vin uncouth evil-placed termes, and multiplicatioun of wordis, be paraphraces, and circumloquitioun of speich, silogismes, and refutatioun of argumentis be parablis or comparisouns. Nor haue I adhered to auld proverbis, or bywordis, fair flatterand fenzeit and allurand fictiouns, uttered be archadiciens, maid up, contrefait, and fraising langaige, nor haue I used minzearde nor effeminate tantting invectiue, nor skorneful wordis, vane saterik, or lowse wowsting and wauntting speiches. Nor haue I ouer fauerablie or luifinglie loved or prased, or zit haue I ouer disdainefullie detracted, laked, or outbraided in ony wayiss. Nather zit haue I prophained nor abused the halie and sacreit scriptouris, be unlerned and unskilfull applicatiounis, as sum of the vulgar and raschest, railling, simpilest comounis dois efter y' awin vaine fantasticall fantasies, with (out) ony authoritie, schame, understanding, or knawlege. Bot be the contrare, I haue writtin reuerendlie and spairinglie, usand my awin maternal Scottis langaige or mother toung, as we call it, in als pithie, schoirte, and compendious termes, and clene dictionare, according to my simpill iudgment & knawlege for oppyning up and declaratioun of the truth of my intensiounis of the mater or purpoiss in hand, and making it sensabill to unlerned and vulgare sortis understanding. "

In the Prologue, p. 16. our hurt nature is mentioned, in allusion to the doctrine of Original Sin. The following account of that doctrine is the earliest, which, in our language, occurs in a Scotish writer.

"Originale sin is infectioun in our body, and obligacioun in our saule, to haue originale justice, and obligacioun of baith saule and body to graue; and it has mony euill froitis yat folouis of it. In ye first, throw it, the ressoune of man is fallin fra his sciens

and

and noble state to gret blindnes and ignorance; and sone eftir ye transgressioun of Adam, all the waurld fell in sic ignoraunce, yat ye naturall ressoune was blindit, and ye peple fell in gret idolatrie; and yarfor, ye rulis and licht of naturall ressoune ye haly scriptur behufit to teich and schaw us, for ye gret blindnes we fell into. The secund is, the deordinacioun of ye will of man agane ressoune, and inclinacioun of it; for ressoune is, throw ye originale syn, sa waik in us, yat ye sensualite, wout ordo' of ressoune or honeste, folouis ye desyr and plesaunce, and obeyis not to ye bridill of ressoune. The thrid is, ye rebellioun of the sensuale appetit agane ressoune, and of yat how we ar inclinit to fleschly plesaunce and lust, experiens schawis our gretlie. The feird is, that amaist all maner of bestis ar inobedient, contrar, and repugnaunt to man; for ressoune wauld, that als sone as ye man committand syn was inobedient to his souerane, that is, to god, yat yai yat god subiekkit to him, war dishobeysaunt to him. The fift cuill, & noysum froit of yis originale syn, is eternall deid, and temporall hunger and thrist, heit, cauld, and all maner of vexatioun and infirmite.

Concerning the natural advantages of the body of man, in his state of innocence, the same author makes some curious reflections." And in y state had bene generacioun of men and women naturally as now, nocht for ye perpetuacioun of man, yat yan was immortal, bot for ye nowmer and multitud of the pepil chosin for eternall beatitud. And as ye man in yat state suld haue tane na mar nurising yan was convenient for him, bot was direkkit be wisdome and ressoune, sua the man was rulit be ressoune & the will of god, in generacioun & multiplicacioun of humane linage, and be yis way may be sustenit, yat yai yat ar con

dampnit

dampnit suld not haue bene producit in that state; and the ressoune and wytt of man in yat stat suld haue knawin quhen ye mater had bene disponit for generacioun, and yan suld haue usit ye werk of generacioun, and euir in yat operacioun suld haue folouit; for be wit & ressoune yai had conuenit togidder for y caus, and not wther way. And yat carnale operacioun yat tyme had bene done, corrumpand virginitie; bot yan it had bene honorable as virginite, yo' now virginite be prefereit, for ye grit filth yat is now in yat operacioun suld nocht haue bene, yan na schame mar of yai membres nor yar use, na is now of seing or hering, and yan ye wit and ressoune of man had not bin blindit na brokin in yat werk as now; for all yat was in ye man yat tyme was generit be ressoune.-In yat operacioun. suld haue bene mar dilectacioun and luf ye natur was mar perfit, and doand yat werk had bene meryt, obeyand to ye command of god."

yan now;

for

These extracts are given from a Ms. system of Thcology, composed by John de Irlandia in 1490, and preserved at Edinburgh in the library of the Faculty of Advocates (W. 4. 4.), apparently in the autograph of the author. This work exhibits a curious specimen of the Scotish language at that period; and the style, as well as the orthography, are more uniform, and approach nearer the modern standard, than those of some writers who lived almost a century later. The subject of the work precludes it from being printed; and, on that account, the extracts adduced have been the more copious, On a blank page of the last leaf is the following inscription: "Hoc opus fuit compilatum apud Edinburgh ob reuerenciam nri saluatoris dni ihu et sui matris, et pro utilitate Scotorum regis Jacobi Quarti, cleri et sui po

puli,

ro

pull; a mão Johanne de Irlandia, sacræ theologiæ professore Parisiensi, Rectore de Foresta, anno 1490.Orate pro eo.

John de Irlandia entered student of theology in the College of Navarre in 1446, and received the degree of Doctor in 1475 In 1471, however, he seems to have visited Scotland; for Ferrerius Pedemontanus relates, that James III, at that period, recalled from Paris a famous theologian, John, surnamed Irlandus, of Scotish extraction, and promoted him in the church. He adds, that he was a man equally illustrious for piety and virtue, for learning, and the talents of a popular teacher 2. Du Launy reckons him of Irish extraction; a supposition favoured by his own subscription at the conclusion of his work, which runs thus: "Writtin and completit in Edinburgh, be yi humyl orator, Johne of Irland, creit and promouit in Parys, the zer of the incarnacioun a thowsand four hundreth and nynty zereis. "In 1479, he was employed by the French King as ambassador to Scotland; an honour, says Du Launy, never conferred upon a Frenchman in Scotland. The object of his mission was, to excite the Scotish Prince to take up arms against England; an object which, at that time, he was unable to accomplish, but in which he succeeded in the following year. He denominates himself Rector of "Foresta" (Forres) in 1490; but, according to Dempster, he died Archdeacon of St Andrews 3. Dempster gives the following account of his writings: "Scripsit, In Magis

Du Launy Hist. de l' Univers. de Paris. 2 Ferreri Pedemont. Supplem. in Hist Boethii. Dempsteri Hist. Eccles. 1. 9. p. 397.

m

trum

trum Sententiarum Lib. IV; Conciones Sacras; Keconciliationis Modum ad Jacobum III. super dissidio eum Duce Albaniæ; Epistolas vide excusas Lutetiæ." The first of these works seems to be the system of Theology, of which a specimen has been exhibited. The following extract may be considered as an addition to Literary history.

"And sene the doctrine of Arestoteles, of Plato, of Cicero, all lawis and haly writ is put in prose and sic mane' of speking, and no' in metyr nor ryme, and yat lovis, as I said befor, Aristoteles in his rethorik. I haue maid yis work in yis maner of speking, in ye commoune langage of yis cuntre; bot in ye toung yat I knaw bettir, yat is Latin, I maid to yi fader of gud mynd thre bukis of the concepcioun virginale in Paris, and twa lovingis and laudacionis in meter; ane in the hono' of the blissit lady and virgin; ane wther in ye honor of hir byrth of hir blist sone Ihus. I knawy Gower, Chauceir, the monk of berry, and mony wther, has writtin in Inglis tong richt wisly, induceand personis to lefe vice, and folow wertuis. And yai suld be gretlie thankit yarof; for in yar bukis yai teich a tragedy yat schawis in yis waurdly plesaunce, in the begynnyng, gret plesaunce and dilectatioun; and in the ende, all maner of sorow and displesaunce; bot ye hie materis of theologie ar tuichit in thir bukis inmy maner of speking; and tho my langage be not in ryme, nor plesand to p' of pepil, it will be plesand to yame yat lufis Ihu and yar saule; for ye sentens is ye haly wryt, and law of ihu; and euil disponit personis, quheyir yai will or nocht, yai mone obey to ye law of

Ihu,