Men of great name were recalled and passed before the imagination in a spirit kindred to that of books of later. time which yielded tragedies to dramatists when they arose.' Fifty years after the appearance of Geoffrey's fabulous chronicle, William of Newbury compiled and wrote a History of English Affairs (Historia Rerum Anglicarum)—a brief but trustworthy account of the principal events which had occurred since the time of the Norman Conquest. In the preface to his little work the conscientious. and veracious chronicler takes occasion to express his doubts concerning the credibility of Geoffrey of Monmouth's history, remarking "how saucily and shamelessly that man has lied almost throughout. In all things," he continues," we trust Bede, whose wisdom and sincerity are beyond doubt; so that fabler (Geoffrey) with his fables shall be straightway spat out by us all." It was at about the same time that Roger de Hoveden was writing his Annals, a continuation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History, beginning with the year 732, and ending with the death of Richard I. This work is mainly a compilation of numerous ecclesiastical documents, some of which are not found elsewhere. It is not confined entirely to English history, but includes some interesting particulars relating to Scotland and the countries of Southern Europe. The works of Giraldus Cambrensis, or Gerald de Barri, occupy a prominent place in the literature of this period, and mark a new departure from the modes of thought and expression so long practiced by the monkish chroniclers of England. Giraldus was a native of Wales, educated in the University of Paris, and for a time the chaplain to King Henry II. He accompanied Prince John, as his secretary and privy-councillor, on his unsuccessful expedidion to Ireland in 1185. It was then that he conceived the plan of his two most important works,-The Topog*Henry Morley. raphy of Ireland and The History of the Conquest of Ireland. These works were not completed until after his return to England, yet they were written with the most extreme care, and the information which they contain is of a highly trustworthy character. His style is vivacious and often sparkling with wit, and Latin in his hands loses its characteristic pedantry. "It is better," he says, "to be dumb than not to be understood. New times require new manners, and so I have thrown utterly aside the old and dry method of some authors and aimed at adopting the fashion of speech which is actually in use to-day." The Topography of Ireland was published at Oxford in 1187 by being read by its author. It is told that the reading occupied three days, on the first of which Giraldus entertained the poor of the town; on the second, the doctors and scholars; on the third, the less distinguished pupils and the citizens. In the following year, having accompanied Archbishop Baldwin on a tour through. Wales for the purpose of preaching a crusade, Giraldus wrote a topographical description of that country, which he entitled An Itinerary of Wales. The letters which compose the greater part of this work illustrate, says a modern historian, "his rapid faculty of careless observation, his audacity, and his good sense. They are just the sort of lively, dashing letters that we find in the correspondence of a modern. journal. There is the same modern tone in his political pamphlets; his profusion of jests, his fund of anecdote, the aptness of his questions, his natural shrewdness and critical acumen, the clearness and vivacity of his style, are backed by a fearlessness and impetuosity that made him a dangerous assailant even to such a ruler as Henry II." We cannot help regarding Giraldus Cambrensis as one of the strongest intellects of his time. The story of his efforts to obtain the bishopric of St. David's, which he regarded as a kind of birthright, the zeal and energy with which he contended for the honor and independence of the Welsh church, illustrate the force of will and the remarkable tenacity of purpose which characterized him throughout life. His industry and perseverance are further attested by the number and character of the works which he left behind him. Besides the three volumes already mentioned, he wrote an autobiography entitled De Rebus a se Gestis, a religious work called The Jewel of the Church (Gemma Ecclesiastica), and a collection of prefaces, orations, letters, and poems, to which he gave the name of Symbolum Electorum. He was the first Englishman who dared to write boldly, without fear or favor, concerning the abuses of the governing power; and he did much towards opening the way for the revolt against the tyranny of King John and the consequent acquisition of the Magna Charta. As the first public champion in England of civil rights, he is deserving of the most respectful remembrance. In the thirteenth century the passion for writing chronicles began to decline. Among readers there was probably less of a demand for works of this kind; and among writers other subjects of greater interest, if not of greater importance, began to present themselves. Roger of Wendover, a monk of St. Alban's, who died in 1237, continued the ancient practice by writing a work entitled Flowers of History (Flores Historiarum). This work aspired to be a history of the world from the creation down to the nineteenth year of Henry III. In 1273 it was revised, paraphrased, and corrected by another monk of St. Alban's, commonly known as Matthew Paris. This Matthew Paris is probably identical with Matthew of Westminster, who is said to have been a Benedictine monk and the author of a chronicle called by the same name, Flores Historiarum, and recounting the history of Britain from the creation to the year 1307. The last chronicler worthy of our attention is Ralph Higden, a monk of St. Werburgh's, in Chester. His Polychronicon is a history of the world, and is comprised in seven books. The first book is geographical, being a description of the principal countries known at that time; the second gives an account of events from the creation of the world to the time of Nebuchadnezzar; the third closes with the death of Christ; the fourth, with the Saxon conquest of England; the fifth, with the Danish invasions and the accession of King Canute; the sixth, with the Norman Conquest; and the seventh, with the war between Stephen and Matilda (1142). The Polychronicon was translated into English, in 1387, by John Trevisa, Vicar of Berkely, in Gloucestershire, who made large additions and emendations of his own. We have already quoted a passage from this book relative to the corruption of the English language and its attempted banishment.* We add here the following note to the same passage, it being an interpolation inserted by Trevisa. It illustrates the gradual change which, about the middle of the fourteenth century, was setting in in favor of the native tongue. This maner was myche y used tofore the first moreyn,† and is sitthe somdel ychangide. For John Cornwail, a maister of gramer, changide the lore in gramer scole and construction of Frensche into Englische. And Richard Pencriche lerned that maner techynge of hym; and other men of Peneriche. So that now, the yere of oure Lord a thousand thre hundred foure score and fyve, of the second kynge Richard after the conquest nyne, in alle the gramer scoles of Englond, children leveth Frensche and construeth and lerneth in Englische. With the exception of Trevisa's translation, which marks a new era in the English language, all the monastic chronicles were written in Latin. They tell us but little concerning the language spoken by the English people at the time in which they were written, and throw but little light upon the process of evolution which was then going on in society and politics. But they are valuable as illustrating * See pages 25, 26, at the beginning of this chapter. the most popular phase of literary activity during the Transition Period, and for the abundant materials and suggestions which they have furnished to historians and other writers of later times. We turn now to works of quite a different character. Among the most distinguished scholars living in England during the time of William the Conqueror was one Athelard of Bath. He is said to have studied at Tours and at Laon, to have traveled in Greece, and to have visited the then great city of Bagdad. After having become skilled in all the learning of the Arabs, who, at that time, were, perhaps, the most enlightened people in the world, he returned to England, and wrote a book on Questions in Nature (Questiones Naturalis). This work consists principally of the discussion of sixty-seven problems in nature, "beginning with the grass and rising to the stars," and it may be regarded as the first attempt made in England towards a philosophical explanation of natural phenomena. Athelard wrote a treatise on the Astrolabe, one on The Seven Liberal Arts, and an allegory on The Same and the Different (De Eodem et Diverso), all in Latin. He may very properly be regarded as the first of English scientists, and yet an immeasurable distance seems to lie between him and our Darwin and Tyndall. The greatest scholar, and, in many respects, the most remarkable man, of the Transition Period was Roger Bacon. Bacon was born in 1214, of rich and aristocratic parents, who, adhering to the cause of the king, were, during the civil wars with Henry III., driven into exile and reduced to poverty. Being naturally disposed towards a literary life, he received an education as liberal as the times in which he lived could afford. He studied first at Oxford and then at Paris, making himself acquainted with every branch of knowledge then known. "From my youth up," he wrote in his later years to Pope Clement, "I have labored at the acquisition of sciences and tongues. I have sought the friendship of all men |