In a book which Caxton printed in 1483, 'The Booke callyd Cathon,' he says in his prologue5 or preface, "Unto the noble, ancient, and renowned6 city, the city of London in England, I, William Caxton, citizen and conjury [sworn fellow] of the same, and of the fraternity and fellowship of the Mercery, owe of right my service and good will; and of very duty am bounden naturally to assist, aid, and counsel, as farforth as I can to my power, as to my mother of whom I have received my nurture7 and living; and shall pray for the good prosperity and policy of the same during my life. For as me seemeth it is of great need, by cause I have known it in my young age much more wealthy, prosperous, and richer than it is at this day; and the cause is, that there is almost none that intendeth to the common weal, but only every man for his singular profit." It is the usual habit of the aged8 to look back upon the days of their youth as a period of higher prosperity and more exalted9 virtue10, public and private, than they witness in their declining years. This is in most cases merely {20} the mind's own colouring of the picture. But it is very possible that London, in the first year of Richard III., when Caxton wrote this preface, was really less prosperous, and its citizens less devoted11 to the public good, than half a century earlier, when Caxton was a blithe12 apprentice within its walls. The country had passed through the terrible convulsion of the wars of the Roses; and it is the nature of civil wars, especially, not only to waste the substance and destroy the means of existence of every man, but to render all men selfish, grasping at temporary good, suspicious, faithless. The master of Caxton was Robert Large, a member of the Mercers' Company, who was one of the Sheriffs in 1430, and Lord Mayor in 1439-40. The date of Caxton's apprenticeship13 has not been ascertained14; but it is considered by several of his biographers to have commenced about 1428. At this period, the sixth of Henry VI., a law was on the statute15-book, and rigorously enforced, whose object was to prevent the sons of labourers in husbandry, and indeed of the poorer classes of the yeomanry, from rising out of the condition in which they were born, by participating in the higher gains of trade and handicraft. A law of the seventh of Henry IV., about two-and-twenty years before this conjectural16 period of Caxton's apprenticeship, recites that, according to ancient statutes17, those who labour at the plough or cart, or other service of husbandry, till at the age of twelve years, should continue to abide18 at such labour, and not to be put to {21} any mystery or handicraft;—notwithstanding which statutes, says the law of Henry IV., country people whose fathers and mothers have no land or rent are put apprentices to divers20 crafts within the cities and boroughs21, so that there is great scarcity23 of labourers and other servants of husbandry. The law then declares, "That no man nor woman, of what estate or condition they be, shall put their son or daughtor, of whatsoever24 age he or she be, to serve as apprentice to no craft or other labour within any city or borough22 in the realm, except he have land or rent to the value of twenty shillings by the year at least, but they shall be put to other labours as their estates doth require, upon pain of one year's imprisonment25." This iniquitous26 law was necessarily as demoralizing and as injurious to the national prosperity as the institution of castes in India. Yet, by a most extraordinary blindness to cause and consequence, the makers27 of the law provided in the most direct way for its overthrow28; for the statute goes on to say, that, although the husbandry labourer is always to be a labourer, "every man or woman, of what estate or condition they be, shall be free to set their son or daughter to take learning at any manner school that pleaseth them within the realm." The citizens of London, much to their honour, procured29 a repeal30 of this act in the eighth of Henry VI., about the period when Caxton was apprenticed31. The probability is, that he would not have been affected32 by the exclusive character of this law; for his master was a rich {22} and distinguished33 mercer—a member of that association which has always had pre-eminence amongst the livery companies of London. The dignified34 gravity, the prudence35, and the prosperity of the citizens of that day have been well described by Chaucer:—
"A Merchant was there with a forkéd beard;
In motley, and high on horse he sat,
His bootes claspéd fair and fetisly;[1]
His reasons spake he full solemnély,
Sounding alway the increase of his winning:
He would the sea were kept[2] for any thing,
Betwixen Middleburgh and Orewell.
Well could he in exchanges shieldies[3] sell,
There wiste no wight that he was in debt,
So stedfastly did he his governance
With his bargains, and with his chevisance.[5]"
When we look at William Caxton as the apprentice to a London mercer, his position does not at first sight appear very favourable38 to that cultivation39 of a literary taste, and that love of books, which was originally the solace40, and afterwards the business, of his life. Yet a closer insight into the mercantile arrangements of those days will show us that he could not have been more favourably41 placed for attaining42 some practical acquaintance with books, in the way of his ordinary occupation. When books were so costly43 and so inaccessible44 to the great body of the people, there was necessarily {23} no special trade of bookselling. There were indeed stationers, who had books for sale, or more probably executed orders for transcribing45 books. Their occupation is thus described by Mr. Hallam, in his 'Literature of Europe:'—"These dealers46 were denominated stationarii, perhaps from the open stalls at which they carried on their business, though statio is a general word for a shop, in low Latin. They appear by the old statutes of the university of Paris, and by those of Bologna, to have sold books upon commission; and are sometimes, though not uniformly, distinguished from the librarii; a word which, having originally been confined to the copyists of books, was afterwards applied48 to those who traded in them. They sold parchment and other materials of writing, which, with us, though, as far as I know, nowhere else, have retained the name of stationery49, and naturally exercised the kindred occupations of binding50 and decorating. They probably employed transcribers." The mercer in those days was not a dealer47 in small wares51 generally, as at an earlier period; nor was his trade confined to silken goods—such an one as Shakspere describes, "Master Threepile, the mercer," who had thrown a man into prison for "some four suits of peach-coloured satin." The mercer of the fifteenth century was essentially52 a merchant. The mercers in the time of Edward III. were the great wool-dealers of the country. They were the merchants of the Staple53, in the early days of our woollen manufacture; and the merchant adventurers {24} of a later period were principally of their body. In their traffic with other lands, and especially with the Low Countries, they were the agents by which valuable manuscripts found their way into England; and in this respect they were something like the great merchant princes of Italy, whose ships not unfrequently contained a cargo54 of Indian spices and of Greek manuscripts. John Bagford, who wrote a slight Life of Caxton about 1714, which is in manuscript in the British Museum, says, "Kings, queens, and noblemen had their particular merchants, who, when they were ready for their voyage into foreign parts, sent their servants to know what they wanted, and among the rest of their choice many times books were demanded, and there to buy them in those parts where they were going." Caxton tells us in the 'Book of Good Manners,' which he translated from the French and printed in 1487, that the original French work was delivered to him by a "special friend, a mercer of London, named William Praat." This commerce of books could not have been very great; but it might have been so far carried on by Robert Large, the wealthy master of Caxton, that a lad of ability might thus possess opportunities for improvement which were denied to the great body of his fellow-apprentices. At this particular period there appear to have been but few opportunities even for the sons of parents of some substance to obtain the rudiments57 of knowledge. There is a petition presented to {25} parliament in the twenty-fifth year of Henry VI., 1446, which exhorts58 the Commons "to consider the great number of grammar-schools that sometime were in divers parts of this realm, besides those that were in London, and how few there are in these days." The petitioners59, who are four clergymen of the city, go on to say that London is the common concourse of this land, and that many persons, for lack of schoolmasters in their own country, resort there to be informed of grammar; and then they proceed thus: "Wherefore it were expedient60 that in London were a sufficient number of schools and good informers in grammar; and not, for the singular avail of two or three persons, grievously to hurt the multitude of young people of all this land. For where there is great number of learners and few teachers, and all the learners be compelled to go to the few teachers, and to none others, the masters wax rich of money, and the learners poorer in cunning, as experience openly showeth, against all virtue and order of weal public." These benevolent61 clergymen accomplished62 the object of their petition, which was that in each of their parishes they might "ordain63, create, establish, and set a person sufficiently64 learned in grammar to hold and exercise a school in the same science of grammar, and there to teach to all that will learn." One of the schools thus established exists to this day, in connexion with the Mercers' Company, and is commonly known as the Mercers' School. We are a little anticipating {26} the period of our narrative65, for this petition belongs to Caxton's mature life; but we mention it as an evidence of the extreme difficulty which must have existed in those days for the children of the middle classes to obtain the rudiments of knowledge. It is evident that Caxton belonged to the more fortunate portion, upon whom the blessings66 of education fell like prizes in a lottery67. The evil has not been wholly corrected even during four centuries; but it is devoutly68 to be hoped that the time is not far distant when, to use the words of the benevolent clergymen who knew the value of knowledge at that comparatively dark period, there shall be in every place a school, and a competent person "there to teach to all that will learn."
Oldys, the writer of the Life of Caxton in the 'Biographia Britannica,' says, speaking of Robert Large, the master of Caxton, "The same magistrate69 held his mayoralty in that which had been the mansion-house of Robert Fitzwalter, anciently called the Jews' Synagogue, at the north corner of the Old Jewry." This Old Jewry appears to have been in earlier times an accustomed place of residence for the mercers; for there are records still extant of legal proceedings70 in the time of Henry III. against four mercers of that place, for a violent assault upon two Lombard merchants, whom they regarded as rivals in trade. In the days of their retail71 dealings they occupied a portion of Cheapside which went by the name of the Mercery. In the fourteenth century their shops were little better {27} than sheds, and Cheapside, or more properly Cheap, was a sort of market, where various trades collected round the old Cross, which remained there till the time of the Long Parliament. When the mercers became large wholesale72 dealers in woollen cloths and silk, the haberdashers took up their standing19 in the same place. In the ballad73 of 'London Lickpenny,' written in the time of Henry VI., the scene in the Cheap is thus described:—
Where much people I saw for to stand;
Another he taketh me by the hand,
'Here is Paris thread, the finest in the land.'"
The city apprentice in the days of Caxton was a staid sober youth, who, although of gentle blood (as the regulations for the admittance of freemen required him to be), was meanly clothed, and subjected to the performance of even household drudgery76. We learn from a tract77 called the 'City's Advocate,' printed in 1628, that the ancient habit of the apprentices was a flat round cap, hair close cut, narrow falling bands, coarse side-coats (long coats), close hose, close stockings, and other such severe apparel. They walked before their masters and mistresses at night, bearing a lantern, and wearing a long club on their necks. But the mercer's apprentice had some exceptions which set him above his fellows: "Anciently it was the general use and custom of all apprentices in London (mercers {28} only excepted, being commonly merchants and a better rank as it seems) to carry water-tankards to serve their masters' houses with water fetched either from the Thames or the common conduits." But, with all his restraints, the city apprentice was ever prone78 to frolic, and too often to mischief79. The apprentices were a formidable body in the days of the Tudors, sometimes defying the laws, and raising tumults80 which have more than once ended in the prison and the halter. Chaucer, writing some few years before the term of Caxton's service, describes the love of sight-seeing which was characteristic of the London apprentice:—
"When there any ridings were in Cheap,
And till that he had all the sight yseen,
And danced well, he would not come again."
Cheap was the great highway of processions; and London was the constant theatre of triumphs and pageants, by which the wealthy citizens expressed their devotion to their ruling authorities. In the fifteenth century, when the very insecurity of the tenure82 of the crown demanded a more ardent83 display of public opinion, the London apprentice had "ridings" enough to look upon, where the pageantry was a real expression of power and magnificence, and not a tawdry mockery, as that which now disgraces the city of London once a year. Froissart describes the riding of Henry IV. to his coronation. The entry of his illustrious son into London after the battle of Agincourt was {29} another of these remarkable84 ridings. This, which was an occasion of real enthusiasm, took place in Caxton's childhood. But in 1432, when he is held to have been an apprentice, the boy king, Henry VI., upon his return from being crowned King of France, entered London with a magnificence which chroniclers and poets have vied in recording86. Robert Fabyan, an alderman of London, who wrote in the reign56 of Henry VII., describes this ceremonial with such an admiration87 of the pomp, as only one could be supposed to feel who was born, as Chaucer says,
"To sitten in a guildhall on the dais."
To look forward to such occasions of pomp was a satisfaction to the people, who knew nothing of the real workings of public affairs, and saw only the outward indications of success or misfortune. The reign of Henry VI. was an unhappy one for the citizens of London. Violent contests for authority, insurrections, battles for the crown, left their fearful traces upon the course of the next thirty years. But during Caxton's boyhood the evil days seemed distant.
In the books of the Brewers' Company, which, like all other records, were for the most part in Norman French, there is a curious entry in the reign of Henry V., which records a great change in the habits of the people. The entry is in Latin, and is thus translated: "Whereas our mother-tongue, to wit, the English language, hath in modern days {30} begun to be honourably88 enlarged and adorned89, for that our most excellent lord King Henry the Fifth hath in his letters missive, and divers affairs touching90 his own person, more willingly chosen to declare the secrets of his will; and for the better understanding of his people hath, with a diligent91 mind, procured the common idiom (setting aside others) to be commended by the exercise of writing; and there are many of our craft of brewers who have the knowledge of writing and reading in the said English idiom, but in others, to wit, the Latin and French, before these times used, they do not in any wise understand; for which causes, with many others, it being considered how that the greater part of the lords and trusty commons have begun to make their matters to be noted92 down in our mother-tongue, so we also in our craft, following in some manner their steps, have decreed in future to commit to memory the needful things which concern us, as appeareth in the following."
The assertion of the Brewers' Company, in the reign of Henry V., that "the English language hath in modern days begun to be honourably enlarged and adorned," rested, we apprehend93, upon broader foundations than the "letters missive" of the king in the common idiom. Great writers had arisen in our native tongue, with whose productions the nobler and wealthier classes at any rate were familiar. The very greatest of these,—the greatest name even now in our literature, with one exception,—must have furnished employment to hundreds {31} of transcribers. The poems of Geoffrey Chaucer were familiar to all well-educated men, however scanty94 was the supply of copies and dear their cost. That Caxton himself was acquainted in his youth with these great works we cannot have a doubt. When it became his fortunate lot to multiply editions of the Canterbury Tales, and to render them accessible to a much larger class of the people than in the days when he himself first knew the solace and the delight of literature, he applied himself to the task with all the earnestness of an early love. In his preface to the second edition of the Canterbury Tales he thus delivers himself, with more than common enthusiasm: "Great thanks, laud95, and honour ought to be given unto the clerks, poets, and historiographs that have written many noble books of wisdom of the lives, passions, and miracles of holy saints, of histories, of noble and famous acts and faits [deeds], and of the chronicles sith [since] the beginning of the creation of the world unto this present time; by which we are daily informed and have knowledge of many things, of whom we should not have known if they had not left to us their monuments written. Amongst whom, and in especial before all other, we ought to give a singular laud unto that noble and great philosopher Geoffrey Chaucer, the which, for his ornate writing in our tongue, may well have the name of a laureat poet. For before that he, by his labour, embellished96, ornated, and made fair our English, in this royaume [kingdom], was {32} had rude speech and incongrue [incongruous], as yet it appeareth by old books, which at this day ought not to have place nor be compared among nor to his beauteous volumes and ornate writings, of whom he made many books and treatises97 of many a noble history, as well in metre as in rhyme and prose; and them so craftily98 made, that he comprehended his matters in short, quick, and high sentences; eschewing99 prolixity100, casting away the chaff101 of superfluity, and shewing the picked grain of sentence, uttered by crafty102 and sugared eloquence103." Again, in his edition of Chaucer's 'Book of Fame' he says, "Which work, as me seemeth, is craftily made, and worthy to be written and known: for he toucheth in it right great wisdom and subtle understanding; and so in all his works he excelleth in mine opinion all other writers in our English; for he writeth no void words, but all his matter is full of high and quick sentence, to whom ought to be given laud and praising for his noble making and writing. For of him all other have borrowed sith, and taken in all their well saying and writing." There is another passage in the second edition of the Canterbury Tales which we quote here, not for the purpose of showing Caxton's honourable104 character as a printer, for that belongs to a subsequent period, but to point out that manuscripts of Chaucer were in private hands, varying indeed in their text, as books must have varied105 that were produced by different transcribers, but still keeping up the fame of the poet, and {33} highly valued by their possessors: "Of which book so incorrect was one brought to me six year passed, which I supposed had been very true and correct, and according to the same I did imprint106 a certain number of them, which anon were sold to many and divers gentlemen: of whom one gentleman came to me, and said that this book was not according in many places unto the book that Geoffrey Chaucer had made. To whom I answered, that I had made it according to my copy, and by me was nothing added nor diminished. Then he said he knew a book which his father had and much loved, that was very true, and according unto his own first book by him made; and said more, if I would imprint it again, he would get me the same book for a copy. How be it, he wist well his father would not gladly part from it; to whom I said, in case that he could get me such a book true and correct, that I would once endeavour me to imprint it again, for to satisfy the author: whereas before by ignorance I erred107 in hurting and defaming his book in divers places, in setting in some things that he never said nor made, and leaving out many things that he made which are requisite108 to be set in. And thus we fell at accord; and he full gently got me of his father the said book, and delivered it to me, by which I have corrected my book."
There was another poet of considerable popularity who was contemporary with Chaucer. With the works of Gower, Caxton must have been familiar. {34} His principal poem, 'Confessio Amantis,' was printed by Caxton in 1483, and is said to have been the most extensively circulated of all the books that came from his press. The poem is full of stories that were probably common to all Europe, running on through thousands of lines with wonderful fluency109, but little force. He was called the "moral Gower" by Chaucer. The play of Pericles, ascribed to Shakspere, is founded upon one of these stories. Gower himself shows us what was the general course of reading in those days:—
"Full oft time it falleth so,
Is fed of reading of romance,
Of Idoyne, and of Amadas,
That whilom[6] weren[7] in my case,
That loveden[8] long ere I was bore."[9]
The romances of chivalry112, the stories of "fierce wars and faithful loves," were especially the delight of the great and powerful. When the noble was in camp, he solaced113 his hours of leisure with the marvellous histories of King Arthur or Launcelot of the Lake; and when at home, he listened to or read the same stories in the intervals114 of the chace or the feast. Froissart tells in his own simple and graphic115 manner how he presented a book to King Richard the Second, and how the king delighted in the subject of the book: "Then the king desired to see my book that I had brought for him; so he saw it in his chamber116, for I had laid it there ready {35} on his bed. When the king opened it, it pleased him well, for it was fair illumined and written, and covered with crimson117 velvet, with ten buttons of silver and gilt118, and roses of gold in the midst, with two great clasps, gilt, richly wrought119. Then the king demanded me whereof it treated, and I showed him how it treated matters of love, whereof the king was glad, and looked in it, and read it in many places, for he could speak and read French very well." Froissart was a Frenchman and wrote in French; but even Englishmen wrote in French at that period, and some of Gower's early poems are in French. According to his own account, the long poem of the 'Confessio Amantis,' which was written in English, was executed at the command of the same King Richard:—
"He hath this charge upon me laid,
And bad me do my business,
That to his high worthiness120
Some new thing I should book,
That he himself it might look,
After the form of my writing."
Chaucer and Gower lived some time before the period of Caxton's youth in London, But there was a poet very popular in his day, whom he can scarcely have avoided having seen playing a conspicuous121 part in the high city festivals. This was John Lydgate, monk122 of Bury, who thus describes himself—
"I am a monk by my profession,
Of Bury, called John Lydgate by my name,
And wear a habit of perfection,
Although my life agree not with the same."
{36}
lydgate
Lydgate presenting a book to the Earl of Salisbury.
Thomas Warton has thus exhibited the nature of his genius: "No poet seems to have possessed123 a greater versatility124 of talents. He moves with equal ease in every mode of composition. His hymns125 and his ballads126 have the same degree of merit: and whether his subject be the life of a hermit127 or a hero, of Saint Austin or Guy Earl of Warwick, ludicrous or legendary128, religious or romantic, a history or an allegory, he writes with facility. His transitions were rapid from works of the most serious and laborious129 kind to sallies of levity130 and pieces of popular entertainment. His muse55 was of universal access, and he was not only the poet of his monastery131, but of the world in general. If a disguising was intended by the company of goldsmiths, a mask before his majesty132 at Eltham, a May game for the sheriffs and aldermen of London, a mumming before the lord mayor, a procession of pageants from the creation for the festival of Corpus Christi, or a carol for a coronation, Lydgate was consulted and gave the poetry." A fine illuminated133 drawing in one of Lydgate's manuscripts, now in the British Museum, represents him presenting a book to the Earl of Salisbury. Such a presentation may be regarded as the first publication of a new work. The royal or noble person at whose command it was written bestowed134 some rich gift upon the author, which would be his sole pecuniary135 recompence, unless he received some advantage from the transcribers, for the copies which they multiplied. Doubtful as the {37} rewards of authorship may be when the multiplication136 of copies by the press enables each reader to contribute a small acknowledgment of the benefit which he receives, the literary condition must have been far worse when the poet, humbly137 kneeling before some mighty138 man, as Lydgate does in the picture, might have been dismissed with contumely, or his present received with a low appreciation139 of the labour and the knowledge required to produce it. The fame, however, of a popular writer reached {38} his ears in a far more direct and flattering manner than belongs to the literary honours of modern days. There can be little doubt that the narrative poems of Chaucer and Gower and Lydgate were familiar to the people through the recitations of the minstrels. An agreeable writer on the Rise and Progress of English Poetry, Mr. George Ellis, says, "Chaucer, in his address to his Troilus and Cressida, tells us it was intended to be read 'or elles sung,' which must relate to the chanting recitation of the minstrels, and a considerable part of our old poetry is simply addressed to an audience, without any mention of readers. That our English minstrels at any time united all the talents of the profession, and were at once poets and reciters and musicians, is extremely doubtful; but that they excited and directed the efforts of their contemporary poets to a particular species of composition, is as evident as that a body of actors must influence the exertions140 of theatrical141 writers. They were, at a time when reading and writing were rare accomplishments142, the principal medium of communication between authors and the public; and their memory in some measure supplied the deficiency of manuscripts, and probably preserved much of our early literature till the invention of printing." We may thus learn, that, although the number of those was very few whose minds by reading could be lifted out of the grovelling143 thoughts and petty cares of every-day life, yet that the compositions of learned and accomplished men, who still hold a {39} high rank in our literature, might be familiar to the people through the agency of a numerous body of singers or reciters. There has been a good deal of controversy144 about the exact definition of the minstrel character—whether the minstrels were themselves poets and romance-writers, or the depositaries of the writings of others and of the traditional literature of past generations. Ritson, a writer upon this subject, says, "that there were individuals formerly145 who made it their business to wander up and down the country chanting romances, and singing songs and ballads to the harp146, fiddle147, or more humble148 and less artificial instruments, cannot be doubted." They were a very numerous body a century before Chaucer; and most indefatigable149 in the prosecution150 of their trade. There is a writ4 or declaration of Edward the Second, which recites the evil of idle persons, under colour of minstrelsy, being received in other men's houses to meat and drink; and then goes on to direct that to the houses of great people no more than three or four minstrels of honour should come at the most in one day, "and to the houses of meaner men that none come unless he be desired, and such as shall come to hold themselves contented151 with meat and drink, and with such courtesy as the master of the house will show unto them of his own goodwill152, without their asking of anything." Nothing can more clearly exhibit the general demand for the services of this body of men; for the very regulation as to the nature of their reward shows clearly {40} that they were accustomed to require liberal payment, approaching perhaps to extortion; and then comes in the State to say that they shall not have a free market for their labour. They struggled on, sometimes prosperous and sometimes depressed153, according to the condition of the country, till the invention of printing came to make popular literature always present in a man's house. The book of ballads or romances, which was then to be bought, was contented to abide there without any "meat and drink." In the words of Richard de Bury, whom we quoted in the first chapter, books "are the masters who instruct us without rods, without hard words and anger, without clothes and money. If you approach them, they are not asleep; if investigating you interrogate154 them, they conceal155 nothing; if you mistake them, they never grumble156; if you are ignorant, they cannot laugh at you." One of the later ministrels, to whom is ascribed the preservation157, and by some the composition, of the old ballad of Chevy Chase, thus humbles158 himself in a most unpoetical and undignified manner to those who fed him for his services:—
"Now for the good cheer that I have had here
Desiring you by petition to grant me such commission—
Because my name is Sheale—that both for meat and meal
To you I may resort some time for my comfort.
For I perceive here at all times is good cheer,
Both ale, wine, and beer, as it doth now appear;
I can be content, if it be out of Lent,
A piece of beef to take, my hunger to aslake;
{41}
If I would think scorn, either evening or morn,
I can find in my heart with my friends to take a part
Of such as God shall send; and thus I make an end.
Now, farewell, good mine host; I thank you for your cost,
Until another time, and thus do I end my rhyme."
But even such a humiliated164 ballad-maker, or ballad-singer, as poor old Richard Sheale, was the depositary of treasures of popular fiction, many of which have utterly165 perished, but of which a great portion of those which are still preserved are delightful166 even to the most refined reader. For, corrupted167 as they are by transmission from mouth to mouth through several centuries, they are full of high and generous sentiments, of deep pathos168, of quiet humour; they carry us back into a state of society wholly different from our own, when knowledge was indeed scanty, and riches not very plentiful169, but when the feelings and affections were not so wholly under the direction of worldly wisdom, and men were brave and loving, and women tender and confiding170, with something more of earnestness than belongs to the discreeter arrangements of modern social life. The minstrels had indeed something to call up the tear or the smile in every class of auditor171. For the earls and barons172, the knights173 and squires174, there were romances and songs of chivalrous175 daring, such as moved the noble heart of Sir Philip Sidney, even in the days when the minstrel was a poor despised wanderer: "Is it the Lyric176 that most displeaseth, who, with his tuned177 lyre and well-accorded voice, giveth praise, the reward of virtue, {42} to virtuous178 acts? who giveth moral precepts179 and natural problems? who sometimes raiseth up his voice to the height of the heavens, in singing the lauds180 of the immortal181 God? Certainly I must confess mine own barbarousness, I never heard the old song of Percy and Douglas, that I found not my heart moved more than with a trumpet182, and yet it is sung but by some blind crowder, with no rougher voice than rude style." For those of meaner sort there were the ballads of Robin183 Hood85, "of whom the foolish vulgar make lewd184 entertainment, and are delighted to hear the jesters and minstrels sing them above all other ballads." So wrote a Scottish historian in the middle of the fourteenth century.
We have thus briefly185 recapitulated186 the popular modes of acquiring something of a literary taste in the early days of William Caxton. Books were rare, and difficult to be obtained except by the wealthy. The drama did not exist. The preachers, indeed, were not afraid to address an indiscriminate audience with the conviction that, although the majority were unlettered, they had vigorous understandings, and did not require the great truths of religion and of private and of social duty to be adapted to any intellectual weakness or infirmity. The national poetry, which was heard at the high festivals of the city traders, and even descended187 to as lowly a popularity as that of the village circle upon the ale-bench under the spreading elm on a summer's eve, had no essentials of vulgarity or {43} childishness, such as in later days have been thought necessary for general comprehension. We were ever a thoughtful people, a reasoning people, and yet a people of strong passions and unconquerable energy. A popular literature was kept alive and preserved, however imperfectly, before the press came to make those who had learnt to read self-dependent in their intellectual gratifications; and what has come down to us of the old minstrelsy, with all its inaccuracy and occasional feebleness, shows us that the people of England, four or five centuries ago, had a common fund of high thought upon which a great literature might in time be reared. The very existence of a poet like Chaucer is the best proof of the vigour188, and to a certain extent of the cultivation, of the national mind, even in an age when books were rarities.
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1
apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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apprentices
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
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pageants
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| n.盛装的游行( pageant的名词复数 )；穿古代服装的游行；再现历史场景的娱乐活动；盛会 | |
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4
writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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prologue
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| n.开场白，序言；开端，序幕 | |
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6
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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nurture
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| n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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12
blithe
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| adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的 | |
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13
apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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14
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
statute
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| n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例 | |
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conjectural
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| adj.推测的 | |
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statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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18
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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boroughs
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| （尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇 | |
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22
borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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25
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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iniquitous
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| adj.不公正的；邪恶的；高得出奇的 | |
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makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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29
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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30
repeal
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| n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消 | |
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apprenticed
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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37
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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40
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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41
favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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42
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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43
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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44
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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45
transcribing
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| （用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的现在分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音） | |
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46
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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47
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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48
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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49
stationery
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| n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封 | |
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50
binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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51
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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52
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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53
staple
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| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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54
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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55
muse
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| n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感 | |
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56
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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57
rudiments
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| n.基础知识，入门 | |
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58
exhorts
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| n.劝勉者，告诫者，提倡者( exhort的名词复数 )v.劝告，劝说( exhort的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59
petitioners
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| n.请求人，请愿人( petitioner的名词复数 )；离婚案原告 | |
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60
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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61
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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62
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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63
ordain
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| vi.颁发命令；vt.命令，授以圣职，注定，任命 | |
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64
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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65
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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66
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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67
lottery
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| n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事 | |
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68
devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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71
retail
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| v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格 | |
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72
wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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73
ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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74
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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75
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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76
drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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77
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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78
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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79
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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80
tumults
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| 吵闹( tumult的名词复数 )； 喧哗； 激动的吵闹声； 心烦意乱 | |
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81
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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82
tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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83
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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84
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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85
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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86
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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87
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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88
honourably
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| adv.可尊敬地，光荣地，体面地 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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90
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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91
diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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93
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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95
laud
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| n.颂歌；v.赞美 | |
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96
embellished
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| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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97
treatises
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| n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 ) | |
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98
craftily
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| 狡猾地，狡诈地 | |
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99
eschewing
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| v.（尤指为道德或实际理由而）习惯性避开，回避( eschew的现在分词 ) | |
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100
prolixity
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| n.冗长，罗嗦 | |
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101
chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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102
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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103
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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104
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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105
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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106
imprint
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| n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记 | |
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107
erred
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| 犯错误，做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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109
fluency
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| n.流畅，雄辩，善辩 | |
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110
pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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eke
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| v.勉强度日，节约使用 | |
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112
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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113
solaced
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| v.安慰，慰藉( solace的过去分词 ) | |
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114
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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115
graphic
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| adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的 | |
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116
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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117
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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118
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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119
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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120
worthiness
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| 价值，值得 | |
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121
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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122
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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123
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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124
versatility
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| n.多才多艺，多样性，多功能 | |
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hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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ballads
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| 民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴 | |
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127
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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128
legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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132
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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134
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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135
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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136
multiplication
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| n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法 | |
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137
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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138
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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139
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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143
grovelling
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| adj.卑下的，奴颜婢膝的v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的现在分词 )；趴 | |
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144
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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145
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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146
harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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148
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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150
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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151
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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interrogate
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| vt.讯问，审问，盘问 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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156
grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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158
humbles
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| v.使谦恭( humble的第三人称单数 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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161
veal
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| n.小牛肉 | |
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knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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167
corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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168
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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169
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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170
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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171
auditor
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| n.审计员，旁听着 | |
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172
barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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173
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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174
squires
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| n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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175
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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176
lyric
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| n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的 | |
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177
tuned
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| adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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178
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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179
precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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180
lauds
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| v.称赞，赞美( laud的第三人称单数 ) | |
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181
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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182
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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183
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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184
lewd
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| adj.淫荡的 | |
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185
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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186
recapitulated
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| v.总结，扼要重述( recapitulate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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187
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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188
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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