'Polychronicon' is deemed uncommonly well executed. Dr. Dibdin calls it "one of the most beautiful folio volumes of that skilful artist:" its date is 1495. Several grammarians of repute, Stanbridge, Garlandea, Whittinton, Holt, and Lilye, lived at the period of the introduction of printing into England; and Wynkyn de Worde, who appears to have been a man of good education as well as talents, printed some of their works. He printed the Accidence of Stanbridge," in Caxton's house, at Westminster." The date unknown. His 'Vocabulary,' in 1500. This De Worde continued to republish till 1532. The 'Multorum Vocabulorum Equivocorum Interpretatio,' by Garlandea, was printed in 1500, by De Worde, and at least as late as 1517. He also printed repeatedly the grammatical works of Whittinton. Holt's 'Lac Puerorum, or Milk for Children,' was printed by him in 4to, without date. No impression of the grammar of Lilye (but which, in reality, was drawn up by several persons,) by De Worde, or in Lilye's lifetime, has been discovered. The first Greek letters used in England are found in a Grammatical Treatise of Whittinton, by De Worde, in 1519: they are cut out of wood. We have gone into this detailed mention of those works chiefly in order to show the assistance which the press was already giving, in its earliest days, to elementary education. Accidences,' Lucidaries,' Orchards of Words,' • Promptuaries for Little Children,' were published in great numbers. Richard Pynson, a Norman by birth, was in Caxton's office. He carried on his business from 1493 to 1531. His known productions are two hundred and ten. He styled himself King's Printer; but it is doubtful whether he had any patent. He introduced the Roman letter into this country. His types are clear and good; but his press-work is hardly equal to that of De Worde. Most of the works he printed are of a higher character for merit and usefulness than those either of Caxton or De Worde. The first treatise on arithmetic, published in this country, was printed by Pynson, in 1522, 4to, Libri 4 de arte Supputandi.' It was written by Cuthbert Tonstall, Bishop of London, one of the best mathematicians, as well as general scholars, of his age. In 1499, the first edition of the 'Promptorius Puerorum' came from Pynson's press. He was a voluminous printer of early statutes; and in his time began the publication of what are still called 'Year Books. Soon after Caxton's death he printed an edition of the Canterbury Tales,' and in 1526, reprinted them with a collection of some other pieces of Chaucer. William Jaques was contemporary with Pynson, and printed in conjunction with him the acts passed in 1503. He used a new cut English letter, " equalling, if not excelling, in beauty, any produced by modern foundries." In 1530, the first French and English Dictionary (Eclaircissemens de la Langue Françoise') was published by John Hawkins. No other work from his press is known. On the death of Pynson, Thomas Berthelet was appointed King's Printer, by a patent, the earliest that has been found. He dwelt at the sign of Lucretia Romana, Fleet-street. Thomas Godfray was a printer at the same time. These printers embarked in the same concern. From their press came (1532), a complete edition of all that had then come to light of the works of Chaucer. It is on fine paper, and the types and press-work are remarkably neat and elegant. This edition was superintended, and published, under the patronage of William Thynne. To one of this family-perhaps to the same person-Caxton had been indebted for the manuscripts, which enabled him to publish his second and much improved edition of the Canterbury Tales.' If the title of the book (already noticed) purporting to be printed at Oxford, in 1468, be erroneous, as there is strong reason to suspect it to be, then the establishment of printing in this city must have been in 1478. The first known printers there, however, were Theodore Rood, a German, and Thomas Hunt, an Englishman; and their first production Herbert assigns to the year 1485. It is not known in what year printing was introduced into Cambridge. It certainly was very shortly after Caxton established his press in Westminster. The types of the earliest known work which issued from Cambridge, very much resemble Caxton's largest. The first printer at Cambridge, whose name is known, was John Sibert, who is supposed to have been born at Lyons. A few Greek words are interspersed in his edition of Linacre's translation of one of Galen's treatises. This is the earliest appearance of Greek metal types. In 1480, a printing-press was established in the Benedictine Monastery at St. Albans, of which William Walling ford was at that time prior. Wynkyn de Worde informs us that the printer was "sometime a schoolmaster;" and he probably was a monk. The types of the book, which is a Treatise on Rhetoric, in Latin, are very rude. Printing was introduced into York, in 1509, by Hugh Goes, supposed to have been the son of a printer at Antwerp. His first production was the Pica of the Cathedral of that city; he afterwards removed to Beverley, and then to London. Peter de Triers, probably a native of that city, printed, in 1514, the first book in Southwark it was the Moral Distichs of Cato, with Erasmus's Scholia,' in Latin, 1525, Tavistock. Here was an exempt monastery, celebrated for its lectures on the Saxon language, which were discontinued about the period of the Reformation. Several of its abbots were learned men and the encouragement in literature is evident by the establishment of a printing-press a few years after the introduction of printing into England. The first printed book was John Walton's Translation of Boethius de Consolatione, in 4to; the printer's name was Thomas Rychard, monk of that monastery. A book, called the 'Long Grammar,' was printed at Tavistock, but no copy of it has been found. A printing-office was first established in Canterbury about 1525; but no name or date is in the book supposed to have been the first printed there. Cardinal Wolsey, on his visit to do honour to his native city, established or patronised a printing-office at Ipswich in 1538; the printer was John Oswen, who removed to Worcester in 1548, where he published a folio and quarto edition of the New Testament. The art was introduced into Norwich about 1570, by Anthony Solen, one of the many foreigners from the Low Countries who introduced all sorts of woollen manufactures into that city. Between the year 1471, when Caxton began to print, and the year 1540, the English press, though conducted by industrious, and some of them learned printers, produced very few classics. Boethius de Consolatione,' in Latin and English, three editions of Æsop, Terence,' the 'Bucolics of Virgil twice, and Tully's Offices,' were the only classics printed. From Cambridge no classical work appeared; and the University of Oxford produced only the ་ first book of Cicero's Epistles,' and that at the expense of Wolsey. The most ancient specimen of Scotch printing known, is a collection entitled The Porteus of Nobleness,' Edinburgh, 1508. A patent had been granted by James IV. to Walter Chapman, a merchant of that city, and Andrew Mollar, a workman, for establishing a press there in 1507. Very few works, however, appear to have issued from this or from any other Scotch press for the next thirty years. In 1554, one of Knox's Theological Treatises was printed at Kalykow, or Kelso. Hamilton's, Archbishop of St. Andrews, Catechism, and Treatise on the Seven Sacraments,' 4to, was the first book printed at St. Andrews, 1552. It was nearly a century after this, before Aberdeen, the seat of another University, could boast of a press. Edward Raban, who published a poem on the death of Bishop Forbes, in 1635, styles himself "Master Printer,the first in Aberdeen." Ireland was the last European country, except Russia, (and this, in the sixteenth century, could scarcely be reckoned European,) that received the art of printing. The earliest book known is the Common Prayer, printed in Dublin, 1551, by Humphrey Powell. The Library of Trinity College, in that city, contains but one book printed there, even so early as 1633. The first book in the Irish character, was a Liturgy, 1566, for the use of the Scotch Highlanders. The advantages which have been derived from the invention of printing, and from the perseverance and ingenuity of those by whom it was established, aniong whom we may place William Caxton, are vast and important; but they are too obvious to require, in this place, an elaborate detail. The productions of men of genius and learning; the records of literature and of science; of whatever is either brilliant in imagination or profound in thought; whatever may either adorn or improve the human mind,thenceforth became imperishable. The light of knowledge cannot again be quenched-it is free, and open, and accessible as the air we breathe. The future history of the world may, indeed, disclose enough both of misery and of vice; but it cannot again present an universal blank, or be disgraced by another age of utter and cheerless ignorance. ADMIRAL BLAKE. By John Gorton, Esq. CHAPTER I. Birth and Parentage — Academical Education and Pursuits-Acquires great Influence with the Puritan Party-Chosen Member for Bridgewater-Embraces the Cause of the Parliament against Charles I.Services at Bristol, Lyme, and Taun ton. FEW men occupy an important place in the military and naval annals of England, who have more conspicuously exhibited the intellectual and moral qualities which favourably distinguish the character of British seamen than Admiral Blake. Much of the war-like distinction, to attain which this country has made such sacrifices, is attributable to a combination in its inhabitants of active with passive courage; or of daring valour and an ardent spirit of enterprise, with firmness, perseverance, and intrepid endurance. When, to these qualifications can be added, patriotism, disinterestedness, and a correct notion of the due boundaries of obedience and command, little more is wanted to complete the outline of an accomplished English officer. All these requisites were displayed, in an eminent degree, by the individual, a brief sketch of whose life will be attempted in the following pages, who has always ranked high in the estimation of his countrymen, notwithstanding the party bias, so powerfully excited by the political occurrences of the period in which his lot was cast. Robert Blake was born in August, 1599, at Bridgewater, in the county of Somerset. His father, Humphrey Blake, a respectable merchant of that town, was a branch of the Blakes of Plansfield, in the parish of Spaxton,* in its vicinity; a family which bore the rank of respectable country gentlemen. Having amassed a good fortune by the Spanish trade, he bought an estate in the neighbourhood of Bridgewater, where he settled, and had a numerous family. At a proper age, Robert, who Lives, English and Foreign, vol. ii. p. 73. Wood's Fasti. Oxon, vol. i. col. 203. was the eldest, attended the Free Grammar School of his native place; whence, at the death of his father, being then of the age of sixteen, he removed himself to Alban's Hall, in the university of Oxford. Here he was noticed for early rising and studious application; which he diversified by the sports of fowling and fishing. As he became too noted a public character, in the sequel, for any sort of traditionary scandal concerning him to escape publicity, it has been asserted that he occasionally amused himself with stealing swans; doubtless in the estimation of those times, nothing more than a species of aquatic poaching. From Alban's Hall, he, after a while, removed himself to Wadham College, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts; and in 1619, being then about twenty-one years of age, he became candidate for a Fellowship of Merton College. In this object of his ambition he however failed, owing to the opposition of Sir Henry Savile, then Warden, on the extraordinary ground of not being tall enough. Although it was one of the known foibles of that eminent scholar, to pay a great regard to personal comeliness, there is reason to believe that the religious opinions of the candidate formed the principal cause of his rejection; his family and connexions being, for the most part, inclined to Presbyterianism, or at least opposed to the domineering scheme of church government, which the court and prelacy were then endeavouring to carry into practice. However this might be, his non-attainment of a fellowship probably altered the entire course of his future destiny; for so long a residence at the university, and his wish to obtain that kind of preferment, seem to indicate literary, if not professional views, altogether at variance with his future career. If so, Blake is only one among a multitude of distinguished characters, whom the course of events, rather than premeditation or design, has conducted into that line of exertion, for which their natural endowments have more especially adapted them. * Wood's Fasti, vol. i.col. 203. B Mr. Blake remained at the university until his twenty-fifth year, during which period, according to Lord Clarendon, he obtained as great a portion of learning, as any gentleman of independent prospects, not expressly intended for a learned profession, needs acquire.* This testimony is sufficient to discountenance an insinuation, that he lost the sought for fellowship by want of sufficient erudition; but it at the same time proves that he was never a distinguished student. All that is known of his literary performances, is a copy of verses on the death of the celebrated antiquary Camden, one of those fruits of imitation rather than of native impulse, or genius, which may sometimes be admired as college exercises, but seldom as any thing more. Such, unfortunately, owing to the very mature age to which he arrived before he became distinguished, is all that it has been found possible to collect concerning the early life of Admiral Blake. This is too common a circumstance in biography, to be the subject of particular regret; but it is still to be lamented, as a study of well authenticated accounts of the youthful predispositions of eminent men, is both profitable and amusing. In the great variety and complexity of human character, it may not be always safe to depend upon like results from similar appearances; but in social and intellectual, as well as in physical knowledge, cool and patient observation will gradually account for much apparent diversity. The utility too, as regards education, is undeniable; an early discernment of the indications of future modes of thinking and acting, and a close attention to the formation of habits, being among the most useful qualifications with which all who have to do with the bringing up of youth, whether as parents or teachers, can be endowed. On quitting History of the Rebellion, vol. iii. p. 601. Bates. taken altogether, he was admirably adapted to acquire influence with the powerful and rising party to which he was attached both by principle and connexion. It has already been observed, that this party was the Nonconformists, or Puritans, which, from the nature of the times, and the infatuated conduct of the reigning family and its advisers, soon became strongly, although far from universally, tinctured with republicanism. To whatever extent it may be conceded that it was natural for the House of Stuart to claim the same extent of prerogative as its predecessors, it must be allowed by all, except the most prejudiced of its partisans, that the arbitrary system which it adopted, was carried most unwisely into practice. Disgusted, in common with a great portion of the nation, at the measures of the court, and still more annoyed by the severe and intolerant proceedings of Laud, then Bishop of Bath and Wells, the diocese in which he lived, Mr. Blake was the more confirmed in the religious and political opinions, which equally agreed with his own natural seriousness, and the prevalent bias of the inhabitants of his native place. Expressing his sentiments freely, and without concealment, he gradually acquired that influence with his party, which his talents and general respectability were so well calculated fo command; so that in 1640 he was chosen Member of Parliament for Bridgewater. This parlia ment was, however, so soon dissolved, that he had no opportunity of distinguishing himself as a politician; and for the next, which was the memorable Long Parliament, he lost his election. When in 1642, the differences between the King and the Parliament broke out into actual hostilities, Blake, in common with many of the most active and energetic men of the period, immediately embraced the party of the latter, and raised a troop of dragoons, which he personally commanded as captain. He was at this time in his forty-second year, having attained the meridian of life, before he commenced those warlike pursuits in which he so rapidly acquired a distinguished name. This circumstance, while remarkable in itself, tends in some degree to detract from the interest of this narrative as a piece of biography. It is natural to wish for some satisfactory particulars of the first forty years of the life of a man whose conduct has made the remainder of it celebrated; but unhappily, except a few scattered notices by Lord Clarendon, Anthony Wood, and Dr. Bates, very little is recorded concerning Blake before he was called into activity by the civil war. The rapidity with which he then acquired eminence as a warrior, both by sea and land, will give a very different complexion to what will follow, his own history, from the period in question, being identified with that of his country. He forms, indeed, one of the most conspicuous examples which modern times have produced, of a man stepping from private life into command, and becoming almost at once a distinguished leader. In the republics of Greece and Rome it was more common, although probably when duly considered less extraordinary, as the institutions of both the Greeks and Romans, in many respects, made every man a soldier. Such was not the case in England during the age of Blake; although the facility with which many of the energetic spirits of the day passed from civil life into active military command, seems to indicate that the temper and construction of British society were not unfavourable to the transition. Or rather, ought we not, as in a more recent period of revolutionary history, to attribute the almost spontaneous appearance of the ability, to the strength of the excitement and is it not upon the whole consolatory to reflect, that when the souls of men are moved, and their actions dictated by principles, their energies are better seconded by their understandings? But to return to the narrative: the first opportunity Mr. Blake acquired of distinguishing himself was in 1643, when he served at Bristol under Colonel Fiennes, who intrusted him with the defence of a small fort on the lines. When the governor agreed to surrender that important city to Prince Rupert, on the 26th July, Blake refused to give up his post, and continued to fire upon the Royalists. At this the prince was highly exasperated, and declared, that when he took the place he would hang him. Some friends, however, interfered, and pleaded his inexperience in the usages of war; and, at the same time, urged Blake to refrain from an entirely useless resistance, to which advice, although with great difficulty, he was finally induced to accede. The conduct of Blake in this respect, so indicative of the spirit and tenacity of the man, has been consi Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. iii. p. 602. dered to be, on military principles, irregular; but it should be remembered, that one of the charges against Colonel Fiennes, on his trial before a council of war at St. Alban's, for his conduct at the siege of Bristol, was, that he left Captain Blake in the fort, when he marched out of that city, without giving him any notice of the surrender, or any warrant to deliver up his charge, to the great danger of the lives of Captain Blake and his men.* Blake subsequently served in Somersetshire as Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment of foot of Colonel Popham, then in garrison at Lyme, of which town the latter officer was parliamentary governor. Here he acted with so much activity and ability, when the place was besieged by Prince Maurice and Lord Goring, that Popham left its defence entirely to his management; and he so effectually exerted himself, that the Royalists, after being baffled in repeated attempts at storming, and losing a great number of men by the vigorous sallies of the besieged, gave up the attempt and departed.† His next service was of great importance: Popham's regiment having been raised in Somersetshire, throughout which county Blake was exceedingly popular, he was known and much beloved by all the soldiers who served under him. This attachment was not only highly serviceable to him in the field, but procured him the best intelligence of the state of things around, through the medium of the friends and connexions of his men, all over the county. By these means he acquired intelligence which enabled him, in conjunction with Sir Robert Pye, to surprise Taunton, where they found six cannon and a considerable quantity of ammunition. In 1644, the Parliament appointed him governor of this town, one of the most important in the west of England, being then the only garrison in the parliamentary interest in that part of the country. The works erected in defence of Taunton were far from strong, and the garrison by no means numerous; yet by maintaining a strict discipline, and by treating the inhabitants with consideration and humanity, he managed, with very little assistance from supplies, to retain the place, although repeatedly besieged and blocked up by the King's Howell's State Trials, 224, 252. † Lives English and Foreign, vol. iii. Rushworth's Hist. Collections, vol. v. p. 685.. |