48
LITERATURE.
abroad. During his reign a law was passed, which enacted, " that if anvman made such pro- ficiency in learning as to obtain priests orders, he should enjoy all the honours of a thane or noble- man. His bailiffs were orderedj under severe penalties, to support a. pauper of English extrac- tion, on everv two of his farms. There is a ca- talogue of his books extant. It is in Saxon ,^iaracteis, in the Cottonian library.
There was also a regulation made, during this reign, that shews an enlargement of mind much above the times, and which even more civilized ages have not been able to reach : it was that a merchant, who had effected three voyages to the Streights, on his own account, should be put upon the footing with a thane. We are confi- dently told, by several modern writers, that he ordered the bible to be translated out of th. Hebrew into the Saxon language, for the benefit of his subjects, and which, if sufficiently authen- ticated, would appear of peculiar importance in a survey of literature. Athelstan is, on all hands, confessed to have been a very illustrious and accomplished prince, and who is justly ranked among the lawgivers of England. His eloquence is likewise highly extolled by historians, who have been pleased to assert that he was equal in this respect to the Roman orators. Athelston reigned from 926 to 940, and was buried at Gloucester.
953. Germadius, a Spanish bishop, by his will, bequeathed about sixteen volumes of books to certain religious houses, with the express con- dition, that no abbot should be permitted to transfer them to anv other plaee, but that they shall be kept for the monks of the monasteries specified in the will, who should accommodate each other as much as pos.sible in the use of them. The will is subscribed by the king and queen, as well aa by the bishops and other persons of rank.
The tenth centurv, which presents one of the darkest periods of the Chiistian era, was an age of the profoundest ignorance, and of the most degrading superstition. Some whofilled the high- est situations in the church, could not so much as read ; while others, who pretended to be better scholars, and attempted to perform the public offices, committed the most egregious blunders. In Spain, books were so scarce, that one, and the same copy of the Bible, St. Jerome's Epistles, and some volumes of ecclesiastical offices, and martjrrologies, served several monasteries.
966. In England, the art of writing in gdd seems to have been but imperfectly understood. The only remarkable specimen that occurs of it is the cliarter of King Edgar to the new minster at Winchester, in this year. This volume is written throughout in gold.
This taste for gold and purple manuscripts seems only to have reached England at the close of the seventh century, when Wilfred, arch- bishop of York, enriched his ohurcfi with a copy of the gospels thus adorned. Many MSS. was executed at Winchester.
980. Ervene, one of the teachers of Wolston,
and bishop of Worcester, was famous for calli- graphy and skill in colours. To invite his pupilg to read, he made use of a psalter, and a sacta- mentary, whose capital letters he had richly illuminated with gold.
999. Silvester II. beforehebecame pope, which was in this year, had been indefatigable in ac- quiring and communicating learning, and these qualities distinguished him during his whole life. In order to obtain a knowledge of the sciences and manuscripts, he visited Spain, and caused Italy, and the countries beyond the Alps, to be diligently explored for books and manuscripts. 1
1020. 'iHed the celebrated poet Ferdosi. He is called the Homer of Persia, and flourished at this time, at the court of Mahmoud, in the city of GazBa His principal work was a noble and - elegant epic poem, on the history of Persia, wui. .; occupied him thirty years, but for which hisonly reward was as many small pieces of money as the work contained couplets. He wrote, in retaliation, an animated invective against the Sultan, and leaving Gazna in the night, fled to Bagdad, where the Caliph protected him till his death. It is said, that Mahmoud was persuaded by envious rivals to diminish the reward he had promised him ; but sensikle too late' of his error, be tried to retrieve his lame, by sending an im- mense sum to the poet; but the rich present reached the gates of Bagdad, as the body of Ferdosi was being carried to its last mansion; and it was rejected by his virtuous daughter, who scorned to accept that wealth which bad been once denied to the merit of her Ulustrious father
1060. The most ancient manuscript in cotton paper, with a date, is in the royal library at Paris, No. 2,889 ; another in the emperor's library, at Vienna, that bears the date of 1095 ; but as the manuscripts without a date are incomparably more numerous than those which are dated, Fa- ther Montfaucon, who on these subjects, is great authority, on account of his diligence and the extent ofhis researches, by comparing the writing, discovered some of the tenth century.
In the sixth volume of the royal academy of inscriptions and belle-lettr*s, there is a dissertation of Montfaucon, which proves, that eharta fronts- cine, or cotton paper, was discovered in thet'em- pire of the east towards the end of the ninth or early in the tenth century. There are several Greek manuscripts, both in parchment, on vellum, and cotton paper, that bear the date of the yew they were written in, but the greater part are without date. Erom the dated manuscripts, a surer judgment may be formed by comparing Uie writings of that^ge with those that are not doted.
1066, Oct. 14. The accession of William Dttk» of Normandy to the throne of England, (on thb day) contributed greatly to the revival of literature and science in this country, being himself a weU- educated prince, and a munificent patron of learn- ing. His influence had excited extraordinary ardour for literary pursuits among the Nonnan clergy, andafterwards had thesame effect amongst the English; besides which, many of the most
Diaitized by
