(_e_) A large number of the romances deal with events which are to some extent contemporary with the composition. They are miscellaneous in subject, but they are of much interest and some of them of great beauty. _Amis and Amiloun_ is a touching love-story; _William of Palerne_ is on the familiar “missing heir” theme; and _The Squire of Low Degree_, who loved the king’s daughter of Hungary, is among the best known of all the romances. It would take a volume to comment in detail upon the romances. The variety of their meter and style is very great; but in general terms we may say that the prevailing subject is of a martial and amatory nature; there is the additional interest of the supernatural, which enters freely into the story; and one of the most attractive features to the modern reader of this delightful class of fiction is the frequent glimpses obtainable into the habits of the time. PROSE =1.= The =Ancren Riwle=, or _Rule of Anchoresses_, is one of the earliest of Middle English prose texts, for it dates from about 1200. The book, which is written in a simple, matter-of-fact style, is a manual composed for the guidance of a small religious community of women which then existed in Somersetshire. Nothing certain is known regarding the author. Its Southern dialect shows some traces of Midland. As in some respects the text is the forerunner of modern prose, we give an extract: Uorþi was ihoten a Godes Therefore it was ordered on half iðen olde lawe þet put the part of God in the old law were euer iwrien; & [gh]if eni that a pit should be ever unwrie covered, put were, & best feolle and if there were any uncovered þerinne, he hit schulde [gh]elden pit, and a beast fell þet þene put unwrieh. Ðis is a therein, he should pay for it, swuðe dredlich word to wummen that uncovered the pit. This is þet scheaweð her to wep-monnes a very dreadful saying for a eien. Heo is bitocned woman that shows herself to a bi þe þet unwrieð þene put: þe man’s eyes. She is betokened put is hire veire neb, & hire by the person that uncovers the hwite swire, & hire hond, [gh]if pit; the pit is her fair face, hes and halt forð in his eihsihðe. her white neck, and her hand, if she holds it forth in his eyesight. =2.= The =Ayenbite of Inwyt= was written by Dan Michel of Northgate, who flourished about 1340. The book is a servile translation of a French work, and is of little literary importance. To the philologist it is very useful as an example of the Southern dialect of the period. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY FORMS