oaken planks.

The Roman missionaries introduced the use of stone; but though the example was soon diffused throughout the country, the stone continued for some time longer to be unhewn and uncemented; the workmanship to be ponderous, and rude. But, from the intercourse of the Saxon ecclesiastics with the Continent, from the admiration which they must have felt at beholding the still splendid remains of Rome, the art could not fail to improve. The men by whom this improvement was introduced into the southern provinces are not known; but the names of Saints Wilfrid and Benedict Biscop the gratitude of the north has consigned to posterity. The improvements which Benedict introduced into the architecture of the country, his introduction of cement and glass, we have already noticed.* The first attempt of Wilfrid was to restore and embellish the church of York, which had been originally founded by St. Paulinus, and afterwards rebuilt of rough stone. He strengthened the walls, and washed them; making them, according to Eddius, whiter than snow: from the windows he removed the rude lattices of wood and linen curtains, which he replaced by glass; and over the roof he threw a covering of lead. At Ripon he erected a new church from the foundations, and on it he was enabled to display more taste and even splendour. It had not only hewn stone; its roof was supported by columns, and its entrances adorned by porticoes. But the monastery of Hexham exhibited the highest improvement of the art. Its foundations were deep; its stones were finely polished; its walls and columns were lofty; and it had spiral winding stairs to the top of each tower. Such, in fact, was its splendour, that Eddius, who had been at Rome when he wrote St. Wilfrid's life, declared no building on this side the Alps was equal to it. From the foundation of the monastery of Croyland †, whose massy piles of wood were driven into the fenny ground, we may infer that the art had made some pro+ Ibid. page 226.

* See Vol. III. page 94.

gress. If, as we learn from Giraldus Cambrensis, the stones used in the foundation of Peterborough church (Midhamstead) were so large that eight oxen could scarcely move one of them, we may form some conception of the enormous strength of these places. The church of Ramsey, as described by the historian of that monastery, affords us no mean idea of Saxon enterprise; the abbey of St. Alban's, a foundation of the royal Offa, which struck the beholders with surprise, we may well believe to have been extensive, and even majestic; and Westminster Abbey, which owed its existence to the Confessor was not, as far as we can judge of it by Camden's description (taken from an ancient MS.), likely to injure the reputation of the country. But, if many of these edifices were vast and massive, they were doubtless destitute of symmetry and taste: our architectural glory must be referred to the thirteenth century." *

The furniture of the Anglo-Saxon houses was clumsy and rude. Even the rich appear to have wanted many of the conveniences which are now possessed by our inferior tradesmen. Yet there was often a grotesque mixture of meanness and magnificence. While the walls

were of wood, without tapestry or covering; and while mean wooden benches were placed along them, there might be seen curtains of the most costly description, frequently embroidered with gold, and domestic vessels of gold and silver; sometimes the very tables were of the latter metal. The interior of the churches was much more magnificent. The walls were often covered with foreign paintings, or with rich tapestry; the vessels displayed on solemn occasions were of the precious metals; the altar sparkled with gold and jewels; and the dress of the priests was beyond measure superb. That the sacerdotal garments were most splendid, may be well conceived from the remains of those found a few

Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. iv. cap. 10.; necnon Vita S. Cuthberti, p. 263. Eddius, Vita S. Wilfridi, cap. 16, 17.23. Wilhelmus Malmesburiensis, De Pontificibus, lib. iii. Ingulphus Croylandensis, Historia, p. 4. Historia Rameseyensis, p. 399. Strutt, Horda Angel Cynnan, i. 33, &c. Lingard, Antiquities, Appendix F.

years ago in the coffin of St. Cuthbert; but we are startled when we read of the immense riches in the churches. In that of York were two altars entirely covered with gold and silver: one of them, in addition, ornamented by a profusion of gems, supported a lofty crucifix of amazing value; while above blazed three ranges of lamps, all silver. The very books partook of this unsparing magnificence. By orders of St. Wilfrid, the four gospels were written on a purple ground, in letters of gold; and, when finished, they were enclosed in a casket of the same metal, and presented to the monastic church of Ripon. Still more profuse than the patrons of the church at York was St. Ina, founder of the famous chapel at Glastonbury.

"This king Ina," says William of Malmesbury, "built also a chapel of gold and silver, with ornaments and vases of the same metals. The construction of the chapel required 2600 pounds of silver; that of the altar, 264 pounds of gold. The cup with the paten weighed 10 pounds, the cover above 8, both solid gold. The candlesticks were of silver, weighing 12 pounds; the covers of the gospels were of gold, above 20 pounds in weight; the altar vessels about 17 pounds; the golden ewer 8; the silver vessel for holy water, 20; the images of Christ, his blessed mother, and of the twelve apostles, contained 175 in silver and 38 of gold. The pall for the altar and the priestly vestments were interwoven with gold, and cunningly ornamented with precious stones.'

The embroidered vestments were the work of the nuns; but how so much gold and silver could be collected, is inexplicable. The presents made to the pope and the people of Rome were, as we have before seent, considerable; but they dwindle into insignificance when compared with those of the royal saint.

The consideration of such workmanship necessarily leads us to that of mechanics and artisans. The pro

* See Raine's St. Cuthbert.

+ Vol. III. p. 322.

Bede, Historia Abbatum Wiremuthensium, p. 295, &c. Alcuinus, De Pontificibus Ecclesiæ Eboracensis, verses 1224. 1266. 1488. Surely this author has used a poet's licence. Eddius, Vita S. Wilfridi, cap. 17. Wil helmus Malmesburiensis, De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiæ, p. 310. Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, tom. i. p. 40. 104. 165. 222.

In

gress of these branches of industry must have been very slow; for anciently all mechanics were slaves, and slaves do not soon learn the ornamental arts of life. Probably, however, either the earlier manufacture was of foreign origin, or foreign artisans were encouraged to settle in our boroughs. From the earliest period the smith must have been necessary: we read of goldsmiths, silversmiths, coppersmiths; all of whom, in virtue of their callings, were held in high esteem, after their emancipation from the iron tyranny of their feudal lords, and their establishment in the royal boroughs, where they were immediately dependent on the monarch only. To mechanical pursuits ecclesiastics were much addicted. St. Dunstan worked in all the metals; he made organs and bells and his friend St. Ethelwolf successfully imitated his example. Other monks, some abbots, and even bishops, were no less eager to show their skill. The exercise of manual industry was in fact an agreeable relief to the monotony of a monastic life. Nor were the secular ecclesiastics ignorant of the same arts. fact, a law of Edgar commands every priest to learn some handicraft, that knowledge may be increased." From the few remains, however, which time has spared, none of our ancestors appear to have been much distinguished for skill or taste; their workmanship was illfashioned and rude; even their coins are of the same unfinished character. Whether glass-making was brought to greater perfection, can never be ascertained; the arts of weaving and embroidery certainly were. In embroidery the Anglo-Saxon ladies are acknowledged to have been unrivalled. Nothing, indeed, can exceed their curious devices with the needle, which was made far to surpass the shuttle. Even in these, however, there is much want of taste. Barbarous nations are fond of whatever is gaudy; and none more so than the Saxons. But if a correct judgment would condemn their most ingenious manufactures, let us not mistake the infancy for the manhood of an art. Our ancestors were in many respects much more disadvantageously situated than the

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inhabitants of Gaul or Italy. They had every thing to learn; their fathers were as ignorant as themselves; nor were they surrounded by the remains of past greatness. The Greek or the Roman, however he might have degenerated from the ancient glory of his country, could not fail to preserve the knowledge of some arts: with such models before him, splendid even in their decay, they could never entirely forget the principles of statuary, painting, or architecture; but the wild Saxon, who had seen nothing but his own hut embosomed in the valley or the forest, had no such reminiscences to inspire him.*

II. LITERATURE.† The literature of the AngloSaxons may be divided into the vernacular and the Latin; the domestic, and that of foreign growth. Each has a distinct character, and each shall be considered separately.

1. When the natural wants of a people are satisfied; when the means of subsistence, and the arts which afford comfort to life, are known and diffused, the mind will vindicate its celestial origin by exploring new and nobler paths of knowledge. It too has its wants, which, though posterior to the physical, exhibit themselves in every nation emerging from barbarism. It would be difficult to mention a people, even in the earlier stages of civilisation, wholly destitute of intellectual resource. Even where the use of letters was unknown, traditional songs and legendary tales were eagerly received; they withdrew the mind from present scenes to others new, and therefore interesting: its present sphere of enjoyment is too limited to satisfy its cravings, and it rushes into the world of imagination. The infancy of every nation is distinguished by a love of the marvellous, which, indeed, retains its empire until reason, the offspring of

Chiefly the same authorities, with the addition of Turner, AngloSaxons, vol. iii. p. 103, &c., and of Lingard, Antiquities, p. 142. See also the two lives of St. Dunstan by the contemporary priest and Osbern.

Including Theology, which was not yet a science, but merely a branch of general literature. It became a science in after-ages, through the subtleties of the schoolmen.