grammar, mathematics, physics, optics, geography, astronomy, chronology, chemistry, magic, medicine, logic, metaphysics, ethics, theology, philosophy, and miscellaneous. An ingenious, and by no means improbable conjecture has been hazarded, however, which would considerably diminish this prodigious number of volumes often ascribed to him. Different copies of the same treatise have often been circulated under different titles; and thus the titles of distinct chapters of the same work have not unfrequently passed for titles of distinct treatises. Not less than ten of these pieces are to be found in the single work, 'Epistola Fratris Rogeri Baconis de secretis operibus artis et naturæ et de nullitate magicà.' Published at Paris, 4to, 1542; 8vo Basil. 1593; 8vo. Hainburgh, 1608, 1618. It is to be found in the 'Bibliotheca Chemica' of Mangetus. It contains many valuable facts, with a complete exposure of the futility of necromancy, divinations, and magic.

It is singular that his Opus Majus, originally written in the form of an epistle to Pope Clement IV., and which is an abridgment and digest of all his other productions, was long unknown. It was not published till 1733, when Dr Jebb put forth a beautiful edition in folio, after a laborious collation of different MSS. In this work, in consistency with the author's views of the usefulness of knowledge, and the ardour with which it should be cultivated-topics on which he largely and frequently expatiates he advises the pontiff whom he addresses to become the patron of literature and science. Bacon's chemical tracts, which are numerous, may be found in the Thesaurus Chemicus, 8vo. Frankfort, 1603, 1620. His treatise, entitled, 'On the means of avoiding the infirmities of old age,' was first printed at Oxford in 1590. In this work he commends the use of those secret and mysterious medicines of which we have already spoken. This book was afterwards published with notes by Dr Richard Browne, under the quackish and imposing title of The cure of old age, and the preservation of youth.' Several of Roger Bacon's tracts still remain in MS., and are likely to do so. Science, in these times, can gain nothing by their publication, while enough has appeared to establish the character of Bacon as one of the most extraordinary men of the age in which he lived. A treatise on Chronology, Computus Rogeri Baconis;' a theological work, called Compendium Theologicum,' and Liber Naturalium,' are to be found in the king's library. Two other works under the name of 'Opus Minus,' and Opus Tertium,' are preserved in the Cotton library.

Albricius.

THE most careful examination of the best sources of intelligence has thrown no light on the history of this eminent physician and philosopher. But he lived at a time when the fame he possessed was not to be acquired without great exertion and ability. It is not at periods when science is mingled with much error that reputation for skill is easily obtained, but in those in which it is not cultivated at all. And this was by no means the case in the age of Albricius. Leland says that he had only met with his name by accident, but that he lived in the reign of John and Henry III. Bale adds that he was born in London, and

educated at Cambridge and Oxford. It appears also that after finishing his studies in these universities, he went abroad, and acquired, in the course of his travels, a knowledge of medical science, philosophy, and literature in general, which rendered him celebrated on his return to England, as one of the greatest scholars of the time. The learning which he must have possessed in order to enjoy this reputation may in some degree be estimated from our knowledge of the fact, that the physicians of the 13th and 14th centuries were expected to be versed in all the abstrusest sciences of the Greeks and Arabians. From the time of the celebrated Avicenna, who flourished in the 10th century, not only alchemy, but every branch of natural philosophy, became the almost necessary adjunct of medical study. The very uncertainty that attended the science placed its professor under the obligation of seeking this universal knowledge. Astronomy was not less essential than alchemy; and it was a notion very common among physicians, that the human frame was a sort of microcosm, or abstract of the world. Such an idea of course, favoured the indulgence of the wildest theories; but every theory of the kind demanded a large share of learning, if not of sound philosophy for its support; and they who thought that every thing in heaven and earth had its likeness in man's body, would naturally imagine that all the laws and motions of nature were to be viewed in relation to his existence. In a rational state of science this opinion might perhaps tend highly to the advancement of medical knowledge, but when the chief part of the ancient philosophy was wild conjecture, it necessarily led to a mode of study as unprofitable as it was laborious. "This variable composition of man's body," says Bacon, "hath made it as an instrument easy to distemper, and therefore the poets did well to conjoin music and medicine in Apollo, because the office of medicine is but to tune the curious harp of man's body, and to reduce it to harmony. So then the subject being so variable, hath made the art by consequence more conjectural; and the art being conjectural, hath made so much the more place to be left for imposture." Petrarch wrote a severe critique on the physicians of his age, and Chaucer does not fail to let us see all the weak points of the profession as it was presented to his observation in England; but the satires and philippics of these distinguished men show but the extent of study, which a conscientious physician like Albricius would have to pursue, and, through how many obstacles he would have to pass before obtaining the solid fame which he appears to have enjoyed. Of his works Bale has enumerated only the following: 'De origine Deorum,' 'De ratione Veneni,' 'Virtutes Antiquorum,' and 'Canones Speculativi.' In the 'Mythographi Latini,' published at Amsterdam in 1681, there is a small treatise De Deorum imaginibus,' to which the name Albricius is attached, but it is doubtful whether this was not Albricius, bishop of Utrecht, in the 8th century.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

TO THIRD PERIOD,

EXTENDING

FROM EDWARD I. TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VII.

WITH

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES

OF

Eminent Englishmen

WHO FLOURISHED DURING THAT PERIOD.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

TO

THIRD PERIOD.

Constitution of England not the result of occult causes- - Origin of Magna ChartaIts repeated ratifications an evidence of the state of public feeling-The elements of popular liberty at work during the reign of Edward I.-Their influence in the reigns of Edward II. and III.- Common law under Edward III.-Advance of popular independence under Richard II.— Reigns of Henry IV., Henry VI., Edward IV. -State of political feeling at the accession of Henry VII.-History of literature during this period- General views of the origin of a national literature-First seeds of literature in England-Scarcity of books-State of literature in the reign of Edward I.-Early impulse given to the study of Jurisprudence-Roger Bacon's account of the state of learning-Establishment of the English universities-Schoolmen-Poets--Robert of Gloucester and Robert Mannyng-Influence of the crusading spirit on English literature-State of literature under Edward III-Occam-Burley-Chaucer-Gower-John of Salisbury-Neckham-Joseph of Exeter-Wickliffe-Knyghton-Higden-William of Wykeham-Literature under Henry IV., Henry V.-Lydgate and Occleve- Chichely-Waynflete-Minstrels more esteemed than Monks-Literature under Edward IV.-Origin of the Laureateship-Harding-Norton-- Ripley- Fabyan-Invention of printing-Attention paid to classical literature-Schools-The Drama.

THE Constitution of England was neither born in secret, nor nourished by invisible foster-mothers. If its rudiments lay scattered beneath the soil in a period of historical darkness, the earliest documents we possess indicate their existence. The metal was not run together by supernatural agency, but forged into a mass and into form by the bold sledge-hammers of known men. This has been the case from the first great act which secured liberty to our ancestors down to the pre sent time. Deliberate resistance under conspicuous leaders,-legislative enactments the result of open counsels,-successes in war and commerce secured by the vigorous exertions of many keen and active minds, these are causes to which the existence of our freedom may be traced through all its stages; and it is this opportunity which we possess of assigning its establishment and progress to the operation of certain causes, set at work by public men, which gives so deep an interest to our history, and so especial a value to our biography.