Arthur,”--one of whom “in special said, that in him that should say or think that there was never such a king called Arthur might well be aretted great folly and blindness.” This gentleman--of whom one would gladly know more--was evidently both an antiquary and a student of letters, and could give weighty reasons for the faith that was in him. First of all, Arthur’s grave, so far from being unknown, might be seen “in the monastery of Glastingbury.” Again, reputable authors like Higden, Boccaccio, and “Galfridus in his British book,” tell of his death and recount his life; “and in divers places of England many remembrances be yet of him, and shall remain perpetually, and also of his knights.” His seal, for example, “in red wax closed in beryl,” could be seen in the Abbey of Westminster; Gawaine’s skull and Cradock’s mantle were enshrined in Dover Castle; the Round Table was at Winchester, and “in other places Launcelot’s sword and many other things.” Caxton appears to speak in his own person when he goes on to re-inforce all this by mentioning the records of Arthur that remained in Wales, and “in Camelot, the great stones and the marvellous works of iron lying under the ground, and royal vaults, which divers now living have seen.” Moreover, Arthur’s renown was well established in all places, Christian and heathen, so much so that he was “more spoken of beyond the sea,” and “more books made of his noble acts,” than in England. “Then all these things alleged,” he concludes, “I could not well deny but that there was such a noble king named Arthur, and reputed one of the nine worthy, and first and chief of the Christian men.” Hence he decided in all good faith, “under the favour and correction of all noble lords and gentlemen, to enprise to imprint” the Book of King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table. And, in view of Ascham’s famous denunciation of the book as containing but “open manslaughter and bold bawdrie,” and of Tennyson’s sensitiveness to the touch of “the adulterous finger of a time That hover’d between war and wantonness,” it is well to remember that Caxton held that all that was in it was “written for our doctrine.” “For herein may be seen noble chivalry, courtesy, humanity, friendliness, hardiness, love, friendship, cowardice, murder, hate, virtue and sin. Do after the good and leave the evil, and it shall bring you to good fame and renommee.”