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ftood to have been the first voluntary lecturer in that tongue. Erafmus coming to Oxford at this period, Grocyn had the honour of affifting him in obtaining a more perfect acquaintance with the Greek than he poffeffed before. Such was Grocyn's delicacy, that he deelined appearing in the world as an author. He was of fo nice a tafte, fays Erafinus, that he had rather write nothing than write ill.

William Latimer was another zealous promoter of the ftudy of ancient literature. He, likewife, travelled abroad to acquire a more complete knowledge of it, and refided fome time at Padua for this purpose. Erafmus was indebted to him, as well as to Grocyn, for his farther improvement in the Greek language, and was aided by him in preparing for the prefs his fecond edition of the New Teftament. Though Latimer was one of the greatest men of that age, and esteemed a master of all facred and profane learning, he never published any thing; and there are only extant a few of his letters, written to Erafmus.

A name still more illuftrious than thofe of either of the two former, was Thomas Linacre. He, too, was not contented with the education which his own country afforded him, though his grammatical inftruction was the best that could then be obtained, being under the learned William Tilly, at Canterbury. At Oxford, his progrefs in literature was very diftinguished; and for farther improvement he went into Italy, where the first place of his refidence was Florence. Here he was treated with the greatest kindness and refpect by duke Lorenzo de Medicis, one of the politeft men of that and an eminent patron of letters; and here he enjoyed the fame mafters on whom Grocyn had attended. Such was the ufe which he made of thefe advantages, that he acquired a complete knowledge of the Greek tongue, by the inftructions of Chalcondylas; and fo far did he improve

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improve himself in the Latin language, under his preceptor Angelo Politian, that he could write more correctly in that language than Politian himself.

From Florence Linacre removed to Rome, where he put himself under the tuition of Hermolaus Barbarus, for the purpose of ftudying natural philofophy and phyfic. In the profecution of this object he made it his bufinefs to get well acquainted with the works of Ariftotle and Galen in the original; and he tranflated and published several tracts of the latter. He had formed a defign, in conjunction with Grocyn and W. Latimer, of tranflating Ariftotle; but the fcheme was not carried into execution. When Linacre returned to England, he fhone in the double capacity of a phyfician and a polite fcholar. As a phyfician he fettled first at Oxford. Here he was created doctor of phyfic, and appointed public profeffor of his faculty, in confequence of which he read medical lectures. From Oxford he was called to court by the king, to be phyfician and preceptor to prince Arthur. Though Linacre poffeffed all the philofophy of the times, his grand merit lies in having been one of the most zealous reftorers and promoters of claffical learning; and his book, "De Emendata Structura Latini Sermonis," was of fingular fervice in this refpect. This book, however, was not published till fome time after the acceffion of Henry the Eighth; and it was not till that reign that Linacre had the glory of being the founder of the college of phyficians, in London.

Another ornament of the period we are treating of, was William Lily, fo well known as a grammarian, and whofe ardour for improvement carried him beyond the boundaries of Italy. The Greek language was ftudied by him in the ifle of Rhodes, whither feveral learned men had fled for refuge, under the protection of the 1786. knights

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knights there, after the taking of Conftantinople. From Rhodes he removed to Rome, where he acquired a polifhed latinity, from the inftructions of Johannes Sulpicius, and Pomponius Sabinus. Not long after his arrival in his own country, he became the firft teacher of Greek at any public school in England. The fchool over which he was appointed was that of St. Paul's, newly founded by dean Colet. Lily was the head mafter of it twelve years, during which time he educated a great number of youths, fome of whom proved to be very able and eminent men. In a Hiftory of the Literature of this period, dean Colet muft be mentioned with particular honour, not only as a divine, but as an ardent promoter of knowledge in general. Like feveral others of his celebrated conternporaries, he travelled into Italy; and he made fome ftay in France. He was the friend, the patron of Erafmus, and affifted that great man in preparing his New Testament for publication. No one could be more zealous for the advancement of ancient learning; and of this the school which he founded was a noble and fuccessful inftance. His munificence was not approved of by all the prelates of that age. One of them, in repute for his wifdom and gravity, feverely cenfured the dean, in a public affembly, for fuffering the Latin poets to be taught in his new ftructure; which, therefore, the bifhop ftyled a house of Pagan idolatry.

The frequency of inftitutions of this kind exhibited a remarkable evidence that ancient prejudices were gradually wearing off, and that a national tafte for critical ftudies, and the graces of compofition, began to be diffufed. From the year 1503 to the Reformation,there were more Grammar fchools founded and endowed in England than had been for three hundred years before. Though most of thefe may at prefent be of little ufe and importance, they were probably of confiderable fervice at the revival of Literature.

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We come now to the poetry of the period before us. There is one author who ought to have been mentioned in our laft number, not indeed upon the account of merit, but for the fake of her fex. This was Juliana Berners, priorefs of Sopewell Nunnery, near St. Alban's. Notwithstanding her being a priorefs, fhe did not enploy herself in penning devout meditations, and rules of holy living, but, being a woman of rank and fpirit, fhe wrote on hawking, hunting, and fishing. That part which relates to hunting is in rhime. This lady is the second, at least in point of time, of any of our female writers, and the first who appeared in print. So popular was her work, that it went through two impreffions in the space of five years; and this at the most early period of printing in England, when books were neither common nor of rapid fale. But the fubjects fhe treated of were adapted to the tafte and employments of a ruftic nobility and gentry.

Of the English poets, in Henry the Seventh's reign, the writer that beft deferved the name was Stephen Hawes, who was patronized by that monarch. After receiving a literary education at Oxford, he travelled much in France, and rendered himself a complete mafter both of the French and the Italian poetry. One of his principal productions was entitled the "Temple of Glaffe;" which was founded upon Chaucer's "House of Fame," and derived fome affiftance from the fame great poet's Affembly of Foules." Though Hawes was endebted to Chaucer for the picturefque invention which was found in this compofition, there was fome merit in having recourfe to fo excellent a model, after it had long been forgotten, and nothing had appeared, for almost a century, but Legends, Homilies, and Chronicles in verse. But Hawes's capital performance was the "Paffetyme of Pleafure." In this poem there is an effort of imagination and invention; and it contains fome ftriking inftances of romantic and allegoric ficb 2

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tion. From the manner in which the perfonifications are fuftained, it is evident that the writer was no mean proficient in the Provençal fchool. In point of verfification, he improved upon Lydgate, and was fuperior to that poet in genius and fancy. With regard to harmony of numbers, and clearness of expreffion, Stephen Hawes greatly excelled his immediate predeceffors and contemporaries; and, upon the whole, fuch was the excellence of his "Paffetyme of Pleasure," that its having fallen into nearly a total neglect is somewhat to be lamented.

Another poet, who flourished in the prefent reign, was Alexander Barclay. From his name it might be conjectured that he was a native of Scotland, and the matter has been difputed; but it is most generally agreed that he was born in the Weft of England. His education, preferments, and refidence, were undoubtedly English. He followed the literary fashion of the times, in travelling into foreign parts; and the countries which he vifited were Germany, Italy, and France. After his return to this kingdom, he wrote his principal work, the title of which was the " Ship of Fooles." It was chiefly taken from a German original, and from two tranflations of that original, one in French and the other in Latin. Barclay made, however, fome additions of his own. It was the defign of the performance to ridicule the reigning follies and vices of every rank and profeffion, under the allegory of a fhip freighted with fools of all kinds. The fubject was a fine one; but neither the first author nor the English tranflator and imitator had genius fufficient to conduct it with a proper degree of invention and variety. Character and pleasantry might have been expected from the title; but in vain fhall we look for fuch a delineation of foibles as appears in the Canterbury Tales, or such a ftrength of fatire as is exhibited in Pierce Plowman. Barclay's ftanza is profaic and tedious, and his poetry

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