebron. And zee schulle understonde that Jerusalem of olde tyme, unto the tyme of Melchisedech, was cleped Jebus and after it was clept Salem, unto the tyme of Kyng David, that put these two names to gider, and cleped it Jebusalem. And after that Kyng Salomon cleped it Jerosolomye. And after that men cleped it Jerusalem, and so it is cleped zit. And aboute Jerusalem is the kyngdom of Surrye. And there besyde, is the lond of Palestyne. And besyde it is Ascalon. And besyde that is the lond of Maritanie. But Jerusalem is in the lond of Judee; and it is clept Jude, for that Judas Machabeus was kyng of that contree. And it marcheth estward to the kyngdom of Arabye; on the south syde to the lond of Egipt; and on the west syde to the grete see. On the north syde toward the kyngdom of Surrye, and to the see of Cypre.

In Jerusalem was wont to be a Patriark and Erchebysshopes, and Bisshoppes abouten in the contree. Abowte Jerusalem be theise cytees; Ebron at seven myle, Jerico at six myle, Bersabee at eyght myle, Ascalon at xvii myle, Jaff at xvi myle, Ramatha at iij myle, and Bethleem at ij myle. And a ij myle from Bethleem toward the southe is the chirche of Seynt Karitot that was abbot there, for whom thei maiden meche doel 2 amongs the monks whan he scholde dye, and zit be in-moornynge in the wise that thei maden her3 lamentacon for him the first tyme, and it is full gret pytee to beholde. This contree and lond of Jerusalem hath ben in many dyverse nacones hondes. And often therfore hath the contree suffred meche tribulacion for the synne of the people that duelle ther: for

1 Syria.

2 Dolour, sorrow (Sc. dule).

3 Their.

that contree hath be in the honds of all nacyonns: that is to seyne of Jewes, of Chananees, Assiryenes, Perses, Medoynes, Macedoynes, of Grekes, Romaynes, of Cristenemen, of Sarrazines, Barbaryenes, Turkes, Tartaryenes, and of manye othere dyverse nacyons. For God wole not that it be longe in the honds of traytours ne of synneres, be thei cristene or other. And now have the hethene men holden that lond in her honds xl zer and more. But thei schull not holde it longe zif God wold.

And zee schull undirstonde that whan men comen to Jerusalem her first pilgrymage is to the chirche of the Holy Sepulcr wher oure Lord was buryed, that is with oute the cytee on the north syde. But it is now enclosed in with the ton wall. And there is a full fair chirche all rownd, and open above, and covered with leed. And on the west syde is a fair tour and an high for belles strongly made. And in the myddes of the chirche is a tabernacle as itwer a lytyll hows, made with a low lityll dore; and that tabernacle is made in maner of a half a compas right curiousely and richely made of gold and azure and othere riche coloures, full nobelyche made. And in the ryght side of that tabernacle is the sepulcre of oure Lord. And the tabernacle is viij fote long and v fote wyde, and xj fote in heghte. And it is not longe sithe the sepulcre was all open, that men myghte kisse it and touche it. But for pilgrymes that comen thider peyned hem to breke the ston in peces, or in poudr; therefore the Soudan' hath do make a wall aboute the sepulcr that noman may towche it. But in the left syde of the wall of the tabernacle is well the heighte of a man, is a gret ston, to the quantytee of a mannes hed, that was of the holy sepulcr, and that ston kissen the pilgrymes that comen thider. In that tabernacle ben no wyndowes, but it is all made light with lampes that hangen befor the sepulcr. And there is a lampe that hongeth before the sepulcr that brenneth light, and on the Gode ffryday it goth out be him self, at that hour that our Lord roos fro deth to lyve. Also within the chirche at the right syde besyde the queer of the churche is the Mount of Calvarye, wher our Lord was don on the cros. And it is a roche of white colour, and a lytill medled with red. And the cros was set in a morteys in the same roche, and on that roche dropped the woundes of our Lord, whan he was pyned on the cros, and that is cleped Golgatha. And men gon up to that Golgatha be degrees. And in the place of that morteys was Adames hed found after Noes flode, in tokene that the synnes of Adam scholde ben bought in that same place. And upon that roche made Abraham sacrifise to our Lord. And there is an Awter, and before that Awtier lyzn Godefray de Boleyne, and Bawdewyn, and othere cristene Kyngs of Jerusalem. And ther nygh wher our Lord was crucyfied is this writen in Greew, Otheos basilion ysmon psionas ergasa, sothius emesotis gye, that is to seyne in Latyn, 'Hic Deus noster Rex, ante secula, operatus est salutem in medio terre;" that is to seye This God

1 Sultan.

2 Steps.

3 Greek.

4 In the printed editions the Greek is ὁ θεὸς βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν πρὸ αἰώνων εἰργάσατο σωτηρίαν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς.