"He seeketh out the wisdom of the ancient, and keepeth the sayings of the renowned men." BOSTON: HILLIARD, GRAY, AND CO. M DCCC XXXIV. 1834 141 arvard College Libr...X, Legrest of FRANCIS PARKMAN. 17 Jan.1894. "THOME MORI ingenio quid unquam finxit Natura vel mollius, veldu ere, ingenio quale Anglia nec habuit unquam, nec habitura est, alioquin nequaquam infelicium ingeniorum parens." ERASMUS. "Sir THOMAS MORE, -one of the greatest prodigies of wit and learning that this nation ever before his time produced." ANTHONY WOOD. "I had the honor to have much conversation with Brutus; and was told that his ancestor Junius, Socrates, Epaminondas, Cato the younger, Sir THOMAS MORE, and himself, were perpetually together; a sextumvirate, to which all the ages of the world cannot add a seventh." SWIFT. "It will be difficult to point out any man like MORE since the death of Boëthius, the last sage of the ancient world. He was the first Englishman who signalized himself as an orator, the first writer of a prose which is still intelligible, and the first who wrote the history of his country in its present language." Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH. EDITOR'S PREFACE. Of the voluminous writings of "the father of English prose," the two works contained in this volume are the only ones that can be regarded as of much interest or value at the present day. It was unfortunate for the world as well as for the fame of this great man, that his pen was chiefly employed on topics of a local and temporary nature, on the dry, dull themes of polemical divinity. The bulky black-letter folio, of 1458 pages, printed in 1557, which contains his English works, consists almost entirely of long, tedious tracts on the Catholic controversy, written against the English reformers, Tindal and Frith. To disturb the repose in which these papers have slumbered for nearly three centuries, would be a thankless and unprofitable task.* * A copy of this very rare volume, the only one probably in this country, may be seen in the Library of the Boston Athenæum. It is on the "Utopia," that the fame of Sir Thomas More, as a writer, must principally rest. Although it was originally written in Latin, the present translation, by bishop Burnet, is of itself entitled to a place among the standard works of old English prose. The "History of King Richard the Third," though but a fragment, is exceedingly valuable and interesting as being the original chronicle of that troublous and tragical reign. It is also the earliest specimen of English prose that is intelligible, and is uncommonly free from obsolete phraseology. To obviate, however, any difficulty on this ground, a Glossary is appended, which has been prepared expressly for this edition. The appearance of this volume has been delayed for nearly a year by the Editor's absence from the country. The regular publication of the Library is now resumed, and, should the public demand it, a volume will appear, as heretofore, once in three months. |