CH. I. ward advantages between himself and the commons among whom he lived. The habits of all classes were open, free, and liberal. There are two expressions corresponding one to the other, which we frequently meet with in old writings, and which are used as a kind of index, marking whether the condition of things was or was not what it ought to be. We read of Merry Eng 'merry England;'-when England was not merry, land. Cattle. Five young hoggs, two red kyne, one red heifer two years old, one bay gelding lame of spavins, one old grey mare having a mare colt. In the Entries. Two tubbs, one trough, one ring to bear water and towel, a chest to keep cornes. Five seams of lime. In the same House. In the Woman's Chamber. One bedstedyll of hempen yarn, by estimation 20lbs. Without the House. Of tyles, of bricks, seven planks, three rafters, one ladder. In the Gate-house. One form, a leather sack, three bushels of wheat. In the Still beside the Gate. Two old road saddles, one bridle, a horse-cloth. In the Barn next the Gate. Of wheat unthrashed, by estimation, thirty quarters, of barley unthrashed, by estimation, five quarters. In the Cartlage. One weene with two whyles, one dung-cart without whyles, two shodwhyles, two yokes, one sledge. In the Barn next the Church. Of oats unthrashed, by estimation, one quarter. In the Garden-house. Of oats, by estimation, three seams four bushels. In the Court. Two racks, one ladder. hand. things were not going well with it. We hear of CH. 1. 'the glory of hospitality,' England's pre-eminent boast, by the rules of which all tables, from the table of the twenty-shilling freeholder to the table in the baron's hall and abbey refectory, were open at the dinner hour to all comers, without stint or reserve, or question asked:* to every man, ac- The open cording to his degree, who chose to ask for it, there was free fare and free lodging; bread, beef, and beer for his dinner; for his lodging, perhaps, only a mat of rushes in a spare corner of the hall, with a billet of wood for a pillow,† but freely offered and freely taken, the guest probably faring much as his host fared, neither worse nor better. There was little fear of an abuse of such licence, for suspicious characters had no leave to wander at pleasure; and for any man found at large, and unable to give a sufficient account of himself, there were the ever-ready parish stocks or town gaol. The glory of hospitality' lasted far down into Elizabeth's time; and then, as Camden says, 'came in great bravery of building, to the marvellous beautifying of the realm, but to the decay' of what he valued more. In such frank style the people lived, hating three things with all their hearts: idleness, want, and cowardice; and for the rest, carrying their hearts high, and having their hands full. The‡ *Two hundred poor were fed daily at the house of Thomas Cromwell. This fact is perfectly authenticated. Stowe the historian, who did not like Cromwell, lived in an adjoining house, and reports it as an eye witness.-See HARRISON'S Description of Britain. The Earl and Countess of the justices 46 Habits and Dinners of Country Gentlemen. CH. I. hour of rising, winter and summer, was four o'clock, with breakfast at five, after which the labourers went to work and the gentlemen to business, of which they had no little. In the country every unknown face was challenged and examined-if the account given was insufficient, Duties of he was brought before the justice; if the village shopkeeper sold bad wares, if the village cobbler made unhonest' shoes, if servants and masters quarrelled, all was to be looked to by the justice; there was no fear lest time should hang heavy with him. At twelve he dined; after dinner he went hunting, or to his farm, or to what he pleased.* It was a life unrefined, perhaps, but coloured with a broad, rosy, English health. of the peace. gether alone at seven. The meal * Some notion of the style of The number of persons present The provisions were as follow- Ipocras, I pipe. Plovers, 400. Progress of among the Of the education of noblemen and gentlemen CH. 1. we have contradictory accounts, as might be expected. The universities were well filled, by education the sons of yeomen chiefly. The cost of support- laity. ing them at the colleges was little, and wealthy men took a pride in helping forward any boys of promise.* It seems clear also, as the Reformation drew nearer, while the clergy were sinking lower and lower, a marked change for the better became perceptible in a portion at least of the laity. The more old-fashioned of the higher ranks were slow in moving; for as late as the reign of Edward VI.† there were peers of parliament unable to read; but on the whole, the invention of printing, and Invention the general ferment which was commencing all and spread over the world, had produced marked effects all classes. Henry VIII. himself spoke four languages, and was well read in theology and history; and the high accomplishments of More and Sir T. Elliott, of Wyatt and Cromwell, were but the extreme expression of a temper which was rapidly spreading, and which gave occasion, among other things, to the following reflection in Erasmus. 'Oh, strange vicissitudes of human things,' exclaims he. Heretofore the heart of learning was Now, while among such as professed religion. in *LATIMER'S Sermons, p. 64. + Statutes of the Realm, I Ed. VI. cap. 12. of printing of cultivation. Сн. CH. 1. they for the most part give themselves up, ventri luxui pecuniæque, the love of learning is gone Education of the sons men. from them to secular princes, the court and the A contrast. nobility. May we not justly be ashamed of ourselves? The feasts of priests and divines are drowned in wine, are filled with scurrilous jests, sound with intemperate noise and tumult, flow with spiteful slanders and defamation of others; while at princes' tables modest disputations are held concerning things which make for learning and piety.' A letter to Thomas Cromwell from his son's of gentle- tutor will not be without interest on this subject; Cromwell was likely to have been unusually careful in his children's training, and we need not suppose that all boys were brought up as prudently. Sir Peter Carew, for instance, being a boy at about the same time, and giving trouble at the High School at Exeter, was led home to his father's house at Ottery, coupled between two foxhounds. Yet the education of Gregory Cromwell is probably not far above what many young men. of the middle and higher ranks were beginning to receive. Henry Dowes was the tutor's name, beyond which fact I know nothing of him. His letter is as follows: Letter to Cromwell from his son's tutor. 'After that it pleased your mastership to give me in charge, not only to give diligent attendance upon Master Gregory, but also to instruct him with good letters, honest manners, pastyme of instruments, and such other qualities as should be for him meet and convenient, pleaseth it you to * HOOKER's Life of Sir Peter Carew. |