men; the best examples have never such force to move to any goodness as the bad, vain, light, and fond have to all illness.

And one example, though out of the compass of learning, yet not out of the order of good manners, was notable in this court not fully twenty-four years ago, when all the Acts of Parliament, many good proclamations, divers strait commandments, for punishment openly, special regard privately, could not do so much to take away one misorder, as the example of one big one of this court did still to keep up the same; the memory whereof doth yet remain in a common proverb of Birching Lane.

Take heed, therefore, ye great ones in the court, yea, though ye be the greatest of all, take heed what ye do, take heed how ye live. For as you great ones use to do, so all mean men love to do. You be indeed makers or marrers of all men's manners within the realm. For though God hath placed you to be chief in making of laws, to bear greatest authority, to command all others; yet God doth order that all your laws, all your authority, all your commandments, do not half so much with mean men as doth your example and manner of living. And for example even in the greatest matter, if you yourselves do serve God gladly and orderly for conscience sake, not coldly and sometimes for manners' sake, you carry all the court with you and the whole realm beside earnestly and orderly to do the same. If you do otherwise, you be the only authors of all misorders in religion, not only to the court, but to all England beside. Infinite (numbers) shall be made cold in religion by your example, that never were hurt by reading of books.

From "The Schoolmaster.»

S

THE LITERATURE OF CHIVALRY

AINT PAUL saith, "that sects and ill opinions be the works of the flesh and fruits of sin." This is spoken no more truly for the doctrine than sensible for the reason. And why? For ill doings breed ill thinkings; and of corrupted manners spring perverted judgments. And how? There be in man two special things: man's will, man's mind. Where will inclineth to goodness, the mind is bent to troth. Where will is carried from goodness to vanity, the mind is soon drawn from troth to false

opinion. And so, the readiest way to entangle the mind with false doctrine is first to entice the will to wanton living. Therefore, when the busy and open papists abroad could not by their contentious books turn men in England fast enough from troth and right judgment in doctrine, then the subtle and secret papists at home procured bawdy books to be translated out of the Italian tongue, whereby over many young wills and wits allured to wantonness do now boldly contemn all severe books that sound to honesty and godliness.

In our forefathers' time, when papistry, as a standing pool, covered and overflowed all England, few books were read in our tongue, saving certain books of chivalry, as they said for pastime and pleasure; which, as some say, were made in monasteries by idle monks or wanton canons. As one for example, "Morte Arthur," the whole pleasure of which book standeth in two special points, in open manslaughter and bold bawdry. In which book those be counted the noblest knights that do kill most men without any quarrel and commit foulest adulteries by subtlest shifts: as Sir Launcelot, with the wife of King Arthur his master; Sir Tristram, with the wife of King Mark his uncle; Sir Lamerock, with the wife of King Lote, that was his own aunt. This is good stuff for wise men to laugh at, or honest men to take pleasure at; yet I know, when God's Bible was banished the court, and "Morte Arthur" received into the prince's chamber.

What toys the daily reading of such a book may work in the will of a young gentleman, or a young maid, that liveth wealthily and idly, wise men can judge and honest men do pity. And yet ten "Morte Arthurs" do not the tenth part so much harm as one of these books made in Italy and translated in England. They open, not fond and common ways to vice, but such subtle, cunning, new, and divers shifts, to carry young wills to vanity, and young wits to mischief, to teach old bawds new school points, as the simple head of an Englishman is not able to invent, nor never was heard of in England before, yea, when papistry overflowed all. Suffer these books to be read, and they shall soon displace all books of godly learning. For they, carrying the will to vanity, and marring good manners, shall easily corrupt the mind with ill opinions, and false judgment in doctrine; first to think ill of all true religion, and at last to think nothing of God himself,-one special point that is to be learned

in Italy and Italian books. And that which is most to be lamented, and therefore more needful to be looked to, there be more of these ungracious books set out in print within these few months than have been seen in England many score years before. And because our Englishmen made Italians cannot hurt but certain persons, and in certain places, therefore these Italian books are made English, to bring mischief enough openly and boldly to all states, great and mean, young and old, everywhere. From "The Schoolmaster.

ATHENAEUS

(Third Century A. D.)

HE "Deipnosophists," or Banquet of the Learned, of Athenæus. is a collection of essays in dialogue form, embodying a wealth of poetical quotations, some of them from authors whose works, except for such quotations, would have been wholly lost. It is for this that the work has been chiefly valued by scholars; but its entire freedom from the restraints of logical consecutiveness, the suddenness with which it changes the subject, and the great variety of familiar topics it discusses, gives it a charm of its own for those who love the curious rather than the elegant. Athenæus lived in the third century A. D., and it is believed that Alexandria was his birthplace. He lived also at Rome, but his "Deipnosophists>> was composed in Greek and it is with Greek literature that he chiefly deals. Those who have made the count say that he quotes from "over 800 writers and 2,400 distinct writings."

I

WHAT MEN FIGHT ABOUT MOST

Do not think that any of you are ignorant, my friends, that the greatest wars have taken place on account of women: the Trojan War on account of Helen; the plague which took place in it was on account of Chryseis; the anger of Achilles was excited about Briseis; and the war called the Sacred War, on account of another wife (as Duris relates in the second book of his "History"), who was a Theban by birth, by name Theano, and who was carried off by some Phocian. And this war also lasted ten years, and in the tenth year was brought to an end by the co-operation of Philip; for by his aid the Thebans took Phocis.

The war, also, which is called the Crissæan War (as Callisthenes tells us in his account of the Sacred War), when the Crissæans made war upon the Phocians, lasted ten years; and it was excited on this account,- because the Crissæans carried off Megisto, the daughter of Pelagon the Phocian, and the daughters of the Argives, as they were returning from the Pythian temple; and in the tenth year Crissa was taken. And whole families

also have been ruined owing to women;-for instance, that of Philip, the father of Alexander, was ruined on account of his marriage with Cleopatra; and Hercules was ruined by his marriage with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus; and Theseus on account of his marriage with Phaedra, the daughter of Minos; and Athamas on account of his marriage with Themisto, the daughter of Hypseus; and Jason on account of his marriage with Glauce, the daughter of Creon; and Agamemnon on account of Cassandra. And the expedition of Cambyses against Egypt (as Ctesias relates) took place on account of a woman; for Cambyses, having heard that Egyptian women were far more attractive than other women, sent to Amasis, the king of the Egyptians, asking for one of his daughters in marriage. But he did not give him one of his own daughters, thinking that she would not be honored as a wife, but only treated as a mistress; but he sent him Nitetis, the daughter of Apries. And Apries had been deposed from the sovereignty of Egypt, because of the defeats which had been received by him from the Cyreneans; and afterwards he had been put to death by Amasis. Accordingly, Cambyses, being much pleased with Nitetis, and being very violently in love with her, learned the whole circumstance of the case from her; and she entreated him to avenge the murder of Apries, and persuaded him to make war upon the Egyptians. But Dinon, in his "History of Persia," and Lynceas of Naucratis, in the third book of his "History of Egypt," say that it was Cyrus to whom Nitetis was sent by Amasis, and that she was the mother of Cambyses, who made this expedition against Egypt to avenge the wrongs of his mother and her family. But Duris the Samian says that the first war carried on by two women was that between Olympias and Eurydice; in which Olympias advanced something in the manner of a Bacchanalian, with drums beating; but Eurydice came forward armed like a Macedonian soldier, having been already accustomed to war and military habits at the court of Cynnane the Illyrian.

Now, after this conversation, it seemed good to the philosophers who were present to say something themselves about love and about beauty; and so a great many philosophical sentiments were uttered; among which, some quoted some of the songs of the dramatic philosopher, Euripides,- some of which were these:"Love, who is Wisdom's pupil gay, To virtue often leads the way;