BERNERS (JOHN BOURCHIER), LORD, an English statesman, diplomatist, and scholar, born in 1467; died in 1533. His active life therefore lay mainly within the first half of the reign of King Henry VIII. Lord Berners is known in literature as a translator into English of several notable books. We copy the title-pages of some of these translations as they originally appeared: The Chronicles of Englande, Fraunce, Spayne, Portyngale, Scotlande, Bretayne, Flaunders, and other Places adionynge, translated out of Frenche into our maternall Englysshe Tonge, by Johan Bourchier Knight, Lorde Berners; The Hystory of the moost noble and valyaunt Knyght Arthur of lytel brytayne translated out of frensshe in to englisshe by the noble Johan bourgcher knyght lorde Barners; The Famous Exploits of Huon de Bordeaux, trans. by Sir John Bourchier, Lord Berners; The golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius, Emperour and Oratour, translated out of Frenche into Englishe by John Bourchier, Knyghte, Lord Barners; The Castle of Loue, translated out of Spanyshe into Englyshe by John Bourchier Knyght Lord Berners. This last work is thus inscribed to the estimable wife of Sir Nicholas Carew:

THE DEDICATION OF THE CASTLE of Love.

To the good and vertuous lady, the lady Carewe, gretynge. The affecciant desyre and obligation that Í am bounde in towardes you, ryghte vertuous and good lady, as wele for the goodness that it hath pleased you

to shewe me, as for the nyreness of consanguinite, hath encoraged me to accomplish your desyre, in translating this present booke. And though my so doynge can not be correspondent any thing to recompense your goodness, yot not being ignoraunt of your good-wil and desyre, the which in this cause I take for the hole effecte; thinking thereby to do you some smale rememoracion, and also bycause the matter is very pleasant for yonge ladies and gentlewomen: therefore I have enterpreysed to reduce the same from Spanishe into the Englyshe tonge, not adorned with so freshe eloquence that it should merite to be presented to your goodnes.

Lord Berners's chief claim to the remembrance of after times rests upon his spirited translation of Froissart's Chroniques de France, d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, d'Espagne, etc. This translation was made by order of King Henry VIII., and is of special value as exhibiting the very best type of the English language as written by gentlemen of that day-not by mere pedants. We present an extract, preserving the spelling of the original, as printed, about 1525. The battle of Otterbourne, popularly known as "Chevy Chase," was fought in August, 1388, between the Scots under Earl Douglas, and the English under Lord Percy. Froissart characterizes it as "the bravest and most chivalrous action" which had been fought in his day. It gave rise to several of the most spirited of the old English ballads. Douglas was slain in this battle.

THE BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE.

Knightes and squyers were of good courage on bothe parties to fight valyauntly; cowardes there had no place, but hardynesse rayned with goodly feates of armes, for knyghtes and squires were so joined togyder at hande

strokes, that archers had no place of nether party. There the Scottes shewed great hardynesse and fought meryly, with great desyre of honour; the Englysshmen were three to one. Howbeit I say nat but Englysshmen did nobly acquyte themselfe, for ever the Englysshmen had rather ben slayne or taken in the place than flye. Thus as I have sayd the baners of Douglas and Percy and their men were met eache against other, envyous who shulde wynne the honour of that journey. At the begynnynge the Englysshmen were so stronge, that they reculed backe their enemyes. Than the erle Duglass, who was of great harte and hygh enterprise, seeyinge his men recule backe, than to recover the place and shewe knyghtly valure, he toke his axe in both his handes and entered so into the prease that he made hymselfe waye in such wyse that none durste aproche nere hym, and he was so well armed that he bare well of such strokes as he recyued. Thus he wente ever forwarde lyk a hardy Hector, wyllynge alone to conquere the field, and to discomfyte his enemyes. But at laste he was encountred with thre speares all at ones; the one strake hym on the shoulder, the other on the breste, and the stroke glended downe to his bely, and the thyrd strake him in the thye, and sore hurt with all three strokes so that he was borne perforce to the erthe, and after that he culde nat again be releved. Some of his knyghtes and squyres folowed hym, but not all, for it was nyght, and no light but by the shynynge of the mone. The Englysshmen knew well they had borne one down to the erth, but they wyst nat who it was, for if they had knowen that it had bene the erle of Duglass, they had bene thereof so joyful and so prowde that the vyctorye had beene theirs. Nor also the Scottes knew nat of that adventure tyll the ende of the batayle, for if they had knowen it they should have bene so sore dyspayred and dyscoraged that they wolde have fledde awaye. Thus as the erle Duglass was felled to the erthe, he was stricken into the heed with an axe, and another stroke throughe the thye. The Englysshmen passed forth and tooke no hede of hym; they thoughte none otherwise but that they hadde slayne a man-atarmes.-Chronicles, Vol. III., Chap. 127.

Saving in the mere matter of the spelling of some words, there are few writers of our day who write as good English as was written by Lord Berners nearly four centuries ago. Perhaps in some coming century our present cumbrous orthography will be generally replaced by a purely phonetic one. Should this come to pass, the pages of Macaulay, as now printed, will look quite as uncouth as those of Lord Berners now do to us. In the following extract the exact words of Berners are given, but the spelling is modernized. The battle of Crécy was fought in August, 1346, between the French and their allies, 100,000 strong, under King Philip VI., and the English, 40,000 strong, under King Edward III. The French were routed with a loss of 30,000 men. In this battle Edward, Prince of Wales, the "Black Prince," then sixteen years of age, won his spurs, slaying with his own hand, it is said, the blind King of Bohemia, and afterward assuming his crest of three ostrich-feathers, with the motto Ich dien, "I serve," which has ever since been borne by the successive English Princes of Wales.

THE BATTLE OF CRÉCY.

When the French king saw the Englishmen his blood changed, and he said to his marshals, "Make the Genoese go on before, and begin the battle in the name of God and St. Denis." There were of the Genoese crossbows about 15,000, but they were so weary of going afoot that day, a six leagues, armed with their crossbows, that they said to their constables, "We be not well ordered to fight this day, for we be not in the case to do any great deed of arms; we have more need of rest." These words came to the Earl of Alençon, who