194. Caxton's prologue to his translation of Virgil's Eneid

church for the edyfying of the pepul, that they, heryng the wordys of the Gospel and the exampullys of holy sayntys, professorys of Chrystys name and doctryne, myght therby be sterryd and movyd to folow theyr steppys, and be put in remembrance therby of the lyvyng and doctryne of our master Chryst, hys apostyllys and dyscypullys, as the chefe thyng of al other to be pryntyd and gravyd in al gud and Chrystyan hartys. Wherfor, yf thys be true, as I thynke you can not deny, thys folowyth of necessyte that we must other have the dyvyne servyse to be sayd in our owne tong commynly, or els to provuyd some mean that al the pepul may understond the Latin convenyently; wych I thynke surely was the purpos of the Romaynys, when they did fyrst instytute al dyvyne servyse to be rehersyd in that tong, even lyke as hyt was of the Normannys at such tyme when they ordeynyd al our commyn laws in the French tong to be tought and disputyd. But now, Master Lupset, seeyng that thys ys not convenyent and skant possybul as the state stondyth, I thynke hyt ys bothe necessary and expedyent to have rehersyd thys dyvyne servyse in our owne vulgare tong; yee, and also touchyng the Gospel, to have hyt holly in our tong to be convertyd, I thynk of al most expedyent and necessary.

The difficulties Caxton met with from the still unsettled form of the English language are well shown in the following introduction from the Æneid, or Eneydos, as he spelled it, which he printed in 1490. His work, however, did much to set standards for the use of English, for between his arrival in England in 1476 and his death in 1491 he printed some eighty books, several of them in more than one edition.

After dyverse werkes made, translated, and achieved, havyng noo werke in hande, I, sittyng in my studye, where laye many dyverse paunflettis and bookys, happened that to my hande came a lytyl booke in frenshe, whiche late was translated out of latyn by some noble clerke of fraunce, whiche book is named

Eneydos, made in latyn by that noble poete and grete clerke vyrgyle, whiche booke I sawe over and redde therein. How, after the generall destruccyon of the grete Troye, Eneas departed, berynge his olde fader anchises upon his sholdres, his lityl son yolus on his honde, his wyfe wyth moche other people folowynge and how he shypped and departed, wyth alle the storye of his adventures that he had er he cam to the achievement of his conquest of ytalye, as all a longe shall be shewed in this present boke. In whiche booke I had grete playsyr, by cause of the fayr and honest termes and wordes in frenshe whyche I never sawe to-fore lyke, ne none so playsaunt ne so wel ordred; whiche booke, as me semed, sholde be moche requysyte to noble men to see, as wel for the eloquence as the historyes; how wel that many honderd yerys passed was the sayd booke of eneydos, wyth other werkes, made and lerned dayly in scolis, specyally in ytalye and other places, whiche historye the sayd vyrgyle made in metre. And whan I had advysed me in this sayd boke, I delybered and concluded to translate it in-to englysshe. And forthwyth toke a penne & ynke, and wrote a leef or tweyne whyche I oversawe agayn to corecte it. And whan I sawe the fayr and straunge termes therin I doubted that it sholde not please some gentylmen which late blamed me, sayeng, that in my translacyons I had over curyous terms, whiche coude not be understande of comyn peple, and desired me to use old and homely termes in my translacyons. And fayn wolde I satisfye every man; and so to doo, toke an olde boke and redde therin; and certaynly the englysshe was so rude and broad that I coude not wele understande it. And also my lorde abbot of westmynster ded do shew to me late certayn evydences wryten in olde englysshe, for Anglo-Saxon to reduce it into our englysshe now usid. And certaynly it was wreton in suche wyse that it was more lyke to Dutch than englysshe; I coude not reduce ne brynge it to be understonden.

And certaynly, our language now used varyeth very ferre from that which was used and spoken when I was borne. For we englysshemen ben borne under the domynacion of the mone, which is never stedfaste, but ever waverynge, wexynge one season, and waneth and dyscreaseth another season. And that

charters

Caxton

prefers to use

the language he hears every day

comyn englysshe that is spoken in one shyre varyeth from another. In so moche that in my dayes happened that certayn merchauntes were in a ship in the Thames, for to have sayled over the see into Zealand, and for lacke of wynde they taryed atte Foreland, and wente to lande for to refreshe them. And one of them named Sheffelde, a mercer, came into an hows and axed for mete, and specyally he axyd after eggys; and the good wyf answerede that she coude speke no frenshe. And the marchaunt was angry, for he also coude speke no frenshe, but wolde have hadde egges; and she understode hym not. And thenne at laste another sayd that he wolde have eyren; then the good wyf sayd that she understod hym wel. Loo, what sholde a man in thyse dayes now wryte, egges or eyren? Certaynly, it is hard to playse every man, by cause of dyversite and chaunge of langage. For in these days, every man that is in any reputacyon in his countre will utter his commynycacyon and maters in such maners and termes that fewe men shall understonde them. And some honest and grete clerkes have ben wyth me, and desyred me to wryte the most curyous termes that I coude fynd. And thus between playn, rude, and curyous, I stand abasshed; but in my judgemente, the comyn termes that be dayli used ben lyghter to be understonde than the old and auncyent englysshe.

195. The Venetian

ambassador's

II. HENRY VIII

The brilliant, well-educated, ambitious, and popular young king, Henry VIII, as we see him in the narratives written during the early part of his reign, is described in the following letter from the Venetian ambassador Giustiniani, dated September 10, 1519.

His Majesty is about twenty-nine years of age, as handsome as nature could form him, above any other Christian prince; impression of handsomer by far than the king of France. He is exceeding fair; and as well proportioned in every part as is possible. When he learned that the king of France wore a beard, he allowed his also to grow, which, being somewhat red, has at

Henry VIII

in 1519

present the appearance of being of gold. He is an excellent musician and composer, an admirable horseman and wrestler. He possesses a good knowledge of the French, Latin, and Spanish languages; and is very devout. On the days on which he goes to the chase he hears mass three times, but on other days he goes as often as five times. He has every day service in the queen's chamber at vespers and compline. He is uncommonly fond of the chase, and never indulges in this diversion without tiring eight or ten horses. These he has staticned at the different places where he purposes to stop. When one is fatigued, he mounts another, and by the time he returns home they have all been used. He takes great delight in bowling, and it is the pleasantest sight in the world to see him engaged in this exercise, with his fair skin covered with a beautifully fine shirt. He plays with the hostages of France, and it is said that they risk from six to eight thousand ducats in a day. Affable and benign, he offends no one. He has often said to the ambassador, he wished that every one was content with his condition. "We are content with our island." He is very desirous of preserving peace; and possesses great wealth.

A contemporary judgment of Henry's character is given by one who had every opportunity to know him, Sir Thomas More, in the following extracts from Roper's Life of More.

dotes concerning the king and Sir Thomas More

And for the pleasure the king took in his [More's] com- 196. Anecpany, would his Grace suddenly sometimes come home to his house at Chelsea to be merry with him, whither on a time unlooked for he came to dinner, and after dinner, in a fair garden of his, walked with him by the space of an hour, holding his arm about his neck. As soon as his Grace was gone, I, rejoicing, told Sir Thomas More how happy he was whom the king had so familiarly entertained, as I had never seen him do to any before, except Cardinal Wolsey, whom I saw his Grace once walk with, arm in arm. "I thank our Lord, son," quoth he, "I find his Grace my very good lord, indeed, and I do

believe he doth as singularly favor me as any subject within this realm. Howbeit I may tell thee, I have no cause to be proud thereof. For if my head would win him a castle in France (for then there was war between us), it should not fail to go....

On a time, walking along the Thames' side with me, at Chelsea, in talking of other things, he said to me: "Now would to God, son Roper, upon condition three things were well established in Christendom, I were put in a sack and here presently cast into the Thames." "What great things be these, sir," quoth I, "that should move you so to wish?" “I'faith, they be these, son," quoth he. "The first is, that whereas the most part of Christian princes be at mortal wars, they were at universal peace. The second, that where the church of Christ is at this present, sore afflicted with many heresies and errors, it were well settled in an uniformity of religion. The third, that where the king's matter of his marriage is now come into question, it were to the glory of God and quietness of all parties, brought to a good conclusion."

Now upon his resignment of his office came Thomas Cromwell, then in the king's high favor, to Chelsea, to him on a message from the king, wherein, when they had thoroughly communed together, "Mr. Cromwell," quoth he, "you are now entered into the service of a most noble, wise, and liberal prince; if you will follow my poor advice, you shall, in counselgiving unto his Grace, ever tell him what he ought to do, but never tell him what he is able to do. So shall you show yourself a true faithful servant, and a right worthy councilor. For if the lion knew his own strength, hard were it for any man to rule him."

The following letter, written by one of the king's secretaries to Cardinal Wolsey, refers to Luther's treatise On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. Henry was already at work on a refutation of Luther's teachings, which he completed in August, 1521, and called A Defense of the Seven Sacraments. As a recognition of this