"What makes bitter things sweet?—Hunger.
"What makes men never weary?—Gain.
"What gives sleep to the watching?—Hope.
"Who is he that will rise higher if you take away his head?—Look in your bed, and you will find him there."
ENGLISH DINNER PARTY.
(From Cotton MS., Claud., B. 4.)
The following account, taken from William of Malmesbury, of the social condition of the English people at the time of the Conquest, indicates a decline of literature and the arts at that period. The picture may probably be overdrawn, but the main facts are correct. "In process of time, the desire after literature and religion had decayed, for several years before the arrival of the Normans. The clergy, contented with a very slight degree of learning, could scarcely stammer out the words of the sacraments, and a person who understood grammar was an object of wonder and astonishment. The nobility were given up to luxury and wantonness. The commonalty, left unprotected, became a prey to the most powerful, who amassed fortunes, either by seizing on their property or by selling their persons into foreign countries; although it be an innate quality of this people to be more inclined to revelling than to the accumulation of wealth. Drinking was a universal practice, in which they passed entire nights, as well as days. They consumed their substance in mean and despicable houses, unlike the Normans and French, who, in noble and splendid mansions, lived with frugality."
GLEEMEN JUGGLING.
(From the Cotton MS., Tib. C. 6.)
