King Henry VI. was moved by the Archbishop of Canterbury to use all possible means for procuring a printing mould, as it was then called, to be brought into England. It is supposed that Caxton, after the custom in other monasteries, set up his press near one of the aisles of Westminster Abbey. The first book printed there was “The Game of Chess,” a work then much used by all classes of people, and “doubtless desired by the Abbot, and the rest of his friends and masters.” Caxton translated it from the Latin of a Dominican friar, who wrote it in the year 1200. It was in the main a good book, else Caxton, with his decided religious principle, would not have published it; he recommends it as “full of wholesome wisdom, and requisite unto every state and degree.” But to us it seems a curious mingling of amusement and advice. There were instructions for playing the game, side by side with counsels which, according to Caxton, would enable the people to understand wisdom and virtue. The course of study then comprised in what was thought a good education, was very limited. Teacher and pupil in most cases attempted little, and accomplished little. The _trivium_ and the _quadrivium_ were the two branches of what was then understood as the liberal arts. The former included grammar, rhetoric, and dialectics; the latter, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. It was thought that he who became master of these studies needed no longer a preceptor or assistance in solving any questions within the compass of human reason. But thorough students in these branches were seldom found, until the dissemination of books by the art of printing gave a new impetus to the intellect of that age. Interesting it has been to trace step by step the passing on of this art to perfection. Long were genius and industry engaged in its study, and never was there so rich and glorious a harvest from human efforts. The nurse and preserver of the arts and sciences, of religion and civilization, was not the work of one brain solely, neither did the gift bring peace at once, but rather strife and opposition. Ignorance fled before it as darkness from light; the priests and copyists were disturbed; and the way was made ready for the bringing in of the Reformation, commencing in 1517 under Martin Luther. For doubtless the invention of this art did more to unmask the superstitions of the Papal church than all other causes combined.