the second
recension of the Wycliffite version, 193

John Trevisa. Dialogue between a Lord and a Clerk upon Translation, 203

William Caxton. Prefaces and Epilogues:--
The Recuyell of the Histories of Troy, 213
Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, 218
Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiae, 222
Golden Legend, 225
Caton 227
AEsop, 230
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, second edition, 232
Malory's King Arthur, 234
Eneydos, 239

A Miracle Play of the Nativity. The Pageant of the Shearmen and
Tailors, from the Coventry Corpus Christi Plays, 245

Everyman: A Moral Play, 277

Pleadings in Rastell _v._ Walton, a Theatrical Lawsuit, temp. Henry
VIII., 307

BRIEF GLOSSARY, 323

INTRODUCTION

In the world of politics and statecraft a nation which has once begun to
decline seldom, perhaps never, recovers itself. There are too many other
dogs about for the bone which has once been relinquished to be resumed
later on. It is luck, indeed, if there are any decent scraps to be found
on the platter when it is revisited. In the world of literature and
thought the dogs are better bred, showing each other new
hunting-grounds, and by example and precept often helping to restore a
famished comrade to sleekness and vigour. Political conditions may not
be gainsaid. A nation which has once lost its ideals cannot again
produce a fresh, strong, and manly literature. But the possibilities of
literature remain immense, and we cannot foretell in what country it may
not revive and win fresh triumphs. Hence it is that while the political
fortunes of a nation seem to move mainly along the three straight lines
of ascent, enjoyment, and fall, its literary fortunes express
themselves, when we try to generalise, in a series of curves, alternate
rises and declines, which may be repeated again an