Fryth, Miles Coverdale, afterwards bishop of Exeter; William Barlow, fucceffively bishop of St. Afaph, St. David's, Bath and Wells, and Chichester; John Hooper, in the next reign bishop of Worcester, and Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. William Tindale must ever be confidered in a very honourable light, as having, by his translation of the Scriptures, prepared the way for a great acceffion to religious knowledge. With regard to Cranmer, he was undoubtedly the prime character among the divines of this period. His reputation ftill ftands high, and will ever ftand high in the annals of England. The part he acted during the reign of Henry the Eighth was highly eminent and important: nevertheless, as the Reformation was not completed by him till the next reign, we shall refer the fuller delineation of him to that time.

While the nation was making a progrefs in theological knowledge, and, in that refpect, there was a profpect of greater improvement, the civil conftitution of this country was reduced to a very deplorable state. Henry the Eighth was undoubtedly the moft arbitrary prince of the house of Tudor. To the other means of investing him with a degree of power fuperior to that which had been exercifed by his predeceffors, were added the undefined prerogatives contained in his character as fupreme head of the church. Thefe, united with various concurring circumftances, were fo great, and gave him fuch an uncontrolled authority, that the freedom of our government feemed to be almost wholly deftroyed. Never was the hiftory of parliament fo difgraceful as in this reign. All which can be faid is, that Henry so far respected the forms of the conftitution, as to rule by parliaments." It was by act of parliament that "monafteries were fuppreffed; that the king became the "head of the church; that the authority of the pope in "England, together with all the revenues which he drew "from that kingdom, was abolished; in fhort, that the "ancient system of ecclefiaftical government was over"turned. In the numerous divorces procured by the fovereign, in the regulations that were made concerning

"the

"the legitimacy of the children by his different wives, in "the various and contradictory fettlements of the crown, "Henry never pretended to act by virtue of his own pre"rogative, but continually fheltered himself under the "fanction of parliamentary establishment." The power of impofing taxes was uniformly exercifed by the house of commons; and even when the ftatute was paffed which gave to the king's proclamation the force of law, it was ftill the fanction of parliament that authorized the abominable murder of the conftitution. It was provided, likewife, by the fame ftatute, that the royal proclamations should not be prejudicial to any person's inheritance, offices, liberties, goods, chattels, or life.

There was one man of eminent legal knowledge and abilities in the reign of Henry the Eighth. This was Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, king's ferjeant, and afterwards one of the judges of the court of Common Pleas. Several works were written by him, in the way of his profeffion, which have been highly commended by the best judges of the fubject. Time and the immenfe accumulation of farther knowledge has leffened the utility of his publications, without detracting from his reputation.

With regard to philofophical fcience in general, little can be faid in praife of this period. In moral philofophy Florence Wilfon may be mentioned, a Scots writer, who lived chiefly abroad, and who was celebrated in foreign parts for his various literature. The name by which he is commonly known is Volufenus. His chief work was a treatife" De Animi Tranquillitate," which preserved a confiderable degree of reputation for a long time, and which the author of the prefent article knows, by experience, to have been in the custom of being read, about forty years ago. It is an elegant performance, in which much ufe is made of the ancient moralifts; and, if an imperfect recollection can be relied upon, Wilfon was an imitator of Boethius. The Utopia of Sir Thomas More may be regarded as an ethical as well as a political compofition,

* Millar.

As

As to natural philofophy, the time for improvement in that branch of knowledge was not yet come. People were ftill contented with the feeble fcience, or perhaps we might with more propriety fay, with the ignorance, of former ages. There were, indeed, perfons whom Leland, Bale, and Pits have dignified with the name of philofophers, and have characterifed as eminent mathematicians and aftronomers; but where are their inventions, experiments, and difcoveries? No valuable proofs are to be met with either of their genius or industry.

Medicine is nearly allied to natural philofophy; and there were not wanting, in the reign we are treating of, fome phyficians of celebrity. Among these the first place and the highest applaufe are undoubtedly due to Linacre, whom we have before endeavoured to do juftice to, as an excellent mafter and a zealous restorer of claffical literature. In his own profeffion, he fhone as much as any man of his time; feveral of Galen's works were elegantly tranflated by him; and in confequence of his projecting and accomplishing the inftitution of the " Royal College of Phyficians

in London," he rendered a most important fervice to medicine and mankind. He was defervedly appointed the first prefident of the New College, which office he held during the remainder of his life. The other principal phyficians of the reign were William Butts, John Chambre, Andrew Borde, Edward Wotton, and John Owen. Andrew Borde was the author of feveral Medical Treatifes, and Edward Wotton wrote upon Natural History. "The Caftel "of Health," by Sir Thomas Elyot, who was not a phyfician, had much reputation in its day,

Claffical and polite learning ftill continued to be purfued, though many were diverted from an attention to it by the theological controverfies of the times. Some of thofe who had applied themselves to the cultivation of it in the former reign were yet living, to whofe names others may now be added. Robert Whittington, Richard Croke, and Leonard Cox, diftinguished themselves as grammarians. Richard Paice, Thomas Key, and Sir Thomas Elyot

made

fome figure as elegant fcholars; and John Redman added to the character of a divine, that of being fingularly inftrumental in promoting the knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages. Sir John Cheke, fir Thomas Smith, and Roger Afcham now began their illuftrious career s but the diftinct celebration of them belongs to a future article. The prime glory of the reign of Henry the Eighth, with respect to polite literature, was fir Thomas More. Though, according to Mr. Hume, there was no man in this age who had the leaft pretenfion to be ranked among our claffics; he acknowledges that Sir Thomas feems to come the nearest to that character: with all his religious weakneffes, he was, indeed, one of the greatest or naments of his time. "Sir Thomas More," fays Mr. Warton," is reverenced by pofterity, as the fcholar who "taught that erudition which civilifed his country, and "as the philofopher who met the horrors of the block "with that fortitude which is equally free from oftentation "and enthusiasm: as the man whofe genius overthrew the "fabric of falfe learning, and whofe amiable tranquillity "of temper triumphed over the malice and injustice of "tyranny." It must not be forgotten, that the vifit of Erafmus to this country, and his fhort refidence in it, con-tributed, in fome confiderable meafure, to the promotion both of claffical and theological knowledge. The lectures he read, and the emulation he excited, notwithstanding the violent oppofition which was raised against him by Folly and Bigotry, justly entitle him to be ranked among the benefactors to English literature.

History affumes a better afpect than it did in our laft article, though it is far from fhining with any extraordinary degree of luftre. Here Sir Thomas More prefents himself again to us, but not in the most favourable form. His Hiftory of the Reigns of Edward the Fifth and Richard the Third, is far from being efteened among the best of his productions. It is not, however, ill written. The account of Richard is left unfinished; and the author entered -. too much into the prejudices of the house of Tudor to al

low

low any quarter to the last monarch of the house of York. -The hiftorical works of John Raftal, George Lilly, and Edward Hall have little claim to notice; though Hall is of fome ufe to the antiquary; by the attention which he pays to the variations of drefs and of fashion.-In perspicuity and elegance of ftyle, Polydore Virgil, a learned Italian, who was patronifed by both the Henries, and who spent the greater part of his life in England, far exceeded the writers now mentioned. But he is understood to be defective in the more effential qualities of an hiftorian, being fometimes erroneous in point of information, and often deftitute of candour. Notwithstanding these faults, his work is of confiderable fervice to the later compilers of our English hiftory.

. Scotland produced two hiftorians during this period, John Major, and Hector Boethius. John Major was not fo highly favourable to the fabulous antiquities of his country as fome who have fucceeded him, and he writes as a friend to the liberties of the people. His ftyle is rugged and unpleasant; in which respect he is far exceeded by Boethius, whofe compofition is recommended by its ele gance. But elegance of language cannot make amends for the faults with which he is justly chargeable; and which are, an abundance of fabulous narration, and a credulity that, at prefent, appears highly ridiculous.

The reign of Henry the Eighth was adorned by an antiquary of the first magnitude, on whom the king very properly conferred the title of Antiquary Royal; a title which never yet fubfifted in any other perfon. We mean the celebrated John Leland, whofe merit will ever be teftified by thofe who are grateful for the prefervation of antient Manufcripts and Records, who are lovers of biographical knowledge, and who delight in the hiftory of literature. To genius and a great extent of learning, he joined an affiduity and diligence in his researches, which nothing could efcape. That fuch a man fhould, at length, become the victim of infanity, will be reflected upon with concern by every feeling mind. John Bale, who lived nearly at

the