Comparison Of Mss.

TAVJ -SB or thryse AvitliOAvten dowte , To that lorde thou moste lowte , With thy rygth kne lette hit be do , Thy worshyp thou mayst sane so , Holcle or th y cappe & thy hood also Tylle thou be byclen hit on to do . " The same from the " Masonic Poem : "

" When thou contest before a lorde , Yn halle yn bowre or at the horde , Hod or cappe that thou of do , Yer thou come hyin allynge to , Twyes or thryes Avithoute doAvte , To that lorde thou moste loAvte ,

With thy rygth kne let hyt be do , Thyn OAvne Avorschepe thou saA'e so , Holde of thy cappe and hod also , Tyl thou have leve hyt on to do . " The text of " Urbanitatis" has been printed by the Early English Text Society , in 1868 , as part of a volume on Manners and Meals in Olden Times , edited by Mr . F . J . Furnivall .

III . John Mirk ' s Instructions for Parish Priests . ( Cotton MS . Claudius A . II . ) This work , perhaps more interesting than either of the foregoing , forms part of a volume of English pieces mostly in

prose , and is Avritten on vellum , in a hand of the latter part of the 15 th century . * Several different scribes appear to have been employed upon it , though much about the same time , and , as is often tbe case iu English books of that pei'iod , the writing

is clear and easy to read . The author , John Mirk , or Myrkus , as his name is here Latinized , Avas a canon regular of the Augustinian Order , belonging to the Monastery of Lylleshul ( liodie Lilleshall ) , in Shropshire . It has been

conjectured that this poem , avowedly translated from a Latin Avork , called in the colophon " Pars Oculi , " was an adaptation from a similar book b y John Mirceus , prior of the same monastery , entitled " Manuale Sacerdotis , " and there is

certainly some similarity betAveen the IAVO , though that of the prior is much longer and fuller . Mirk was also the author of certain sermons for festivals , Avhich are included in this volume under the title of " Festialis . "

The poem contains instructions for the manners , dress , and general conversation of the clergy , for preaching , hearing confessions , baptising ( including directions to the effect that children likely to die are to be , in case of necessity , baptised b y

midwives ) , marriages , preparation for confirmation , etc ., and full directions for behaviour at mass . After a few minor details of behaviour , addressed both to a priest and his parishioners , instructions are g iA ^ en on prayer ancl the seven sacraments , iind a treatise on tbe seven deadly sins , for the use of a priest in the confessional , closes the poem .

It is remarkable that those AVIIO look upon the middle ages or Pre-reformation era as a time given up to superstition , will find little in support of their theory here . The advice is plain straightfonvard morality , of a sort that might be preached

in any church at the present day . As may be supposed , the dogmatic teaching is Catholic , but it is set forth in a manner as plain and straightforward as the morals , and the greatest care is taken to leave nothing so far unexplained as to be

able to be turned to a superstitious meaning . Thus it is clearly set forth that the " holy bread , " ( similar to the " pain benit " of the Parisian churches , and the dvTlSapav of the Eastern Church , ancl a remnant probably of the Early Christian aya- ? j ) is

not the Body of Christ , and is not intended to be looked upon as a substitute for that Sacrament , and as in many other cases , the people are to be made Avell aware that there is no connection betAveen the tAvo . As a specimen of the language and style of the poem , it may be interesting to give the versions of the two great prayers of the Catholic Church , the " " Our Father "

and the " Hail Mary , as rendered in lilnglish in this poem , and it is , perhaps , worthy of note that in the latter prayer the second part " Sancta Maria , Mater Dei , ora pro nobis peccatoribus et nunc et in hora mortis nostra-, " is omitted .

Fader oAvre that art in heuene , Halowed be thy name Avith meke stouene Thy kyngdome be for to come , In us synfulle able ancl some , Thy Avylle be do in ertbe here , As hyt ys in heuene clere , Owre uche dayes bred we the pray , That thow geue vs thys same day ,