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woman to resyste or deny theyr desyre. And by the sayd boke hath made bothe the men and the women to knowe more vyces, subtyltye, and crafte, than euer they shulde haue knowen, if the boke had not ben made in the whiche boke he named hym selfe the knight of the towre. And thus I leue the wyues to vse theyr occupations at theyr owne discreation."

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The husband is urgently recommended to study economy in all his expenses; he is advised to "spare at the brynke, and not at the bottom," that is, as our author explains it, begin the practice of economy at the beginning of the year, and not be wasteful all the year and commence saving at the end. The prodigality of the husbandman was shown especially in eating and drinking, in which he is recommended not to be too lavish. Then comes

"A shorte lesson for the husbande.—One thinge I wyl aduise the to remembre, and specially in wynter tyme, whan thou sytteste by the fyre, and hast supped, to consyder in thy mynde, whether the warkes, that thou, thy wyfe, and thy seruauntes shall do, be more auauntage to the, than the fyre, and candell lyghte, meate and drynke that they shall spende, and if it be more auantage, than syt styll: and if it be not, than go to thy bedde and slepe, and be vppe betyme, and breake thy faste before day, that thou mayste be all the shorte wynters day about thy busynes. At grammer scole I lerned a verse, that is this, Sanat, sanctificat, et ditat surgere mane. That is to say, Erly rysyng maketh a man hole in body, holer in soule, and rycher in goodes. And this me semeth shuld be sufficient instruction for the husbande to kepe measure."

Having once taken up this theme, Sir Anthony pursues it in a few words of counsel to higher classes, who set the example to those beneath them. Men of high degree showed their prodigality in three ways: first, in "outrageous and costly array" of clothing; next, in costly charge of delicious meats and drinks;" and, third, in "outrageous play and game." With regard to the first of these vices, Sir Anthony tells us :

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"I have seen bokes of accompte of the yomen of the wardropes of noble men, and also inuentorye made after theyr decease of their apparell, and I doubte not, but at this daye, it is xx. tymes more in value, than it was to suche a man of degree as he was an L. yere a go: and many tymes it is away, er it be halfe worne, to a symple man, the whiche causeth hym to weare the same and an other symple man, or a lyttell better, seynge him to weare suche rayment, thynketh in his mynde, that he maye were as good rayment as he, and so causeth him to bye suche other, to his great coste and charge aboue measure, and an yll ensample to all other, and also to see mens seruantes so abused in theyr aray, theyr cotes be so syde, that they be fayne to tucke them vp whan they ryde, as women do theyr kyrtels whan they go to the market or other places, the whiche is an vnconuenient syght. And ferthermore, they haue such pleytes vpon theyr brestes, and ruffes vpon theyr sleues, aboue theyr elbowes, that yf theyr mayster or theym selfe hadde neuer so greatte nede, they coude not shoote one shote, to hurte theyr ennemyes, tyll

they hadde caste of theyr cotes, or cut of theyr sleues. This is fer oboue measure or common weale of the realme. This began fyrste with honour, worship, and honesty, and it endeth in pryde, presumption, and pouertye. Wherof speketh saint Austin, Quæcunque superbum esse videris, diaboli filium esse ne dubites: That is to say, who so euer thou seest, that is proude, dout the not, but he is the diuels chylde. Wherfore agaynst pryde he byddeth the remembre, Quid fuisti, quid es, et qualis post mortem eris: That is to say, what thou were, what thou art, and what thou shalte be after thy death. And S. Bernard saythe, Homo nihil aliud est quam sperma fetidum, saccus stercorum, et esca vermium: That is to saye, A man is nothynge but stynkynge fylthe, a sacke of dounge, and wormes meate. The whiche sayenges wolde be remembred, and than me semeth this is sufficient at this time for the first point of the thre.”

With regard to prodigality in eating, Sir Anthony's recommendations display good sense, while they again illustrate contemporary

manners:

"Howe costely are the charges of delycious meates and drynkes, that be nowe most commonly used, ouer that it hath ben in tymes paste, and howe fer aboue measure. For I haue seen bokes of accompte of householde, and brumentes vpon the same, and I doubte not, but in delycyous meates, drinkes, and spyces, there is at this daye foure tymes so moche spent, as was at these dayes to a lyke man in degree, and yet at that tyme there was as moche befe and mutton spent as is nowe, and as many good housholdes kept, and as many yomenne wayters therin as be nowe. This began with loue and charytye, whan a lorde, gentylman, or yoman desyred or prayed an other to come to dyner or soupper, and bycause of his commynge he wolde haue a dysshe or two more than he wolde haue had, if he had ben away. Than of very loue he, remembrynge howe louyngely he was bydden to dynner, and howe well he fared, he thynketh of very kyndnes he muste nedes byd hym to dyner agayne, and soo ordeyneth for hym as manye maner of suche dysshes and meates as the other man dyd, and two or thre more, and thus by lyttel and litell it is commen fer aboue measure. And begon of loue and charyte, and endeth in pryde and glotony, wherof saynte Jerome saythe, Qui post carnem ambulant, in ventrem et libidinem proni sunt, quasi irrationabilia iumenta reputantur. That is to say, They that walke, and be redy to fulfill the lust of the fleshe and the bely, are taken as vnreasonable beastes, and sayncte Gregory sayth, Dominante vicio gulæ, omnes virtutes per luxuriam et vanam gloriam obruuntur: That is to saye, where the vice of glotony hath domination, all vertues by luxury and vayneglory are cast vnder, the whiche sayinges wold in lykewise be remembred, and this me semeth sufficient for the ii. poynte of the thre."

Much in the same way were people seduced into games of hazard, to risk beyond their means:

"It is conueniente for euerye man, of what degree that he be of, to haue playe and game accordynge to his degree. For Cato sayth, Interpone tuis interdum gaudia curis: Amonge thy charges and busynes thou muste haue sometyme joye and myrthe. But nowe adayes it is doone ferre aboue measure. For nowe a poore man in regarde wyll playe as greate game, at all maner games, as gentylmen were wont to do, or greater, and gentilmen as lordes, and lordes as prynces, and ofte tymes the great estates wyll call gentylmen,

or yomen to play with them at as great game as they do, and they call it a disport, the whiche me semeth a very trewe name to it, for it displeaseth some of them er they departe, and specyally God for myspendynge of his goodes and tyme. But if they played smalle games, that the poore man that playeth myght beare it thoughe he loste, and bate not his countenaunce, than myght it be called a good game, a good playe, a goode sporte, and a pastyme. But whan one shall lose vpon a day, or vpon a nyght, as moche money as wold fynde hym and all his house meate and drynke a moneth or a quarter of a yere or more, that maye be well called a disporte, or a displeasure, and ofte tymes by the meanes therof, it causeth theym to sell theyr landes, dysheryte the heyres, and may fortune to fall to thefte, robbery, or suche other, to the great hurte of them selfe, and of theyr chyldren, and to the displeasure of God: and they so doinge, lyttel do they pondre or regarde the saying of saynt Paule, Juxta facultates faciendi sunt sumptus, ne longi temporis victum breuis hora consumat. This play begun with loue and charite, and oft times it endeth with couetous, wrath, and enuy. And this me thynketh should be a sufficient instruction for kepynge of measure."

The latter part of this curious little book is devoted to admonitions on the moral and religious duties of the husbandman and his family, which, though excellent in themselves, are commonplace, and possess no peculiar interest.

At the time when this book was written, science had not been brought to the aid of agriculture, and the precepts of the good knight are the mere dictates of experience and common sense. Some of his rules might appear ridiculous to the modern farmer, and most of them are far in the background of modern practice; yet they show a great spirit of improvement, which was already leading to a change in the condition and tone of society among the English yeomanry. The English farmer no doubt owes something to the memory of that worthy knight and judge, Sir Anthony Fitzherbert.

ART. V.-Early Scottish History and its Exponents.

A Critical Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of the Northern Parts of Britain or Scotland; containing an Account of the Romans, of the Britains betwixt the Walls, of the Caledonians or Picts, and particularly of the Scots. In 2 vols. By THOMAS INNES, M.A. London: 1729. (8vo.)

IT T is an inquiry of much interest and of some value, to trace in the older literature of Europe, the first scintillations of genius applied to those studies which, in modern times, have engrossed the attention of the most learned and the most intellectual. A I.-3

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retrospective examination such as this, presents us with many curious facts, not the least startling of which is, that some of those sciences. we are accustomed to regard as peculiar to our own age, had actually, in a modified form, and of course to a limited extent, been appreciated by the classic authors of Greece and Rome. Ethnology, which bears directly upon the subject of this article, furnishes perhaps the most apposite illustration of the above remark; for it, we are told, is but of yesterday's growth, and "has scarcely passed the jealously guarded porch, as the youngest of all the recognised band of sister sciences," and yet it was not unknown to Herodotus, to Strabo, to Tacitus, and to others of the ancients. It is not of course our intention to affirm, that the elaborate and comprehensive system expounded by the great German scholars, and our own Prichard, had any existence in classical times; but still its first and fundamental principles were familiar, especially to those three authors we have named; for in their works are to be found hypothetical and at the same time discriminating remarks as to the relationship borne by the various barbaric tribes one to another; and these observations are based upon affinity of language, similarity in personal appearance, identity of religion and manners, or peculiarities of geographical position; which are in fact the very vital elements of every ethnological theory enumerated in the present day. But though the ancients were thus, so to speak, in possession of the very same tools which the moderns have so skilfully applied, they used them only intermittently, and with no sufficiently definite end in view, to entitle us to assert that they cultivated ethnology as a science. There is one peculiarity too, in their method, which is worthy of especial notice, and it is this, that while their efforts were mainly directed towards the elucidation of the physical history of the so-called barbarians, they strove to construct for their own nations a civil history founded upon no higher authority than mythic traditions. Unfortunately, the course they pursued with respect to the latter was the example generally followed throughout Europe in after ages, while the few ethnological principles they had brought to bear upon the former, were neglected and allowed to be dormant, until in recent times they were verified, amplified, and expanded to their present form.

Those extravagant absurdities which pervade the early chronicles of every European country, from Spain to Scandinavia,* are the * Of course we do not allude so much to the Saga literature, as to the more recent performances of Saxo Petreius, Lyschander, Rudbeck, &c.

inevitable results that ensued from adopting the fatal fallacy, which prompted the classical authors to extend the domain of civil history beyond its legitimate limits. In no instance perhaps are the mischievous effects of this system so clearly evinced as in the case of Ireland, to which we shall now cursorily refer, from its intimate connection with Scotland, the subject more immediately in hand.

The bare mention of the high antiquities of the sister island recals forcibly to our recollection a harmlessly meant joke of Sir Walter Scott's, in his novel, "The Fortunes of Nigel,' where a hedge-parson, one of the notables of Alsatia, is quietly represented as able, "from his superior acquaintance with theology," to excel all the other denizens of that happy region in doubly distilled profanity. Now, by the very same rule, the Irish monks, thanks to their Scriptural knowledge, fabricated a mendacious history, which, in that minuteness of detail that adds circumstantiality to a narrative, far transcends the cruder fictions of Herodotus or of Livy. Their mode of operation was well contrived, and admirably calculated to produce the desired effect; for they attempted so to interweave the true with the false, that the genuine lustre of the one might help to conceal the spurious glitter of the other; that is to say, they introduced the names and deeds of biblical characters and mixed up Scriptural facts with legendary fables, in a manner that almost defied disbelief of the latter, without implying scepticism as to the former.* Let us extract a case in point from the teeming pages of Keating. Niul, the father of Gaodhal-the eponymus of the Gaelic race, and mythic founder of the Scottish nation, had attained great power and dignity in Egypt, and had married a daughter of Pharaoh Cingeris; but when the Israelites escaped from the thrall of that monarch, Niul most generously assisted them, in return for which act of kindness, the venom of a serpent that had bitten Gaodhal was rendered harmless, by the immediate and efficient application of the rod of Moses. Such is a fair sample of the cunningly devised figments strewed with no sparing hand in the monkish literature of Ireland.

If we turn now to the early history of Scotland, we encounter a most singular anomaly at the very outset, for we find a whole nation combining to ignore the existence of their own ancestors, and

* A good specimen of this species of Mosaic work may be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, quoted by Wood, Essay on the Primitive Inhabitants of Ireland, (p. 205.) "The bones of Joseph were buried in Sichem at this time the Fir Bolg obtained possession of Erin."

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