Wyatt's history is an interesting and in some respects a romantic one. Born in the higher circles of society, he graduated from Cambridge University as Bachelor of Arts at the age of fifteen, was accomplished in all that makes a gentleman, and grew into great favor with the king, Henry VIII., the latter employing him more than once as an ambassador. He was knighted by his royal master, and with the exception of a short interval when he was out of favor on account of his friendship for Anne Boleyn, he stood high in Henry's regard as long as he lived. The name of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, brings before us a young nobleman belonging to one of the proudest families of England, brought up on terms of intimacy with members of the king's household and known for his courtly grace and his many accomplishments. Like Wyatt, he did much to improve English poetry, and first introduced into it the form now known as blank (unrhymed) verse, which was to be made exquisite by Shakespeare and majestic by Milton. Surrey's love-songs and sonnets contain much praise of the "fair Geraldine," who can not be certainly identified with any lady of the day, and may have been only a child whose beauty captivated his imagination. Surrey's life had a tragic close. Being related by blood to the king, he rather unwisely, though with authority granted by the Herald's College, had the royal coat of arms quartered with his own. He had done this for years without objection from any one, when suddenly the jealous tyrant, who was now suffering under a frightful disease which made him more savage than ever, issued orders for the execution not only of Lord Surrey, but of his father, the Duke of Norfolk, pretending that this assumption meant that they might lay claim to his throne after his death. Surrey's was the last death-warrant issued by Henry VIII.-not signed by him, for his bloated fingers could no longer hold a pen. The hand of the dying tyrant was held while he made some mark that would connect more closely the infamy of the deed with his name. The young, the gallant, the enlightened poet laid his head on the block, just as his destroyer was gasping out in agony the last hours of a misspent life; while Norfolk, whose death-warrant was for some reason delayed, was spared to linger in prison through the six years of Edward VI.'s reign, dying soon after he had regained his liberty. The following is one of Surrey's best sonnets : The soote seson, that bud & bloom forth brings, [sweet] [mate] [small] [mingles] CHAPTER X. SIR THOMAS MORE AND OTHER WRITERS. F Lord Surrey was the typical man of belles lettres (polite literature), of his time, Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), was the type of the statesman, the patriot, the incorruptible judge. No man has left a purer record. From a child his wit and love of study caused him to be singled out from his companions for the delight of his elders, and as he grew to manhood he still kept up his high standard. At the age of ten he was placed in the household of Cardinal Morton (who figures in Shakespeare's "Richard III." as Bishop of Ely), and enlivened with his childish vivacity the staid circle, seated around the Cardinal's table. "Whoever liveth to try it," said the old prelate, who was an octogenarian when young More's pranks pleased his guests, "shall see this child here waiting at table, prove a notable and rare man." And so he did. His father allowed him to enter the university, but, finding that Thomas was throwing himself heartily into the study of Greek, removed him before he had taken his degree, and made him finish his studies elsewhere. The study of Greek was then only beginning to be introduced into the great English colleges. After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks (1453), many Eastern monasteries were broken up, and the monks and students, driven out and dispersed through Western Europe, carried with them their precious Greek manuscripts and the enthusiasm which saw in the Greek language an object worthy of devoted study. The elder More's disapprobation arose, not from narrowmindedness, but from a natural conservatism which shrank from seeing his son waste time on what he considered a new-fangled notion. The youth, however, had already gained so good a knowledge of the new-old language that its stores of thought were a help to him all his life. In England the names of Grocyn, Colet, and Linacre are connected with the effort to make this noble tongue known to English students; and with them was joined the great Dutch scholar, Erasmus, the friend and fellow-religionist of Luther, who could not fail to become likewise the friend of Thomas More. At twenty-one, More entered Parliament, where he opposed the marriage-portion proposed for the king's daughters and was imprisoned and heavily fined in consequence. Later he gained great distinction as a lawyer. The circumstances of his marriage are characteristic of his generosity and easy temper. A certain friend of his who had three grown-up daughters, signified to More that he would like to bestow one of them upon him in marriage. More consented and chose the second, who is said to have been the prettiest of the three; but when he understood that it would be unpleasant to the older sister to have a younger one preferred to herself, he gave up his own wishes and took the eldest. She rewarded him by making an affectionate wife, and he caused her to be instructed in literature and other things, especially in music, of which he was very fond. She died a few years after her marriage, and his second choice (not one of those three sisters) was less fortunate, the new wife proving both ignorant and shrewish. Still his sunny good temper was never disturbed, and he took great comfort with his children, particularly with his daughter Margaret, who afterward became Mrs. Roper. She was like him in mind and character, and the friendship between them is one of the most beautiful recorded in history. More's devotion to business did not bar him from literary pursuits, which, indeed, were more natural to him. His first work, "The Life and Death of King Edward V.,” is unfinished, but is interesting because the material for it must have come largely from his old patron, Cardinal Mor ton, who was a friend to the poor little king, and narrowly escaped the fate of many others who stood in the way of Richard III. A man of More's ability could not long remain in a private station, and we find the king employing him in diplomacy, and adding one office to another until he was made Lord High Chancellor. It was during the intervals of his many and various missions to foreign countries that he wrote "Utopia," a work of such originality that it has given a new word to our language, and we call any scheme which seems too lofty to be carried out, Utopian. The word itself is taken from a Greek one meaning nowhere, and the book attempts a description of an ideal life under a perfect government. Some of More's advanced theories have been adopted by the students of political economy in our own day; others are impracticable, but all breathe the same love of equal justice and respect for the rights of all which distinguished More through life. One anecdote showing the shrewdness of the chief-justice is more amusing to us than it was to his wife, who was then Lady More, her husband having been knighted by the king. Some one had given her a little dog which had been stolen from a poor woman, though this was of course unknown to the lady. The first owner came before Sir Thomas and claimed the animal, which Lady More was unwilling to give up. More was equal to the occasion. He bade his wife stand at one end of the long hall and the claimant at the other. Then each was to call the dog and abide the consequences. The experiment resulted in favor of the poor woman, the little dog running to her as soon as he heard her voice. Sir Thomas, to gratify his wife, bought the dog from its owner with a piece of gold, and she went on her way rejoicing. It was, unfortunately for public honesty, a general custom for the judges of that day to take gifts from suitors, either before or after judgment had been rendered. To this practice, More sternly refused to conform, and several anecdotes are told of the ingenious methods by which the parties to suits tried to evade his determination. One lady, after he had given a decision in her favor, sent him a pair of gloves filled with gold angels to the amount of about $1,000 of our money. More accepted the gloves but sent back the money, saying he could not refuse a lady's present but did not like the lining. One of More's most striking traits was the rapidity with |