abbot Hugh of Leven having ordered a new crucifix for the
convent chapel, the artist "had always a naked man under his eyes, and
he strove to give to his crucifix the beauty of form of his model."[446]

One last trait may be added to the others: not only the beauty of live
beings, but that also of inanimate things is felt and cared for, the
beauty of landscapes, and of trees. In 1350-1 the Commons complain of
the cutting down of the large trees overshadowing the houses, those
large trees, dear already to English hearts, and point out in Parliament
the loss of this beauty, the great "damage, loss, and blemish" that
results from it for the dwellings.[447]

In nearly every respect, thus, the Englishman of to-day is formed, and
receives his chief features, under the Angevin princes Edward III. and
Richard II.: practical, adventurous, a lover of freedom, a great
traveller, a wealthy merchant, an excellent sailor. We have had a
glimpse of what he is; let us now listen to what he says.

FOOTNOTES:

[384] "De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae," book iii. treatise ii.
chap. xv. (Rolls, vol. ii. p. 385.) No fine if the defunct is English:
"Pro Anglico vero et de quo constari possit quod Anglicus sit, non
dabitur murdrum."

[385] "Statutes of the Realm," 14 Ed. III. chap. 4.

[386] "Si rex fuerit litteratus, talis est.... Forma juramenti si Rex
non fuerit litteratus: Sire, voilez vous graunter et garder ... les leys
et les custumes ... &c." "Statutes of the Realm," _sub anno_ 1311, vol.
i. p. 168.

[387] "Rotuli Parliamentorum," vol. iii. p. 422; see below, p. 421.

[388] Ralph Higden, "Polychronicon" (Rolls), vol. ii. p. 158. "Haec
quidem nativae linguae corruptio provenit hodie multum ex duobus quod
videlicet pueri in scolis contra morem caeterarum nationum, a primo
Normannorum adventu derelicto proprio vulgari, construere gallice
compelluntur; item quod filii nobilium ab ipsis cunabulorum crepundiis
ad gallicum idioma informantur. Quibus profecto rurales homines
assimilari volentes ut per hoc spectabiliores videantur, francigenare
satagunt omni nisu."

[389] "A volume of Vocabularies, from the Xth to the XVth Century," ed.
Thomas Wright, London, 1857, 4to, pp. 143 ff. See also P. Meyer,
"Romania," vol. xiii. p. 502.

[390]

Vus avet la levere et le levere
E la livere et le livere.
La levere si enclost les dens;
Le levre en boys se tent dedens,
La livere sert en marchaundye,
Le livere se