There was, however, one form of literature then playing a very important part in the education of the people which has been too much neglected by those who write of the sixteenth century. It was the ballad. In the last century, if a man had a thing to say, he wrote a pamphlet; at present if he has a thing to say and desires that the people at large should hear it, he either casts it into the form of a novel, or he sends it to the papers as a letter or as a communication. The Elizabethan, on the other hand, cast it into the form of verse; the ballad expressed the popular opinion; by means of the ballad that opinion was formed and taught; by means of the ballad events were recorded and remembered. Every event produced its own ballad. I have before me a list of a hundred ballads, taken at random from the registers of the Stationers’ Company, published for the Shakespeare Society in 1849 by Payne Collier. From these registers it is evident that the ballad, as sung in private houses, in taverns, at fairs, and where people congregated; in the streets, in the markets, and at the Carrefours where stood the Cross and the Conduit, taught and led the people as the Press now teaches and leads them. There was a great competition in the production of new ballads; the printers vied with each other in getting the latest or the most striking event turned into ballad form and put upon the market. These ballads were written on every conceivable subject. In order to illustrate their importance I have compiled the following list roughly classified. The titles in almost all cases indicate the contents and aim of the ballad. Some of them are very well written. I.—RELIGIOUS O Lord who harte in Heaven so high. The XV. Chapter of St. Paule. Blessed are the Dead which dye in the Lord. King Joseas. Lo! here I lye a sinner. The Just and Patient Job. Godly, constant, wyse, Susannah. Wisdom would I wish to have. The Lamentation of a Damned Soul. The Woman taken in Adultery. Mercy’s Fort. II.—MORAL Persuading Men from Swearing. Against Covetousness. Old Age and Youth. The House of a Harlot. Rustrius and Sapience. Manners for Matrons. The Cuckoo. A Rule for Women to bring up their Daughters. Have Pity on the Poor. The Abuses of Wyne, Dyce, and Women. III.—POLITICAL Lady Jane’s Lament (_i.e._ Lady Jane Grey). Guyn the chefe of that greedy garrison. How a Mayde should sweep your House Clean (the “Mayde” is Queen Elizabeth). News out of Kent. Lady Englonde. IV.—TOPICAL On the Loss of the _Greyhound_ (with Sir T. Finch and two hundred men). Burnyng of Paule’s.