B R I T A I N

brought William Lily, who was the first to teach his fellow citizens to speak Latin happily and eloquently. His son, George Lily, cultivated in the more elegant studies of Italy, wonderfully protects his paternal honor by having composed a volume in which the series of the supreme Pontiffs and Roman Caesars is described with Laconian brevity. We also see by the same skillful talent a map of Britain, eruditely and graphically depicted, and for that reason engraved on copper, so that it might be joined with this work for a more certain and pleasant knowledge of the region. There are also interpreters of civil law in London, by whom very honorable youths are thoroughly taught in school the peculiar laws established by kings. They go forth written partly in the English language and partly in French. For the French language is familiar to the court and the forum, to such an extent that it reaches even the more noble women; for among the more noble, the grace of Latin speech is also in honor, as we vehemently admire in the daughter of King Henry, Mary, and the three daughters of Thomas More. However, it is not permitted for a King who seeks praise from equity and justice to conceive and promulgate new laws at his own discretion; nor are they considered legitimate and valid unless they are sanctioned by the judgment of the three classes. For the nobles, the sacred men, and the people make up the three classes, which Kings are accustomed to call together when something slightly more serious concerning the safety or public dignity is to be decided. For he cannot rightly undertake war, treat of peace, or command money unless the classes subscribe to the stated decrees. However, thefts, homicides, and robberies are punished by almost the same laws and penalties as among us, but they are not investigated by torture for these crimes. For it is the custom to conduct the case in a jury of twelve men through conjectures and witnesses, because they think it inhumane to use the goad and the rack against others than those guilty of treason. In that way, and in forensic cases, one litigates at the tribunals by the number of witnesses. And there was a time once when testimonies were given on both sides in equal number, and the judges, being suspended by this, forced the witnesses themselves to fight among each other in the manner of pugilists, and the victors, as being more trustworthy in faith, were then followed by the outcome of the lawsuit. Generally, the whole of Britain, and Kent especially—for it easily surpasses other parts in nobility—enjoys a wonderful mildness of sky and a wonderful healthiness. Nowhere are there deep snows except on the mountains of Wales, no more horrible ice, no denser frost is seen, so that it is altogether to be wondered at, since it looks more closely toward the Arctic, that it entirely surpasses many regions of Gaul and Italy with a soft warmth and a certain benign temperature. For frequent rains do not dissolve them with the savagery of winter, nor are they stormy with lightning and thunder, but are calm and enriching. Summer heats, which even the longest days bring with the nights almost excluded, are mitigated by perennial breezes. For the air in the whole course of the year, as it turns itself, and on all days is always moved by some breath, and it refreshes the things growing from the earth, and it gently and pleasantly strokes the cattle as well as the men themselves. Yet it is sometimes shaken by the fiercest winds, the blasts of which they avoid because of the convenience of the places; for they do not, as we see in Italy, build villages and towns on hills and watchtowers, because they more gladly follow lower places and hollow valleys and rivers, and for the same reason they build villas either next to woods or enclose them with a very pleasant crown of green trees. For the whole region, distinguished by fields, ennobled by pastures, and irrigated by rivers, is not raised into harsh mountains, but gently swells with frequent hills. The fields are clothed in perpetual spring with continuous flowers, the valleys teem with small streams and clear fountains, the plains and other parts luxuriate with crops, and all the meadows finally...