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THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH POETRY, FROM THE CLOSE of the ELEVENTH TO THE COMMENCEMENT of the EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED TWO DISSERTATIONS. I. ON THE ORIGIN OF ROMANTIC FICTION IN EUROPE. II. ON THE INTRODUCTION OF LEARNING INTO ENGLAND.

VOL. II.

By THOMAS WARTON, B. D. FELLOW of TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD, and of the SOCIETY of ANTIQUARIES, and late PROFESSOR of POETRY in the UNIVERSITY of OXFORD.

LONDON: Printed for, and ſold by, J. DODSLEY, Pall-Mall; J. WALTER, Charing-Croſs; J. ROBSON, New Bond-Street; G. ROBINSON, and J. BEW, Pater-noſter-Row; and Meſſrs. FLETCHER, at OXFORD. M. DCC. LXXVIII.

CONTENTS OF THE SECTIONS in the SECOND VOLUME.

[]
SECTION I. p. 1.
JOHN GOWER. His character and poems. His tomb. His Confeſſio Amantis. Its ſubject and plan. An unſucceſsful imitation of the Roman de la Roſe. Ariſtotle's Secretum Secretorum. Chronicles of the middle ages. Colonna. Romance of Lancelot. The Geſta Romanorum. Shakeſpeare's caſkets. Authors quoted by Gower. Chronology of ſome of Gower's and Chaucer's poems. The Confeſſio Amantis preceded the Canterbury Tales. Eſtimate of Gower's genius.
SECTION II. p. 32.
Boethius. Why, and how much, eſteemed in the middle ages. Tranſlated by Johannes Capellanus, the only poet of the reign of king Henry the fourth. Number of Harpers at the coronation-feaſt of Henry the fifth. A minſtrel-piece on the Battayle of Agynkourte. Occleve. His poems. Egidius de Regimine Principum, and Jacobus of Caſali De Ludo Scaccorum. Chaucer's picture. Humphrey duke of Glouceſter. Sketch of his character as a patron of literature. Apology for the galliciſms of Chaucer, Gower, and Occleve.
[iv]SECTION III. p. 51.
Reign of Henry the ſixth. Lydgate. His life and character. His Dance of Death. Macaber a German poet. Lydgate's poem in honour of Saint Edmund. Pre [...]ented to Henry the ſixth, at Bury-abbey, in a moſt ſplendid manuſcript, now remaining. His Lyf of our Lady. Elegance and harmony of his ſtile and ver [...]ification.
SECTION IV. p. 61.
Lydgate continued. His Fall of Princes, from Laurence Premierfait's French parapbra [...]e of B [...]ccace on the ſame ſubject. Nature, plan, and ſpecimens of that poem. Its ſublime allgorical figure of Fortune. Authors cited in the ſame. B [...]ccace's opportunities of collecting many ſtories of Greek original, now not extant in any Greek writer. Lydgate's Storie of Thebes. An additional Canterbury Tale. Its plan, and originals. Martianus Capella. Happily imitated by Lydgate. Feudal manners applied to Greece. Specimen of Lydgate's force in deſcription.
SECTION V. p. 81.
Lydgate's Troy-Boke. A paraphraſe of Co [...]nna's Hiſtoria Trojana. Homer, when, and how, firſt known in Europe. Lydgate's powers in rural painting. Dares and Dictys. Feudal manners, and Arabian imagery, ingrafted on the Trojan ſtory. Anecdotes of antient Gothic architecture diſplayed in the ſtructure of Troy. An ideal theatre at Troy ſo deſcribed, as to prove that no regular ſtage now exiſted. Game of cheſs invented at the [...]i [...]ge of Troy. Lydgate's gallantry. His anachroniſms. Hector's ſhrine and chantry. Specimens of another Troy-Boke, anonymous, and written in the reign of Henry the ſixth.
[v]SECTION VI. p. 101.
Reign of Henry the ſixth continued. Hugh Campeden tranſlates the French romance of Sidrac. Thomas Cheſtre's Sir Launfale. Metrical romance of the Erle of Tholouſe. Analyſis of its Fable. Minſtrels paid better than the clergy. Reign of Edward the fourth. Tranſlation of the claſſics and other books into French. How it operated on Engliſh literature. Caxton. Anecdotes of Engliſh typography.
SECTION VII. p. 125.
Harding's Chronicle. Firſt mention of the king's Poet Laureate occurs in the reign of Edward the fourth. Hiſtory of that office. Scogan. Didactic poems on chemiſtry by Norton and Ripley.
SECTION VIII. p. 139.
Poems under the name of Thomas Rowlie. Suppoſed to be ſpurious.
SECTION IX. p. 165.
The reigns of Richard the third, and Henry the ſeventh, abound in obſcure verſifiers. Bertram Walton. Benedict Burgh tranſlates Cato's Latin Di [...]tichs. Hiſtory of that work. Julian Barnes. Abbeſſes fond of hunting and [...]awking. A religious poem by William of Naſſyngton. His Prologue explained. Minſtrels and Geſtours to be diſtinguiſhed. Geſt of the Three Kings of Cologne ſung in the arched chamber of the Prior at Wincheſter. The Geſt of the Seven Sleepers. Originally a Greek Legend. Bradſhaw's Life of Saint Werburgh. Metrical chronicles of the kings of England faſhionable in this century. Ralph Higden proved to be the author of the Cheſter-plays. Specimen of Bradſhaw's poem, from his deſcription of the hiſtorical tapeſtry in the hall of Ely monaſtery when the princeſs Werburgh was admitted to the [...]eil. Legends and legend-makers. Fabyan. Watſon. [vi] Caxton a poet. Kalendar of Shepherds. Pageaunts. Tranſition to the drama. Hiſtrionic profeſſion. Myſteries [...] Nicodemus's Goſpel. Uſe of Myſteries.
SECTION X. p. 210.
Reign of Henry the ſeventh. Hawes. His poems. Painting on the walls of chambers. Viſions. Hawes's Paſtyme of Pleaſure. The fable analyſed. Walter. Medwall. Wade.
SECTION XI. p. 240.
Barklay's Ship of Fools. Its origin. Specimens. Barklay's Eclogues, and other pieces. Alcock biſhop of Ely. Modern Bucolics.
SECTION XII. p. 257.
Digreſſion to the Scotch poets. William Dunbar. His Thiſtle and Roſe, and Golden Terge. Specimens. Dunbar's comic pieces. Eſtimate of his genius. Moralities faſhionable among the Scotch in the fifteenth century.
SECTION XIII. p. 280.
Scotch poets continued. Gawen Douglaſs. His tranſlation of the Eneid. His genius for deſcriptive poetry. His Palice of Honour, and other pieces.
SECTION XIV. p. 295.
Scotch poets continued. Sir David Lyndeſay. His chief performances the Dreme, and Monarchie. His talents for deſcription and imagery. His other poems examined. An anonymous Scotch poem, never printed, called Duncane Laider. Its humour and ſatire. Feudal robbers. Blind Harry reconſidered. A Hiſtory of the Scotch poetry recommended.
[vii]SECTION XV. p. 336.
Skelton. His life. Patroniſed by Henry, fifth earl of Northumberland. His character, and peculiarity of ſtyle. Critical examination of his poems. Macaronic poetry. Skelton's Morality called the Nigramanſir. Moralities at their height about the cloſe of the ſeventh Henry's reign.
SECTION XVI. p. 366.
A digreſſion on the origin of Myſteries. Various origins aſſigned. Religious dramas at Conſtantinople. Plays firſt acted in the monaſteries. This eccleſiaſtical origin of the drama gives riſe to the practice of performing plays in univerſities, colleges, and ſchools. Influence of this practice on the vernacular drama. On the ſame principle, plays acted by ſinging-boys in choirs. Boybiſhop. Fete de Foux. On the ſame principle, plays acted by the company of pariſh cle [...]ks. By the Law-ſocieties in London. Temple-Maſques.
SECTION XVII. p. 407.
Cauſes of the increaſe of vernacular compoſition in the fifteenth century. View of the revival of claſſical learning. In Italy. In France. In Germany. In Spain. In England.
SECTION XVIII. p. 433.
The ſame ſubject continued. Reformation of religion. Its effects on literature in England. Application of this digreſſion to the main ſubject.

[]THE HISTORY O [...] ENGLISH POETRY.

SECT. I.

IF Chaucer had not exiſted, the compoſitions of John Gower, the next poet in ſucceſſion, would alone have been ſufficient to reſcue the reigns of Edward the third and Richard the ſecond from the imputation of barbariſm. His education was liberal and uncircumſcribed, his courſe of reading extenſive, and he tempered his ſeverer ſtudies with a knowledge of life. By a critical cultivation of his native language, he laboured to reform its irregularities, and to eſtabliſh an Engliſh ſtyle a. In theſe reſpects he reſembled his friend and cotemporary Chaucer b: but he participated no conſiderable portion of Chaucer's ſpirit, imagination, and [2] elegance. His language is tolerably perſpicuous, and his ver [...]i [...]ication often harmonious: but his poetry is of a grave and ſententious turn. He has much good ſenſe, ſolid reflection, and uſeful obſervation. But he is ſerious and didactic on all occaſions: he preſerves the tone of the ſcholar and the moraliſt on the moſt lively topics. For this reaſon he ſeems to have been characteriſed by Chaucer with the appellation of the MORALL Gower c. But his talent is not confined to Engliſh verſe only. He wrote alſo in Latin; and copi [...]d Ovid's elegiacs with ſome degree of purity, and with fewer falſe quantities and corrupt phraſes, than any of our countrymen had yet exhibited ſince the twelfth century.

Gower's capital work, conſiſting of three parts, only the laſt of which properly furniſhes matter for our preſent enquiry, is entitled SPECULUM MEDITANTIS, VOX CLAMANTIS, CONFESSIO AMANTIS. It was finiſhed, at leaſt the third part, in the year 1393 d. The SPECULUM MEDITANTIS, or the Mirrour of Meditation, is written in French rhymes, in ten books e. This tract, which was never printed, diſplays the general nature of virtue and vice, enumerates the felicities of conjugal fidelity by examples ſelected from various authors, and deſcribes the path which the reprobate ought to purſue for the recovery of the divine grace. The VOX CLAMANTIS, or the Voice of one crying in the Wilderneſs, which was alſo never printed, contains ſeven books of Latin elegiacs. This work is chiefly hiſtorical, and is little more than a metrical chronicle of the inſurrection of the commons in the reign of king Richard the ſecond. The beſt and moſt beautiful manuſcript of it is in the library of All Souls college at Oxford; with a dedication in Latin verſe, addreſſed by the author, [3] when he was old and blind, to archbiſhop Arundel f. The CONFESSIO AMANTIS, or the Lover's Confeſſion, is an Engliſh poem, in eight books, firſt printed by Caxton, in the year 1483. It was written at the command of Richard the ſecond; who meeting our poet Gower rowing on the Thames near London, invited him into the royal barge, and after much converſation requeſted him to book ſome new thing g.

This tripartite work is repreſented by three volumes on Gower's curious tomb in the conventual church of Saint Mary Overee in Southwark, now remaining in its antient ſtate; and this circumſtance furniſhes me with an obvious opportunity of adding an anecdote relating to our poet's munificence and piety, which ought not to be omitted. Although a poet, he largely contributed to rebuild that church in its preſent elegant form, and to render it a beautiful pattern of the lighter Gothic architecture: at the ſame time he founded, at his tomb, a perpetual chantry.

It is on the laſt of theſe pieces, the CONFESSIO AMANTIS, that Gower's character and reputation as a poet are almoſt entirely founded. This poem, which bears no immediate reference to the other two diviſions, is a dialogue between a lover and his confeſſor, who is a prieſt of Venus, and, like the myſtagogue in the PICTURE of Cebes, is called Genius. Here, as if it had been impoſſible for a lover not to be a good catholic, the ritual of religion is applied to the tender paſſion, and Ovid's Art of Love is blended with the breviary. In the courſe of the confeſſion, every evil affection of the human heart, which may tend to impede the progreſs or counteract the ſucceſs of love, is ſcientifically ſubdivided; and its fatal effects exemplifi [...]d by a variety of appoſite ſtories, extracted [4] from claſſics and chronicles. The poet often introduces or recapitulates his matter in a few couplets of Latin long and ſhort verſes. This was in imitation of Boethius.

This poem is ſtrongly tinctured with thoſe pedantic affectations concerning the paſſion of love, which the French and Italian poets of the fourteenth century borrowed from the troubadours of Provence, and which I have above examined at large. But the writer's particular model appears more immediately to have been John of Meun's celebrated ROMAUNT DE LA ROSE. He has, however, ſeldom attempted to imitate the pictureſque imageries, and expreſſive perſonifications, of that exquiſite allegory. His moſt ſtriking pourtraits, which yet are conceived with no powers of creation, nor delineated with any fertility of fancy, are IDLENESS, AVARICE, MICHERIE or Thieving, and NEGLIGENCE, the [...]ecretary of SLOTH h. Inſtead of boldly cloathing theſe qualities with corporeal attributes, aptly and poetically imagined, he coldly yet ſenſibly deſcribes their operations, and enumerates their properties. What Gower wanted in invention, he ſupplied from his common-place book; which appears to have been ſtored with an inexhauſtible fund of inſtructive maxims, pleaſant narrations, and philoſophical definitions. It ſeems to have been his object to croud all his erudition into this elaborate performance. Yet there is often ſome degree of contrivance and art in his manner of introducing and adapting ſubjects of a very diſtant nature, and which are totally foreign to his general deſign.

In the fourth book, our confeſſor turns chemiſt; and diſcourſing at large on the Hermetic ſcience, developes its principles, and expoſes its abuſes, with great penetration i. He delivers the doctrines concerning the vegetable, mineral, [5] and animal ſtones, to which Falſtaffe alludes in Shakeſpeare k, with amazing accuracy and perſpicuity l; although this doctrine was adopted from ſyſtems then in vogue, as we ſhall ſee below. In another place he applies the Argonautic expedition in ſearch of the golden fleece, which he relates at length, to the ſame viſionary philoſophy m. Gower very probably conducted his aſſociate Chaucer into theſe profound myſteries, which had been juſt opened to our countrymen by the books of Roger Bacon n.

In the ſeventh book, the whole circle of the Ariſtotelic philoſophy is explained; which our lover is deſirous to learn, ſuppoſing that the importance and variety of its ſpeculations might conduce to ſooth his anxieties by diverting and engaging his attention. Such a diſcuſſion was not very likely to afford him much conſolation: eſpecially, as hardly a ſingle ornamental digreſſion is admitted, to decorate a field naturally ſo deſtitute of flowers. Almoſt the only one is the following deſcription of the chariot and crown of the ſun; in which the Arabian ideas concerning precious ſtones are interwoven with Ovid's fictions and the claſſical mythology.

Of goldè gliſtrende o, ſpoke and whele,
The Sonne his Cartep hath, faire and wele;
In which he ſit, and is croned
With bright ſtones environed:
Of which, if that I ſpeke ſhall
There beq tofore, inſpeciall r,
Set in the front of his corone,
Thre ſtones, which no perſone
[6] Hath upon erth: and the firſt is
By name cleped Leucachatis;
That other two cleped thus
Aſtroites and Ceraunus,
In his corone; and alſo byhynde,
By olde bokes, as I fynd,—
There ben of worthy ſtones three,
Set eche of hem in his degree;
Whereof a Criſtelle is that one,
Which that corone is ſett upon:
The ſecond is an Adamant;
The third is noble and avenant s,
Which cleped is Idriades—
And over this yet natheleſs t,
Upon the ſidis of the werke,
After the writynge of the clerke u,
There ſitten five ſtones mo w;
The Smaragdine is one of tho x,
Jaſpis, and Helitropius,
And Vandides, and Jacinctus.
Lo! thus the corone is beſet,
Whereof it ſhineth wel the bet y.
And in ſuch wiſe, his light to ſpreade,
Sit, with his diademe on heade,
The Sonne, ſhinende in his carte:
And for to lead him ſwithez and ſmarte,
After the bright daiès lawe,
There ben ordained for to drawe
Four hors his chare, and him withall,
Whereoff the names tell I ſhall:
Eritheus the firſt is hote a,
The whiche is redde, and ſhineth hote;
[7] The ſecond Acteos the bright,
Lampes the third courſer hight,
And Philogeus is the ferth b,
That bringen light unto this erth
And gone ſo ſwift upon the heven, &c c.

Our author cloſes this courſe of the Ariſtotelic philoſophy with a ſyſtem of politics d: not taken from Ariſtotle's genuine treatiſe on that ſubject, but from the firſt chapter of a ſpurious compilation entitled, SECRETUM SECRETORUM ARISTOTELIS e, addreſſed under the name of Ariſtotle to his pupil Alexander the Great, and printed at Bononia in the year 1516. A work, treated as genuine, and explained with a learned gloſs, by Roger Bacon f: and of the higheſt reputation in Gower's age, as it was tranſcribed, and illuſtrated with a commentary, for the uſe of king Edward the third, by his chaplain Walter de Millemete, prebendary of the collegiate church of Glaſeney in Cornwall g. Under this head, our author takes an opportunity of giving advice to a weak yet amiable prince, his patron king Richard the ſecond, on a ſubject of the moſt difficult and delicate nature, with much freedom and dignity. It might alſo be proved, that Gower, through this detail of the ſciences, copied in many other articles the SECRETUM SECRETORUM; which is a ſort of an abridgement of the Ariſtotelic philoſophy, filled with many Arabian innovations and abſurdities, and enriched with an appendix concerning the choice of wines, phlebotomy, juſtice, public notaries, tournaments, and phyſiognomy, rather than from the Latin tranſlations of Ariſtotle. It is evident, that he copied from this work the doctrine of the three chemical [8] ſtones, mentioned above h. That part of our author's aſtronomy, in which he ſpeaks of the magician Nectabanus inſtructing Alexander the Great, when a youth, in the knowledge of the fifteen ſtars, and their reſpective plants and precious ſtones, appropriated to the operations of natural magic i, ſeems to be borrowed from Calliſthenes, the fabulous writer of the life of Alexander k. Yet many wonderful inventions, which occur in this romance of Alexander, are alſo to be found in the SECRETUM SECRETORUM: particularly the fiction of Alexander's Stentorian horn, mentioned above, which was heard at the diſtance of ſixty miles l, and of which Kircher has given a curious repreſentation in his PHONURGIA, copied from an antient picture of this gigantic inſtrument, belonging to a manuſcript of the SECRETUM SECRETORUM, preſerved in the Vatican library m.

It is pretended by the myſtic writers, that Ariſtotle in his old age reviewed his books, and digeſted his philoſophy into one ſyſtem or body, which he ſent, in the form of an epiſtle, to Alexander. This is the ſuppoſititious tract of which I have been ſpeaking; and it is thus deſcribed by Lydgate, who has tranſlated a part of it.

Title of this boke LAPIS PHILOSOPHORUM,
Namyd alſo DE REGIMINE PRINCIPUM,
Of philoſophres SECRETUM SECRETORUM.—
[9] The which booke direct to the kyng
Alyſaundre, both in the werre and pees n,
Lykeo his requeſt and royall commanding [...]
Fulle accompliſhid by Ariſtotiles.
Feeble of age.—

Then follows a rubric ‘"How Ariſtotile declareth to kynge Alyſandre of the ſtonys p."’ It was early tranſlated into French proſe q, and printed in Engliſh, ‘"The SECRET OF ARISTOTYLE, with the GOVERNALE OF PRINCES and every maner of eſtate, with rules for helth of body and ſoul, very gode to teche children to rede Engliſh, newly tranſlated out of French, and emprented by Robert and William Copland, 1528 r."’ This work will occur again under Occleve and Lidgate. There is alſo another forgery conſecrated with the name of Ariſtotle, and often quoted by the aſtrologers, which Gower might have uſed: it is DE REGIMINIBUS COELESTIBUS, which had been early tranſlated from Arabic into Latin s.

Conſidered in a general view, the CONFESSIO AMANTI [...] may be pronounced to be no unpleaſing miſcellany of thoſe ſhorter tales which delighted the readers of the middle age. Moſt of theſe are now forgotten, together with the voluminous chronicles in which they were recorded. The book which appears to have accommodated our author with the largeſt quantity of materials in this article, was probably a chronicle entitled PANTHEON, or MEMORIAE SECULORUM, [10] compiled in Latin, partly in proſe and partly in verſe, by Godfrey of Viterbo, a chaplain and notary to three German emperours, who died in the year 1190 t. It commences, according to the eſtabliſhed practice of the hiſtorians of this age, with the creation of the world, and is brought down to the year 1186. It was firſt printed at Baſil, in the year 1569 u. The learned Muratori has not ſcrupled to inſert the five laſt ſections of this univerſal hiſtory in the ſeventh tome of his writers on Italy w. The ſubject of this work, to uſe the laborious compiler's own expreſſions, is the whole Old and New Teſtament; and all the emperours and kings, which have exiſted from the beginning of the world to his own times: of whom the origin, end, names, and atchievements, are commemorated x. The authors which our chronicler profeſſes to have conſulted for the gentile ſtory, are only Joſephus, Dion Caſſius, Strabo, Oroſius, Hegeſippus y, Suetonius, Solinus, and Julius Africanus: among which, not one of the purer Roman hiſtorians occurs. Gower alſo ſeems to have uſed another chronicle written by the ſame Godfrey, never printed, called SPECULUM REGUM, or the MIRROUR OF KINGS, which is almoſt as multifarious as the laſt; containing a genealogy of all the potentates, Trojan and German, from Noah's flood to the reign of the emperour Henry the ſixth, according to the chronicles of the venerable Bede, Euſebius, and Ambroſius z. There are beſides, two ancient [11] collectors of marvellous and delectable occurrences to which our author is indebted, Caſſiodorus and Iſidorus. Theſe are mentioned as two of the chroniclers which Caxton uſed in compiling his CRONICLES OF ENGLAND a. Caſſiodorusb wrote, at the command of the Gothic king Theodoric, a work named CHRONICON BREVE, commencing with our firſt parents, and deduced to the year 519, chiefly deduced from Euſebius's eccleſiaſtic hiſtory, the chronicles of Proſper and Jerom, and Aurelius Victor's Origin of the Roman nation c. An Italian tranſlation by Lodovico Dolce was printed in 1561 d. Iſidorus, called Hiſpalenſis, cited by Davie and Chaucer e, in the ſeventh century, framed from the ſame author a CRONICON, from Adam to the time of the emperor Heraclius, firſt printed in the year 1477, and tranſlated into Italian under the title of CRONICA D' ISIDORO, ſo ſoon after as the year 1480 f.

Theſe comprehenſive ſyſtems of all ſacred and profane events, which in the middle ages multiplied to an exceſſive degree, ſuperſeded the uſe of the claſſics and other eſtabliſhed authors, whoſe materials they gave in a commodious abridgement, and in whoſe place, by ſelecting thoſe ſtories only which ſuited the taſte of the times, they ſubſtituted a more agreeable kind of reading: nor was it by theſe means only, that they greatly contributed to retard the acquiſition of thoſe ornaments [12] of ſtyle, and other arts of compoſition, which an attention to the genuine models would have afforded, but by being written without any ideas of elegance, and in the moſt barbarous phraſeology. Yet productive as they were of theſe and other inconvenient conſequences, they were not without their uſe in the rude periods of literature. By gradually weaning the minds of readers from monkiſh legends, they introduced a reliſh for real and rational hiſtory; and kindling an ardour of inquiring into the tranſactions of paſt ages, at length awakened a curioſity to obtain a more accurate and authentic knowledge of important events by ſearching the original authors. Nor are they to be entirely neglected in modern and more poliſhed ages. For, beſides that they contain curious pictures of the credulity and ignorance of our anceſtors, they frequently preſerve facts tranſcribed from books which have not deſcended to poſterity. It is extremely probable, that the plan on which they are all conſtructed, that of deducing a perpetual hiſtory from the creation to the writer's age, was partly taken from Ovid's Metamorphoſes, and partly from the Bible.

In the mean time there are three hiſtories of a leſs general nature, which Gower ſeems more immediately to have followed in ſome of his tales. Theſe are Colonna's Romance of Troy, the Romance of Sir Lancelot, and the GESTA ROMANORUM.

From Colonna's Romance, which he calls The Tale of Troie, The Boke of Troie g, and ſometimes The Cronike h, he has taken [13] all that relates to the Trojan and Grecian ſtory, or, in Milton's language, THE TALE OF TROY DIVINE. This piece was firſt printed at Cologne in the year 1477 i. At Colonia an Italian tranſlation appeared in the ſame year, and one at Venice in 1481. It was tranſlated into Italian ſo early as 1324, by Philipp Ceffi a Florentine k. By ſome writers it is called the Britiſh as well as the Trojan ſtory l; and there are manuſcripts in which it is entitled the hiſtory of Medea and Jaſon m. In moſt of the Italian tranſlations it is called LA STORIA DELLA GUERRA DI TROJA. This hiſtory is repeatedly called the TROIE BOKE by Lydgate, who tranſlated it into Engliſh verſe n.

As to the romance of ſir Lancelot, our author, among others on the ſubject, refers to a volume of which he was the hero: perhaps that of Robert Borron, altered ſoon afterwards by Godefroy de Leigny, under the title of le ROMAN DE LA CHARETTE, and printed with additions at Paris by Antony Verard, in the year 1494.

[14]
For if thou wilt the bokes rede
Of LAUNCELOT and other mo,
Then might thou ſeen how it was tho
Of armes, for this wolde atteine
To love, which, withouten peine
Maie not be gette of idleneſs:
And that I take to witneſſe
An old Cronike in ſpeciall
The which in to memoriall
Is write for his loves ſake,
How that a Knight ſhall undertake o.

He alludes to a ſtory about ſir Triſtram, which he ſuppoſes to be univerſally known, related in this romance.

In everie mans mouth it is
How Triſtram was of love dronke
With Bele Iſolde, whan this dronke
The drinke which Bragweine him betoke,
Er that kyng Marke, &c p.

And again, in the aſſembly of lovers.

Ther was Triſtram which was beloved
With Bele Iſolde, and Lancelot
Stood with Gonnor q, and Galahot
With his lady r.—

The oldeſt edition of the GESTA ROMANORUM, a manuſcript of which I have ſeen in almoſt Saxon characters, I believe to be this. Incipiunt Hyſtorie NOTABILES, collecte ex GESTIS ROMANORUM, et quibuſdam aliis libris cum applicationibus eorundem s. [15] It is without date or place, but ſuppoſed by the critics in typographical antiquities to have been printed before or about the year 1473. Then followed a ſecond edition at Louvain by John de Weſtfalia, with this title: Ex GESTIS ROMANORUM HISTORIE NOTABILES de viciis virtutibuſque tractantes cum applicationibus moraliſatis et myſticis. At the end this colophon appears: GESTA ROMANORUM cum quibuſdam aliis hiſtoriis eiſdem annexis ad moralitates dilucide reducta hic finem habent. Quae diligenter, correctis aliorum viciis, impreſſit Joannes de Weſtfalia, alma in Univerſ. Louvanienſi t. This edition has twenty-nine chapters more than there are in the former: and the firſt of theſe additional chapters is the ſtory of Antiochus, related in our author. It is probably of the year 1473. Another followed ſoon afterwards, by GESTIS ROMANORUM HISTORIE NOTABILES moralizatae per Girardum Lieu. Goudae, 1480u. The nextw is at Louvain, GESTA ROMANORUM, cum applicationibus moraliſatis ac myſticis.—At the end.—Ex GESTIS ROMANORUM cum pluribus applicatis HYSTORIIS de virtutibus et vitiis miſtice ad intellectum tranſumptis recollectorii finis. Anno noſtrae ſalutis 1494. In die ſancti Adriani martyris x.

It was one of my reaſons for giving theſe titles and colophons ſo much at large, that the reader might more fully comprehend the nature and deſign of a performance which operated ſo powerfully on the preſent ſtate of our poetry. Servius ſays that the Eneis was ſometimes called GESTA POPULI ROMANI y. Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote about the year 450, mentions a work called the GESTORUM VOLUMEN, which according to cuſtom, was ſolemnly recited to [16] the emperour z. Here perhaps we may perceive the groundwork of the title.

In this mixture of moraliſation and narrative, the GESTA ROMANORUM ſomewhat reſembles the plan of Gower's poem. In the rubric of the ſtory of Julius and the poor knight, our author alludes to this book in the expreſſion, Hic ſecundum GESTA, &c a. When he ſpeaks of the emperours of Rome paying reverence to a virgin, he ſays he found this cuſtom mentioned, ‘"Of Rome among the GESTES olde b."’ Yet he adds, that the GESTES took it from Valerius Maximus. The ſtory of Tarquin and his ſon Arrous is uſhered in with this line, ‘"So as theſe olde GESTES ſeyne c."’ The tale of Antiochus, as I have hinted, is in the GESTA ROMANORUM; although for ſome parts of it Gower was perhaps indebted to Godfrey's PANTHEON abovementioned d. The foundation of Shakeſpeare's ſtory of the three caſketts in the MERCHANT OF VENICE, is to be found in this favourite collection: this is likewiſe in our author, yet in a different form, who cites a Cronike e for his authority. I make no apology for giving the paſſage ſomewhat at large, as the ſource of this elegant little [17] apologue, which ſeems to be of eaſtern invention, has lately ſo much employed the ſearches of the commentators on Shakeſpeare, and that the circumſtances of the ſtory, as it is told by Gower, may be compared with thoſe with which it appears in other books.

The poet is ſpeaking of a king whoſe officers and courtiers complained, that after a long attendance, they had not received adequate rewards, and preferments due to their ſervices. The king, who was no ſtranger to their complaints, artfully contrives a ſcheme to prove whether this defect proceded from his own want of generoſity, or their want of diſcernment.

Anone he lette two cofresf make,
Of one ſemblance, of one make,
So lyche g, that no life thilke throwe
That one maie fro that other knowe:
Thei were into his chambre brought,
But no man wote why they be brought,
And netheles the kynge hath bede,
That thei be ſette in privie ſtede,
As he that was of wiſdome ſligh,
Whan he therto his tyme ſigh h,
All privilyche i, that none it wiſte,
His own hondes that one chiſt k
Of fine golde and of fine perie l,
(The which oute of his treſurie
Was take) anone he filde full;
That other cofre of ſtrawe and mulle m,
With ſtones mened, he filde alſo:
Thus be thei full both tho.

[18] The king aſſembles his courtiers, and ſhewing them the two cheſts, acquaints them, that one of theſe is filled with gold and jewels; that they ſhould chuſe which of the two they liked beſt, and that the contents ſhould inſtantly be diſtributed among them all. A knight by common conſent is appointed to chuſe for them, who fixes upon the cheſt filled with ſtraw and ſtones.

This kynge then in the ſame ſtede n,
Anone that other cofre undede,
Whereas thei ſawen grete richeſſe
Wile more than thei couthen geſſe.
"Lo, ſaith the kynge, now maie ye ſee
"That there is no default in mee:
"Forthy o, myſelf I will acquite,
"And beareth your own wite
"Of that fortune hath you refuſed p."

It muſt be confeſſed, that there is a much greater and a more beautiful variety of incidents in this ſtory as it is related in the GESTA ROMANORUM, which Shakeſpeare has followed, than in Gower: and was it not demonſtrable, that this compilation preceded our author's age by ſome centuries, one would be tempted to conclude, that Gower's ſtory was the original fable in its ſimple unimproved ſtate. Whatever was the caſe, it is almoſt certain that one ſtory produced the other.

A tranſlation into Engliſh of the GESTA ROMANORUM was printed by Wynkyn de Worde, without date. In the year 1577, one Richard Robinſon publiſhed A Record of ancient Hyſtoryes, in Latin GESTA ROMANORUM, peruſed, corrected, and [19] bettered, by R. Robinſon, London, 1577 q. Of this tranſlation there were ſix impreſſions before the year 1601 r. The later editions, both Latin and Engliſh, differ conſiderably from a manuſcript belonging to the Britiſh Muſeum s, which contains not only the ſtory of the CASKETTS in Shakeſpeare's MERCHANT of VENICE, but that of the JEW'S BOND in the ſame play t. I cannot exactly aſcertain the age of this piece, which has many fictitious and fabulous facts intermixed with true hiſtory; nor have I been able to diſcover the name of its compiler.

It appears to me to have been formed on the model of Valerius Maximus, the favourite claſſic of the monks. It is quoted and commended as a true hiſtory, among many hiſtorians [20] of credit, ſuch as Joſephus, Oroſius, Bede, and Euſebius, by Herman Korner, a dominican friar of Lubec, who wrote a CHRONICA NOVELLA, or hiſtory of the world, in the year 1435 t.

In ſpeaking of our author's ſources, I muſt not omit a book tranſlated by the unfortunate Antony Widville, firſt earl of Rivers, chiefly with a view of proving its early popularity. It is the Dictes or Sayings of Philoſophres, which lord Rivers tranſlated from the French of William de Thignonville, provoſt of the city of Paris about the year 1408, entitled Les dictes moraux des philoſophes, les dictes des ſages et les ſecrets d' Ariſtote u. The Engliſh tranſlation was printed by Caxton, in the year 1477. Gower refers to this tract, which firſt exiſted in Latin, more than once; and it is moſt probable, that he conſulted the Latin original w.

It is pleaſant to obſerve the ſtrange miſtakes which Gower, a man of great learning, and the moſt general ſcholar of his age, has committed in this poem, concerning books which he never ſaw, his violent anachroniſms, and miſrepreſentations of the moſt common facts and characters. He mentions the Greek poet Menander, as one of the firſt hiſtorians, or ‘"firſt enditours of the olde cronike,"’ together with Eſdras, Solinus, Joſephus, Claudius Salpicius, Termegis, Pandulfe, Frigidilles, Ephiloquorus, and Pandas. It is extraordinary that Moſes ſhould not here be mentioned, in preference to Eſdras. Solinus is ranked ſo high, becauſe he recorded nothing but wonders x; and Joſephus, on account of his ſubject, had long been placed almoſt on a level with the bible. [21] He is ſeated on the firſt pillar in Chaucer's HOUSE OF FAME. His Jewiſh hiſtory, tranſlated into Latin by Ru [...]inus in the fourth century, had given riſe to many old poems and romances y: and his MACCABAICS, or hiſtory of the ſeven Maccabees martyred with their father Eleazar under the perſecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, a ſeparate work, tranſlated alſo by Rufinus, produced the JUDAS MACCABEE of Belleperche in the year 1240, and at length enrolled the Maccabees among the moſt illuſtrious heroes of romance z. On this account too, perhaps Eſdras is here ſo reſpectably remembered. I ſuppoſe Sulpicius is Sulpicius Severus, a petty annaliſt of the fifth century. Termegis is probably Triſmegiſtus, the myſtic philoſopher, certainly not an hiſtorian, at leaſt not an antient one. Pandulf ſeems to be Pandulph of Piſa, who wrote lives of the popes, and died in the year 1198 a. Frigidilles is perhaps Fregedaire, a Burgundian, who flouriſhed about the year 641, and wrote a chronicon from Adam to his own times; often printed, and containing the beſt account of the Franks after Gregory of Tours b. Our author, who has partly ſuffered from ignorant tranſcribers and printers, by Ephiloquorus undoubtedly intended Eutropius. In the next paragraph indeed, he mentions Herodotus: [22] yet not as an early hiſtorian, but as the firſt writer of a ſyſtem of the metrical art, ‘"of metre, of ryme, and of cadence c."’ We ſmile, when Hector in Shakeſpeare quotes Ariſtotle: but Gower gravely informs his reader, that Ulyſſes was a clerke, accompliſhed with a knowledge of all the ſciences, a great rhetorician and magician: that he learned rhetoric of Tully, magic of Zoroaſter, aſtronomy of Ptolomy, philoſophy of Plato, divination of the prophet Daniel, proverbial inſtruction of Solomon, botany of Macer, and medicine of Hippocrates d. And in the ſeventh book, Ariſtotle, or the philoſophre, is introduced reciting to his ſcholar Alexander the great, a diſputation between a Jew and a Pagan, who meet between Cairo and Babylon, concerning their reſpective religions: the end of the ſtory is to ſhew the cunning, cruelty, and ingratitude of the Jew, which are at laſt deſervedly puniſhed e. But I believe Gower's apology muſt be, that he took this narrative from ſome chriſtian legend, which was feigned, for a religious purpoſe, at the expence of all probability and propriety.

The only claſſic Roman writers which our author cites are Virgil, Ovid, Horace, and Tully. Among the Italian poets, one is ſurpriſed he ſhould not quote Petrarch: he mentions Dante only, who in the rubric is called ‘"a certain poet of Italy named Dante,"’ quidam po [...]ta Italiae qui DANTE vocabatur f. He appears to have been well acquainted with the Homelies of pope Gregory the great g, which were tranſlated into Italian, and printed at Milan, ſo early as the year 1479. I can hardly decypher, and muſt therefore be excuſed from tranſcribing, the names of all the renowned authors which our author has quoted in alchemy, aſtrology, magic, palmiſtry, geomancy, and other branches of the occult philoſophy. [23] Among the aſtrological writers, he mentions Noah, Abraham, and Moſes. But he is not ſure that Abraham was an author, having never ſeen any of that patriarch's works: and he prefers Triſmegiſtus to Moſes h. Cabaliſtical tracts were however extant, not only under the names of Abraham, Noah, and Moſes, but of Adam, Abel, and Enoch i. He mentions, with particular regard, Ptolomy's ALMAGEST; the grand ſource of all the ſuperſtitious notions propagated by the Arabian philoſophers concerning the ſcience of divination by the ſtars k, Theſe infatuations ſeem to have completed their triumph over human credulity in Gower's age, who probably was an ingenious adept in the falſe and frivolous ſpeculations of this admired ſpecies of ſtudy.

Gower, amidſt his graver literature, appears to have been a great reader of romances. The lover, in ſpeaking of the gratification which his paſſion receives from the ſenſe of hearing, ſays, that to hear his lady ſpeak is more delicious, than to feaſt on all the dainties that could be compounded by a cook of Lombardy. They are not ſo reſtorative

As bin the wordes of hir mouth;
For as the wyndes of the South
Ben moſt of all debonaire,
So when hir luſtl to ſpeak faire,
The vertue of her goodly ſpeche
Is verily myne hartes leche m.

Theſe are elegant verſes. To hear her ſing is paradiſe [...] Then he adds,

[24]
Full oft tyme it falleth ſo,
My eren with a good pitance
Is fed of redynge of romance
Of IDOYNE and AMADAS,
That whilom were in my cas;
And eke of other, many a ſcore,
That loved long ere I was bore o:
For when I of herp loves rede,
Myn ere with the tale I fede;
And with the luſt of her hiſtoire,
Sometime I draw into memoire,
Howe ſorrowe may not ever laſt,
And ſo hope comith in at laſt q.

The romance of IDOYNE and AMADAS is recited as a favourite hiſtory among others, in the prologue to a collection of legends called CURSOR MUNDI, tranſlated from the French r. I have already obſerved our poet's references to Sir LANCELOT'S romance.

Our author's account of the progreſs of the Latin language is extremely curious. He ſuppoſes that it was invented by the old Tuſcan propheteſs Carmens; that it was reduced to method, to compoſition, pronunciation, and proſody, by the grammarians Ariſtarchus, Donatus, and Didymus: adorned with the flowers of eloquence and rhetoric by Tully: then enriched by tranſlations from the Chaldee, Arabic, and Greek languages, more eſpecially by the verſion of the Hebrew bible into Latin by ſaint Jerom, in the fourth century: and that at length, after the labours of many celebrated writers, it received its final conſummation in Ovid, the poet of lovers. At the mention of Ovid's name, the poet, with the dexterity and addreſs of a true maſter of [25] tranſition, ſeizes the critical moment of bringing back the dialogue to its proper argument s.

The CONFESSIO AMANTIS was moſt probably written after Chaucer's TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. At the cloſe of the poem, we are preſented with an aſſemblage of the moſt illuſtrious lovers t. Together with the renowned heroes and heroines of love, mentioned either in romantic or claſſical hiſtory, we have David and Bathſheba, Sampſon and Dalila, and Solomon with all [...]is concubines. Virgil, alſo, Socrates, Plato, and Ovid, are enumerated as lovers. Nor muſt we be ſurpriſed to find Ariſtotle honoured with a place in this gallant groupe: for whom, ſays the poet, the queen of Greece made ſuch a ſyllogiſm as deſtroyed all his logic. But, among the reſt, Troilus and Creſſida are introduced; ſeemingly with an intention of paying a compliment to Chaucer's poem on their ſtory, which had been ſubmitted to Gower's correction u. Although this famous pair had been alſo recently celebrated in Boccacio's FILOSTRATO v. And in another place, ſpeaking of his abſolute devotion to his lady's will, he declares himſelf ready to acquieſce in her choice, whatſoever ſhe ſhall command: whether, if when tired of dancing and caroling, ſhe ſhould chuſe to play at cheſs, or read TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. This is certainly Chaucer's poem.

That when her li [...]t on nights wake
In chambre, as to carol and daunce,
Methinke I maie me more avaunce,
If I may gone upon hir honde,
Than if I wynne a kynges londe.
For whan I maie her hand beclip w,
With ſuch gladneſs I daunce and ſkip,
[26] Methinketh I touch not the floore;
The roe which renneth on the moore
Is than nought ſo light as I.—
And whan it falleth other gate x,
So that hir liketh not to daunce,
But on the dyes to caſt a chaunce,
Or aſke of love ſome demaunde;
Or els that her liſt commaunde
To rede and here of TROILUS y.

That this poem was written after Chaucer's FLOURE AND LEAFE, may be partly collected from the following paſſage, which appears to be an imitation of Chaucer, and is no bad ſpecimen of Gower's moſt poetical manner. Roſiphele, a beautiful princeſs, but ſetting love at defiance, the daughter of Herupus king of Armenia, is taught obedience to the laws of Cupid by ſeeing a viſion of Ladies.

Whan come was the moneth of Maie,
She wolde walke upon a daie,
And that was er the ſon ariſt z,
Of women but a fewe it wiſt a;
And forth ſhe went prively,
Unto a parke was faſte by,
All ſofte walkende on the gras,
Tyll ſhe came thereb the launde was
Through which ran a great rivere,
It thought her fayre; and ſaid, here
I will abide under the ſhawe;
And bad hir women to withdrawe:
And ther ſhe ſtood alone ſtille
To thinke what was in her wille.
[27] She ſighec the ſwete floures ſprynge,
She herde glad fowles ſynge;
She ſigh beaſtes in her kynde,
The buck, the doo, the hert, the hynde,
The males go with the femele:
And ſo began there a quarele d
Betwene love and her owne herte
Fro whiche ſhe couthe not aſterte.
And as ſhe caſt hir eie aboute,
She ſigh, clad in one ſuit, a route
Of ladies where thei comen ride
Alonge under the wooddè ſide;
On fayree ambulende hors thei ſet,
That were al whyte, fayre, and gret;
And everichone ride on ſide f.
The ſadels were of ſuch a pride,
So riche ſighe ſhe never none;
With perles and golde ſo wel begone,
In kirtels and in copes riche
Thei were clothed all aliche g,
Departed even of white and blewe,
With all luſtesh that ſhe knewe
Thei wer embroudred over all:
Heri bodies weren longe and ſmall,
The beautee of hir fayre face,
There mai none erthly thing deface:
Corownes on their heades thei bare,
As eche of hem a quene were.
That all the golde of Creſus hall
The leaſt coronall of all
Might not have boughte, after the worth,
Thus comen thei ridend forthe.
[28] The kynges doughter, whiche this ſigh,
For pure abaſshe drewe hir adrigh,
And helde hir cloſe undir the bough.

At length ſhe ſees riding in the rear of this ſplendid troop, on a horſe lean, galled, and lame, a beautiful lady in a tattered garment, her ſaddle mean and much worn, but her bridle richly ſtudded with gold and jewels: and round her waiſt were more than an hundred halters. The princeſs aſks the meaning of this ſtrange proceſſion; and is anſwered by the lady on the lean horſe, that theſe are ſpectres of ladies, who, when living, were obedient and faithful votaries of love. ‘"As to myſelf, ſhe adds, I am now receiving my annual penance for being a rebel to love."’

For I whilom no love had;
My horſe is now feble and badde,
And al to torn is myn araie;
And everie year this freſhe Mai [...]
Theſe luſtie ladies ride aboute,
And I muſt nedes ſewk her route,
In this manner as ye nowe ſee,
And truſſe her hallters forth with mee,
And am but her horſe knave l.

The princeſs then aſks her, why ſhe wore the rich bridle, ſo inconſiſtent with the reſt of her furniture, her dreſs, and horſe? The lady anſwers, that it was a badge and reward for having loved a knight faithfully for the laſt fortnight of her life.

"Now have ye herde all mine anſwere;
"To god, madam, I you betake,
"And warneth all, for my ſake,
[29] "Of love, that thei be not idell,
"And bid hem thinke of my bridell."
And with that worde, all ſodenly
She paſſeth, as it were a ſkie m,
All clean out of the ladies ſight n.

My readers will eaſily conjecture the change which this ſpectacle muſt naturally produce in the obdurate heart of the princeſs of Armenia. There is a farther proof that the FLOURE AND LEAFE preceded the CONFESSIO AMANTIS. In the eighth book, our author's lovers are crowned with the Flower and Leaf.

Myn eie I caſte all aboutes,
To knowe amonge hem who was who:
I ſigh where luſtie YOUTH tho,
As he which was a capitayne
Before all others on the playne,
Stode with his route wel begon:
Her heades kempt, and thereupon
Garlondes not of one colour,
Some of the lefe, ſome of the floure,
And ſome of grete perles were:
The new guiſe of Bemeo was there, &c p.

I believe on the whole, that Chaucer had publiſhed moſt of his poems before this piece of Gower appeared. Chaucer had not however at this time written his TESTAMENT OF LOVE: for Gower, in a ſort of Epilogue to the CONFESSIO AMANTIS, is addreſſed by Venus, who commands him to greet Chaucer as her favourite poet and diſciple, as one who had employed his youth in compoſing ſongs and ditties to her honour. She adds at the cloſe,

[30]
For thy, now in his daies olde,
Thou ſhalt hym tell this meſſage,
That he upon his later age
To ſette an ende of all his werke
As he, which is myne owne clerke,
Do make his TESTAMENT OF LOVE,
As thou haſt done thy SHRIFTE above:
So that my court it maie recorde q.

Chaucer at this time was ſixty-five years of age. The Court of Love, one of the pedantries of French gallantry, occurs often. In an addreſs to Venus, ‘"Madame, I am a man of thyne, that in thy COURTE hath ſerved long r."’ The lover obſerves, that for want of patience, a man ought ‘"amonge the women alle, in LOVES COURTE, by judgement the name beare of paciant s."’ The confeſſor declares, that many perſons are condemned for diſcloſing ſecrets, ‘"In LOVES COURTE, as it is ſaid, that lette their tonges gone untide t."’ By Thy SHRIFTE, the author means his own poem now before us, the Lover's CONFESSION.

There are alſo many manifeſt evidences which lead us to conclude, that this poem preceded Chaucer's CANTERBURY'S TALES, undoubtedly ſome of that poet's lateſt compoſitions, and probably not begun till after the year 1382. The MAN OF LAWES TALE is circumſtantially borrowed from Gower's CONSTANTIA u: and Chaucer, in that TALE, apparently cenſures Gower, for his manner of relating the ſtories of Canace and Apollonius in the third and eighth books of the CONFESSIO AMANTIS w. The WIFE OF BATHES TALE is founded [31] on Gower's Florent, a knight of Rome, who delivers the king of Sicily's daughter from the incantations of her ſtepmother x. Although the GESTA ROMANORUM might have furniſhed both poets with this narrative. Chaucer, however, among other great improvements, has judiciouſly departed from the fable, in converting Sicily into the more popular court of king Arthur.

Perhaps, in eſtimating Gower's merit, I have puſhed the notion too far, that becauſe he ſhews ſo much learning he had no great ſhare of natural abilities. But it ſhould be conſidered, that when books began to grow faſhionable, and the reputation of learning conferred the higheſt honour, poets became ambitious of being thought ſcholars; and ſacrificed their native powers of invention to the oſtentation of diſplaying an extenſive courſe of reading, an [...] to the pride of profound erudition. On this account, the minſtrels of theſe times, who were totally uneducated, and poured forth ſpontaneous rhymes in obedience to the workings of nature, often exhibit more genuine ſtrokes of paſſion and imagination, than the profeſſed poets. Chaucer is an exception to this obſervation: whoſe original feelings were too ſtrong to be ſuppreſſed by books, and whoſe learning was overbalanced by genius.

This affectation of appearing learned, which yet was natural at the revival of literature, in our old poets, even in thoſe who were altogether deſtitute of talents, has loſt to poſterity many a curious picture of manners, and many a romantic image. Some of our antient bards, however, aimed at no other merit, than that of being able to verſify; and attempted nothing more, than to cloath in rhyme thoſe ſentiments, which would have appeared with equal propriety in proſe.

SECT. II.

[32]

ONE of the reaſons which rendered the claſſic authors of the lower empire more popular than thoſe of a purer age, was becauſe they were chriſtians. Among theſe, no Roman writer appears to have been more ſtudied and eſteemed, from the beginning to the cloſe of the barbarous centuries, than Boethius. Yet it is certain, that his allegorical perſonifications and his viſionary philoſophy, founded on the abſtractions of the Platonic ſchool, greatly concurred to make him a favourite a. His CONSOLATION of PHILOSOPHY was tranſlated into the Saxon tongue by king Alfred, the father of learning and civility in the midſt of a rude and intractable people; and illuſtrated with a commentary by Aſſer biſhop of Saint David's, a prelate patroniſed by Alfred for his ſingular accompliſhments in literature, about the year 890. Biſhop Groſthead is ſaid to have left annotations on this admired ſyſtem of morality. There is a very ancient manuſcript of it in the Laurentian library, with an inſcription prefixed in Saxon characters b. There are few of thoſe diſtinguiſhed eccle [...]iaſtics, whoſe erudition illuminated the thickeſt gloom of ignorance and ſuperſtition with uncommon luſtre, but who either have cited this performance, [33] or honoured it with a panegyric c. It has had many imitators. Eccard, a learned French Benedictine, wrote in imitation of this CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY, a work in verſe and proſe containing five books, entitled the CONSOLATION OF THE MONKS, about the year 1120 d. John Gerſon alſo, a doctor and chancellor of the univerſity of Paris, wrote the CONSOLATION OF THEOLOGY in four books, about the year 1420 e. It was the model of Chaucer's TESTAMENT OF LOVE. It was tranſlated into Frenchf and Engliſh before the year 1350 g. Dante was an attentive reader of Boethius. In the PURGATORIO, Dante gives THEOLOGY the name of Beatrix his miſtreſs, the daughter of Fulco Portinari, who very gravely moraliſes in that character. Being ambitious of following Virgil's ſteps in the deſcent of Eneas into hell, he introduces her, as a daughter of the empyreal heavens, bringing Virgil to guide him through that dark and dangerous region h. Leland, who lived when true literature began to be reſtored, ſays that the writings of Boethius ſtill continued to retain that high eſtimation, which they had acquired in the moſt early periods. I had almoſt forgot to obſerve, that the CONSOLATION was tranſlated into Greek by Maximus Planudes, the moſt learned and ingenious of the Conſtantinopolitan monks i.

[34] I can aſſign only one poet to the reign of king Henry the fourth, and this a tranſlator of Boethius k. He is called Johannes Capellanus, or John the Chaplain, and he tranſlated into Engliſh verſe the treatiſe DE CONSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHIAE in the year 1410. His name is John Walton. He was canon of Oſeney, and died ſubdean of York. It appears probable, that he was patroniſed by Thomas Chaundler, among other preferments, dean of the king's chapel and of Hereford cathedral, chancellor of Wells, and ſucceſſively warden of Wykeham's two colleges at Wincheſter and Oxford; characteriſed by Antony Wood as an able critic in polite literature, and by Leland as a rare example of a doctor in theology who graced ſcholaſtic diſputation with the flowers of a pure latinity l. In the Britiſh Muſeum there is a correct manuſcript on parchment of Walton's tranſlation of Boethius: and the ma [...]gin is filled throughout with the Latin text, written by Chaundler above-mentioned m. There is another leſs elegant manuſcript in the ſame collection. But at the end is this note; Explicit liber Boecij de Conſolatione Philoſophie de Latino in Anglicum tranſlatus A. D. 1410. per Capellanum Joannem n. This is the beginning of the prologue, ‘"In ſuffiſaunce of cunnyng and witte."’ And of the tranſlation, ‘"Alas I wretch that whilom was in welth."’ I have ſeen a third copy in the library of Lincoln cathedral o, and a fourth in Baliol college p. This is the tranſlation of Boethius printed in the monaſtery of Taviſtoke, in the year 1525. ‘"The BOKE of COMFORT, called in Latin Boecius de Conſolatione Philoſophie. [35] Emprented in the exempt monaſtery of Taveſtock in Denſhyre, by me Dan Thomas Rychard monke of the ſayd monaſtry. To the inſtant deſyre of the right worſhipfull eſquyre magiſter Robert Langdon. Anno Domini, MDXXV. Deo gracias."’ In octave rhyme p. This tranſlation was made at the requeſt of Eliſabeth Berkeley. I forbear to load theſe pages with ſpecimens not original, and which appear to have contributed no degree of improvement to our poetry or our phraſeology. Henry the fourth died in the year 1399.

The coronation of king Henry the fifth, was celebrated in Weſtminſter-hall with a ſolemnity proportioned to the luſtre of thoſe great atchievements which afterwards diſtinguiſhed the annals of that victorious monarch. By way of preſerving order, and to add to the ſplendor of the ſpectacle, many of the nobility were ranged along the ſides of the tables on large war-horſes, at this ſtately feſtival; which, ſays my chronicle, was a ſecond feaſt of Ahaſuerus q. But I mention this ceremony, to introduce a circumſtance very pertinent to our purpoſe; which is, that the number of harpers in the hall was innumerable r, who undoubtedly accompanied their inſtruments with heroic rhymes. The king, however, was no great encourager of the popular minſtrelſy, which ſeems at this time to have flouriſhed in the higheſt degree of perfection. When he entered the city of London in triumph after the battle of Agincourt, the gates and ſtreets were hung with tapeſtry, repreſenting the hiſtories of ancient heroes; and children were placed in artificial turrets, ſinging verſes s. But Henry, diſguſted at theſe ſecular vanities, commanded by a formal edict, that for the future no ſongs [36] ſhould be recited by the harpers, or others, in praiſe of the recent victory s. This prohibition had no other effect than that of diſplaying Henry's humility, perhaps its principal and real deſign. Among many others, a minſtrel-piece ſoon appeared, evidently adapted to the harp, on the SEYGE of HARFLETT and the BATTALLYE of AGYNKOURTE. It was written about the year 1417. Theſe are ſome of the moſt ſpirited lines.

Sent Jorge be fore our kyng they dyd ſe t,
They trompyd up full meryly,
The grete battell to gederes ȝed u;
Our archorysw theiy ſchot ful hartely,
They made the Frenche men faſte to blede,
Her arrowys they went with full good ſpede.
Oure enemyes with them they gan down throwe
Thorow breſte plats, habourgenys, and baſnets x.
Eleven thouſand was ſlayne on a rew y.
Denters of dethe men myȝt well deme,
So fercelly in ffelde theye gan fythe z.
The heve upon here helmyts ſchene a [...]
With axes and with ſwerdys bryȝt.
When oure arowys were at a flyȝt b
Amon the Frenche men was a wel ſory ſchere c.
Ther was to bryng of gold bokylydd ſo bryȝt
That a man myȝt holde a ſtrong armoure.
Owre gracyus kyng men myȝt knowe
That day foȝt with hys owene hond,
The erlys was dys comwityd up on a rowe e,
[37] That he had ſlayne underſtond.
He theref ſchevyd oure other lordys of thys lond,
Forſothe that was a ful fayre daye.
Therefore all England maye this ſyng
LAWSg DEO we may well ſaye.
The Duke of Glocetor, that nys no nay,
That day full wordelyh he wroȝt,
On every ſide he made goode waye,
The Frenche men faſte to grond they browȝt.
The erle of Hontynton ſparyd noȝt,
The erle of Oxynforthei layd on all ſoo k,
The young erle of Devynſchyre he ne rouȝt,
The Frenche men faſt to grunde gan goo.
Our Engliſmen thei were ffoul ſekes do
And ferce to fyȝt as any lyone.
Baſnets bryȝt they craſyd a to l,
And bet the French banerys adoune;
As thonder-ſtrokys ther was a ſcownde m,
Of axys and ſperys ther they gan glyd.
The lordys of Franyſen loſt her renowne
With greſolyo wondys they gan abyde.
The Frenſche men, for all here pryde,
They fell downe all at a flyȝt:
Ie me rende they cryde, on every ſyde,
Our Englys men they underſtod noȝt ariȝt p.
Their pollaxis owt of her hondys they twiȝt,
And layde ham along ſtryteq upon the graſſe.
They ſparyd nother deuke, erlle, ne knyght r.

[38] Theſe verſes are much leſs intelligible than ſome of Gower' [...] and Chaucer's pieces, which were written fifty years before. In the mean time we muſt not miſtake provincial for national barbariſms. Every piece now written is by no means a proof of the actual ſtate of ſtyle. The improved dialect, which y [...]t is the eſtimate of a language, was confined only to a few writers, who lived more in the world and in polite life: and it was long, before a general change in the public phraſeology was effected. Nor muſt we expect among the minſtrels, who were equally careleſs and illiterate, thoſe refinements of diction, which mark the compoſitions of men who profeſſedly ſtudied to embelliſh the Engliſh idiom.

Thomas Occleve is the firſt poet that occurs in the reign of Henry the fifth. I place him about the year 1420. Occleve is a feeble writer, conſidered as a poet: and his chief merit ſeems to be, that his writings contributed to propagate and eſtabliſh thoſe improvements in our language which were now beginning to take place. He was educated in the municipal law s, as were both Chaucer and Gower; and it reflects no ſmall degree of honour on that very liberal profeſſion, that its ſtudents were ſome of the firſt who attempted to poliſh and adorn the Engliſh tongue.

The titles of Occleve's pieces, very few of which have b [...]en ever printed, indicate a coldneſs of genius; and on the whole promiſe no gratification to thoſe who ſeek for invention and fancy. Such as, The tale of Jonathas and of a wicked woman t. Fable of a certain empereſs u. A prologue of the nine leſſons that is read over Allhalow-day w. The moſt profitable and h [...]lſomeſt craft that is to cunne x, to lerne to dye y. Conſolation offered [39] by an old man z. Pentaſthicon to the king. Mercy as defined by Saint Auſtin. Dialogue to a friend a. Dialogue between Occleef and a beggar b. The letter of Cupid c. Verſes to an empty purſe d. But Occleve's moſt conſiderable poem is a piece called a tranſlation of Egidius DE REGIMINE PRINCIPUM.

This is a ſort of paraphraſe of the firſt part of Ariſtotle's epiſtle to Alexander abovementioned, entitled SECRETUM SECRETORUM, of Egidius, and of Jacobus de Caſulis, whom he calls Jacob de Caſſolis. Egidius, a native of Ro [...]e, a pupil of Thomas Aquinas, eminent among the ſchoolmen by the name of Doctor Fundatiſſimus, and an archbiſhop, flouriſhed about the year 1280. He wrote a Latin tract in three books DE REGIMINE PRINCIPUM, or the ART OF GOVERNMENT, for the uſe of Philip le Hardi, ſon of Louis king of France, a work highly eſteemed in the middle ages, and tranſlated early into Hebrew, French e, and Italian. In thoſe days eccleſiaſtics and ſchoolmen preſumed to dictate to kings, and to give rules for adminiſtering ſtates, drawn from the narrow circle of ſpeculation, and conceived amid the pedantries of a cloiſter. It was probably recommended to Occleve's notice, by having been tranſlated into Engliſh by John Treviſa, a celebrated tranſlator about the year 1390 f. The original was printed at Rome in 1482, and at Venice 1498, and, [40] I think, again at the ſame place in 1598 h. The Italian tranſlation was printed at Seville, in folio, 1494, ‘"Tranſladar de Latin en romance don Bernardo Obiſpo de Oſma: impreſſo por Meynardo Ungut Alemano et Staniſlao Polono Companeros."’ The printed copies of the Latin are very rare, but the manuſcripts innumerable. A third part of the third book, which treats of De Re Militari Veterum, was printed by Hahnius in 1722 i. One of Egidius's books, a commentary on Ariſtotle DE ANIMA, is dedicated to our Edward the firſt k.

Jacobus de Caſulis, or of Caſali in Italy, another of the writers copied in this performance by our poet Occleve, a French Dominican friar, about the year 1290, wrote in four parts a Latin treatiſe on cheſs, or, as it is entitled in ſome manuſcripts, De moribus hominum et de officiis nobilium ſuper LUDO LATRUNCULORUM ſive SCACCORUM. In a parchment manuſcript of the Harleian library, neatly illuminated, it is thus entitled, LIBER MORALIS DE LUDO SCACCORUM, ad honorem et ſolacium Nobilium et maxime ludencium, per fratrem JACOBUM D [...] CASSULIS ordinis fratrum Praedicatorum. At the concluſion, this work appears to be a tranſlation l. Pits careleſsly gives it to Robert Holcot, a celebrated Engliſh theologiſt, perhaps for no other reaſon than becauſe Holcot was likewiſe a Dominican. It was printed at Milan in 1479. I believe it was as great a favourite as Egidius on GOVERNMENT, for it was tranſlated into French by John Ferron, and John Du Vignay, a monk hoſpitalar of Saint James du [41] Haut-pag m, under the patronage of Jeanne dutcheſs of Bourgogne, Caxton's patroneſs, about the year 1360, with the title of LE JEU DES ECHECS moraliſe, or Le traite des Nobles et de gens du peuple ſelon le JEU DES ECHECS. This was afterwards tranſlated by Caxton, in 1474, who did not know that the French was a tranſlation from the Latin, and called the GAME OF THE CHESS. It was alſo tranſlated into German, both proſe and verſe, by Conrade von Almenhuſen n. Bale abſurdly ſuppoſes that Occleve made a ſeparate and regular tranſlation of this work o.

Occleve's poem was never printed. This is a part of the Prologue.

Ariſtotle, moſt famous philoſofre p,
His epiſtles to Aliſaunder ſent q;
Whos ſentence is wel bet then golde in cofre,
And more holſum, grounded in trewe entent,
Fore all that ever the Epiſtle ment
To ſette us this worthi conqueroure,
In rewle howe to ſuſteyne his honoure,
The tender love, and the fervent good chere,
That the worthi clerke aye to this king bere,
Thruſting ſore his welth durable to be,
Unto his hert [...]lah and ſate ſovere,
That bi writing his counſel gaf he clere
[42] Unto his lord to hope him from miſchaunce,
As witneſſeth his Boke of Governaunce r,
Of which, and of Giles his REGIMENT s
Of prince's plotmele, think I to tranſlete, &c.
My dere mayſter, god his ſoul quite t,
And fader Chaucer fayne would have me taught,
But I was dule u, and learned lyte or naught.
Alas my worthie maiſter honorable,
This londis verray treſour and richeſſe,
Deth by thy deth hathe harme irreparable
Unto us done: his vengeable dureſſe x
Diſpoiled hath this lond of the ſweetneſſe
Of rhetoryke, for unto Tullius
Was never man ſo like amongeſt us.
Alas! who was herey in phyloſophy
To Ariſtotle in owre tonge but thow?
The ſteppis of Virgile in poeſie
Thou ſuedeſtz eke: men knowè well inowe
That combre-worlda that thou, my mayſter, ſlowe b:
Wold I ſlaine were! Deth was too haſtiſe
To renne on thee, and reve thee of thy life:
She might have tarried her vengeaunce awhile
To that ſome man had egal to thee be:
Nay, let that be: ſhe knew well that this iſle
May never man forth bryng like unto thee,
And her of offis nedis do mote ſhe;
God bade her ſo, I truſt for all the beſt,
O mayſter, mayſter, god thy ſoulè reſt!

[43] In another part of the Prologue we have theſe pathetic lines, which ſeem to flow warm from the heart, to the memory of the immortal Chaucer, who I believe was rather Occleve's model than his maſter, or perhaps the patron and encourager of his ſtudies.

But weleawaye, ſo is myne hertè wo
That the honour of Engliſh tonge is dede,
Of which I wont was han counſel and rede!
O mayſter dere, and fadir reverent,
My mayſter Chaucer, floure of eloquence,
Mirrour of fructuous entendement,
O univerſal fadir in ſcience,
Alas that thou thine excellent prudence
In thy bed mortel migheſt not bequethe,
What eyledc Deth? Alas why would he ſle' the!
O Deth that didiſt nought harm ſingulere
In ſlaughtre of him, but all the lond it ſmertith:
But natheleſſe yit haſtowed no powere
His name to ſle. His hie vertue aſtertith
Unſlayn from thee, which aye us lifely hertith
With boke of his ornatè enditing,
That is to all this lo [...]d enlumyning e.

Occleve ſeems to have written ſome of theſe verſes immediately on Chaucer's death, and to have introduced them long afterwards into this Prologue.

It is in one of the royal manuſcripts of this poem in the Britiſh Muſeum that Occleve has left a drawing of Chaucer f: [44] according to which, Chaucer's portraiture was made on his monument, in the chapel of Saint Blaſe in Weſtminſterabbey, by the benefaction of Nicholas Brigham, in the year 1556 g. And from this drawing, in 1598, John Speed procured the print of Chaucer prefixed to Speght's edition of his works; which has been ſince copied in a moſt finiſhed engraving by Vertue h. Yet it muſt be remembered, that the ſame drawing occurs in an Harleian manuſcript written about Occleve's age i, and in another of the Cottonian department k. Occleve himſelf mentions this drawing in his CONSOLATIO SERVILIS. It exactly reſembles the curious picture on board of our venerable bard, preſerved in the Bodleian gallery at Oxford. I have a very old picture of Chaucer on board, much like Occleve's, formerly kept in Chaucer's houſe, a quadrangular ſtone-manſion, at Woodſtock in Oxfordſhire; which commanded a proſpect of the ancient magnificent royal palace, and of many beautiful ſcenes in the adjacent park: and whoſe laſt remains, chiefly conſiſting of what was called Chaucer's bed-chamber, with an old carved oaken roof, evidently original, were demoliſhed about fifteen years ago. Among the ruins, they found an ancient gold coin of the city of Florence l. Before the grand rebellion, there was in the windows of the church of Woodſtock, an eſcucheon in painted glaſs of the arms of ſir Payne Rouet, a knight of Henault, whoſe daughter Chaucer married.

Occleve, in this poem, and in others, often celebrates Humphrey duke of Gloceſter m; who at the dawn of ſcience [45] was a ſingular promoter of literature, and, however unqualified for political intrigues, the common patron of the ſcholars of the times. A ſketch of his character in that view, is therefore too cloſely connected with our ſubject to be cenſured as an unneceſſary digreſſion. About the year 1440, he gave to the univerſity of Oxford a library containing ſix hundred volumes, only one hundred and twenty of which were valued at more than one thouſand pounds. Theſe books are called Novi Tractatus, or New Treatiſes, in the univerſityregiſter n, and ſaid to be admirandi apparatus o. They were the moſt ſplendid and coſtly copies that could be procured, finely written on vellum, and elegantly embelliſhed with miniatures and illuminations. Among the reſt was a tranſlation into French of Ovid's Metamorphoſes p. Only a ſingle ſpecimen of theſe valuable volumes was ſuffered to remain: it is a beautiful manuſcript in folio of Valerius Maximus, enriched with the moſt elegant decorations, and written in Duke Humphrey's age, evidently with a deſign of being placed in this ſumptuous collection. All the reſt of the books, which, like this, being highly ornamented, looked like miſſals, and conveyed ideas of popiſh ſuperſtition, were deſtroyed or removed by the pious viſitors of the univerſity in the reign of Edward the ſixth, whoſe zeal was equalled only by their ignorance, or perhaps by their avarice. A great number of claſſics, in this grand work of reformation, were condemned as antichriſtian q. In the library of Oriel college at Oxford, we find a manuſcript Commentary on Gene [...]is, written by John Capgrave, a monk of ſaint Auſtin's monaſtery at Canterbury, a learned theologiſt of the fourteenth century. It is the author's autograph, and the work is dedicated to Humphrey duke of Gloceſter. In the ſuperb [46] initial letter of the dedicatory epiſtle is a curious illumination of the author Capgrave, humbly preſenting his book to his patron the duke, who is ſeated, and covered with a ſort of hat. At the end is this entry, in the hand-writing of duke Humphrey. ‘"C' eſt livre eſt a moy Humfrey duc de Glouceſtre du don de frere Jehan Capgrave, quy le me fiſt preſenter a mon manoyr de Penſherſt le jour ... de l'an. MCCCXXXVIII. r."’ This is one of the books which Humphrey gave to his new library at Oxford, deſtroyed or diſperſed by the active reformers of the young Edward s. John Whethamſtede, a learned abbot of ſaint Alban's, and a lover of ſcholars, but accuſed by his monks for neglecting their affairs, while he was too deeply engaged in ſtudious employments and in procuring tranſcripts of uſeful books t, notwithſtanding his unwearied aſſiduity in beautifying and enriching their monaſtery u, was in high favour with this munificent prince x. The duke was fond of viſiting this monaſtery, and employed [47] abbot Whethamſtede to collect valuable books for him y. Some of Whethamſtede's tracts, manuſcript copies of which often occur in our libraries, are dedicated to the duke z: who preſented many of them, particularly a fine copy of Whethamſtede's GRANARIUM a, an immenſe work, which Leland calls ingens volumen, to the new library b. The copy of Valerius Maximus, which I mentioned before, has a curious table or index made by Whethamſtede c. Many other abbots paid their court to the duke by ſending him preſents of books, whoſe margins were adorned with the moſt exquiſite paintings d. Gilbert Kymer, phyſician to king Henry the ſixth, among other eccleſiaſtic promotions, dean of Saliſbury, and chancellor of the univerſity of Oxford e, inſcribed to duke Humphrey his famous medical ſyſtem Diaetarium de ſanitatis cuſtodia, in the year 1424 f. I do not mean to anticipate when I remark, that Lydgate, a poet mentioned hereafter, tranſlated Boccacio's book de CASIBUS VIRORUM ILLUSTRIUM at the recommendation and command, and under the protection and ſuperintendence, of duke Humphrey: whoſe condeſcenſion in converſing with learned eccleſiaſtics, and diligence in ſtudy, the tranſlator diſplays at large, and in the ſtrongeſt expreſſions of panegyric. He compares the duke to Julius Ceſar, who amidſt the weightieſt cares of ſtate, was not aſhamed to enter the rhetorical ſchool of [48] Cicero at Rome g. Nor was his patronage confined only to Engliſh ſcholars. His favour was ſolicited by the moſt celebrated writers of France and Italy, many of whom he bountifully rewarded h. Leonard Aretine, one of the firſt reſtorers of the Greek tongue in Italy, which he learned of Emanuel Chryſoloras, and of polite literature in general, dedicates to this univerſal patron his elegant Latin tranſlation of Ariſtotle's POLITICS. The copy preſented to the duke by the tranſlator, moſt elegantly illuminated, is now in the Bodleian library at Oxford i. To the ſame noble encourager of learning, Petrus Candidus, the friend of Laurentius Valla, and ſecretary to the great Coſmo duke of Milan, inſcribed by the advice of the archbiſhop of Milan, a Latin verſion of Plato's REPUBLIC k. An illuminated manuſcript of this tranſlation is in the Britiſh muſeum, perhaps the copy preſented, with two epiſtles prefixed, from the duke to Petrus Candidus l. Petrus de Monte, another learned Italian, of Venice, in the dedication of his treatiſe DE VIRTUTUM ET VITIORUM DIFFERENTIA to the duke of Gloceſter, mentions [49] the latter's ardent attachment to books of all kinds, and the ſingular avidity with which he purſued every ſpecies of literature m. A tract, entitled COMPARATIO STUDIORUM ET REI MILITARIS, written by Lapus de Caſtellione, a Florentine civilian, and a great tranſlator into Latin of the Greek claſſics, is alſo inſcribed to the duke, at the deſire of Zeno archbiſhop of Bayeux. I muſt not forget, that our illuſtrious duke invited into England the learned Italian, Tito Livio of Foro-Juli, whom he naturali [...]ed, and conſtituted his poet and orator n. Humphrey alſo retained learned foreigners in his ſervice, for the purpoſe of tranſcribing, and of tranſlating from Greek into Latin. One of theſe was Antonio de Beccaria, a Veroneſe, a tranſlator into Latin proſe of the Greek poem of Dionyſius Afer DE SITU ORBIS o: whom the duke employed to tranſlate into Latin ſix tracts of Athanaſius. This tranſlation, inſcribed to the duke, is now among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh Muſeum, and at the end, in his own hand-writing, is the following inſertion: ‘"C'eſt livre eſt a moi Homphrey Duc le Glouceſtre: le que [...] je fis tranſlater de Grec en Latin par un de mes ſecretaires Antoyne de Beccara, nè de Verone p."’

An aſtronomical tract, entitled by Leland TABULAE DIRECTIONUM, is falſely ſuppoſed to have been written by duke Humphrey q. But it was compiled at the duke's inſtance, and according to tables which himſelf had conſtructed, called by the anonymous author in his preface, Tabulas illuſtriſſimi principis et nobiliſſimi domini mei Humfredi, &c r. In the library of Greſham college, however, there is a ſcheme of calculations in [50] aſtronomy, which bear his name s. Aſtronomy was then a favourite ſcience: nor is to be doubted, that he was intimately acquainted with the politer branches of knowledge, which now began to acquire eſtimation, and which his liberal and judicious attention greatly contributed to reſtore.

I cloſe this ſection with an apology for Chaucer, Gower, and Occleve; who are ſuppoſed, by the ſevere [...] etymologiſts, to have corrupted the purity of the Engliſh language, by affecting to introduce ſo many foreign words and phraſes. But if we attend only to the politics of the times, we ſhall find theſe poets, as alſo ſome of their ſucceſſors, much leſs blameable in this reſpect, than the critics imagine. Our wars with France, which began in the reign of Edward the third, were of long continuance. The principal nobility of England, at this period, reſided in France, with their families, for many years. John king of France kept his court in England; [...]o which, excluſive of theſe French lords who were his fellow-priſoners, or neceſſary attendants, the chief nobles of his kingdom muſt have occaſionally reſorted. Edward the black prince made an expedition into Spain. John of Gaunt duke of Lancaſter, and his brother the duke of York, were matched with the daughters of Don Pedro king of Caſtile. All theſe circumſtances muſt have concurred to produce a perceptible change in the language of the court. It is rational therefore, and it is equitable to ſuppoſe, that inſtead of coining new words, they only complied with the common and faſhionable modes of ſpeech. Would Chaucer's poems have been the delight of thoſe courts in which he lived, had they been filled with unintelligible pedantries? The cotemporaries of theſe poets never complained of their obſcurity. But whether defenſible on theſe principles or not, they much improved the vernacular ſtyle by the uſe of this exotic phraſeology. It was thus that our primitive diction was enlarged and enriched. The Engliſh language owes its copiouſneſs, elegance, and harmony, to theſe innovations.

SECT. III.

[51]

I Conſider Chaucer as a genial day in an Engliſh ſpring. A brilliant ſun enlivens the face of nature with an unuſual luſtre: the ſudden appearance of cloudleſs ſkies, and the unexpected warmth of a tepid atmoſphere, after the gloom and the inclemencies of a tedious winter, fill our hearts with the viſionary proſpect of a ſpeedy ſummer: and we fondly anticipate a long continuance of gentle gales and vernal ſerenity. But winter returns with redoubled horrors: the clouds condenſe more formidably than before; and thoſe tender buds, and early bloſſoms, which were called forth by the tranſient gleam of a temporary ſun-ſhine, are nipped by froſts, and torn by tempeſts.

Moſt of the poets that immediately ſucceeded Chaucer, ſeem rather relapſing into barbariſm, than availing themſelves of thoſe ſtriking ornaments which his judgment and imagination had diſcloſed. They appear to have been inſenſible to his vigour of verſification, and his flights of fancy. It was not indeed likely that a poet ſhould ſoon ariſe equal to Chaucer: and it muſt be remembered, that the national diſtractions which enſued, had no ſmall ſhare in obſtructing the exerciſe of thoſe ſtudies which delight in peace and repoſe. His ſucceſſors, however, approach him in no degree of proportion. Among theſe, John Lydgate is the poet who follows him at the ſhorteſt interval.

I have placed Lydgate in the reign of Henry the ſixth, and he ſeems to have arrived at his higheſt point of eminence about the year 1430 t. Many of his poems, however, [52] appeared before. He was a monk of the Benedictine abbey of Bury in Suffolk, and an uncommon ornament of his profeſſion. Yet his genius was ſo lively, and his accompliſhments ſo numerous, that I ſuſpect the holy father ſaint Benedict would hardly have acknowledged him for a genuine diſciple. After a ſhort education at Oxford, he travelled into France and Italy u; and returned a complete maſter of the language and the literature of both countries. He chiefly ſtudied the Italian and French poets, particularly Dante, Boccacio, and Alain Chartier; and became ſo diſtinguiſhed a proficient in polite learning, that he opened a ſchool in his monaſtery, for teaching the ſons of the nobility the arts of verſification, and the elegancies of compoſition. Yet although philology was his object, he was not unfamiliar with the faſhionable philoſophy: he was not only a poet and a rhetorician, but a geometrician, an aſtronomer, a theologiſt, and a diſputant. On the whole I am of opinion, that Lydgate made conſiderable additions to thoſe amplifications of our language, in which Chaucer, Gower, and Occleve led the way: and that he is the firſt of our writers whoſe ſtyle is cloathed with that perſpicuity, in which the Engliſh phraſeology appears at this day to an Engliſh reader.

To enumerate Lydgate's pieces, would be to write the catalogue of a little library. No poet ſeems to have poſſeſſed a greater verſatility of talents. He moves with equal eaſe in every mode of compoſition. His hymns, and his ballads, have the ſame degree of merit: and whether his ſubject be the life of a hermit or a hero, of ſaint Auſtin or Guy earl of Warwick, ludicrous or legendary, religious or romantic, a [53] hiſtory or an allegory, he writes with facility. His tranſitions were rapid from works of the moſt ſerious and laborious kind to ſallies of levity and pieces of popular entertainment. His muſe was of univerſal acceſs; and he was not only the poet of his monaſtery, but of the world in general. If a diſguiſing was intended by the company of goldſmiths, a maſk before his majeſty at Eltham, a maygame for the ſheriffs and aldermen of London, a mumming before the lord mayor, a proceſſion of pageants from the creation for the feſtival of Corpus Chriſti, or a carol for the coronation, Lydgate was conſulted and gave the poetry x.

About the year 1430, Whethamſtede the learned and liberal abbot of ſaint Albans, being deſirous of familiariſing the hiſtory of his patron ſaint to the monks of his convent, employed Lydgate, as it ſhould ſeem, then a monk of Bury, to tranſlate the Latin legend of his life in Engliſh rhymes. The chronicler who records a part of this anecdote ſeems to conſider Lydgate's tranſlation, as a matter of mere manual mechaniſm; for he adds, that Whethamſtede paid for the tranſlation, the writing, and illuminations, one hundred ſhillings. It was placed before the altar of the ſaint, which Whethamſtede afterwards adorned with much magnificence, in the abbey church y.

Our author's ſtanzas, called the DANCE OF DEATH, which he tranſlated from the French, at the requeſt of the chapter of ſaint Paul's, to be inſcribed under the repreſentation of DEATH leading all ranks of men about the cloiſter of their [54] church in a curious ſeries of paintings, are well known. But their hiſtory has not, I believe, yet appeared. Theſe verſes, founded on a ſort of ſpiritual maſquerade, anciently celebrated in churches z, were originally written by one Macaber in German rhymes, and were tranſlated into Latin about the year 1460, by one who calls himſelf Petrus Deſrey Orator. This Latin tranſlation was publiſhed by Goldaſtus, at the end of the SPECULUM OMNIUM STATUUM TOTIUS ORBIS TERRARUM compiled by Rodericus Zamorenſis, and printed at Hanau in the year 1613 b [...] But a French tranſlation was made much earlier than the Latin, and written about the walls of ſaint Innocents cloiſter at Paris; from which Lydgate formed his Engliſh verſion c.

In the Britiſh Muſeum is a moſt ſplendid and elegant manuſcript on vellum, undoubtedly a preſent to king Henry the ſixth d. It contains a ſet of Lydgate's poems, in honour of ſaint Edmund the patron of his monaſtery at Bury. Beſides the decoration of illuminated initials, and one hundred and twenty pictures of various ſizes, repreſenting the incidents related in the poetry, executed with the moſt delicate pencil, and exhibiting the habits, weapons, architecture, [55] utenſils, and many other curious particulars, belonging to the age of the ingenious illuminator, there are two exquiſite portraits of the king, one of William Curteis abbot of Bury, and one of the poet Lydgate kneeling at ſaint Edmund's ſhrine e. In one of the king's pictures, he is repreſented on his throne, crowned, and receiving this volume from the abbot kneeling: in another he appears as a child proſtrate on a carpet at ſaint Edmund's ſhrine, which is richly delineat [...]d, yet without any idea of perſpective or proportion. The figures of a great number of monks, and attendants, are introduced. Among the reſt, two noblemen, perhaps the king's uncles, with bonnets, or caps, of an uncommon ſhape. It appears that our pious monarch kept his Chriſtmas at this magnificent monaſtery, and that he remained here, in a ſtate of ſecluſion from the world, and of an exemption from public cares, till the following Eaſter: and that at his departure he was created a brother of the chapter f. It is highly probable, that this ſumptuous book, the poetry of which was undertaken by Lydgate at the command of abbot Curteis g, was previouſly prepared, and preſented to his majeſty during the royal viſit, or very ſoon afterwards. The ſubſtance of the whole work is the life or hiſtory of ſain [...] Edmund, whom the poet calls the ‘"precious charbo [...] [...] martirs alle h."’ In ſome of the prefatory pictures, there is a [56] deſcription and a delineation of two banners, pretended to belong to ſaint Edmund i. One of theſe is moſt brilliantly diſplayed, and charged with Adam and Eve, the ſerpent with a human ſhape to the middle, the tree of life, the holy lamb, and a variety of ſymbolical ornaments. This banner our bard feigns to have been borne by his ſaint, who was a king of the eaſt Angles, againſt the Danes: and he propheſies, that king Henry, with this enſign, would always return victorious k. The other banner, given alſo to ſaint Edmund, appears to be painted with the arms of our poet's monaſtery, and its blazoning is thus deſcribed.

The' other ſtandard, ffeld ſable, off colour ynde l,
In which of gold been notable crownys thre,
The firſt toknè: in cronycle men may fynde,
Grauntyd to hym for royal dignyte:
And the ſecond for his virgynyte:
For martyrdam the thridde, in his ſuffring.
To theſe annexyd feyth, hope, and charyte,
In toknè he was martyr, mayd, and kyng.
Theſe three crownysm kynge Edmund bar certeyn,
Whan he was ſent by grace of goddis hand,
At Geyneſburuhe for to ſleyn kyng Sweyn.

A ſort of office, or ſervice to ſaint Edmund, conſiſting of an antiphone, verſicle, reſponſe, and collect, is introduced with theſe verſes.

To all men preſent, or in abſence,
Whiche to ſeynt Edmund have devocion
With hool herte and dewe reverence,
Seynn this antephnè and this oriſon;
[57]
Two hundred days is grauntid of pardoun,
Writ and regiſtred afforn his holy ſhryne,
Which for our feyth ſuffrede paſſioun,
Blyſſyd Edmund, kyng, martyr, and virgyne.

This is our poet's l'envoye.

Go littel book, be ferfull, quaak for drede,
For to appere in ſo hyhe preſence o.

Lydgate's poem called the LYFE OF OUR LADY, printed by Caxton p, is opened with theſe harmonious and elegant lines, which do not ſeem to be deſtitute of that eloquence which the author wiſhes to ſhare with Tully, Petrarch, and Chaucer q. He compares the holy Virgin to a ſtar.

O thoughtfull hertè, plonged in diſtreſſe
With ſlombre of ſlouth, this long wynter's night!
Out of the ſlepe of mortal hevineſſe
Awake anon, and loke upon the light
Of thilkè ſterre, that with her bemys bright,
And with the ſhynynge of her ſtremes meryè,
Is wont to glad all our hemiſperie r!—
This ſterre in beautie paſſith Pleiades,
Bothe of ſhynynge, and eke of ſtremes clere,
Bootes, and Arctur, and alſo Iades,
And Eſperus, whan that it doth appere:
For this is Spica, with her brightè ſpere s,
[58] That towarde evyn, at midnyght, and at morowe,
Downe from hevyn adawitht al our ſorowe.—
And dryeth up the bytter terys wete
Of Aurora, after the morowe graye,
That ſhe in wepying dothe on floures flete u,
In luſty Aprill, and in fresſhè Maye:
And cauſeth Phebus, the bryght ſomers daye,
Wyth his wayne gold-yborned w, bryght and fayre,
To' enchaſe the myſtès of our cloudy ayre.
Now fayrè ſterre, O ſterre of ſterrys all!
Whoſe lyght to ſe the angels do delyte,
So let the gold-dewe of thy grace yfall
Into my breſte, lyke ſcalys fayre and whyte,
Me to enſpire x!—

Lydgate's manner is naturally verboſe and diffuſe. This circumſtance contributed in no ſmall degree to give a clearneſs and a fluency to his phraſeology. For the ſame reaſon he is often tedious and languid. His chief excellence is in deſcription, eſpecially where the ſubject admits a flowery diction. He is ſeldom pathetic, or animated.

In another part of this poem, where he collects arguments to convince unbelievers that Chriſt might be born of a pure virgin, he thus ſpeaks of God's omnipotence.

And he that made the high and criſtal heven,
The firmament, and alſo every ſphere,
The golden ax-tre y, and the ſterres ſeven,
Citherea, ſo luſty for to' appere,
[59] And reddè Marſe z, with his ſternè here;
Myght he not eke onèly for our ſake
Wythyn a mayde of man hisa kyndè take?
For he that doth the tender braunches ſprynge,
And the freſshe flouris in the gretè mede,
That were in wynter dede and eke droupynge,
Of bawmè all yvoyd and leſtyhede;
Myght he not make his grayne to growe and ſede,
Within her breſt, that was both mayd and wyfe,
Whereof is made the ſothfaſtb breade of lyfe c?

We are ſurpriſed to find verſes of ſo modern a caſt as the following at ſuch an early period; which in this ſagacious age we ſhould judge to be a forgery, was not their genuineneſs authenticated, and their antiquity confirmed, by the venerable types of Caxton, and a multitude of unqueſtionable manuſcripts.

Like as the dewe diſcendeth on the roſe
With ſylver drops d.—

Our Saviour's crucifixion is expreſſed by this remarkable metaphor.

Whan he of purple did his baner ſprede
On Calvarye abroad upon the rode,
To ſave mankynde e. .—

Our author, in the courſe of his panegyric on the Virgin Mary, affirms, that ſhe exceeded Heſter in meekneſs, and Judith in wiſdom; and in beauty, Helen, Polyxena, Lucretia, Dido, [60] Bathſheba, and Rachel f. It is amazing, that in an age of the moſt ſuperſtitious devotion ſo little diſcrimination ſhould have been made between ſacred and profane characters and incidents. But the common ſenſe of mankind had not yet attained a juſt eſtimate of things. Lydgate, in another piece, has verſified the rubrics of the miſſal, which he applies to the god Cupid: and declares, with how much delight he frequently meditated on the holy legend of thoſe conſtant martyrs, who were not afraid to ſuffer death for the faith of that omnipotent divinity g. There are inſtances, in which religion was even made the inſtrument of love. Arnaud Daniel, a celebrated troubadour of the thirteenth century, in a fit of amorous deſpair, promiſes to found a multitude of annual maſſes, and to dedicate perpetual tapers to the ſhrines of ſaints, for the important purpoſe of obtaining the affections of an obdurate miſtreſs.

SECT. IV.

[61]

BUT Lydgate's principal poems are the FALL OF PRINCES, the SIEGE OF THEBES, and the DESTRUCTION OF TROY. Of all theſe I ſhall ſpeak diſtinctly.

About the year 1360, Boccacio wrote a Latin hiſtory in ten books, entitled DE CASIBUS VIRORUM ET FEMINARUM ILLUSTRIUM. Like other chronicles of the times, it commences with Adam, and is brought down to the author' [...] age. Its laſt grand event is John king of France taken priſoner by the Engliſh at the battle of Poitiers, in the year 1359 a. This book of Boccacio was ſoon afterwards tranſlated into French, by one of whom little more ſeems to be known, than that he was named Laurence; yet ſo paraphraſtically, and with ſo many conſiderable additions, a [...] almoſt to be rendered a new work b. Laurence's French [62] tranſlation, of which there is a copy in the Britiſh Muſeum c, and which was printed at Lyons in the year 1483 d, is the original of Lydgate's poem. This Laurence or Laurent, ſometimes called Laurent de Premierfait, a village in the dioceſe of Troies, was an eccleſiaſtic, and a famous tranſlator. He alſo tranſlated into French Boccacio's DECAMERON, at the requeſt of Jane queen of Navarre: Cicero DE AMICITIA and DE SENECTUTE; and Ariſtotle's Oeconomics, dedicated to Louis de Bourbon, the king's uncle. Theſe verſions appeared in the year 1414 and 1416 e. Caxton's TULLIUS OF OLD AGE, or DE SENECTUTE, printed in 1481, is tranſlated from Laurence's French verſion. Caxton, in the poſtſcript, calls him Laurence de primo facto.

Lydgate's poem conſiſts of nine books, and is thus entitled in the earlieſt edition. ‘"The TRAGEDIES gathered by Jhon BOCHAS of all ſuch princes as fell from theyr [...]ſtates throughe the mutability of fortune ſince the CREACION of ADAM until his time, &c. Tranſlated into Engliſh by John Lidgate monke of Burye f."’ The beſt and moſt authentic manuſcript of this piece is in the Britiſh Muſeum; probably written under the inſpection of the author, and perhaps intended as a preſent to Humphrey duke of Gloceſter, at whoſe gracious command the poem, as I have before hinted, was undertaken. It contains among [63] numerous miniatures illuſtrating the ſeveral hiſtories, portraits of Lydgate, and of another monk habited in black, perhaps an abbot of Bury, kneeling before a prince, who ſeems to be ſaint Edmund, ſeated on a throne under a canopy, and graſping an arrow g.

The work is not improperly ſtyled a ſet of tragedies. It is not merely a narrative of men eminent for their rank and misfortunes. The plan is perfectly dramatic, and partly ſuggeſted by the pageants of the times. Every perſonage is ſuppoſed to appear before the poet, and to relate his reſpective ſufferings: and the figures of theſe ſpectres are ſometimes finely drawn. Hence a ſource is opened for moving compaſſion, and for a diſplay of imagination. In ſome of the lives the author replies to the ſpeaker, and a ſort of dialogue is introduced for conducting the ſtory. Brunchild, a queen of France, who murthered all her children, and was afterwards hewn in pieces, appears thus.

She came, arayed nothing like a quene,
Her hair untr [...]ſſed, Bochas toke good hede;
In al his booke he had afore not ſene
A morè wofull creature indede,
With weping eyne, to torne was al her wede:
Rebuking Bochas cauſe he' had left behynde
Her wretchednes for to put in mynde h.

Yet in ſome of theſe intereſting interviews, our poet excites pity of another kind. When Adam appears, he familiarly accoſts the author with the ſalutation of Coſyn Bochas i.

Nor does our dramatiſt deal only in real characters and hiſtorical perſonages. Boccacio ſtanding penſive in his library, is alarmed at the ſudden entrance of the gigantic and monſtrous [64] image of FORTUNE, whoſe agency has ſo powerful and univerſal an influence in human affairs, and eſpecially in effecting thoſe viciſſitudes which are the ſubject of this work. There is a Gothic greatneſs in her figure, with ſome touches of the groteſque. An attribute of the early poetry of all nations, before ideas of ſelection have taken place. I muſt add, that it was Boethius's admired allegory on the CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY, which introduced perſonification into the poetry of the middle ages.

Whyle Bochas penſyfe ſtode in his lybrarye,
Wyth chere oppreſſed, pale in hys vyſage,
Somedeale abaſhed, alone and ſolitarye;
To hym appeared a monſtruous ymage,
Parted in twayne of color and corage,
Her ryght ſyde ful of ſommer floures,
The tother oppreſſed with winter ſtormy ſhowres.
Bochas aſtonied, full fearfull to abrayde,
When he beheld the wonderfull fygure
Of FORTUNE, thus to hymſelf he ſayde.
"What may this meane? Is this a crëature,
"Or a monſtrè transfourmed agayne nature,
"Whoſe brenning eyen ſpercle of their lyght,
"As do the ſterres the froſty wynter nyght?"
And of her cherè ful god hede he toke;
Her face ſemyng cruel and terrible,
And by diſdaynè menacing of loke;
Her heare untrussd, harde, ſharpe, and horyble,
Frowarde of ſhape, lothſome, and odible:
An hundred handes ſhe had, of eche part k,
In ſondrye wiſe her gyftes to departe l.
[65]
Some of her handès lyft up men alofte,
To hye eſtate of wordlye dignitè;
Another handè griped ful unſofte,
Which caſt another in grete adverſite,
Gave one richeſſe, another poverte, &c.—
Her habyte was of manyfolde colours,
Watchet blewè of fayned ſtedfaſtneſſe,
Her gold allayd like ſun in watry ſhowres,
Meyntm with grene, for chaunge and doubleneſſe.—

Her hundred hands, her burning eyes, and diſheveled treſſes, are ſublimely conceived. After a long ſilence, with a ſtern countenance ſhe addreſſes Bochas, who is greatly terrified at her horrible appearance; and having made a long harangue on the revolutions and changes which it is her buſineſs to produce among men of the moſt proſperous condition and the moſt elevated ſtation, ſhe calls up Caius Marius, and preſents him to the poet.

Blacke was his wede, and his habyte alſo,
His heed unkempt, his lockès hore and gray,
His loke downe-caſt in token of ſorowe and wo;
On his chekès the ſaltè teares lay,
Which bare recorde of his deadly affray.—
His robè ſtayned was with Romayne blode,
His ſworde aye redy whet to do vengeaunce;
Lyke a tyraunt moſt furyouſe and wode n,
In ſlaughter and murdre ſet at his pleſaunce o.

She then teaches Bochas how to deſcribe his life, and diſappears.

[66]
Theſe wordès ſaydè, Fortune made an ende,
She bete her wynges, and toke her to flyght,
I can not ſè what waye ſhe did wende;
Save Bochas telleth, lyke an angell bryght,
At her departing ſhe ſhewed a great lyght p.

In another place, Dante, ‘"of Florence the laureate poete, demure of loke fullfilled with patience,"’ appears to Bochas; and commands him to write the tale of Gualter duke of Florence, whoſe days for his tiranny, lechery, and covetyſe, ended in miſchefe. Dante then vaniſhes, and only duke Gualter is left alone with the poet q. Petrarch is alſo introduced for the ſame purpoſe r.

The following golden couplet, concerning the prodigies which preceded the civil wars between Ceſar and Pompey, indica [...]e dawnings of that poetical colouring of expreſſion, and of that facility of verſification, which mark the poetry of the preſent times.

Serpents and adders, ſcaled ſylver-bryght,
Were over Rome ſene flying al the nyght s.

Theſe verſes, in which the poet deſcribes the reign of S [...] turn, have much harmony, ſtrength, and dignity.

Fortitude then ſtode ſtedfaſt in his might,
Defended wydowes, cheriſhd chaſtity;
Knyghtehood in prowes gave ſo clere a light,
Girte with his ſworde of truthe and equity t.

Apollo, Diana, and Miner [...]a, joining the Roman army, when Rome was beſieged by Bren [...]us, are poetically touched.

[67]
Appollo firſt yſhewed his preſence,
Freſshe, yonge, and luſty, as any ſunnè ſhene,
Armd all with golde; and with great vyolence
Entred the feldè, as it was wel ſene:
And Dianà came with her arowes kene:
And Mynervà in a bryght haberjoun;
Which in ther coming made a terrible ſoun u.

And the following lines are remarkable.

God hath a thouſand handès to chaſtyſe,
A thouſand dartès of punicion,
A thouſand bowès made in divers wyſe,
A thouſand arlblaſts bent in his dongeon w.

Lydgate, in this poem, quotes Seneca's tragediesx for the ſtory of Oedipus, Tully, Virgil and his commentator Servius, Ovid, Livy, Lucan, Lactantius, Juſtiny or ‘"prudent Juſtinus an old croniclere,"’ Joſephus, Valerius Maximus, ſaint Jerom's chronicle, Boethius z, Plato on the immortality of the ſoul a, and Fulgentius the mythologiſt b. He mentions ‘"noble Perſius,"’ Proſper's epigrams, Vegetius's book on Tactics, which was highly eſteemed, as its ſubject coincided with the chivalry of the times, and which had been juſt tranſlated into French by John of Meun and Chriſtina of Piſa, and into Engliſh by John Treviſa c, ‘"the grene [68] chaplet of Eſop and Juvenal d,"’ Euripides ‘"in his tyme a great tragician, becauſe he wrote many tragedies,"’ and another called Clarke Demoſthenes e. For a catalogue of Tully's works, he refers to the SPECULUM HISTORIALE f, or Myrrour Hyſtori [...]ll, of Vyncentius Bellovacenſis; and ſays, that he wrote twelve books of Orations, and ſeveral morall ditti [...]s g. Ariſtotle is introduced as teaching Alexander and Calliſthenes philoſophy h. With regard to Homer, he obſerves, that ‘"Grete Omerus, in Iſidore ye may ſee, founde amonge Grekes the crafte of eloquence i."’ By Iſidore he means the ORIGINES, or ETYMOLOGIES of Iſidore Hiſpalenſis, in twenty books; a ſyſtem of univerſal information, the encyclopede of the dark ages, and printed in Italy before the year 1472 k. In another place, he cenſures the ſingular partiality of the book called Omere, which places Achilles above Hector l. Again, ſpeaking of the Greek writers, he tells us, that Bochas mentions a ſcriveyn, or ſcribe, who in a ſmall ſcroll o [...] paper wrote the deſtruction of Troy, following Homer: a hiſtory much eſteemed among the Greeks, on account of its brevity m. This was Dictys Cre [...]enſis, or Dares Phrygius. [69] But for perpetuating the atchievements of the knights of the round table, he ſuppoſes that a clerk was appointed, and that he compiled a regiſter from the pourſuivants and heralds who attended their tournaments; and that thence the hiſtories of thoſe invincible champions were framed, which, whether read or ſung, have afforded ſo much delight n. For the ſtories of Conſtantine and Arthur he brings as his vouchers, the chronicle or romance called BRUT or BRUTUS, and Geoffrey of Monmouth o. He concludes the legend of Conſtantine by telling us, that an equeſtrian ſtatue in braſs is ſtill to be ſeen at Conſtantinople of that emperor; in which he appears armed with a prodigious ſword, menacing the Turks p. In deſcribing the Pantheon at Rome, he gives us ſome circumſtances highly romantic. He relates that this magnificent fane was full of gigantic idols, placed on lofty ſtages: theſe images were the gods of all the nations conquered by the Romans, and each turned his countenance to that province over which he preſided. Every image held in his hand a bell framed by magic; and when any kingdom belonging to the Roman juriſdiction was meditating rebellion againſt the imperial city, the idol of that country gave, by ſome ſecret principle, a ſolemn warning of the diſtant treaſon by ſtriking his bell, which never ſounded on any other occaſion q. Our author, following Boccacio who wrote the THESEID, ſuppoſes that Theſeus founded the order of knighthood at Athens r. He introduces, much in the manner of Boethius, a diſputation between Fortune and Poverty; ſuppoſed to have been written by ANDALUS the blake, a doctor of aſtronomy at Naples, who was one of Bochas's preceptors.

[70]
At Naples whylom, as he dothe ſpecifye,
In his youth when hes to ſchole went,
There was a doctour of aſtronomye.—
And he was called Andalus the blake t.

Lydgate appears to have been far advanced in years when he finiſhed this poem: for at the beginning of the eighth book he complains of his trembling joints, and declares that age, having benumbed his faculties, has deprived him ‘"of all the ſubtylte of curious makyng in Englyſshe to endyte u."’ Our author, in the ſtructure and modulation of his ſtyle, ſeems to have been ambitious of rivalling Chaucer w: whoſe capital compoſitions he enumerates, and on whoſe poetry he beſtows repeated encomiums.

I cannot quit this work without adding an obſervation relating to Boccacio, its original author, which perhaps may deſerve attention. It is highly probable that Boccacio learned many anecdotes of Grecian hiſtory and Grecian fable, not to be found in any Greek writer now extant, from his preceptors Barlaam, Leontius, and others, who had lived at Conſtantinople while the Greek literature was yet flouriſhing. Some of theſe are perhaps ſcattered up and down in the compoſition before us, which contains a conſiderable part of the Grecian ſtory; and eſpecially in his treatiſe of the genealogies of the gods x. Boccacio himſelf calls his maſter Leontius an inexhauſtible archive of Grecian tales and fables, although not equally converſant with thoſe of [71] the Latins y. He confeſſes that he took many things in his book of the genealogies of the gods from a vaſt work entitled COLLECTIVUM, now loſt, written by his cotemporary Paulus Peru [...]inus, the materials of which had in great meaſure been furniſhed by Barlaam z. We are informed alſo, that Peruſinus made uſe of ſome of theſe fugitive Greek ſcholars, eſpecially Barlaam, for collecting rare books in that language. Peruſinus was librarian, about the year 1340, to Robert king of Jeruſalem and Sicily: and was the moſt curious and inquiſitive man of his age for ſearching after unknown or uncommon manuſcripts, eſpecially hiſtories, and poetical compoſitions, and particularly ſuch as were written in Greek. I will beg leave to cite the words of Boccacio, who records this anecdote. ‘"Et, ſi uſquam CURIOSISSIMUS [...]uit homo in perquirendis, juſſu etiam principis, PEREGRINIS undecunque libris, HISTORIIS et POETICIS operibus, iſte fuit. Et ob id, ſingulari amicitiae Barlaae conjunctus, quae a Latinis habere non poterat EO MEDIO INNUMERA exhauſit a GRAECIS a."’ By theſe HISTORIAE and POETICA OPERA, brought from Conſtantinople by Barlaam, undoubtedly works of entertainment, and perhaps chiefly of the romantic and fictitious ſpecies, I do not underſtand the claſſics. It is natural to ſuppoſe that Boccacio, both from his connections and his curioſity, was no ſtranger to theſe treaſures: and that many of theſe pieces, thus imported into Italy by the diſperſion of the Conſtantinopolitan exiles, are only known at preſent through the medium of his writings. It is certain that many oriental fictions found their way into Europe by means of this communication.

Lydgate's STORIE OF THEBES was firſt printed by William Thinne, at the end of his edition of Chaucer's works, in [72] 1561. The author introduces it as an additional Canterbury tale. After a ſevere ſickneſs, having a deſign to viſit the ſhrine of Thomas a Beckett at Canterbury, he arrives in that city while Chaucer's pilgrims were aſſembled there for the ſame purpoſe; and by mere accident, not ſuſpecting to find ſo numerous and reſpectable a company, goes to their inn. There is ſome humour in our monk's travelling figure b.

In a cope of black, and not of grene,
On a palfray, ſlender, long, and lene,
With ruſty bridle, made not for the ſale,
My man toforne with a void male c.

He ſees, ſtanding in the hall of the inn, the convivial hoſt of the tabard, full of his own importance; who without the leaſt introduction or heſitation thus addreſſes our author, quite unprepared for ſuch an abrupt ſalutation.

—Dan Pers,
Dan Dominike, Dan Godfray, or Clement,
Ye be welcome newl [...] into Kent;
Though your bridle have neither boſs, ne bell d,
Beſeching you that you will tell,
Firſt of your name, &c.—
That looke ſo pale, all devoid of blood,
Upon your head a wonder thredbare hood e.—

Our hoſt then invites him to ſupper, and promiſes that he ſhall have, made according to his own directions, a large pudding, a round hagis, a French moile, or a phraſe of eggs: adding, that he looked extremely lean for a monk, and muſt certainly have been ſick, or elſe belong to a poor monaſtery: [73] that ſome nut-brown ale after ſupper will be of ſervice, and that a quantity of the ſeed of annis, cummin, or coriander, taken before going to bed, will remove flatulencies. But above all, ſays the hoſt, chearful company will be your beſt phyſician. You ſhall not only ſup with me and my companions this evening, but return with us to-morrow to London; yet on condition, that you will ſubmit to one of the indiſpenſable rules of our ſociety, which is to tell an entertaining ſtory while we are travelling.

What, looke up, Monke! For byf cockes blood,
Thou ſhall be mery, whoſo that ſay nay;
For to-morrowe, anone as it is day,
And that it ginne in the eaſt to dawe g,
Thou ſhall be bound to a newe lawe,
At going out of Canterbury toun,
And lien aſide thy profeſſioun;
Thou ſhall not cheſe h, nor thyſelf withdrawe,
If any mirth be found in thy mawe,
Like the cuſtom of this company;
For none ſo proude that dare me deny,
Knight, nor knave, chanon, prieſt, ne nonne,
To telle a tale plainely as they conne i,
When I aſſigne, and ſee time oportune;
And, for that we our purpoſe woll contune k,
We will homeward the ſame cuſtome uſe l.

Our monk, unable to withſtand this profuſion of kindneſs and feſtivity, accepts the hoſt's invitation, and ſups with the pilgrims. The next morning, as they are all riding from Canterbury to Oſpringe, the hoſt reminds his friend DAN JOHN of what he had mentioned in the evening, and without farther ceremony calls for a ſtory. Lydgate obeys [74] his commands, and recites the tragical deſtruction of the city of Thebes m. As the ſtory is very long, a pauſe is made in deſcending a very ſteep hill near the Thrope n of Broug [...]ton on the Blee; when our author, who was not furniſhed with that accommodation for knowing the time of the day, which modern improvements in ſcience have given to the traveller, diſcovers by an accurate examination of his calendar, I ſuppoſe ſome ſort of graduated ſcale, in which the ſun's horary progreſs along the equator was marked, that it is nine in the morning o.

It has been ſaid, but without any authority or probability, that Chaucer firſt wrote this ſtory in a Latin narrative, which Lydgate afterwards tranſlated into Engliſh verſe. Our author's originals are Guido Colonna, Statius, and Seneca the tragedian p. Nicholas Trevet, an Engliſhman, a Dominican friar of London, who flouriſhed about the year 1330, has left a commentary on Seneca's tragedies q: and he was ſo favorite a poet as to have been illuſtrated by Thomas Aquinas r. He was printed at Venice ſo early as the year 1482. Lydgate in this poem often refers to myne auctor, who, I ſuppoſe, is either Statius, or Colonna s. He ſometimes cites Boccacio's Latin tracts: particularly the GENEALOGIAE DEORUM, a work which at the reſtoration of learning greatly contributed to familiariſe the claſſical ſtories, DE CASIBUS VIRORUM ILLUSTRIUM, the ground-work of the FALL OF PRINCES juſt mentioned, and DE CLARIS MULIERIBUS, in which pope Joan is one of the heroines t. From the firſt, he has taken the ſtory of Amphion building the [75] walls of Thebes by the help of Mercury's harp, and the interpretation of that fable, together with theu [...]ictions about Lycurgus king of Thracew. From the ſecond, as I recollect, the accoutrements of Polymites x: and from the third, part of the tale of Iſophile y. He alſo characteriſes Boccacio for a talent, by which he is not now ſo generally known, for his poetry; and ſtyles him, ‘"among poetes in Itaile ſtalled z."’ But Boccacio's THESEID was yet in vogue. He ſays, that when Oedipus was married, none of the Muſes were preſent, as they were at the wedding of SAPIENCE with ELOQUENCE, deſcribed by that poet whilom ſo ſage, Matrician inamed de Capella. This is Marcianus Mineus Felix de Capella, who lived about the year 470, and whoſe Latin proſaico-metrical work, de Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, in two books, an introduction to his ſeven books, or ſyſtem, of the SEVEN SCIENCES, I have mentioned before a: a writer highly extolled by Scotus Erigena b, Peter of Blois c, John of Saliſbury, and other early authors in corrupt Latinity d; and of ſuch eminent eſtimation in the dark centuries, as to be taught in the ſeminaries of philological education as a claſſic e. Among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh muſeum, a manuſcript occurs written about the [...]venth century, which is a commentary on theſe nine books of Capella, [76] compiled by Duncant an Iriſh biſhop f, and given to his ſcholars in the monaſtery of ſaint Remigius g. They were early tranſlated into Latin leonine rhymes, and are often imitated by Saxo Grammaticus h. Gregory of Tours has the vanity to hope, that no readers will think his Latinity barbarous: not even thoſe, who have refined their taſte, and enriched their underſtanding with a complete knowledge of every ſpecies of literature, by ſtudying attentively this treatiſe of Marcianus i. Alexander Necham, a learned abbot of Cirenceſter, and a voluminous Latin writer about the year 1210, wrote annotations on Marcianus, which are yet preſerved k. He was firſt printed in the year 1499, and other editions appeared ſoon afterwards. This piece of Marcianus, dictated by the ideal philoſophy of Plato, is ſuppoſed to have led the way to Boethius's celebrated CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY m.

The marriage of SAPIENCE and ELOQUENCE, or Mercury and Philology, as deſcribed by Marcianus, at which Clio and Calliope with all their ſiſters aſſiſted, and from which [...]ISCORD and SEDITION, the great enemies of literature, we [...] excluded, is artfully introduced, and beautifully contraſte [...] w [...]h that of Oedipus and Jocaſta, which was celebrated by an aſſemblage of the moſt hideous beings.

[77]
Ne was there none of the Muſes nine,—
By one accorde to maken melody:
For there ſung not by heavenly harmony,
Neyther Clio nor Caliope,
None of the ſiſtren in number thriſe thre,
As they did, when PHILOLAIE n
Aſcended up highe above the ſkie,
To be wedded, this lady virtuous,
Unto her lord the god Mercurius.—
But at this weddinge, plainly for to telle,
Was CERBERUS, chiefe porter of hell;
And HEREBUS, fader to Hatred,
Was there preſent with his holle kindred,
His WIFE alſoo with her browes blacke,
And her daughters, ſorow for to make,
Hideouſly chered, and uglie for to ſee,
MEGERA, and THESIPHONEE,
ALECTO eke: with LABOUR, and ENVIE,
DREDE, FRAUDE, and falſe TRETCHERIE,
TRESON, POVERT, INDIGENCE, and NEDE,
And cruell DEATH in his rent wede p:
WRETCHEDNESSE, COMPLAINT, and eke RAGE,
FEAR full pale, DRONKENESSE, croked AGE:
Cruell MARS, and many a tigre wood q,
Brenningr IRE, and UNKINDE BLOOD,
FRATERNALL HATE depe ſett in the roote,
Sauf only death that there was no boote s:
ASSURED OTHES at fine untrew t,
All theſe folkes were at weddyng new;
To make the town deſolate and bare,
As the ſtory after ſhall declare u.

[78] The bare conception of the attendance of this allegorical groupe on theſe inceſtuous eſpouſals, is highly poetical: and although ſome of the perſonifications are not preſented with the addition of any pictureſque attributes, yet others are marked with the powerful pencil of Chaucer.

This poem is the THEBAID of a troubadour. The old claſſical tale of Thebes is here cloathed with feudal manners, enlarged with new fictions of the Gothic ſpecies, and furniſhed with the deſcriptions, circumſtances, and machineries, appropriated to a romance of chivalry. The Sphinx is a terrible dragon, placed by a necromancer to guard a mountain, and to murther all travellers paſſing by w. Tydeus being wounded ſees a caſtle on a rock, whoſe high towers and creſted pinnacles of poliſhed ſtone glitter by the light of the moon: he gains admittance, is laid in a ſumptuous bed of cloth of gold, and healed of his wounds by a king's daughter x. Tydeus and Polymite tilt at midnight for a lodging, before the gate of the palace of king Adraſtus; who is awakened with the din of the ſtrokes of their weapons, which ſhake all the palace, and deſcends into the court with a long train by torch-light: he orders the two combatants to be diſarmed, and cloathed in rich mantles ſtudded with pearls; and they are conducted to repoſe by many a ſtair to a ſtately tower, after being ſerved with a refection of hypocras from golden goblets. The next day they are both eſpouſed to the king's two daughters, and entertained with tournaments, feaſting, revels, and maſques y. Afterwards Tydeus, having a meſſage to deliver to Eteocles king of Thebes, enters the hall of the royal palace, completely armed and on horſeback, in the midſt of a magnificent feſtival z. This palace, like a Norman fortreſs, or feudal caſtle, is [79] guarded with barbicans, portculliſſes, chains, and foſſes a. Adraſtus wiſhes to cloſe his old age in the repoſe of rural diverſions, of hawking and hunting b.

The ſituation of Polymite, benighted in a ſolitary wilderneſs, is thus forcibly deſcribed.

Holding his way, of hertè nothing light,
Matec and weary, till it draweth to night:
And al the day beholding envirown,
He neither ſawe ne caſtle, towre, ne town;
The which thing greveth him full ſore,
And ſodenly the ſee began to rore,
Winde and tempèſt hidiouſly to ariſe,
The rain down beten in ful griſly wiſe;
That many à beaſt thereof was adrad,
And nigh for ferè gan to waxè mad,
As it ſeemed by the full wofull ſownes
Of tigres, beres, of bores, and of liounes;
Which to refute, and himſelf for to ſave,
Evrich in haſte draweth to his cave.
But Polymitè in this tempeſt huge
Alas the whilè findeth no refuge.
Ne, him to ſhrowde, ſaw no where no ſuccour,
Till it was paſſed almoſt midnight hour d.

When Oedipus conſults concerning his kindred the oracle of Apollo, whoſe image ſtood on a golden chariot with four wheels burned bright and ſheen, animated with a fiend, the manner in which he receives his anſwer is touched with ſpirit and imagination.

And when Edipus by great devotion
Finiſhed had fully his oriſon,
The fiend anon, within inviſible,
With a voice dredefull and horrible,
[80] Bade him in haſte take his voyage
Towrds Thebes, &c e.—

In this poem, excluſive of that general one already mentioned, there are ſome curious mixtures of manners, and of claſſics and ſcripture. The nativity of Oedipus at his birth is calculated by the moſt learned aſtronomers and phyſiciansf. Eteocles defends the walls of Thebes with great guns g. And the prieſth Amphiorax, or Amphiaraus, is ſtyled a biſhop i, whoſe wife is alſo mentioned. At a council held at Thebes, concerning the right of ſucceſſion to the throne, Eſdras and Solomon are cited: and the hiſtory of Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jeruſalem is introduced k. The moral intended by this calamitous tale conſiſts in ſhewing the pernicious effects of war: the diabolical nature of which our author ſtill further illuſtrates by obſerving, that diſcord received its origin in hell, and that the firſt battle ever fought was that of Lucifer and his legion of rebel angels l. But that the argument may have the fulleſt confirmation, Saint Luke is then quoted to prove, that avarice, ambition, and envy, are the primary ſources of contention; and that Chriſt came into the world to deſtroy theſe malignant principles, and to propagate univerſal charity.

At the cloſe of the poem, the mediation of the holy virgin is invoked, to procure peace in this life, and ſalvation in the next. Yet it ſhould be remembered, that this piece is written by a monk, and addreſſed to pilgrims m.

SECT. V.

[81]

THE third of Lydgate's poems which I propoſed to conſider, is the TROY BOKE, or the DESTRUCTION OF TROY. It was firſt printed at the command of king Henry the eighth, in the year 1513, by Richard Pinſon, with this title, ‘"THE HYSTORY SEGE AND DESTRUCCION OF TROYE. The table or rubriſshe of the content of the chapitres, &c. Here after foloweth the TROYE BOKE, otherwiſe called the SEGE OF TROYE. Tranſlated by JOHN LYDGATE monke of Bury, and emprynted at the commaundement of oure ſouveraygne lorde the kynge Henry the eighth, by Richarde Pinſon, &c. the yere of our lorde god a M. CCCCC. and XIII n."’ Another, and a much more correct edition followed, by Thomas Marſhe, under the care of one John Braham, in the year 1555 o. It was begun in the year 1414, the laſt year of the reign of king Henry the fourth. It was written at that prince's [82] command, and is dedicated to his ſucceſſor. It was finiſhed in the year 1420. In the Bodleian library there is a manuſcript of this poem elegantly illuminated, with the picture of a monk preſenting a book to a king p. From the ſplendour of the decorations, it appears to be the copy which Lydgate gave to Henry the fifth.

This poem is profeſſedly a tranſlation or paraphraſe of Guido de Colonna's romance, entitled HISTORIA TROJANA q. But whether from Colonna's original Latin, or from a French verſionr mentioned in Lygdate's Prologue, and which exiſted ſoon after the year 1300, I cannot aſcertain s. I have before obſerved t, that Colonna formed his Trojan Hiſtory from Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretenſis u; who perpetually occur as authorities in Lydgate's tranſlation. Homer is however referred to in this work; particularly in the catalogue, or enumeration, of the ſhips which brought the [83] ſeveral Grecian leaders with their forces to the Trojan coaſt. It begins thus, on the teſtimony of Colonna w.

Myne auctor telleth how Agamamnon,
The worthi kynge, an hundred ſhippis brought.

And is cloſed with theſe lines.

Full many ſhippès was in this navye,
More than GUIDO maketh reherſayle,
Towards Troyè with Grekès for to ſayle:
For as HOMER in his diſcrypcion
Of Grekès ſhippès maketh mencion,
Shortly affyrminge the man was never born [...]
That ſuch a nombre of ſhippes ſawe to forne x.

In another place Homer, notwithſtanding all his rhetoryke and ſugred eloquence, his luſty ſonges and dytees ſwete, is blamed as a prejudiced writer, who favours the Greeks y: a cenſure, which flowed from the favorite and prevailing notion held by the weſtern nations of their deſcent from the Trojans. Homer is alſo ſaid to paint with colours of gold and azure z. A metaphor borrowed from the faſhionable art of illumining. I do not however ſuppoſe, that Colonna, who flouriſhed in the middle of the thirteenth century, had ever ſeen Homer's poems: he might have known theſe and many other particulars, contained in the Iliad, from thoſe factitious hiſtorian [...] [84] whom he profeſſes to follow. Yet it is not, in the mean time, impoſſible, that Lydgate might have ſeen the Iliad, at leaſt in a Latin tranſlation. Leontius Pilatus, already mentioned, one of the learned Conſtantinopolitan exiles, had tranſlated the Iliad into Latin proſe, with part of the Odyſſ [...]y, at the deſire of Boccacio a, about the year 1360. This appears from Petrarch's Epiſtles to his friend Boccacio b: in which, among other curious circumſtances, the former requeſts Boccacio to ſend him to Venice that part of Leontius's new Latin verſion of the Odyſſey, in which Ulyſſes' [...] deſcent into hell, and the veſtibule of Erebus, are deſcribed. He wiſhes alſo to ſee, how Homer, blind and an Aſiatic, had deſcribed the lake of Averno and the mountain of Circe. In another part of theſe letters, he acknowledges the receipt of the Latin Homer; and mentions with how much ſatisfaction and joy the report of its arrival in the public library at Venice was received, by all the Greek and Latin ſcholars of that city c. The Iliad was alſo tranſlated into French verſe, by Jacques Milet, a licentiate of laws, about the year 1430 d. Yet I cannot believe that Lydgate had ever conſulted theſe tranſlations, although he had travelled in France and Italy. One may venture to pronounce peremptorily, that he did not underſtand, as he probably never had ſeen, the original. After the migration of the Roman emperors to Greece, Boccacio was the firſt European that could read Homer; nor was there perhaps a copy of either of Homer's poems exiſting in Europe, till about the time the Greeks were driven [85] by the Turks from Conſtantinople e. Long after Boccacio's time, the knowledge of the Greek tongue, and conſequently of Homer, was confined only to a few ſcholars. Yet ſome ingenious French critics have inſinuated, that Homer was familiar in France very early, and that Chriſtina of Piſa, in a poem never printed, written in the year 1398, and entitled L'EPITRE D'OTHEA A HECTOR f, borrowed the word Othea, or WISDOM, from [...] in Homer, a formal appellation by which that poet often invocates Minerva g.

This poem is replete with deſcriptions of rural beauty, formed by a ſelection of very poetical and pictureſque circumſtances, and cloathed in the moſt perſpicuous and muſical numbers. The colouring of our poet's h mornings is often remarkably rich and ſplendid.

When that the rowes h and the rayes redde
Eaſtward to us full early ginnen ſpredde,
Even at the twylyght in the dawneynge,
Whan that the larke of cuſtom ginneth ſynge,
For to ſalüèi in her heavenly laye,
The luſty goddeſſe of the morowe graye,
I meane Aurora, which afore the ſunne
Is wont t'k enchaſe the blackè ſkyès dunne,
And al the darkneſſe of the dimmy night:
And freſhe Phebùs, with comforte of his light,
[86] And with the brightnes of his bemès ſhene,
Hath overgylt the hugè hyllès grene;
And flourès eke, agayn the morowe-tide,
Upon their ſtalkes gan playnl their leavès wide m.

Again, among more pictures of the ſame ſubject.

When Aurorà the ſylver droppè ſhene,
Her teares, had ſhed upon the freſhè grene;
Complaynyng aye, in weping and in ſorowe,
Her chyldren's death on every ſommer-morowe:
That is to ſayè, when the dewe ſo ſoote,
Embawmed hath the floure and eke roote
With luſtie lycoùr in April and in Maye:
When that the larke, the meſſenger of daye,
Of cuſtom aye Aurora doth ſalùe,
With ſundry notes her ſorowe ton tranſmuè o.

The ſpring is thus deſcribed, renewing the buds or bloſſoms of the groves, and the flowers of the meadows.

And them whom winter's blaſtes have ſhaken bare
With ſotè bloſomes freſhly to repare;
And the meadòws of many a ſundry hewe,
Tapitid ben with divers flourès newe
Of ſundry motleſs p, luſty for to ſene;
And holſome balm is ſhed among the grene.

Frequently in theſe florid landſcapes we find the ſame idea differently expreſſed. Yet this circumſtance, while it weakened the deſcription, taught a copiouſneſs of diction, and a variety of poetical phraſeology. There is great ſoftneſs and facility in the following delineation of a delicious retreat.

[87]
Tyll at the laſt, amonge the bowès glade,
Of adventure, I caught a pleſaunt ſhade;
Ful ſmothe, and playn, and luſty for to ſene,
And ſofte as velvette was the yongè grene:
Where from my hors I did alight as faſt,
And on a bowe aloft his reynè caſt.
So faynte and mate of weryneſſe I was,
That I me layd adowne upon the gras,
Upon a brinckè, ſhortly for to telle,
Beſyde the river of a criſtall welle;
And the watèr, as I reherſè can,
Like quickè-ſylver in his ſtreames yran,
Of which the gravell and the bryghtè ſtone,
As any golde, agaynſt the ſun yſhone q.

The circumſtance of the pebbles and gravel of a tranſparent ſtream glittering againſt the ſun, which is uncommon, has much of the brilliancy of the Italian poetry. It recalls to my memory a paſſage in Theocritus, which has been lately reſtored to its priſtine beauty.

[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
They found a perpetual ſpring, under a high rock,
Filled with pure water: but underneath
The pebbles ſparkled as with cryſtal and ſilver
From the bottom r.—

There is much elegance of ſentiment and expreſſion in the portrait of Creſeide weeping when ſhe parts with Troilus.

[88]
And from her eyn the teare's round drops tryll,
That al fordewed have her blackè wede;
And eke untruſſd her haire abrode gan ſprede,
Lyke golden wyre, forrent and alto torn.—
And over this, her freſhe and roſey hewe,
Whylom ymeynts with whitè lylyes newe,
Wyth wofull wepyng pyteouſly diſteynd;
And lyke the herbes in April all bereynd,
Or floures freſhè with the dewè ſwete,
Ryght ſo her chekès moyſtè were and wete t.

The following verſes are worthy of attention in another ſtyle of writing, and have great ſtrength and ſpirit. A knight brings a ſteed to Hector in the midſt of the battle.

And brought to Hector. Sothly there he ſtoode
Among the Grekes, al bathed in their bloode:
The which in haſte ful knightly he beſtrode,
And them amonge like Mars himſelfe he rode u.

The ſtrokes on the helmets are thus expreſſed, ſtriking fire amid the plumes.

But ſtrokys felle, that men might herden rynge,
On baſſenetts, the fieldès rounde aboute,
So cruelly, that the fyrè ſprange oute
Amonge the tuftès brodè, bright and ſhene,
Of foyle of golde, of fethers white and grene w.

The touches of feudal manners, which our author affords, are innumerable: for the Trojan ſtory, and with no great difficulty, is here entirely accommodated to the ideas of romance. Hardly any adventure of the champions of the round table [89] was more chimerical and unmeaning than this of our Grecian chiefs: and the cauſe of their expedition to Troy was quite in the ſpirit of chivalry, as it was occaſioned by a lady. When Jaſon arrives at Cholcos, he is entertained by king Oetes in a Gothic caſtle. Amadis or Lancelot were never conducted to their fairy chambers with more ceremony and ſolemnity. He is led through many a hall and many a tower, by many a ſtair, to a ſumptuous apartment, whoſe walls, richly painted with the hiſtories of antient heroes, glittered with gold and azure.

Through many a halle, and many a riche toure,
By many a tourne, and many divers waye,
By many a greex ymade of marbyll graye.—
And in his chambre', engloſed y bright and cleare,
That ſhone ful ſhene with gold and with aſure,
Of many image that ther was in pictùre,
He hath commaunded to his offycers,
Only' in honoùr of them that were ſtraungers,
Spyces and wyne z.—

The ſiege of Troy, the grand object of the poem, is not conducted according to the claſſical art of war. All the military machines, invented and uſed in the cruſades, are aſſembled to demoliſh the bulwarks of that city, with the addition of great guns. Among other implements of deſtruction borrowed from the holy war, the Greek fire, firſt diſcovered at Conſtantinople, with which the Saracens ſo greatly annoyed the Chriſtian armies, is thrown from the walls of the beſieged a.

[90] Nor are we only preſented in this piece with the habits of feudal life, and the practices of chivalry. The poem is enriched with a multitude of oriental fictions, and Arabian traditions. Medea gives to Jaſon, when he is going to combat the brazen bulls, and to lull the dragon who guarded the golden fleece aſleep, a marvellous ring; in which was a gem whoſe virtue could deſtroy the efficacy of poiſon, and render the wearer inviſible. It was the ſame ſort of precious ſtone, adds our author, which Virgil celebrates, and which Venus ſent her ſon Eneas that he might enter Carthage unſeen. Another of Medea's preſents to Jaſon, to aſſiſt him in this perilous atchievement, is a ſilver image, or taliſman, which defeated all the powers of incantation, and was framed according to principles of aſtronomy b. The hall of king Priam is illuminated at night by a prodigious carbuncle, placed among ſaphires, rubies, and pearls, on the crown of a golden ſtatue of Jupiter, fifteen cubits high c. In the court of the palace, was a tree made by magic, whoſe trunk was twelve cubits high; the branches, which overſhadowed diſtant plains, were alternately of ſolid gold and ſilver, bloſſomed with gems of various hues, which were renewed every day d. Moſt of theſe extravagancies, and a thouſand more, are in Guido de Colonna, who lived when this mode of fabling was at its height. But in the fourth book, Dares e Phrigius is particularly cited for a deſcription of Priam's palace, which ſeemed to be founded by FAYRIE, or enchantment; and was paved with cryſtal, built of diamonds, ſaphires, and emeralds, and ſupported by ivory pillars, ſurmounted with golden images f. This is not, however, in Dares. The warriors who came to the aſſiſtance of the Trojans, afford an ample field for invention. One of them be [...]ongs to a region of foreſts; amid the gloom of which wander many monſtrous beaſts, not real, but appearances [91] or illuſive images, formed by the deceptions of necromancy, to terrify the traveller g. King Epiſtrophus brings from the land beyond the Amazons, a thouſand knights; among which is a terrible archer, half man and half beaſt, who neighs like a horſe, whoſe eyes ſparkle like a furnace, and ſtrike dead like lightening h. This is Shakeſpeare's DREADFUL SAGITTARY i. The Trojan horſe, in the genuine ſpirit of Arabian philoſophy, is formed of braſs k [...] of ſuch immenſe ſize, as to contain a thouſand ſoldiers.

Colonna, I believe, gave the Trojan ſtory its romantic additions. It had long before been falſified by Dictys and Dares; but thoſe writers, miſrepreſenting or enlarging Homer, only invented plain and credible facts. They were the baſis of Colonna: who firſt filled the faint outlines of their fabulous hiſtory with the colourings of eaſtern fancy, and adorned their ſcanty forgeries with the gorgeous trappings of Gothic chivalry. Or, as our author expreſſes himſelf in his Prologue, ſpeaking of Colonna's improvements on his originals.

For he ENLUMINETH, by crafte and cadence,
This noble ſtory with many a FRESHE COLOURE
Of rhetorike, and many a RYCHE FLOURE
Of eloquence, to make it ſound the bett l.

Cloathed with theſe new inventions, this favourite tale deſcended to later times. Yet it appears, not only with theſe, but with an infinite variety of other embelliſhments, not fabricated by the fertile genius of Colonna, but [92] adopted from French enlargements of Colonna, and incorporated from romances on other ſubjects, in the French RECUYEL OF TROY, written by a French eccleſiaſtic, Rauol le Feure, about the year 1464, and tranſlated by Caxton l.

The deſcription of the city of Troy, as newly built by king Priam, is extremely curious; not for the capricious incredibilities and abſurd inconſiſtencies which it exhibits m, but becauſe it conveys anecdotes of antient architecture, and eſpecially of that florid and improved ſpecies, which began to grow faſhionable in Lydgate's age. Although much of this is in Colonna. He avoids to deſcribe it geometrically, having never read Euclid. He ſays that Priam procured,

—Eche carver, and curious joyner,
To make knottes with many a queint floure
To ſette on creſtes within and eke without.—

That he ſent for ſuch as could ‘"grave, groupe, or carve, were ſotyll in their fantaſye, good devyſours, marveylous of caſtinge, who could raiſe a wall with batayling and creſtes marciall, every imageour in entayle n, and every portreyour who could paynt the work with freſh hewes, who could pulliſh alabaſter, and make an ymage."’

And yf I ſhulde reherſen by and by,
The corvè knottes by craft of maſonry;
[93] The freſh embowingo with verges right as lynes,
And the houſyng full of bachewines,
The ryche coynyng, the luſty tablemènts,
Vinettesp running in caſemènts.—
Nor how they put, inſtedè of mortère,
In the joyntoures, coper gilt ful clere;
To make them joyne by levell and by lyne,
Among the marbell freſhly for to ſhyne
Agaynſt the ſunne, whan that his ſhenè light
Smote on the goldè that was burned bright.

The ſides of every ſtreet were covered with freſhe alures q of marble, or cloiſters, crowned with rich and lofty pinnacles, and fronted with tabernacular or open work r, vaulted like the dormitory of a monaſtery, and called deambulatories, for the accommodation of the citizens in all weathers.

And every houſe ycovered was with lead;
And many a gargoyle, and many a hideous head,
With ſpoutès thorough, &c.—

And again, of Priam's palace.

And the walles, within and eke without,
Endilong were with knottes graven clere,
Depeynt with aſure, golde, cinople', and grene.—
And al the wyndowes and eche feneſtrall
Wrought were with beryll and of cler [...] cryſtall. 454.

[94] With regard to the reality of the laſt circumſtance, we are told, that in Studley caſtle in Shropſhire, the windows, ſo late as the reign of Elizabeth, were of beryl t.

The account of the Trojan theatre muſt not be omitted, as it diſplays the imperfect ideas of the ſtage, at leaſt of dramatic exhibition, which now prevailed; or rather, the abſolute inexiſtence of this ſort of ſpectacle. Our author ſuppoſes, that comedies and tragedies were firſt repreſented at Troy s. He defines a comedy to begin with complaint and to end with gladneſſe: expreſſing the actions of thoſe only who live in the loweſt condition. But tragedy, he informs us, begins in proſperity, and ends in adverſity: ſhewing the wonderful viciſſitudes of fortune which have happened in the lives of kings and mighty conquerours. In the theatre of Troy, he adds, was a pulpit, in which ſtood a poet, who rehearſed the noble dedes that were hiſtorial of kynges, prynces, and worthy emperours; and, above all, related thoſe fatal and ſudden cataſtrophes, which they ſometimes ſuffered by murther, poiſon, conſpiracy, or other ſecret and unforeſeen machinations.

And this was tolde and redde by the poete.
And while that he in the pulpet ſtode
With deadlye facè all devoyd of blode,
Syngynge his dites with treſſes al to rent;
Amydde the theatre, ſhrowded in a tent,
There came out men, gaſtfull of their cheres,
Disfygured their faces with vyſeres,
[95] Playing by ſignès in the people's ſyght
That the poete ſonge hathe on height u:
So that there was no maner diſcourdaunce,
Atween his ditees and their countenaunce.
For lyke as he aloftè dyd expreſſe
Wordes of joyè or of hevineſſe,—
So craftely theyw could themx transfygure y.

It is added, that theſe plays, or rytes of tragedyes old, were acted at Troy, and in the theatre halowed and yholde, when the months of April and May returned.

In this detail of the dramatic exhibition which prevailed in the ideal theatre of Troy, a poet, placed on the ſtage in a pulpit, and characteriſtically habited, is ſaid to have recited a ſeries of tragical adventures; whoſe pathetic narrative was afterwards expreſſed, by the dumb geſticulations of a ſet of maſqued actors. Some perhaps may be inclined to think, that this imperfect ſpecies of theatric repreſentation, was the rude drama of Lydgate's age. But ſurely Lydgate would not have deſcribed at all, much leſs in a long and laboured digreſſion, a public ſhew, which from its nature was familiar and notorious. On the contrary, he deſcribes it as a thing obſolete, and exiſting only in remote times. Had a more perfect and legitimate ſtage now ſubſiſted, he would not have deviated from his ſubject, to communicate unneceſſary information, and to deliver ſuch minute definitions of tragedy and comedy. On the whole, this formal hiſtory of a theatre, conveys nothing more than an affected diſplay of Lydgate's learning; and is collected, yet with apparent inaccuracy and confuſion of circumſtances, from what the antient grammarians have left concerning the origin of the Greek tragedy. [96] Or perhaps it might be borrowed by our author from ſome French paraphraſtic verſion of Colonna's Latin romance.

Among the antient authors, beſide thoſe already mentioned, cited in this poem, are Lollius for the hiſtory of Troy, Ovid for the tale of Medea and Jaſon, Ulyſſes and Polyphemus, the Myrmidons and other ſtories, Statius for Polynices and Eteocles, the venerable Bede, Fulgentius the mythologiſt, Juſtinian with whoſe inſtitutes Colonna as a civilian muſt have been well acquainted, Pliny, and Jacobus de Vitriaco. The laſt is produced to prove, that Philometer, a famous philoſopher, invented the game of cheſs, to divert a tyrant from his cruel purpoſes, in Chaldea; and that from thence it was imported into Greece. But Colonna, or rather Lydgate, is of a different opinion; and contends, in oppoſition to his authority, that this game, ſo ſotyll and ſo marvaylous, was diſcovered by prudent clerkes during the ſiege of Troy, and firſt practiced in that city.461 Jacobus de Vitriaco was a canon regular at Paris, and, among other dignities in the church, biſhop of Ptolemais in Paleſtine, about the year 1230. This tradition of the invention of cheſs is mentioned by Jacobus de Vitriaco in his ORIENTAL AND OCCIDENTAL HISTORY z. The anecdote of Philometer is, I think, in Egidius Romanus on this ſubject, above-mentioned. Chaucer calls Athalus, that is Attalus Philometer, the ſame perſon, and who is often mentioned in Pliny, the invento [...] of cheſs a.

I muſt not paſs over an inſtance of Lydgate's gallantry, as it is the gallantry of a monk. Colonna takes all opportunities of ſatiriſing the fair ſex; and Lydgate with great politeneſs declares himſelf abſolutely unwilling to tranſlate thoſe paſſages of this ſevere moraliſt, which contain ſuch unjuſt and illiberal miſrepreſentations of the female character. Inſtead of which, to obviate theſe injurious reflections, our tranſlator enters upon a formal vindication of [97] the ladies; not by a panegyric on their beauty, nor encomiums on thoſe amiable accompliſhments, by which they refine our ſenſibilities, and give elegance to life; but by a diſplay of that religious fortitude with which ſome women have ſuffered martyrdom; or of that inflexible chaſtity, by means of which others have been ſnatched up alive into heaven, in a ſtate of genuine virginity. Among other ſtriking examples which the calendar affords, he mentions the tranſcendent grace of the eleven thouſand virgins who were martyred at Cologne in Germany. In the mean time, female ſaints, as I ſuſpect, in the barbarous ages were regarded with a greater degree of reſpect, on account of thoſe exaggerated ideas of gallantry which chivalry inſpired: and it is not improbable that the diſtinguiſhed honours paid to the virgin Mary might have partly proceeded from this principle.

Among the anachroniſtic improprieties which this poem contains, ſome of which have been pointed out, the moſt conſpicuous is the fiction of Hector's ſepulchre, or tomb: which alſo merits our attention for another reaſon, as it affords us an opportunity of adding ſome other notices of the modes of antient architecture to thoſe already mentioned. The poet from Colonna ſuppoſes, that Hector was buried in the principal church of Troy, near the high altar, within a magnificent oratory, erected for that purpoſe, exactly reſembling the Gothic ſhrines of our cathedrals, yet charged with many romantic decorations.

With crafty archys rayſyd wonder clene,
Embowed over all the work to cure,
So marveylous was the celature:
That al the rofe, and cloſure envyrowne,
Was ofb fyne goldè plated up and downe,
With knottès gravè wonder curyous
Fret ful of ſtony's rich and precious, &c.

[98] The ſtructure is ſupported by angels of gold. The ſteps are of cryſtall. Within, is not only an image of Hector in ſolid gold; but his body embalmed, and exhibited to view with the reſemblance of real life, by means of a precious liquor circulating through every part in golden tubes artificially diſpoſed, and operating on the principles of vegetation. This is from the chemiſtry of the times. Before the body were four inextinguiſhible lamps in golden ſockets. To complete the work, Priam founds a regular chantry of prieſts, whom he accommodates with manſions near the church, and endows with revenues, to ſing in this oratory for the ſoul of his ſon Hector c.

In the Bodleian library, there is a prodigious folio manuſcript on vellum, a tranſlation of Colonna's TROJAN HISTORY into verſe d; which has been confounded with Lydgate's TROYE-BOKE now before us. But it is an entirely different work, and is written in the ſhort minſtrel-metre. I have given a ſpecimen of the Prologue, above e. It appears to me to be Lydgate's TROYE-BOKE diveſted of the octave ſtanza, and reduced into a meaſure which might more commodiouſly be ſung to the harp f. It is not likely that Lydgate is its [99] author: that he ſhould either thus transform his own compoſition, or write a new piece on the ſubject. That it was a poem in ſome conſiderable eſtimation, appears from the ſize and ſplendour of the manuſcript: and this circumſtance [100] induces me to believe, that it was at a very early period aſcribed to Lydgate. On the other hand, it is extraordinary that the name of the writer of ſo prolix and laborious a work, reſpectable and conſpicuous at leaſt on account of its length, ſhould have never tranſpired. The language accords with Lydgate's age, and is of the reign of Henry the ſixth: and to the ſame age I refer the hand-writing, which is executed with remarkable elegance and beauty.

SECT. VI.

[101]

TWO more poets remain to be mentioned under the reign of Henry the ſixth, if mere tranſlation merit that appellation. Theſe are Hugh Campeden and Thomas Cheſter.

The firſt was a great traveller, and tranſlated into Engliſh verſe the French romance of SIDRAC g. This tranſlation, a book of uncommon rarity, was printed with the following title, at the expence of Robert Saltwood, a monk of ſaint Auſtin's convent at Canterbury, in the year 1510. ‘"The Hiſtorie of king Boccus and SYDRACKE how he confoundyd his lerned men, and in the ſight of them dronke ſtronge venyme in the name of the trinite and dyd him no hurt. Al [...]o his divynite that he lerned of the boke of Noe. Alſo his profeſyes that he had by revelation of the angel. Alſo his aunſweris to the queſtyons of wyſdom both morall and naturall with muche wyſdom contayned in [the] noumber CCCLXV. Tranſlated by Hugo of Caumpeden out of French into Engliſhe, &c h.’ There is no ſort of elegance in the diction, nor harmony in the verſification. It is in the minſtrel-metre i.

[102] Thomas Cheſtre appears alſo to have been a writer for the minſtrels. No anecdote of his life is preſerved. He has left a poem entitled Sir LAUNFALE, one of Arthur's knights [...] who is celebrated with other champions in a ſet of French metrical tales or romances, written by ſome Armorican bard, under the name of LANVAL k. They are in the Britiſh Muſeum l.

[103] I think I have ſeen ſome evidence to prove, that Cheſtre was alſo the author of the metrical romance called the ERLE OF THOLOUSE m. This is one of the romances called LAIS by the poets of Britany, or Armorica: as appears from theſe lines,

In romance this geſt
A LEYn of BRITAYN callyd I wys, &c.

And that it is a tranſlation, appears from the reference to an original, ‘"The Romans telleth ſo."’ I will however give the outlines of the ſtory, which is not unintereſting, nor inartificially conſtructed.

Diocleſian, a powerful emperour in Germany, has a rupture with Barnard earl of Tholouſe, concerning boundaries of territory. Contrary to the repeated perſuaſions of the empreſs, who is extremely beautiful, and famous for her conjugal fidelity, he meets the earl, with a numerous army, in a pitched battle, to decide the quarrel. The earl is victorious, and carries home a great multitude of priſoners, the moſt reſpectable of which is ſir Tralabas of Turky, whom he treats as his companion. In the midſt of their feſtivities they talk of the beauties of the empreſs; the earl's curioſity is inflamed to ſee ſo matchleſs a lady, and he promiſes liberty to ſir Tralabas, if he can be conducted unknown to the emperour's court, and obtain a ſight of her without diſcovery. They both ſet forward, the earl diſguiſed like a hermit. When they arrive at the emperour's court, ſir Tralabas proves falſe: treacherouſly imparts the ſecret to the empreſs that he has brought with him the earl [104] of Tholouſe in diſguiſe, who is enamoured of her celebrated beauty; and propoſes to take advantage of ſo fair an opportunity of killing the emperour's great and avowed enemy. She rejects the propoſal with indignation, injoyns the knight not to communicate the ſecret any farther, and deſires to ſee the earl next day in the chapel at maſs. The next day the earl in his hermit's weeds is conveniently placed at maſs. At leaving the chapel, he aſks an alms of the empreſs; and ſhe gives him forty florins and a ring. He receives the preſent of the ring with the higheſt ſatisfaction, and although obliged to return home, in point of prudence, and to avoid detection, comforts himſelf with this reflection.

Well is me, I have thy grace,
Of the to have thys thyng!
If ever I have grace of the,
That any love betweene us be,
This may be a TOKENYNG.

He then returns home. The emperour is called into ſome diſtant country; and leaves his conſort in the cuſtody of two knights, who attempting to gain her love without ſucceſs, contrive a ſtratagem to defame her chaſtity. She is thrown into priſon, and the emperour returns unexpectedly o, in conſequence of a viſion. The tale of the two treacherous knights is believed, and ſhe is ſentenced to the flames: yet under the reſtriction, that if a champion can be found who ſhall foil the two knights in battle, her honour ſhall be cleared, and her life ſaved. A challenge is publiſhed in all [105] parts of the world; and the earl of Tholouſe, notwithſtanding the animoſities which ſtill ſubſiſt between him and the emperour, privately undertakes her quarrel. He appears at the emperour's court in the habit of a monk, and obtains permiſſion to act as confeſſor to the empreſs, in her preſent critical ſituation. In the courſe of the confeſſion, ſhe proteſts that ſhe was always true to the emperour; yet owns that once ſhe gave a ring to the earl of Tholouſe. The ſuppoſed confeſſor pronounces her innocent of the charge brought againſt her; on which one of the traiterous knights affirms [...] that the monk was ſuborned to publiſh this confeſſion, and that he deſerved to be conſumed in the ſame fire which was prepared for the lady. The monk pretending that the honour of his religion and character was affected by this inſinuation, challenges both the knights to combat: they are conquered; and the empreſs, after this trial, is declared innocent. He then openly diſcovers himſelf to be the earl of Tholouſe, the emperour's antient enemy. A ſolemn reconciliation enſues. The earl is appointed ſeneſchal of the emperour's domain. The emperour lives only three years, and the earl is married to the empreſs.

In the execution of this performance, our author was obliged to be conciſe, as the poem was intended to be ſung to the harp. Yet, when he breaks through this reſtraint, inſtead of dwelling on ſome of the beautiful ſituations which [...]he ſtory affords, he is diffuſe in diſplaying trivial and unimportant circumſtances. Theſe popular poets are never ſo happy, as when they are deſcribing a battle or a feaſt.

It will not perhaps be deemed impertinent to obſerve, that about this period the minſtrels were often more amply paid than the clergy. In this age, as in more enlightened times, the people loved better to be pleaſed than inſtructed. During many of the years of the reign of Henry the ſixth, particularly in the year 1430, at the annual feaſt of the fraternity of the HOLIE CROSSE at Abingdon, a town in [106] Berkſhire, twelve prieſts each received four pence for ſinging a dirge: and the ſame number of minſtrels were rewarded each with two ſhillings and four pence, beſide diet and horſe-meat. Some of theſe minſtrels came only from Maydenhithe, or Maidenhead, a town at no great diſtance in the ſame county p. In the year 1441, eight prieſts were hired from Coventry to aſſiſt in celebrating a yearly obit in the church of the neighbouring priory of Maxtoke; as were ſix minſtrels, called MIMI, belonging to the family of [...]ord Clinton, who lived in the adjoining caſtle of Maxtoke, to ſing, harp, and play, in the hall of the monaſtery, during the extraordinary refection allowed to the monks on that anniverſary. Two ſhillings were given to the prieſts, and four to the minſtrels q: and the latter are ſaid to have ſupped in camera picta, or the painted chamber of the convent, with the ſubprior r, on which occaſion the chamberlain furniſhed eight maſſy tapers of wax s. That the gratuities allowed to prieſts, even if learned, for their labours, in the ſame age of devotion, were extremely ſlender, may be collected from other expences of this priory t. In the ſame year, the prior gives only ſixpenceu for a ſermon, to a DOCTOR PRAEDICANS, or an itinerant doctor in theology of one of the mendicant orders, who went about preaching to the religious houſes.

We are now arrived at the reign of king Edward the fourth, who acceded to the throne in the year 1461 w. But [107] before I proceed in my ſeries, I will employ the remainder of this ſection in fixing the reader's attention on an important circumſtance, now operating in its full extent, and therefore purpoſely reſerved for this period, which greatly contributed to the improvement of our literature, and conſequently of our poetry: I mean the many tranſlations of Latin books, eſpecially claſſics, which the French had been making for about the two laſt centuries, and were ſtill continuing to make, into their own language. In order to do this more effectually, I will collect into one view the moſt diſtinguiſhed of theſe verſions: not ſolicitous about thoſe notices on this ſubject which have before occurred incidentally; nor ſcrupulous about the charge of anticipation, which, to prepare the reader, I ſhall perhaps incur by lengthening this enquiry, for the ſake of comprehenſion, beyond the limits of the period juſt aſſigned. In the mean time it may be pertinent to premiſe, that from the cloſe communication which formerly ſubſiſted between England and France, manuſcript copies of many of theſe tranſlations, elegantly written, and often embelliſhed with the moſt ſplendid illuminations and curious miniatures, were preſented by the tranſlators or their patrons to the kings of England; and that they accordingly appear at preſent among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh Muſeum. Some of theſe, however, were tranſcribed, if not tranſlated, by command of our kings; and others brought into England, and placed in the royal library, by John duke of Bedford, regent of France.

It is not conſiſtent with my deſign, to enumerate the Latin legends, rituals, monaſtic rules, chronicles, and hiſtorical parts of the bible, ſuch as the BOOK OF KINGS and the MACCABEES, which were looked upon as ſtories of chivalry x, tranſlated by the French before the year 1200. Theſe ſoon [108] became obſolete: and are, beſides, too deeply tinctured with the deplorable ſuperſtition and barbarity of their age, to bear a recitaly. I will therefore begin with the thirteenth century. In the year 1210, Peter Comeſtor'sz HISTORIA SCHOLASTICA, a ſort of breviary of the old and new teſtament, accompanied with elaborate expoſitions from Joſephus and many pagan writers, a work compiled at Paris about the year 1175, and ſo popular, as not only to be taught in ſchools, but even to be publicly read in the churches with its gloſſes, was tranſlated into French by Guiart des Moulins, a canon of Aire a. About the ſame time, ſome of the old tranſlations into French made in the eleventh century by Thibaud de Vernon, canon of Rouen, were retouched: and the Latin legends of many lives of ſaints, particularly of ſaint George, of Thomas a Beckett, and the martyrdom of ſaint Hugh, a child murthered in 1206 by a Jew at Lincoln b, were reduced into French verſe. Theſe pieces, to which I muſt add a metrical verſion of the bible from Geneſis to Hezekiah, by being written in rhyme, and eaſy to be ſung, ſoon became popular, and produced the deſired impreſſion on the minds of the people c. They were ſoon followed by the verſion of AEGIDIUS DE REGIMINE PRINCIPUM d, by Henri de [109] Gauchi. Dares Phrygius, The SEVEN SAGES OF ROME by Hebers e, Eutropius f, and Ariſtotle's SECRETUM SECRETORUM g, appeared about the ſame time in French. To ſay nothing of voluminous verſions of PANDECTS and feudal COUTUMES h, Michael de Harnes tranſlated Turpin's CHARLEMAGNE in the year 1207 i. It was into proſe, in oppoſition to the practice which had long prevailed of turning Latin proſe into French rhymes. This piece, in compliance with an age addicted to romantic fiction, our tranſlator undoubtedly preferred to the more rational and ſober Latin hiſtorians of Charlemagne and of France, ſuch as Gregory of Tours, Fredegaire, and Eginhart. In the year 1245, the SPECULUM MUNDI, a ſyſtem of theology, the ſeven ſciences, geography, and natural philoſophy k, was tranſlated at the inſtance of the duke of Berry and Auvergne l. Among the royal manuſcripts, is a ſort of ſyſtem of pious tracts, partly of ritual offices, compiled in Latin by the confeſſors of Philip in 1279, tranſlated into French m; which tranſlation queen Iſabel ordered to be placed in the church of ſaint Innocents at Paris, for the uſe of the people.

The fourteenth century was much more fertile in French tranſlation. The ſpirit of devotion, and indeed of this ſpecies of curioſity, raiſed by ſaint Louis, after a ſhort intermiſſion, rekindled under king John and Charles the fifth. I paſs over the proſe and metrical tranſlations of the Latin bible in the years 1343, and 1380, by Macè, and Raoul de [110] Preſles. Under thoſe reigns, ſaint Auſtin, Caſſianus, and Gregory the Great n, were tranſlated into French; and they are the firſt of the fathers that appeared in a modern tongue. Saint Gregory's HOMELIES are by an anonymous tranſlator o. His DIALOGUES were probably tranſlated by an Engliſh eccleſiaſtic p. Saint Auſtin's DE CIVITATE DEI was tranſlated by Raoul de Preſles, who acted profeſſedly both as confeſſor and tranſlator to Charles the fifth q, about the year 1374. During the work he received a yearly penſion of ſix hundred livres from that liberal monarch, the firſt founder of a royal library in France, at whoſe command it was undertaken. It is accompanied with a prolix commentary, valuable only at preſent as preſerving anecdotes of the opinions, manners, and literature, of the writer's age; and from which I am tempted to give the following ſpecimen, as it ſtrongly illuſtrates the antient ſtate of the French ſtage, and demonſtrably proves that comedy and tragedy were now known only by name in France r. He obſerves, that Comedies are ſo denominated from a room of entertainment, or from thoſe places, in which banquets were accuſtomed to be cloſed with ſinging, called in Greek CONIAS: that they were like thoſe jeux or plays, which the minſtrel, le Chanteur, exhibits in halls or other public places, at a feaſt: and that they were properly ſtyled INTERLUDIA, as being preſented between the two courſes. Tragedies, he adds, were ſpectacles, reſembling thoſe perſonages which at this day we ſee acting in the LIFE [111] and PASSION of a matyr s. This ſhews that only the religious drama now ſubſiſted in France. But to proceed, Caſſianus's COLLATIONES PATRUM, or the CONFERENCES, was tranſlated by John Goulain, a Carmelite monk, about 1363. Two tranſlations of that theological romance Boethius's CONSOLATION, one by the celebrated Jean de Meun, author of the ROMANCE OF THE ROSE, exiſted before the year 1340. Others of the early Latin chriſtian writers were ordered to be turned into French by queen Jane, about 1332. But finding that the archbiſhop of Rouen, who was commiſſioned to execute this arduous taſk, did not underſtand Latin, ſhe employed a mendicant friar. About the ſame period, and under the ſame patronage, the LEGENDA AUREA, written by James de Voragine, archbiſhop of Genoa, about the year 1260, that inexhauſtible repoſitory of religious fable t, was tranſlated by Jehan de Vignay, a monk hoſpitalar u. The ſame tranſlator gave alſo a verſion of a famous ritual entitled SPECULUM ECCLESIAE, or the MIRROUR OF THE CHURCH, of CHESS MORALISED, written by Jacobus de Caſulis w: and of Odoricus's VOYAGE INTO THE EAST x. Thomas Benoit, a prior of ſaint Genevieve gratified the religious with a tranſlation into a more intelligible language of ſome Latin liturgic pieces about the year 1330. But his chief performance was a tranſlation into French verſe of the RULE OF SAINT AUSTIN. This he undertook merely on a principle of affection and charity, for the edification of his pious brethren who did not underſtand Latin.

[112]
Pour l'amour de vous, très chers freres,
En François ai traduit ce Latin.

And in the preface he ſays, ‘"Or ſçai-je que pluſieurs de vous n' entendent pas bien LATIN auquel il fut choſe neceſſaire de la rieule [regle] entendre."’ Benoit's ſucceſſour in the priorate of ſaint Genevieve was not equally attentive to the diſcipline and piety of his monks. Inſtead of tranſlating monkiſh Latin, and enforcing the ſalutary regulations of ſaint Auſtin, he wrote a ſyſtem of rules for BALLAD-WRITING, L'ART DE DICTIER BALLADE ET RONDELS, the firſt Art of poetry that ever appeared in France.

Among the moral books now tranſlated, I muſt not omit the SPIRITUELLE AMITIE of John of Meun, from the Latin of Aldred an Engliſh monk y. In the ſame ſtyle of myſtic piety was the treatiſe of CONSOLATION, written in Latin, by Vincent de Beauvais, and ſent to ſaint Louis, tranſlated in the year 1374. In the year 1340, Henri de Suſon, a German dominican and a myſtic doctor, wrote a moſt comprehenſive treatiſe called HOROLOGIUM SAPIENTIAE. This was tranſlated into French by a monk of ſaint François z. Even the officers of the court of Charles the fifth were ſeized with the ardour of tranſlating religious pieces, no leſs than the eccleſiaſtics. The moſt elegant tract of moral Latinity tranſlated into French, was the celebrated book of our countryman John of Saliſbury, DE NUGIS CURIALIUM. This verſion was made by Denis Soulechart, a learned Cordelier, about the year 1360. Notwithſtanding the EPISTLES of Abelard and Eloiſa, not only from the celebrity of Abelard as a Pariſian theologiſt, but on account of the intereſting hiſtory of that unfortunate pair, muſt have been as commonly known, and as likely to be read in the original, as any Latin [113] book in France, they were tranſlated into French in this century, by John of Meun; who proſtituted his abilities when he relinquiſhed his own noble inventions, to interpret the pedantries of monks, ſchoolmen, and proſcribed claſſics. I think he alſo tranſlated Vegetius, who will occur again a. In the library of ſaint Genevieve, there is, in a ſort of ſyſtem of religion, a piece called JERARCHIE, tranſlated from Latin into French at the command of our queen Elinor in the year 1297, by a French friar b. I muſt not however forget, that amidſt this profuſion of treatiſes of religion and inſtruction, civil hiſtory found a place. That immenſe chaos of events real and fictitious, the HISTORICAL MIRROUR of Vincent de Beauvais, was tranſlated by Jehan de Vignay above mentioned c. One is not ſurpriſed that the tranſlator of the GOLDEN LEGEND ſhould make no better choice.

The deſolation produced in Franced by the victorious armies of the Engliſh, was inſtantly ſucceeded by a flouriſhing ſtate of letters. King John, having indulged his devotion, and ſatisfied his conſcience, by procuring numerous verſions of books written on ſacred ſubjects, at length turned his attention to the claſſics. His ignorance of Latin was a fortunate circumſtance, as it produced a curioſity to know the treaſures of Latin literature. He employed Peter Bercheur, prior of ſaint Eloi at Paris, an eminent theologiſt, to tranſlate Livy into French e; notwithſtanding that author [114] had been anathematiſed by pope Gregory. But ſo judicious a choice was undoubtedly dictated by Petrarch, who regarded Livy with a degree of enthuſiaſm, who was now reſident at the court of France, and who perhaps condeſcended to direct and ſuperintend the tranſlation. The tranſlator in his Latin work called REPERTORIUM, a ſort of general dictionary, in which all things are proved to be allegorical, and reduced to a moral meaning, under the word ROMA, records this great attempt in the following manner. ‘"TITUM LIVIUM, ad requiſitionem domini Johannis inclyti Francorum regis, non ſine labore et ſudoribus, in linguam Gallicam tranſtuli f."’ To this tranſlation we muſt join thoſe of Salluſt, Lucan, and Ceſar: all which ſeem to have been finiſhed before the year 1365. This revival of a taſte for Roman hiſtory, moſt probably introduced and propagated by Petrarch during his ſhort ſtay in the French court, immediately produced a Latin hiſtorical compilation called ROMULEON, by an anonymous gentleman of France; who ſoon found it neceſſary to tranſlate his work into the vernacular language. Valerius Maximus could not remain long untranſlated. A verſion of that favourite author, begun by Simon de Heſdin, a monk, in 1364, was finiſhed by Nicolas de Goneſſe, a maſter in theology, 1401 g. Under the laſt-mentioned reign, Ovid's Metamorphoſes MORALISEDh were tranſlated by Guillaume de Nangis: and the ſame poem was tranſlated into French verſe, at the requeſt of Jane de Bourbonne, afterwards the conſort [115] of Charles the fifth, by Philip de Vitri, biſhop of Meaux, Petrarch's friend, who was living in 1361 i. A biſhop would not have undertaken this work, had he not perceived much moral doctrine couched under the pagan ſtories. Jean le Fevre, by command of Charles the fifth, tranſlated the poem DE VETULA, falſly aſcribed to Ovid k. Cicero's RHETORICA appeared in French by maſter John de Antioche, at the requeſt of one friar W [...]lliam, in the year 1383. About the ſame time, ſome of Ariſtotle's pieces were tranſlated from Latin; his PROBLEMS by Evrard de Conti, phyſician to Charles the fifth: and his ETHICS and POLITICS by Nicholas d'Oreſme, while canon of Rouen. This was the moſt learned man in France, and tutor to Charles the fifth; who, in conſequence of his inſtructions, obtained a competent ſkill in Latin, and in the rules of the grammar l. Other Greek claſſics, which now began to be known by being tranſlated into Latin, became ſtill more familiariſed, eſpecially to general readers, by being turned into French. Thus Poggius Florentinus's recent Latin verſion of Xenophon's CYROPEDIA was tranſlated into French by Vaſque de Lucerie, 1370 m. The TACTICS of Vegetius, an author who frequently confounds the military practices of his own age with thoſe of antiquity, appeared under [...] the title of LIVRES DES FAIS D'ARMES ET DE CHEVALLERIE, by Chriſtina of Piſa n. Petrarch [116] DE REMEDIIS UTRIUSQUE FORTUNAE, a ſet of Latin dialogues, was tranſlated, not only by Nicholas d'Oreſme, but by two of the officers of the royal houſhold o, in compliment to Petrarch at his leaving France p. Many philoſophical pieces, particularly in aſtrology, of which Charles the fifth was remarkably fond, were tranſlated before the [...]nd of the fourteenth century. Among theſe, I muſt not paſs over the QUADRIPARTITUM of Ptolemy, by Nicholas d'Oreſme; the AGRICULTURE q, or LIBRI RURALIUM COMMODORUM, of Peter de Creſcentiis, a phyſician of Bononia, about the year 1285, by a nameleſs friar preacher r; and the book DE PROPRIETATIBUS RERUM of Bartholomew Anglicus, the Pliny of the monks, by John Corbichon, an Auguſtine monk s. I have ſeen a French manuſcript of Guido de Colonna's Trojan romance [...] the hand-writing of which belongs to this century t.

In the fifteenth century it became faſhionable among the [117] French, to poliſh and reform their old rude tranſlations made two hundred years before; and to reduce many of their metrical verſions into proſe. At the ſame time, the rage of tranſlating eccleſiaſtical tracts began to decreaſe. The latter circumſtance was partly owing to the introduction of better books, and partly to the invention of printing. Inſtead of procuring laborious and expenſive tranſlations of the antient fathers, the printers, who multiplied greatly towards the cloſe of this century, found their advantage in publiſhing new tranſlations of more agreeable books, or in giving antient verſions in a modern dreſs u. Yet in this century ſome of the more recent doctors of the church were tranſlated. Not to mention the epiſtles of ſaint Jerom, which Antoine Dufour, a Dominican frier, preſented in French to Anne de Bretagne, conſort to king Charles the eighth, we find ſaint Anſelm's CUR DEUS HOMO w, The LAMENTATIONS OF SAINT BERNARD, The SUM OF THEOLOGY of Albertus Magnus, The PRICK OF DIVINE LOVE xof ſaint Bonaventure a ſeraphic doctor y, with other pieces of the [118] kind, exhibited in the French language before the year 1480, at the petition and under the patronage of many devout ducheſſes. Yet in the mean time, the lives of ſaints and ſacred hiſtory gave way to a ſpecies of narrative more entertaining and not leſs fabulous. Little more than Joſephus, and a few MARTYRDOMS, were now tranſlated from the Latin into French.

The truth is, the French tranſlators of this century were chiefly employed on profane authors. At its commencement, a French abridgement of the three firſt decads of Livy was produced by Henri Romain a canon of Tournay. In the year 1416, Jean de Courci, a knight of Normandy, gave a tranſlation of ſome Latin chronicle, a HISTORY OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS, entitled BOUQUASSIERE. In 1403, Jean de Courteauiſſe, a doctor in theology at Paris, tranſlated Seneca on the FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES z. Under the reign of king Charles the ſeventh, Jean Coſſa tranſlated the CHRONOLOGY of Mattheus Palmerius a learned Florentine, and a writer of Italian poetry in imitation of Dante. In the dedication to Jane the third, queen of Jeruſalem, and among other titles counteſs of Provence, the tranſlator apologiſes for ſuppoſing her highneſs to be ignorant of Latin; when at the ſame time he is fully convinced, that a lady endowed with ſo much natural grace, muſt be perfectly acquainted with that language. ‘"Mais pour ce que le vulgar Françoys eſt plus commun, j' ai pris peine y tranſlater ladite oeuvre."’ Two other tranſlations were offered to Charles the ſeventh in the year 1445. One, of the FIRST PUNIC war of Leonard of Arezzo, an anonymous writer, who does not chuſe to publiſh his name a cauſe de ſa petiteſſe; and the STRATAGEMS of [119] Frontinus, often cited by John of Saliſbury, and mentioned in the Epiſtles of Peter of Blois a, by Jean de Rouroy, a Pariſian theologiſt. Under Louis the eleventh, Sebaſtian Mamerot of Soiſſons, in the year 1466, attempted a new tranſlation of the ROMULEON: and he profeſſes, that he undertook it ſolely with a view of improving or decorating the French language b.

Many French verſions of claſſics appeared in this century. A tranſlation of Quintus Curtius is dedicated to Charles duke of Burgundy, in 1468 c. Six years afterwards, the ſame liberal patron commanded Ceſar's COMMENTARIES to be tranſlated by Jean du Cheſne d. Terence was made French by Guillaume Rippe, the king's ſecretary, in the year 1466. The following year a new tranſlation of Ovid's METAMORPHOSES was executed by an eccleſiaſtic of Normandy e. But much earlier in the century, Laurence Premierfait, mentioned above, tranſlated, I ſuppoſe from the Latin, the OECONOMICS of Ariſtotle, and Tully's DE AMICITIA and DE SENECTUTE, before the year 1426 f. He is ſaid alſo to have tranſlated ſome pieces, perhaps the EPISTLES, of Seneca g. [120] Encouraged by this example, Jean de Luxembourgh, Laurence's cotemporary, tranſlated Tully's Oration againſt Verres. I muſt not forget, that Hippocrates and Galen were tranſlated from Latin into French in the year 1429. The tranſlator was Jean Tourtier, ſurgeon to the duke of Bedford, then regent of France; and he humbly ſupplicates Rauoul Palvin, confeſſor and phyſician to the ducheſs, and John Major, firſt phyſician to the duke, and graduate en l'eſtude d'Auxonford h, and maſter Roullan, phyſician and aſtronomer of the univerſity of Paris, amicably to amend the faults of this tranſlation, which is intended to place the ſcience and practice of medicine on a new foundation. I preſume it was from a Latin verſion that the ILIAD, about this period, was tranſlated into French metre.

Among other pieces that might be enumerated in this century, in the year 1412, Guillaume de Tignonville, provoſt of Paris, tranſlated the DICTA PHILOSOPHORUM i: as did Jean Gallopes dean of the collegiate church of ſaint Louis, of Salſoye, in Normandy, the ITER VITAE HUMANAE of Guillaume prior of Chalis k. This verſion, entitled LE PELERINAGE DE LA VIE HUMAINE, is dedicated to Jean queen of Sicily, above mentioned; a ducheſs of Anjou and a counteſs of Provence: who, without any ſort of difficulty, could make a tranſition from the Life of ſir Lancelot to that of ſaint Auſtin, and who ſometimes quitted the tribunal of the COURT OF LOVE to confer with learned eccleſiaſtics, in an age when gallantry and religion were of equal importance. He alſo tranſlated, from the ſame author, a compoſition of the ſame ideal and contemplative caſt, called LE PELERIN DE L'AME, highly eſteemed by thoſe viſionaries who preferred [121] religious allegory to romance, which was dedicated to the duke of Bedford l. In Bennet college library at Cambridge, there is an elegant illuminated manuſcript of Bonaventure's LIFE OF CHRIST, tranſlated by Gallopes; containing a curious picture of the tranſlator preſenting his verſion to our Henry the fifth m. About the ſame time, but before 1427, Jean de Guerre tranſlated a Latin compilation of all that was marvellous in Pliny, Solinus, and the OTIA IMPERIALIA, a book abounding in wonders, of our countryman Gervais of Tilbury n. The French romance, entitled L'ASSAILLANT, was now tranſlated from the Latin chronicles of the kings of Cologne: and the Latin tract DE BONIS MORIBUS of Jacobus Magnus, confeſſor to Charles the ſeventh, about the year 1422, was made French o. Rather earlier, Jean de Premierfait tranſlated BOCCACIO DE CASIBUS VIRORUM ILLUSTRIUM p. Nor ſhall I be thought to deviate too far from my detail, which is confined to Latin originals, when I mention here a book, the tranſlation of which into French conduced in an eminent degree to circulate materials for poetry: this is Boccacio's DECAMERON, which Premierfait alſo tranſlated, at the command of queen Jane of Navarre, who ſeem [...] to have made no kind of conditions about ſuppreſſing the licentious ſtories, in the year 1414 q.

I am not exactly informed, when the ENEID of Virgil was tranſlated into a ſort of metrical romance or hiſtory of Eneas, [122] under the title of LIVRE D' ENEIDOS COMPILE PAR VIRGILE, by Guillaume de Roy. But that tranſlation was printed at Lyons in 1483, and appears to have been finiſhed not many years before. Among the tranſlator's hiſtorical additions, are the deſcription of the firſt foundation of Troy by Priam, and the ſucceſſion of Aſcanius and his deſcendants after the death of Turnus. He introduces a digreſſion upon Boccacio, for giving in his FALL OF PRINCES an account of the death of Dido, different from that in the fourth book of the Eneid. Among his omiſſions, he paſſes over Eneas's deſcent into hell, as a tale manifeſtly forged, and not to be believed by any rational reader: as if many other parts of the tranſlator's ſtory were not equally fictitious and incredible r.

The concluſion intended to be drawn from this long digreſſion is obvious. By means of theſe French tranſlations, our countrymen, who underſtood French much better than Latin, became acquainted with many uſeful books which they would not otherwiſe have known. With ſuch aſſiſtances, a commodious acceſs to the claſſics was opened, and the knowledge of antient literature facilitated and familiariſed in England, at a much earlier period than is imagined; and at a time, when little more than the productions of ſpeculative monks, and irrefragrable doctors, could be obtained or were ſtudied. Very few Engliſhmen, I will venture to pronounce, had read Livy before the tranſlation of Bercheur was imported by the regent duke of Bedford. It is certain that many of the Roman poets and hiſtorians were now read in England, in the original. But the Latin language was for the moſt part confined to a few eccleſiaſtics. When theſe authors, therefore, appeared in a language almoſt as intelligible as the Engliſh, they fell into the hands of illiterate and common readers, and contributed to ſow the ſeeds of a national erudition, and to form a popular taſte. [123] Even the French verſions of the religious, philoſophical, hiſtorical, and allegorical compoſitions of thoſe more enlightened Latin writers who flouriſhed in the middle ages, had their uſe, till better books came into vogue: pregnant as they were with abſurdities, they communicated inſtruction on various and new ſubjects, enlarged the field of information, and promoted the love of reading, by gratifying that growing literary curioſity which now began to want materials for the exerciſe of its operations. How greatly our poets in general availed themſelves of theſe treaſures, we may collect from this circumſtance only: even ſuch writers as Chaucer and Lydgate, men of education and learning, when they tranſlate a Latin author, appear to execute their work through the medium of a French verſion. It is needleſs to purſue this hiſtory of French tranſlation any farther. I have given my reaſon for introducing it at all. In the next age, a great and univerſal revolution in literature enſued; and the Engliſh themſelves began to turn their thoughts to tranſlation.

Theſe French verſions enabled Caxton, our firſt printer, to enrich the ſtate of letters in this country with many valuable publications. He found it no difficult taſk, either by himſelf, or the help of his friends, to turn a conſiderable number of theſe pieces into Engliſh, which he printed. Antient learning had as yet made too little progreſs among us, to encourage this enterpriſing and induſtrious artiſt to publiſh the Roman autho [...]s in their original language s: and had not the French furniſhed him with theſe materials, it is not likely, that Virgil, Ovid, Cicero, and many other good [124] writers, would by the means of his preſs have been circulated in the Engliſh tongue, ſo early as the cloſe of the fifteenth century .

SECT. VII.

[125]

THE firſt poet that occurs in the reign of king Edward the fourth is John Harding t. He was of northern [126] extraction, and educated in the family of lord Henry Percy u: and, at twenty-five years of age, hazarded his fortunes as a volunteer at the deciſive battle of Shrewſbury, fought againſt the Scots in the year 1403. He appears to have been indefatigable in [...]xamining original records, chiefly with a deſign of aſcertaining the fealty due from the Scottiſh kings to the crown of England: and he carried many inſtruments from Scotland, for the elucidation of this important enquiry, at the hazard of his life, which he delivered at different times to the fifth and ſixth Henry, and to Edward the fourth w. Theſe inveſtigations ſeem to have fixed his mind on the ſtudy of our national antiquities and hiſtory. At length he cloathed his reſearches in rhyme, which he dedicated under that form to king Edward the fourth, and with the title of The Chronicle of England unto the reigne of king Edward the fourth in verſe x. The copy probably preſented to the king, although it exhibits at the end the arms of Henry Percy earl of Northumberland, moſt elegantly tranſcribed on vellum, and adorned with ſuperb illuminations, is preſerved [127] among Selden's manuſcripts in the Bodleian library y. Our author is conciſe and compendious in his narrative of events from Brutus to the reign of king Henry the fourth: he is much more minute and diffuſe in relating thoſe affairs of which, for more than the ſpace of ſixty years, he was a living witneſs, and which occurred from that period to the reign of Edward the fourth. The poem ſeems to have been completed about the year 1470. In his final chapter he exhorts the king, to recall his rival king Henry the ſixth, and to reſtore the partiſans of that unhappy prince.

This work is almoſt beneath criticiſm, and fit only for the attention of an antiquary. Harding may be pronounced to be the moſt impotent of our metrical hiſtorians, eſpecially when we recollect the great improvements which Engliſh poetry had now received. I will not even except Robert of Glouceſter, who lived in the infancy of taſte and verſification. The chronicle of this authentic and laborious annaliſt has hardly thoſe more modeſt graces, which could properly recommend and adorn a detail of the Britiſh ſtory in proſe. He has left ſome pieces in proſe: and Winſtanly ſays, ‘"as his proſe was very uſefull, ſo was his poetry as much delightfull."’ I am of opinion, that both his proſe and poetry are equally uſeful and delightful. What can be more frigid and unanimated than theſe lines?

Kyng Arthur then in Avalon ſo dyed,
Where he was buryed in a chapel fayre,
Whiche nowe is made, and fully edifyed,
The mynſter church, this day of great repayre
Of Glaſtenbury, where nowe he hath his layre;
But then it was called the blacke chapell
Of our lady, as chronicles can tell.
[128] Where Geryn earle of Chartres then abode
Beſyde his tombe, for whole devocion,
Whither Lancelot de Lake came, as he rode
Upon the chaſe, with trompet and claryon;
And Geryn told hym, ther all up and downe
How Arthur was there layd in ſepulture
For which with hym to abyde he hyght ful ſure z.

Fuller affirms our author to have ‘"drunk as deep a draught of Helicon as any of his age."’ An aſſertion partly true: it is certain, however, that the diction and imagery of our poetic compoſition would have remained in juſt the ſame ſtate had Harding never wrote.

In this reign, the firſt mention of the king's poet, under the appellation of LAUREATE, occurs. John Kay was appointed poet laureate to Edward the fourth. It is extraordinary, that he ſhould have left no pieces of poetry to prove his pretenſions in ſome degree to this office, with which he is ſaid to have been inveſted by the king, at his return from Italy. The only compoſition he has tranſmitted to poſterity is a proſe Engliſh tranſlation of a Latin hiſtory of the Siege of Rhodes a: in the dedication addreſſed to king Edward, or rather in the title, he ſtyles himſelf hys humble poete laureate. Although this our laureate furniſhes us with no materials as a poet, yet his office, which here occurs for the firſt time under this denomination, muſt not paſs unnoticed [129] in the annals of Engliſh poetry, and will produce a ſhort digreſſion.

Great confuſion has entered into this ſubject, on account of the degrees in grammar, which included rhetoric and verſification b, antiently taken in our univerſities, particularly at Oxford: on which occaſion, a wreath of laurel was preſented to the new graduate, who was afterwards uſually ſtyled poeta laureatus c. Theſe ſcholaſtic laureations, however, ſeem to have given riſe to the appellation in queſtion. I will give ſome inſtances at Oxford, which at the ſame time will explain the nature of the ſtudies for which our accademical philologiſts received their rewards. About the year 1470, one John Watſon, a ſtudent in grammar, obtained a conceſſion to be graduated and laureated in that ſcience; on condition that he compoſed one hundred Latin verſes in praiſe of the univerſity, and a Latin comedy d. Another grammarian was diſtinguiſhed with the ſame badge, after having ſtipulated, that, at the next public Act, he would affix the ſame number of hexameters on the great gates of ſaint Mary's church, that they might be ſeen by the whole univerſity. This was at that period the moſt convenient mode of publication e. About the ſame time, one Maurice Byrchenſaw, [130] a ſcholar in rhetoric, ſupplicated to be admitted to read lectures, that is, to take a degree, in that faculty; and his petition was granted, with a proviſion, that he ſhould write one hundred verſes on the glory of the univerſity, and not ſuffer Ovid's ART OF LOVE, and the Elegies of Pamphilus f, to be ſtudied in his auditory g. Not long afterwards, one John Bulman, another rhetorician, having complied with the terms impoſed, of explaining the firſt book of Tully's OFFICES, and likewiſe the firſt of his EPISTLES, without any pecuniary emolument, was graduated in rhetoric; and a crown of laurel was publicly placed on his head by the hands of the chancellour of the univerſity h. About the year 1489 i, Skelton was laureated at Oxford, and in the year 1493, was permitted to wear his laurel at Cambridge k. Robert Whittington affords the laſt inſtance of a rhetorical degree at Oxford. He was a ſecular prieſt, and eminent for his various treatiſes in grammar, and for his facility in Latin poetry: having exerciſed his art many years, and ſubmitting to the cuſtomary demand of an hundred verſes, he was honoured with the laurel in the year 1512 i. This title is [131] prefixed to one of his grammatical ſyſtems. ‘"ROBERTI WHITTINTONI, Lichfeldienſis, Grammatices Magiſtri, PROTOVATIS Angliae, in florentiſſima Oxonienſi Achademia LAUREATI, DE OCTO PARTIBUS ORATIONIS m."’ In his PANEGYRIC to cardinal Wolſey, he mentions his laurel,

Suſcipe LAURICOMI munuſcula parva Roberti n.

With regard to the Poet laureate of the kings of England, an officer of the court remaining under that title to this day, he is undoubtedly the ſame that is ſtyled the KING'S VERSIFIER, and to whom one hundred ſhillings were paid as his annual ſtipend, in the year 1251 o. But when or how that title commenced, and whether this officer was ever ſolemnly crowned with laurel at his firſt inveſtiture, I will not pretend to determine, after the [...]earches of the learned Selden on this queſtion have proved unſucceſsful. It ſeems moſt probable, that the barbarous and inglorious name of VERSIFIER gradually gave way to an appellation of more elegance and dignity: or rather, that at length, thoſe only were in general invited to this appointment, who had received accademical ſanction, and had merited a crown of laurel in the univerſities for their abilities in Latin compoſition, particularly Latin verſification. Thus the king's Laureate was nothing more than ‘"a graduated rhetorician [132] employed in the ſervice of the king."’ That he originally wrote in Latin, appears from the antient title verſificator: and may be moreover collected from the two Latin poems, which Baſton and Gulielmus, who appear to have reſpectively acted in the capacity of royal poets to Richard the firſt and Edward the ſecond, officially compoſed on Richard's cruſade, and Edward's [...]iege of Striveling caſtle p.

Andrew Bernard, ſucceſſively poet laureate of Henry the ſeventh and the eighth, affords a ſtill ſtronger proof that this officer was a Latin ſcholar. He was a native of Tholouſe, and an Auguſtine monk. He was not only the king's poet laureate q, as it is ſuppoſed, but his hiſtoriographer r, and preceptor in grammar to prince Arthur. He obtained many eccle [...]iaſtical preferments in England s. All the pieces now to be found, which he wrote in the character of poet laureate, are in Latin t. Theſe are, an ADDRESS to Henry the [133] eighth for the moſt auſpicious beginning of the tenth year of his reign, with an EPITHALAMIUM on the marriage of Francis the Dauphin of France with the king's daughter u. A NEW YEAR'SGIFT for the year 1515 w. And verſes wiſhing proſperity to his majeſty's thirteenth year x. He has left ſome Latin hymns y: and many of his Latin proſe pieces, which he wrote in the quality of hiſtoriographer to both monarchs, are remaining z.

I am of opinion, that it was not cuſtomary for the royal laureate to write in Engliſh, till the reformation of religion had begun to diminiſh the veneration for the Latin language: or rather, till the love of novelty, and a better ſenſe of things, had baniſhed the narrow pedantries of monaſtic erudition, and taught us to cultivate our native tongue. In the mean time it is to be wiſhed, that another change might at leaſt be ſuffered to take place in the execution of this inſtitution, which is confeſſedly Gothic, and unaccommodated to modern manners. I mean, that the more than annual return of a compoſition on a trite argument would be no longer required. I am conſcious I ſay this at a time, when the beſt of kings affords the moſt juſt and copious theme for panegyric: but I ſpeak it at a time, when the department is honourably filled by a poet of taſte and genius, which are idly waſted on the moſt ſplendid ſubjects, when impoſed by conſtraint, and perpetually repeated.

To what is here incidentally collected on an article more [134] curious than important, I add an obſervation, which ſhews that the practice of other nations in this reſpect altogether correſponded with that of our own. When we read of the laureated poets of Italy and Germany, we are to remember, that they moſt commonly received this honour from the ſtate, or ſome univerſity; ſeldom, at leaſt not immediately, from the prince: and if we find any of theſe profeſſedly employed in the department of a court-poet, that they were not, in conſequence of that peculiar ſituation, ſtyled poets laureate. The diſtinction, at leaſt in general, was previouſly conferred a.

John Scogan is commonly ſuppoſed to have been a cotemporary of Chaucer, but this is a miſtake b. He was educated at Oriel college in Oxford: and being an excellent mimic, and of great pleaſantry in converſation, became the favourite buffoon of the court of Edward the fourth, in which he paſſed the greateſt part of his life. Bale inaccurately calls Scogan, the JOCULATOR of Edward the fourth: by which word he ſeems ſimply to underſtand the king's JOKER, for he certainly could not mean that Scogan was his majeſty's MINSTREL c. Andrew Borde, a mad phyſician and [135] a dull poet in the reign of Henry the eighth, publiſhed his JESTS, under the title of SCOGIN'S JESTS d, which are without humour or invention; and give us no very favourable idea of the delicacy of the king and courtiers, who could be exhilarated by the merriments of ſuch a writer. A MORAL BALADE, printed in Chaucer's works, addreſſed to the dukes of Clarenc [...], Bedford, and Glouceſter, and ſent from a tavern in the Vintry at London, is attributed to Scogan e. But our jocular bard evidently miſtakes his talents when he attempts to give advice. This piece is the dulleſt ſermon that ever was written in the octave ſtanza. Bale mentions his COMEDIES f, which certainly mean nothing dramatic, and are perhaps only his JESTS above-mentioned. He ſeems to have flouriſhed about the year 1480.

Two didactic poets on chemiſtry appeared in this reign, John Norton and George Ripley. Norton was a native of Briſtol g, and the moſt ſkillful alchemiſt of his age h. His poem is called the ORDINAL, or a manual of the chemical art i. It was preſented to Nevil archbiſhop of York, who was a great patron of the hermetic philoſophers k; which were lately grown ſo numerous in England, as to occaſion [136] an act of parliament againſt the tranſmutation of metals. Norton's reaſon for treating his ſubject in Engliſh rhyme, was to circulate the principles of a ſcience of the moſt conſummate utility among the unlearned l. This poem is totally void of every poetical elegance. The only wonder which it relates, belonging to an art, ſo fertile in ſtriking inventions, and contributing to enrich the ſtore-houſe of Arabian romance with ſo many magnificent imageries, is that of an alchemiſt, who projected a bridge of gold over the river Thames near London, crowned with pinnacles of gold, which being ſtudded with carbuncles, diffuſed a blaze of light in the dark m. I will add a few lines only, as a ſpecimen of his verſification.

Wherefore he would ſet up in higth
That bridge, for a wonderfull ſight,
With pinnacles guilt, ſhininge as goulde,
A glorious thing for men to behoulde.
Then he remembered of the newe,
Howe greater fame ſhulde him purſewe,
If he mought make that bridge ſo brighte,
That it mought ſhine alſoe by night:
And ſo continewe and not breake,
Then all the londe of him would ſpeake, &c n.

Norton's heroes in the occult ſciences are Bacon, Albertus Magnus, and Raymond Lully, to whoſe ſpecious promiſes of ſupplying the coinage of England with inexhauſtible mines of philoſophical gold, king Edward the third became an illuſtrious dupe o.

George Ripley, Norton's cotemporary, was accompliſhed [137] in many parts of erudition; and ſtill maintains his reputation as a learned chemiſt of the lower ages. He was a canon regular of the monaſtery of Bridlington in Yorkſhire, a great traveller p, and ſtudied both in France and Italy. At his return from abroad, pope Innocent the eighth abſolved him from the obſervance of the rules of his order, that he might proſecute his ſtudies with more convenience and freedom. But his convent not concurring with this very liberal indulgence, he turned Carmelite at ſaint Botolph's in Lincolnſhire, and died an anachorite in that fraternity in th [...] year 1490 q. His chemical poems are nothing more than the doctrines of alchemy cloathed in plain language, and a very rugged verſification. The capital performance is THE COMPOUND OF ALCHEMIE, written in the year 1471 r. It is in the octave metre, and dedicated to Edward the fourth s. Ripley has left a few other compoſitions on his favourite ſcience, printed by Aſhmole, who was an enthuſiaſt in this abuſed ſpecies of philoſophy t. One of them, [138] the MEDULLA, written in 1476, is dedicated to archbiſhop Nevil u. Theſe pieces have no other merit, than that of ſerving to develope the hiſtory of chemiſtry in England. They certainly contributed nothing to the ſtate of our poetry w.

SECT. VIII.

[139]

BUT a want of genius will be no longer imputed to this period of our poetical hiſtory, if the poems lately diſcovered at Briſtol, and ſaid to have been written by Thomas Rowlie, a ſecular prieſt of that place, about the year one thouſand four hundred and ſeventy, are genuine.

It muſt be acknowledged, that there are ſome circumſtances which incline us to ſuſpect theſe pieces to be a modern forgery. On the other hand, as there is ſome degree of plauſibility in the hiſtory of their diſcovery, as they poſſeſs conſiderable merit, and are held to be the real productions of Rowlie by many reſpectable critics; it is my duty to give them a place in this ſeries of our poetry, if it was for no other reaſon than that the world might be furniſhed with an opportunity of examining their authenticity. By exhibiting therefore the moſt ſpecious evidences, which I have been able to collect, concerning the manner in which they were brought to light a, and by producing ſuch ſpecimens, as in another reſpect cannot be deemed unacceptable; I will endeavour, not only to gratify the curioſity of the public on a ſubject that has long engaged the general attention, and has never yet been fairly or fully ſtated, but to ſupply the more inquiſitive reader with every argument, both external and internal, for determining the merits of this intereſting controverſy. I ſhall take the liberty to add my own opinion, on a point at leaſt doubtful: but with the greateſt deference to deciſions of much higher authority.

About the year 1470, William Cannynge, an opulent merchant and an alderman of Briſtol, afterwards an eccleſiaſtic, [140] and dean of Weſtbury college, erected the magnificent church of Saint Mary of Redcliffe, or Radcliff, near Briſtol b. In a muniment-room over the northern portico of the church, the founder placed an iron cheſt, ſecured by ſix different locks c; which ſeems to have been principally intended to receive inſtruments relating to his new ſtructure, and perhaps to his other charities d, inventories of veſtments and ornaments e, accompts of church-wardens, and other parochial evidences. He is ſaid to have directed, that this venerable cheſt ſhould be annually viſited and opened by the mayor and other chief magiſtrates of Briſtol, attended by the vicar and church-wardens of the pariſh: and that a feaſt ſhould be celebrated every year, on the day of viſitation. But this order, that part at leaſt which relates to the inſpection of the cheſt, was ſoon neglected.

In the year 1768, when the preſent new bridge at Briſtol was finiſhed and opened for paſſengers, an account of the ceremonies obſerved on occaſion of opening the old bridge, appeared in one of the Briſtol Journals; taken, as it was declared, from an antient manuſcript f. Curioſity was naturally raiſed to know from whence it came. At length, after much enquiry concerning the perſon who ſent this ſingular memoir to the news-paper, it was diſcovered that he [141] was a youth about ſeventeen years old, whoſe name was Chatterton; and whoſe father had been ſexton of Radcliffe church for many years, and alſo maſter of a writing-ſchool in that pariſh, of which the church-wardens were truſtees. The father however was now dead: and the ſon was at firſt unwilling to acknowledge, from whom, or by what means, he had procured ſo valuable an original. But after many promiſes, and ſome threats, he confeſſed that he received a manuſcript on parchment containing the narrative abovementioned, together with many other manuſcripts on parchment [...] from his father; who had found them in an iron cheſt, the ſame that I have mentioned, placed in a room ſituated over the northern entrance of the church.

It appears that the father became poſſeſſed of theſe manuſcripts in the year 1748. For in that year, he was permitted, by the church-wardens of Radcliffe-church, to take from this cheſt ſeveral written pieces of parchment, ſuppoſed to be illegible and uſeleſs, for the purpoſe of converting them into covers for the writing-books of his ſcholars. It is impoſſible to aſcertain, what, or how many, writings were deſtroyed, in conſequence of this abſurd and unwarrantable indulgence. Our ſchool-maſter, however, whoſe accompliſhments were much above his ſtation, and who was not totally deſtitute of a taſte for poetry, found, as it is ſaid, in this immenſe heap of obſolete manuſcripts, many poems written by Thomas Rowlie abovementioned, prieſt of Saint John's church in Briſtol, and the confeſſor of alderman Cannynge, which he carefully preſerved. Theſe at his death, of courſe fell into the hands of his ſon.

Of the extraordinary talents of this young man more will be ſaid hereafter. It will be ſufficient to obſerve at preſent, that he ſaw the merit and value of theſe poems, which he diligently tranſcribed. In the year 1770, he went to London, carrying with him theſe tranſcripts, and many originals, in hopes of turning ſo in [...]ſtimable a treaſure to his great [142] advantage. But from theſe flattering expectations, falling into a diſſipated courſe of life, which ill ſuited with his narrow circumſtances, and finding that a writer of the moſt diſtinguiſhed taſte and judgement, Mr. Walpole, had pronounced the poems to be ſuſpicious, in a fit of deſpair, ariſing from diſtreſs and diſappointment, he deſtroyed all his papers, and poiſoned himſelf. Some of the poems however, both tranſcripts and originals, he had previouſly ſold, either to Mr. Catcott, a merchant of Briſtol, or to Mr. Barrett, an eminent ſurgeon of the ſame place, and an ingenious antiquary, with whom they now remain g. But it appears, that among theſe there were but very few of parchment: moſt of the poems which they purchaſed were copies in his own hand. He was always averſe to give any diſtinct or ſatisfactory account of what he poſſeſſed: but from time to time, as his neceſſities required, he produced copies of his originals, which were bought by theſe gentlemen. The originals, one or two only excepted, he choſe to retain in his own poſſeſſion.

The chief of theſe poems are, The TRAGEDY of ELLA, The EXECUTION of ſir CHARLES BAWDWIN, ODE to ELLA, The BATTLE of HASTINGS, The TOURNAMENT, one or two DIALOGUES, and a Deſcription of CANNYNGE'S FEAST.

The TRAGEDY OF ELLA has ſix characters; one of which is a lady, named Birtha. It has a chorus conſiſting of minſtrels, whoſe ſongs are often introduced. Ella was governor of the caſtle of Briſtol, and a puiſſant champion againſt the Danes, about the year 920. The ſtory ſeems to be the poet's invention. The tragedy is opened with the following ſoliloquy.

[143]CELMONDE atte Bryſtowe.
Before yonne roddie ſonne has droove hys wayne
Through half hys joornie, dyghte yn gites of gowlde,
Mee, hapleſs mee, he wylle a wretch behowlde,
Myſelfe, and alle thatts myne, bounde yn Myſchaunche's chayne!
Ah Byrtha, whie dydde nature frame thee fayre,
Whie art thou alle that poyntelleh canne bewreene?
Whie art thou notte as coarſe as odhers are?
Botte thenne thie ſoughlei woulde throwe thie vyſage ſheene,
Yattek ſhemresl onne thie comlie ſemlykeene m,
Or ſcarlette with waylde lynnen clothe n,
Lyke would thie ſpriteo [ſhine] upon thie vyſage:
This daie brave Ella dothe thyne honde and harte
Clayme as hys owne to bee, whyche neep from hys moſte parte.
And cann I lynne to ſee herre with anere q?
Ytte cannotte, muſt notte, naie ytte ſhall notte bee!
Thys nyght I'lle putt ſtrong poyſonne yn the beere,
And hymme, herre, and myſelfe attonesr wylle ſlea.
Aſſyſt, me helle, lette devylles rounde me tende,
To ſlea myſelfe, my love, and eke my doughhtie friende!

The following beautiful deſcriptions of SPRING, AUTUM [...], and MORNING, are ſuppoſed to be ſung in the tragedy, by the chorus of minſtrels.

SPRING.
The boddyng flowrettes bloſhes at the lyhte,
The mees be ſpringedes with the yellowe hue,
Yn daiſeyed mantells ys the monntayne dyghte,
The neſhet younge cowſlepe bendethe wythe the dewe;
[144] The trees enleafede, into heaven ſtraught u,
Whanne gentle wyndes doe blowe, to wheſtlynge dynne ysw brought.
The evenynge commes, and brynges the dewe alonge,
The rodie welkynne ſheeneth toe the eyne,
Arounde the aleſtake x mynſtrelles ſynge the ſonge,
Yonge ivie rounde the doore-poſt doth entwyne;
I laie mee on the graſſe: yette to mie wylle,
Albeytte alle ys fayre, theere lackethe ſommethynge ſtylle.
AUTUMN.
Whanne Autumne, blake, and ſonne-brente doe appere,
Wythe hys goulde honde, guylteynge the falleynge lefe,
Bryngeynge oppe Wynterre to folfylle the yere,
Beereynge uponne hys backe the riped ſhefe;
Whanne alle the hylls wythe woddie ſeede is whyte,
Whanne levynne fyres, ande lemes, do mete fromme farr the ſyghte:
Whanne the fayre apple, rudde as even ſkie,
Doe bende the tree untoe the fructyle grounde,
Whanne joicie peres, and berryes of blacke die,
Doe daunce ynne ayre, and calle the eyne arounde:
Thanne, bee the even fowle, or even fayre,
Meethynckes mie hartys joie ys ſteyned withe ſomme care.
MORNING.
Bryghte ſonne han ynne hys roddie robes byn dyghte,
Fro the redde eaſte hee flytted wythe hys trayne;
The howers drawe awaie the geete of nyghte,
Herre ſable tapiſtrie was rente ynne twayne:
[145] The dauncynge ſtreakes bedeckedd heavenne's playne,
And onne the dewe dydd ſmyle wythe ſhemryngey eie,
Lyche gottesz of blodde whyche doe blacke armoure ſteyne,
Sheenynge uponne the borne whyche ſtondethe bye:—
The ſouldyerrs ſtoode uponne the hyllis ſyde,
Lyche yonge enlefed trees whych ynne a forreſte byde a.

But the following ode, belonging to the ſame tragedy, has much more of the choral or lyric ſtrain.

I.
O! ſynge unto mie roundelaie,
O! drop the bryny tear with me,
Daunce ne moe atte hallie day,
Lyke a running river bee.
My love is dedde,
Gone to his death bedde,
Al under the willowe tree.
II.
Blacke his cryneb as the wyntere night,
Whyte his rodec as ſummer ſnowe,
Rodde his face as morning lyght,
Cold he lies in the grave below.
My love is dedde, &c.
[146]III.
Swote his tounge as the throſtle's note,
Quycke in daunce as thought can be,
Deft his tabor, codgelle ſtote,
Oh! he lies by the willowe tree.
My love is dedde, &c.
IV.
Hark! the raven flaps his wynge,
In the brier'd delle belowe;
Hark! the dethe owl loud doth ſing
To the night mares as they go.
My love is dedde, &c.
V.
See the white moon ſheenes on hie!
Whyter is my true love's ſhrowde,
Whyter than the morning ſkie,
Whyter than the evening cloud.
My love is dedde, &c.
VI.
Here upon my true love's grave
Shall the garend fleurs be layde:
Ne one hallie ſaynte to ſave
Al the celneſs of a mayde.
My love is dedde, &c.
VII.
With my hondes I'll dentee the brieres,
Round his hallie corſe to gre f,
Ouphanteg faeries, light your fyres,
Here my bodie ſtill ſhall bee.
My love is dedde, &c.
[147]VIII.
Come with acorne-cup, and thorne,
Drain mie harty's blodde awaie:
Lyfe and all its goodes I ſcorne,
Daunce by night, or feaſt by day.
My love is dedde, &c.
IX.
Watere wytches crownde with reytes h,
Bere me to your lethale tyde;
I die—I come—My true love waytes!
Thos the damſelle ſpake, and dy'd.

According to the date aſſigned to this tragedy, it is the firſt drama extant in our language. In an Epiſtle prefixed to his patron Cannynge, the author thus cenſures the MYSTERIES, or religious interludes, which were the only plays then exiſting.

Plaies made from HALLIEi TALES I hold unmete;
Let ſome great ſtory of a man be ſonge;
Whanne, as a man, we Godde and Jeſus trete,
Ynne mie poore mynde we doe the godhead wronge.

The ODE TO ELLA is ſaid to have been ſent by Rowlie in the year 1468, as a ſpecimen of his poetical abilities, to his intimate friend and cotemporary Lydgate, who had challenged him to write verſes. The ſubject is a victory obtained by Ella over the Danes, at Watchett near Briſtol k. I will give this piece at length.

SONGE TO AELLE LORDE OF THE CASTLE OF BRISTOWE ynne daies of yore.

[148]
Oh! thou (orr whatt remaynes of thee)
EALLE the darlynge of futuritie!
Lette thys mie ſonge bolde as thie courage bee,
As everlaſtynge to poſteritie!
Whanne Dacya's ſonnes, whoſe hayres of bloude redde hue,
Lyche kynge cuppes braſtynge wythe the mornynge due,
Arraung'd ynn dreare arraie,
Uppone the lethale daie,
Spredde farr and wyde onn Watchett's ſhore:
Thenn dyddſt thou furyouſe ſtonde,
And bie thie brondeous honde
Beeſprengedd all the mees with gore.
Drawne bie thyne anlace felle l,
Downe to the depthe of helle,
Thouſandes of Dacyanns wente;
Bryſtowannes menne of myghte,
Ydar'd the bloudie fyghte,
And actedd deedes full quente.
[149]
Oh! thou, where'er (thie bones att reſte)
Thie ſpryte to haunt delyghteth beſte,
Whytherr upponn the bloude-embrewedd pleyne [...]
Orr whare thou kennſt fromme farre
The dyſmalle crie of warre,
Orr ſeeſte ſomme mountayne made of corſe of ſleyne:
Orr ſeeſte the harneſsd ſteede,
Yprauncynge o [...]er the meede,
And neighe to bee amonge the poynctedd ſpeeres;
Orr ynn blacke armoure ſtaulke arounde
Embattell'd Bryſtowe, once thie grounde,
And glowe ardorous onn the caſtell ſteeres:
Orr fierie rounde the mynſterm glare:
Lette Bryſtowe ſtylle bee made thie care,
Guarde ytte fromme foemenne and conſumynge fyre [...]
Lyche Avone ſtreme enſyrke ytt rounde;
Ne lett a flame enharme the grounde,
'Tyll ynne one flame all the whole worlde expyres.
l
Sword.
m
The monaſtery. Now the cathedral.

The BATTLE OF HASTINGS is called a tranſlation from the Saxon: and contains a minute deſcription of the perſons, arms, and characters of many of the chiefs, who fought in that important action. In this poem, Stonehenge is deſcribed as a Druidical temple.

The poem called the TOURNAMENT, is dramatically conducted, among others, by the characters of a herald, a knight, a minſtrel, and a king, who are introduced ſpeaking.

The following piece is a deſcription of an alderman's feaſt at Briſtol; or, as it is entitled, ACCOUNTE OF W. CANNYNGE'S FEAST.

[150]
Thorowe the hall the belle han ſounde,
Byalccoylen doe the grave beſeeme;
The ealdermenne doe ſytte arounde,
And ſnoffelleo opp the cheorte ſteeme.
Lyke aſſes wylde in deſerte waſte
Swotely the morneynge doe taſte,
Syke kene thei ate: the mynſtrells plaie,
The dynne of angelles doe thei kepe:
Thei ſtylle p: the gueſtes ha ne to ſaie,
But nodde ther thankes, and falle aſleepe.
Thos echeone daie bee I to deene q,
Gyffr Rowley, Iſchamm, or Tybb Gorges, be ne ſeen.

But a dialogue between two ladies, whoſe knights, or huſbands, ſerved in the wars between York and Lancaſter, and were now fighting at the battle of Saint Albans, will be more intereſting to many readers. This battle happened in the reign of Edward the fifth, about the year 1471.

ELINOUR and JUGA.

Anne Ruddebornef bank twa pynynge maydens ſate,
Theire teares faſte dryppeynge to the waterre cleere;
Echone bementynges for her abſente mate,
Who atte Seyncte Albonns ſhouke the morthynget ſpeare.
The nottebrowne Ellynor to Juga fayre,
Dydde ſpeke acroole u, with languyſhmente of eyne,
Lyke droppes of pearlie dewe, lemedw the quyvrynge brin [...].
[151]ELINOUR.
O gentle Juga! hear mie derniex plainte,
To fyghte for Yorke mie love is dyghty in ſtele;
O mai ne ſanguen ſteine the whyte roſe peyncte,
Maie good Seyncte Cuthberte watch ſyrre Robynne wele!
Moke moe thanne death in phantaſie I feelle;
See! ſee! upon the grounde he bleedynge lies!
Inhildz ſome joicea of life, or elſe my deare love dies.
JUGA.
Syſters in ſorrowe on thys daiſe ey'd banke,
Where melancholych broods, we wylle lamente:
Be wette with mornynge dewe and evene danke;
Lyche levyndeb okes in eche the oder bente:
Or lyke forlettenc halles of merriemente,
Whoſe gaſtlied nitches holde the traine of fryghte e,
Where lethalef ravens bark, and owlets wake the nyghte.
No mo the miſkynetteg ſhalle wake the morne,
The minſtrelle daunce, good cheere, and morryce plaie;
No mo the amblynge palfrie and the horne,
Shall from the leſſelh rouȝe the foxe awaie:
Ill ſeke the foreſte alle the lyve-longe daie:
Alle nete amenge the gravde cherchei glebe wyll goe,
And to the paſſante ſpryghtes lecturek mie tale of woe.
Whan mokiel cloudes do hange upon the leme
Of ledenm moon, ynn ſylver mantels dyghte:
The tryppeynge faeries weve the golden dreme
[152] Of ſelyneſs n, whyche flyethe with the nyghte;
Thenne (but the ſeynctes forbydde) gif to a ſpryghte
Syrre Rychardes forme is lyped; I'll holde dyſtraughte
Hys bledeynge clai-colde corſe, and die eche daie yn thoughte.
ELINOUR.
Ah, woe-bementynge wordes; what wordes can ſhowe!
Thou limedo river, on thie linchep mai bleede
Champyons, whoſe bloude wylle wythe thie waterres flowe,
And Rudborne ſtreeme be rudborne ſtreeme indeede!
Haſte gentle Juga, trippe ytte o'ere the meade
To know or wheder wee muſte waile agayne,
Or whythe oure fallen knyghte be menged onne the plain.
So ſaieing, lyke twa levyn-blaſted trees,
Or twain of cloudes that holdeth ſtormie raine,
Theie moved gentle o'ere the dewe mees q;
To where Seyncte Albon's holie ſhrynes remayne.
There dyd theye finde that bothe their knyghtes were ſleyne;
Diſtraughte r, theie wandered to ſwollen Rudborne's ſyde,
Yelled theyre leathalle knelle, ſonke in the waves and dyde.
f
Rudborn, in Saxon, red-water, a river near Saint Albans.
s
Lamenting.
t
Murdering.
u
Faintly.
w
Gliſtened.
x
Sad complaint.
y
Arrayed, or caſed.
z
Infuſe.
a
Juice.
b
Blaſted.
c
Forſaken.
d
Ruins.
e
Fear.
f
Deadly, or death-boding.
g
A ſmall bagpipe.
h
In a confined ſenſe, a buſh or hedge, though ſometimes uſed as a foreſt.
i
Church-yard, full of graves.
k
Relate.
l
Black.
m
Decreaſing.
n
Happineſs [...] Chaucer, TR. CRES. iii. 815.
o
Glaſſy.
p
Bank.
q
Meads.
r
Diſtracted.

In a DIALOGUE, or ECLOGUE, ſpoken by two ladies, are theſe lines.

Sprytes of the blaſte, the pious Nygelle ſedde,
Powre oute your pleaſaunce on mie fadres hedde.
Richard of lyonn's harte to fyghte is gonne,
Uppon the broad ſea doe the banners gleme;
The aminuſedd natyons be aſtonn
To ken ſykes large a flete, ſyke fyne, ſyke breme t:
[153] The barkis heofods coupe the lymedu ſtreme:
Oundesw ſynkyng oundes uppon the hard akex riſe;
The waters ſlughornes wyth a ſwoty cleme
Contekey the dynningez ayre, and rechea the ſkies.
Sp [...]ytes of the blaſte, on gouldenn trones aſtedde b,
Powre oute your pleaſaunce on mie fadres hedde!

I am of opinion, that none of theſe pieces are genuine. The EXECUTION of SIR CHARLES BAUDWIN is now allowed to be modern, even by thoſe who maintain all the other poems to be antient c. The ODE TO ELLA, and the EPISTLE to Lydgate, with his ANSWER, were written on one piece of parchment; and, as pretended, in Rowlie's own hand. This was ſhewn to an ingenious critic and intelligent antiquary of my acquaintance; who aſſure [...] me, that the writing was a groſs and palpable forgery. It was not even ſkilfully counterfeited. The form of the letters, although artfully contrived to wear an antiquated appearance, differed very eſſentially from every one of our early alphabets. Nor were the characters uniform and conſiſtent: part of the ſame manuſcript exhibiting ſome letters ſhaped [154] according to the preſent round hand, while others were traced in imitation of the antient court and text hands. The parchment was old; and that it might look ſtill older, was ſtained on the outſide with ochre, which was eaſily rubbed off with a linen cloth. Care had alſo been evidently taken to tincture the ink with a yellow caſt. To communicate a ſtronger ſtamp of rude antiquity, the ODE was written like proſe: no diſtinction, or termination, being made between the ſeveral verſes. Lydgate's ANSWER, which makes a part of this manuſcript, and is written by the ſame hand, I have already proved to be a manifeſt impoſition. This parchment has ſince been unfortunately loſt d. I have myſelf carefully examined the original manuſcript, as it is called, of the little piece entitled, ACCOUNTE OF W. CANNYNGE'S FEAST. It is likewiſe on parchment, and, I am ſorry to ſay, that the writing betrays all the ſuſpicious ſignatures which were obſerved in that of the ODE TO ELLA. I have repeatedly and diligently compared it with three or four authentic manuſcripts of the time of Edward the fourth, to all which I have found it totally unlike. Among other ſmaller veſtiges of forgery, which cannot be ſo eaſily deſcribed and explained here, at the bottom are added in ink two coats of arms, containing empalements of Cannynge and of his friends or relations, with family-names, apparently delineated by the ſame pen which wrote the verſes. Even the ſtyle and drawing of the armorial bearings diſcover the hand of a modern herald. This, I believe, is the only pretended original of the poetry of Rowlie, now remaining.

[155] As to internal arguments, an unnatural affectation of antient ſpelling and of obſolete words, not belonging to the period aſſigned to the poems, ſtrikes us at firſt ſight. Of theſe old words combinations are frequently formed, which never yet exiſted in the unpoliſhed ſtate of the Engliſh language: and ſometimes the antiquated diction is moſt inartificially miſapplied, by an improper contexture with the preſent modes of ſpeech. The attentive reader will alſo diſcern, that our poet ſometimes forgets his aſſumed character, and does not always act his part with conſiſtency: for the chorus, or interlude, of the damſel who drowns herſelf, which I have cited at length from the TRAGEDY of ELLA, is much more intelligible, and free from uncouth expreſſions, than the general phraſeology of theſe compoſitions. In the BATTLE OF HASTINGS, ſaid to be tranſlated from the Saxon, Stonehenge is called a Druidical temple. The battle of Haſtings was fought in the year 1066. We will grant the Saxon original to have been written ſoon afterwards: about which time, no other notion prevailed concerning this miraculous monument, than the ſuppoſition which had been delivered down by long and conſtant tradition, that it was erected in memory of Hengiſt's maſſacre. This was the eſtabliſhed and uniform opinion of the Welſh and Armorican bards, who moſt probably received it from the Saxon minſtrels: and that this was the popular belief at the time of the battle of Haſtings, appears from the evidence of Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote his hiſtory not more than eighty years after that memorable event. And in this doctrine Robert of Glouceſter and all the monkiſh chroniclers agree. That the Druids conſtructed this ſtupendous pile for a place of worſhip, was a diſcovery reſerved for the ſagacity of a wiſer age, and the laborious diſcuſſion of modern antiquaries. In the EPISTLE to Lydgate, prefixed to the TRAGEDY, our poet condemns the abſurdity and impropriety of the religious dramas, and recommends [156] SOME GREAT STORY OF HUMAN MANNERS, as moſt ſuitable for theatrical repreſentation. But this idea is the reſult of that taſte and diſcrimination, which could only belong to a more advanced period of ſociety e.

But, above all, the caſt of thought, the complexion of the ſentiments, and the ſtructure of the compoſition, evidently prove theſe pieces not antient. The ODE TO ELLA, for inſtance, has exactly the air of modern poetry; ſuch, I mean, as is written at this day, only diſguiſed with antique ſpelling and phraſeology. That Rowlie was an accompliſhed literary character, a ſcholar, an hiſtorian, and an antiquarian, if contended for, I will not deny f. Nor is it impoſſible that he might write Engliſh poetry. But that he is the writer of the poems which I have here cited, and [157] which have been ſo confidently aſcribed to him, I am not yet convinced.

On the whole, I am inclined to believe, that theſe poem [...] were compoſed by the ſon of the ſchool-maſter before mentioned; who inherited the ineſtimable treaſures of Cannynge's cheſt in Radcliffe-church, as I have already related at large. This youth, who died at eighteen, was a prodigy of genius: and would have proved the firſt of Engliſh poets, had he reached a maturer age. From his childhood, he was fond of reading and writing verſes: and ſome of his early compoſitions, which he wrote without any deſign to deceive, have been judged to be moſt aſtoniſhing productions by the firſt critic of the preſent age. From his ſituation and connections, he became a ſkilful practitioner in various kinds of hand-writing. Availing himſelf therefore of his poetical talent, and his facility in the graphic art, to a miſcellany of obſcure and neglected parchments, which were commodiouſly placed in his own poſſeſſion, he was tempted to add others of a more intereſting nature, and ſuch as he was enabled to forge, under theſe circumſtances, without the fear of detection. As to his knowledge of the old Engliſh literature, which is rarely the ſtudy of a young poet, a ſufficient quantity of obſolete words and phraſes were readily attainable from the gloſſary to Chaucer, and to Percy's Ballads. It is confeſſed, that this youth wrote the EXECUTION OF SIR CHARLES BAWDWIN: and he who could forge that poem, might eaſily forge all the reſt.

In the mean time, we will allow, that ſome pieces of poetry written by Rowlie might have been preſerved in Cannynge's cheſt: and that theſe were enlarged and improved by young Chatterton. But if this was the caſe, they were ſo much altered as to become entirely new compoſitions. The poem which bids the faireſt to be one of theſe originals is CANNYNGE'S FEAST. But the parchment-manuſcript of this little poem has already been proved to be a forgery. A circumſtance [158] which is perhaps alone ſufficient to make us ſuſpect that no originals ever exiſted.

It will be aſked, for what end or purpoſe did he contrive ſuch an impoſture? I anſwer, from lucrative views; or perhaps from the pleaſure of deceiving the world, a motive which, in many minds, operates more powerfully than the hopes of gain. He probably promiſed himſelf greater emoluments from this indirect mode of exerciſing his abilities: or, he might have ſacrificed even the vanity of appearing in the character of an applauded original author, to the private enjoyment of the ſucceſs of his invention and dexterity.

I have obſerved above, that Cannynge ordered his iron cheſt in Radcliffe-church to be ſolemnly viſited once in every year, and that an annual entertainment ſhould be provided for the viſitors. In the notices relating to this matter, which ſome of the chief patrons of Rowlie's poetry hav [...] lately ſent me from Briſtol, it is affirmed, that this order is contained in Cannynge's will: and that he ſpecifies therein, that not only his manuſcript evidences abovementioned, but that the POEMS of HIS CONFESSOR ROWLIE, which likewiſe he had depoſited in the aforeſaid iron cheſt, were alſo to be ſubmitted to this annual inſpection. This circumſtance at firſt ſtrongly inclined me to think favourably of the authenticity of theſe pieces. At leaſt it proved, that Rowlie had left ſome performances in verſe. But on examining Cannynge's will, no ſuch order appears. All his bequeſts relating to Radcliffe-church, of every kind, are the following. He leaves legacies to the vicar, and the three clerks, of the ſaid church: to the two chantry-prieſts, or chaplains, of his foundation: to the keeper of the PYXIS OBLATIONUM, in the north-door: and to the fraternity Commemoracionis martirum. Alſo veſtments to the altars of ſaint Catharine, and ſaint George. He mentions his tomb built near the altar of ſaint Catharine, where his late wife is inrerred. He gives augmentations to the endowment of his [159] two chantries g, at the altars of ſaint Catharine and ſaint George, abovementioned. To the choir, he leaves two ſervice-books, called Liggers, to be uſed there, on either ſide, by his two chantry-prieſts. He directs, that his funeral ſhall be celebrated in the ſaid church with a month's mind, and the uſual ſolemnities h.

Very few anecdotes of Rowlie's life have deſcended to poſterity. The following MEMOIRS of his life are ſaid to have been written by himſelf in the year 1460, and to have been diſcovered with his poetry: which perhaps to many readers will appear equally ſpurious.

I was fadre confeſſour to maſteres Roberte and maſtre William Cannings. Maſtre Roberte was a man after his fadre's own harte, greedie of gaynes and ſparying of alms deedes; but maſter William was mickle courteous, and gave me many marks in my needs. At the age of twenty-two years deceasd maſter Roberte, and by maſter William's deſyre, [160] bequeathd me one hundred marks; I went to thank maſter [...] William for his mickle courteſie, and to make tender of my ſelfe to him.—Fadre, quod he, I have a crotchett in my brayne that will need your aide. Maſter William, ſaid I, if you command me I will go to Roome for you; not ſo farr diſtant, ſaid he: I ken you for a mickle learnd prieſt, if you will leave the paryſh of our ladie, and travel for mee, it ſhall be mickle to your profits.

I gave my hands, and he told mee I muſt goe to all the abbies and pryorys, and gather together auncient drawyings i, if of anie account at any price. Conſented I to the ſame, and purſuant ſett out the Mundaie following for the minſter of our ladiek and Saint Goodwyne, where a drawing of a ſteeple, contryvd for the belles when runge to ſwaie out of the ſyde into the ayre, had I thence, it was done by ſyr Symon de Mambrie l, who in the troubleſomme rayne of kyng Stephen devoted himſelfe, and was ſhorne.

Hawkes ſhowd me a manuſcriptm in Saxonne, but I was onley to bargayne for drawyngs.—The next drawyings I metten with was a church to be reard, ſo as in form of a croſs, the end ſtanding in the ground, a long manuſcript was annexd. Maſter Canning thought no workman culd be found handie enough to do it.—The tale of the drawers deſerveth relation.—Thomas de Blunderville, a preeſte, although [161] the preeſte had no allows, lovd a fair mayden, and on her begett a ſonn. Thomas educated his ſoon; at ſixteen years he went into the warrs, and neer did return for five years.—His mother was married to a knight, and bare a daughter, then ſixteen, who was ſeen and lovd by Thomas, ſon of Thomas, and married to him unknown to her mother, by Ralph de Meſching, of the Minſter, who invited, as cuſtom was, two of his brothers, Thomas de Blunderville and John Heſchamme. Thomas nevertheleſs had not ſeen his ſonn for five years, kenning him inſtauntly; and learning the name of the bryde, toke him aſyde and diſcloſd to him that he was his ſonn, and was weded to his own ſiſtre.—Yoyng Thomas toke on ſo that he was ſhorne.

He drew manie fine drawyings on glaſs.

The abott of the minſter of Peterburrow ſold it me, he might have bargaynd twenty marks better, but maſter William would not depart with it. The prior of Coventree did ſell me a picture of great account, made by Badilian Y'allyanne, who did lyve in the rayne of kyng Henrie the firſt, a mann of fickle temper, havyng been tendred ſyx pounds of ſilver for it, to which he ſaid naie, and afterwards did give it to the then abottn of Coventriee. In brief, I gathered together manie marks value of fine drawyings, all the works of mickle cunning.—Maſter William culld the moſt choiſe parts, but hearing of a drawying in Durham church hee did ſend me.

Fadree you have done mickle well, all the chatills are more worth than you gave; take this for your paynes: ſo ſaying, he did put into my hands a purſe of two hundreds good pounds, and did ſay that I ſhould note be in need, I did thank him moſt heartily.—The choiſe drawyng, when [162] his fadre did dye, was begunn to be put up, and ſomme houſes neer the old church eraſed; it was drawn by Aflema, preeſt of Saint Cutchburts, and offerd as a drawyng for Weſtminſter, but caſt aſyde, being the tender did not ſpeak French.

I had now mickle of ryches, and lyvd in a houſe on the hyll, often repayrings to maſtere William, who was now lord of the houſe. I ſent him my verſes touching his church, for which he did ſend me mickle good things.

In the year kyng Edward came to Briſtow, Maſter Cannings ſend for me to avoid a marriage which the kyng was bent upon between him and a ladie he neer had ſeen, of the familee of the Winddivilles, the danger where nigh, unleſs avoided by one remidee, an holie one, which was, to be ordained a ſonn of holy church, beyng franke from the power of kynges in that cauſe, and can be wedded.—Mr. Cannings inſtauntly ſent me to Carpenter, his good friend, biſhop of Worceſter, and the Fryday following was prepaird and ordaynd the next day, the daie of Saint Mathew, and on Sunday ſung his firſt maſs in the church of our ladie o, to the aſtoniſhing of kyng Edward, who was ſo furiouſly madd and ravyngs withall, that maſter Cannings was wyling to give him three thouſand markes, which made him peace again, and he was admyted to the preſence of the kyng, ſtaid in Briſtow, partook of all his pleaſures and paſtimes till he departed the next year p.

I gave maſter Cannings my Briſtow tragedy q, for which he gave me in hands twentie pound, and did praiſe it more then I did think my ſelf did deſerve, for I can ſay in troth I was never proud of my verſes ſince I did read maſter Chaucer; and now haveing nought to do, and not wyling to be [163] ydle, I went to the minſter of our Ladie and Saint Goodwin, and then did purchaſe the Saxon manuſcripts, and ſett my ſelf diligently to tranſlate and worde it in Engliſh metre, which in one year I performd and ſettled in the Battle of Haſtyngs; maſter William did bargyin for one to be manuſcript, and John Pelham, an eſquire, of Aſhley, for another.—Maſter William did praiſe it muckle greatly, but adviſd me to tender it to no man, beying the mann whoſe name where therein mentioned would be offended. He gave me twenty markes, and I did goe to Aſhley, to maſter Pelham, to be payd of him for the other one I left with him.

But his ladie being of the family of the Fiſcamps r, of whom ſome things are ſaid, he told me he had burnt it, and would have me burnt too if I did not avaunt. Dureing this dinn his wife did come out, and made a dinn to ſpeake by a figure would have over ſounded the bells of our Ladie of the Cliffe; I was fain content to gett away in a ſafe ſkin.

I wrote my Juſtice of Peace s, which maſter Cannings adviſd me ſecrett to keep, which I did; and now being grown auncient I was ſeizd with great pains, which did coſt me mickle of marks to be cured off.—Maſter William offered me a cannon's place in Weſtbury collige, which gladly had I accepted, but my pains made me to ſtaie at home. After this miſchance I livd in a houſe by the Tower, which has not been repaird ſince Robert Conſull of Glouceſter repayrd the caſtle and wall; here I livd warm, but in my houſe on the hyll the ayre was mickle keen, ſome marks it coſt me to put it in repair my new houſe, and brynging my chattles from the ould; it was a fine houſe, and I much marville it was untenanted. A perſon greedy of gains was the then poſſeſſour, and of him I did buy it at a very ſmall rate, having lookd on the ground works and mayne ſupports, [164] and fynding them ſtaunch, and repayrs no need wanting, I did buy of the owner, Geoffry Coombe, on a repayring leaſe for ninety-nine years t, he thinkying it would fall down everie day; but with a few marks expence did put it up in a manner neat, and therein I lyvd.

It is with regret that I find myſelf obliged to pronounce Rowlie's poems to be ſpurious. Antient remains of Engliſh poetry, unexpectedly diſcovered, and fortunately reſcued from a long oblivion, are contemplated with a degree of fond enthuſiaſm: excluſive of any real or intrinſic excellence, they afford thoſe pleaſures, ariſing from the idea of antiquity, which deeply intereſt the imagination. With theſe pleaſures we are unwilling to part. But there is a more ſolid ſatisfaction, reſulting from the detection of artifice and impoſture.

SECT. IX.

[165]

THE ſubſequent reigns of Richard the third, Edward the fifth, and Henry the ſeventh, abounded in obſcure verſifiers.

A mutilated poem which occurs among the Cotton manuſcripts in the Britiſh muſeum, and principally contains a ſatire on the nuns, who not leſs from the nature of their eſtabliſhment, than from the uſual degeneracy which attends all inſtitutions, had at length loſt their original purity, ſeems to belong to this period a. It is without wit, and almoſt without numbers. It was written by one Bertram Walton, whoſe name now firſt appears in the catalogue of Engliſh poets; and whoſe life I calmly reſign to the reſearches of ſome more laborious and patient antiquary.

About the year 1480, or rather before, Benedict Burgh, a maſter of arts of Oxford, among other promotions in the church, archdeacon of Colcheſter, prebendary of ſaint Paul's, and canon of ſaint Stephen's chapel at Weſtminſter b, tranſlated Cato's MORALS into the royal ſtanza, for the uſe of his pupil lord Bourchier ſon of the earl of Eſſex c. Encouraged [166] by the example and authority of ſo venerable an eccleſiaſtic, and tempted probably by the convenient opportunity of pilfering phraſeology from a predeceſſor in the ſame arduous taſk, Caxton tranſlated the ſame Latin work; but from the French verſion of a Latin paraphraſe, and into Engliſh proſe, which he printed in the year 1483. He calls, in his preface, the meaſure, uſed by Burgh, the BALAD ROYAL. Caxton's tranſlation, which ſuperſeded Burgh's work, and with which it is confounded, is divided into four books, which comprehend ſeventy-two heads.

I do not mean to affront my readers, when I inform them, without any apology, that the Latin original of this piece was not written by Cato the cenſor, nor by Cato Uticenſis d: although it is perfectly in the character of the former, and Aulus Gellius has quoted Cato's poem DE MORIBUS e. Nor have I the gravity of the learned Boxhornius, who in a prolix and elaborate diſſertation has endeavoured to demonſtrate, that theſe diſtichs are undoubtedly ſuppoſititious, and that they could not poſſibly be written by the very venerable Roman whoſe name they bear. The title is DISTICHA DE MORIBUS AD FILIUM, which are diſtributed into four books, under [...]he name of Dionyſius Cato. But he is frequently called MAGNUS CATO.

This work has been abſurdly attributed by ſome critics to [167] Seneca, and by others to Auſonius f. It is, however, more antient than the time of the emperour Valentinian the third, who died in 455 g. On the other hand, it was written after the appearance of Lucan's PHARSALIA, as the author, at the beginning of the ſecond book, commends Virgil, Macer h, Ovid, and Lucan. The name of Cato probably became prefixed to theſe diſtichs, in a lower age, by the officious ignorance of tranſcribers, and from the acquieſcence of readers equally ignorant, as Marcus Cato had written a ſet of moral diſtichs. Whoever was the author, this metrical ſyſtem of ethics had attained the higheſt degree of eſtimation in the barbarous ages. Among Langbain's manuſcripts bequeathed to the univerſity of Oxford by Antony Wood, it is accompanied with a Saxon paraphraſe i. John of Saliſbury, in his POLYCRATICON, mentions it as the favourite and eſtabliſhed manual in the education of boys l. To enumerate no others, [168] it is much applauded by Iſidore the old etymologiſt m, Alcuine n, and Abelard o: and we muſt acknowledge, that the writer, [169] excluſive of the utility of his precepts, poſſeſſes the merit of a nervous and elegant brevity. It is perpetually quoted by Chaucer. In the MILLER'S TALE, he reproaches the ſimple carpenter for having never read in Cato, that a man ſhould marry his own likeneſs p: and in the MARCHAUNT'S TALE, having quoted Seneca to prove that no bleſſing is equal to an humble wife, he adds Cato's precept of prudently bearing a ſcolding wife with patience q. It was tranſlated into Greek at Conſtantinople by Maximus Planudes, who has the merit of having familiariſed to his countrymen many Latin claſſics of the lower empire, by metaphraſtic verſions r: and at the reſtoration of learning in Europe, illuſtrated with a commentary by Eraſmus, which is much extolled by Luther s. There are two or three French tranſlations t. That of Mathurine Corderoy is dedicated to Robert Stephens. In the Britiſh muſeum, there is a French tranſlation by Helis de Guinceſtre, or Wincheſter; made, perhaps, at the time when our countrymen affected to write more in French than Engliſh u. Chaucer conſtantly calls this writer CATON or CATHON, which ſhews that he was more familiar in French than in Latin. Caxton in the preface to his aforeſaid tranſlation affirms, that Poggius Florentinus, whoſe library was furniſhed with the moſt valuable authors, eſteemed CATHON GLOSED, that is, Cato with notes, to be the beſt book in his collection w. The gloſſariſt I take to be Philip de Pergamo, [170] a prior at Padua; who wrote a moſt elaborate MORALISATION on Cato, under the title of SPECULUM REGIMINIS, ſo early as the year 1380 x. In the ſame preface, Caxton obſerves, that it is the beſte boke for to be taught to yonge children in ſcole. But he ſuppoſes the author to be Marcus Cato, whom he duly celebrates with the two Scipios and other noble Romaynes. A kind of ſupplement to this work, and often its companion, under the title of CATO PARVUS, or Facetus, or Urbanus, was written by Daniel Churche, or Eccleſienſis, a domeſtic in the court of Henry the ſecond, a learned prince and a patron of ſcholars, about the year 1180 y. This was alſo tranſlated by Burghe; and in the Britiſh muſeum, both the CATOS of his verſion occur, as forming one and the ſame work, viz. Liber MINORIS Catonis, et MAJORIS, tranſlatus a Latino in Anglicum per Mag. Benet Borugh z. Burghe's performance is too jejune for [171] tranſcription; and, I ſuſpect, would not have afforded a ſingle ſplendid extract, had even the Latin poſſeſſed any ſparks of poetry. It is indeed true, that the only critical excellence of the original, which conſiſts of a terſe conciſeneſs of ſentences, although not always expreſſed in the pureſt latinity, will not eaſily bear to be transfuſed. Burghe, but without ſufficient foundation, is ſaid to have finiſhed Lydgate's GOVERNAUNCE OF PRINCIS a.

About the year 1481, Julian Barnes, more properly Berners, ſiſter of Richard lord Berners, and prioreſs of the nunnery of Sopewell, wrote three Engliſh tracts on Hawking, Hunting, and Armory, or Heraldry, which were ſoon afterwards printed in the neighbouringb monaſtery of ſaint Alban's c. [172] From an abbeſs diſpoſed to turn author, we might more reaſonably have expected a manual of meditations for the cloſet, or ſelect rules for making ſalves, or diſtilling ſtrong waters. But the diverſions of the field were not thought inconſiſtent with the character of a religious lady of this eminent rank, who reſembled an abbot in reſpect of exerciſing an extenſive manerial juriſdiction; and who hawked and hunted in common with other ladies of diſtinction d. This work, however, is here mentioned, becauſe the ſecond of theſe treatiſes is written in rhyme. It is ſpoken in her own perſon; in which, being otherwiſe a woman of authority, ſhe aſſumes the title of dame. I ſuſpect the whole to be a tranſlation from the French and Latin e.

To this period I refer William of Naſſyngton, a proctor or advocate in the eccleſiaſtical court at York. He tranſlated into Engliſh rhymes, as I conjecture, about the year 1480, a theological tract, entitled A treatiſe on the Trinity and Unity with a declaration of God's Works and of the Paſſion of Jeſus Chriſt, written by John of Waldenby, an Auguſtine [173] frier of Yorkſhire, a ſtudent in the Auguſtine convent at Oxford, the provincial of his order in England, and a ſtrenuous champion againſt the doctrines of Wiccliffe f. I once ſaw a manuſcript of Naſſyngton's tranſlation in the library of Lincoln cathedral g; and was tempted to tranſcribe the few following lines from the prologue, as they convey an idea of our poet's character, record the titles of ſome old popular romances, and diſcover antient modes of public amuſement.

I warne you firſte at the begynnynge,
That I will make no vayne carpynge,
Of dedes of armes, ne of amou [...]s,
As does MYNSTRELLIS and GESTOURS,
That maketh carpynge in many a place
Of OCTOVIANE and ISENBRACE,
And of many other GESTES,
And namely when they come to feſtes;
Ne of the lyf of BEVYS OF HAMPTOUNE,
That was a knyght of grete renoune:
Ne of ſyr GYE OF WARWYKE, &c.

Our tranſlator in theſe verſes formally declares his intention of giving his reader no entertainment; and diſavows all concern with ſecular vanities, eſpecially thoſe unedifying tales of love and arms, which were the cuſtomary themes of other poets, and the delight of an idle age. The romances of OCTAVIAN, ſir BEVIS, and ſir GUY, have already been diſcuſſed at large. That of ſir ISEMBRAS was familiar in the time of Chaucer, and occurs in the RIME of SIR THOPAS h. In Mr. Garrick's curious library of chivalry, which his friends ſhare in common with himſelf, there is an edition [174] by Copland, extremely different from the manuſcript copies preſerved at Cambridge i, and in the Cotton collection k. I believe it to be originally a French romance, yet not of very high antiquity. It is written in the ſtanza of Chaucer's ſir THOPAS l. The incidents are for the moſt part thoſe trite expedients, which almoſt conſtantly form the plan of theſe metrical narratives.

I take this opportunity of remarking, that the MINSTRELS, who in this prologue of Naſſyngton are named ſeparately from the GESTOURS, or tale-tellers, were ſometimes diſtinguiſhed from the harpers. In the year 1374, ſix Minſtrels, accompanied with four Harpers, on the anniverſary of Alwyne the biſhop, performed their minſtrelſies, at dinner, in the hall of the convent of ſaint Swithin at Wincheſter; and during ſupper, ſung the ſame GEST, or tale, in the great arched chamber of the prior: on which ſolemn occaſion, the ſaid chamber was hung with the arras, or tapeſtry, of THE THREE KINGS OF COLOGNE m. Theſe minſtrels and harpers belonged, partly to the royal houſhold in Wincheſter caſtle, and partly to the biſhop of Wincheſter. [175] There was an annual maſs at the ſhrine or tomb of biſhop Alwyne in the church, which was regularly followed by a feaſt in the convent. It is probable, that the GEST here ſpecified was ſome poetical legend of the prelate, to whoſe memory this yearly feſtival was inſtituted, and who was a Saxon biſhop of Wincheſter about the year 1040 n. Although ſongs of chivalry were equally common, and I believe more welcome to the monks, at theſe ſolemnities. In an accompt-roll of the priory of Biceſter, in Oxfordſhire o, I find a parallel inſtance, under the year 1432. It is in this entry. ‘"Dat. ſex Miniſtrallis de Bokyngham cantantibus in refectorio MARTYRIUM SEPTEM DORMIENTIUM in ffeſto epiphanie, iv s."’ That is, the treaſurer of the monaſtery gave four ſhillings to ſix minſtrels from Buckingham, for ſinging in the refectory a legend called the MARTYRDOM OF THE SEVEN SLEEPERS p, on the feaſt of the Epiphany. In the Cotton library, there is a Norman poem in Saxon characters on this ſubject q; which was probably tranſlated afterwards into Engliſh rhyme. The original is a Greek legend r, never [176] printed; but which, in the dark ages, went about in a barbarous Latin tranſlation, by one Syrus s; or in a narrative framed from thence by Gregory of Tours t.

Henry Bradſhaw has rather larger pretenſions to poetical fame than William of Naſſington, although ſcarcely deſerving the name of an original writer in any reſpect. He was a native of Cheſter, educated at Glouceſter college in Oxford, and at length a Benedictine monk of ſaint Werburgh's abbey in his native place u. Before the year 1500, he wrote the LIFE OF SAINT WERBURGH, a daughter of a king of the Mercians, in Engliſh verſe w. This poem, beſide the devout deeds and paſſion of the poet's patroneſs ſaint, [177] comprehends a variety of other ſubjects; as a deſcription of the kingdom of the Mercians x, the lives of ſaint Etheldred and ſaint Sexburgh y, the foundation of the city of Cheſter z, and a chronicle of our kings a. It is collected from Bede, Alfred of Beverly, Malmeſbury, Girardus Cambrenſis, Higden's Polychronicon, and the paſſionaries of the female ſaints, Werburgh, Etheldred, and Sexburgh, which were kept for [178] public edification in the choir of the church of our poet's monaſtery b. Bradſhaw is not ſo fond of relating viſions and miracles as his argument ſeems to promiſe. Although concerned with three ſaints, he deals more in plain facts than in the fictions of religious romance; and, on the whole, his performance is rather hiſtorical than legendary. This is remarkable, in an age, when it was the faſhion to turn hiſtory into legend c. His fabulous origin of Cheſter is not [179] ſo much to be imputed to his own want of veracity, as to the authority of his voucher Ranulph Higden, a celebrated chronicler, his countryman, and a monk of his own abbey d. He ſuppoſes that Cheſter, called by the antient Britons CAIR [180] LLEON, or the city of Legions, was founded by Leon Gaur, a giant, corrupted from LEON VAUR, or the great legion.

The founder of this citie, as ſayth Polychronicon,
Was Leon Gaur, a myghte ſtronge gyaunt,
Which buildid caves and dongeons manie a one,
No goodlie buildyng, ne proper, ne pleaſant.

He adds, with an equal attention to etymology:

But kinge Leir a Britan fine and valiaunt,
Was founder of Cheſter by pleaſaunt buildyng,
And was named Guar Leir by the kyng e.

But a greater degree of credulity would perhaps have afforded him a better claim to the character of a poet: and, at leaſt, we ſhould have conceived a more advantageous opinion of his imagination, had he been leſs frugal of thoſe traditionary fables, in which ignorance and ſuperſtition had cloathed every part of his argument. This piece was firſt printed by Pinſon in the year 1521. ‘"Here begynneth the holy lyfe of SAYNT WERBURGE, very frutefull for all criſten people to rede f."’ He traces the genealogy of ſaint Werburg with much hiſtorical accuracy g.

[181] The moſt ſplendid paſſage of this poem, is the following deſcription of the feaſt made by king Ulpher in the hall of the abbey of Ely, when his daughter Werburgh was admitted to the veil in that monaſtery. Among other curious anecdotes of antient manners, the ſubjects of the tapeſtry, with which the hall was hung, and of the ſongs ſung by the minſtrels, on this ſolemn occaſion, are given at large h.

Kynge Wulfer her father at this ghoſtly ſpouſage
Prepared great tryumphes, and ſolempnyte;
Made a royall feeſt, as cuſtome is of maryage,
Sende for his frendes, after good humanyte
Kepte a noble houſholde, ſhewed great lyberalyte
Both to ryche and poore, that to this feeſt wolde come,
No man was denyed, every man was wellcome.
Her uncles and auntes, were preſent there all
Ethelred and Merwalde, and Mercelly alſo
Thre bleſſed kynges, whome ſayntes we do call
Saint Keneſwyd, ſaint Keneburg, their ſiſters both two
And of her noble lynage, many other mo
Were redy that ſeaſon, with reverence and honour
At this noble tryumphe, to do all theyr devour.
[182]
Tho kynges mette them, with their company,
Egbryct kynge of Kent, brother to the quene;
The ſecond was Aldulphe kynge of the eaſt party,
Brother to ſaynt Audry, wyfe and mayde ſerene;
With divers of theyr progeny, and nobles as I wene,
Dukes, erles, barons, and lordes ferre and nere,
In theyr beſt array, were preſent all in fere i.
It were full tedyous, to make deſcrypcyon
Of the great tryumphes, and ſolempne royalte,
Belongynge to the feeſt, the honour and provyſyon,
By playne declaracyon, upon every partye;
But the ſothe to ſay, withouten ambyguyte,
All herbes and flowres, fragraunt, fayre and ſwete,
Were ſtrawed in halles, and layd under theyr fete.
Clothes of golde and arras, were hanged in the hall
Depaynted with pyctures, and hyſtoryes manyfolde,
Well wroughte and craftely, with precious ſtones all
Glyterynge as Phebus, and the beten golde,
Lyke an erthly paradyſe, pleaſaunt to beholde:
As for the ſayd moynes k, was not them amonge,
But prayenge in her cell, as done all novice yonge.
The ſtory of Adam, there was goodly wrought
And of his wyfe Eve, bytwene them the ſerpent,
How they were deceyved, and to theyr peynes brought;
There was Cayn and Abell, offerynge theyr preſent,
The ſacryfyce of Abell, accepte full evydent:
Tuball and Tubalcain, were purtrayed in that place
The inventours of muſyke, and crafte by great grace.
[183]
Noe and his ſhyppe, was made there curyouſly
Sendynge forthe a raven, whiche never came again;
And how the dove returned, with a braunche haſtely,
A token of comforte and peace, to man certayne:
Abraham there was, ſtanding upon the mount playne
To offer in ſacrifice, Iſaac his dere ſone,
And how the ſhepe for hym was offered in oblacyon.
The twelve ſones of Jacob, there were in purtrayture
And how into Egypt, yonge Joſeph was ſolde,
There was impriſoned, by a falſe conjectour,
After in all Egypte, was ruler (as is tolde).
There was in pycture, Moyſes wyſe and bolde,
Our Lorde apperynge, in buſhe flammynge as fyre
And nothing thereof brent, lefe, tree, nor ſpyre l.
The ten plages of Egypt, were well emboſt
The chyldren of Iſrael, paſſyng the reed ſee,
Kynge Pharoo drowned, with all his proude hooſt,
And how the two table, at the mounte Synaye
Were gyven to Moyſes, and how ſoon to idolatry
The people were prone, and punyſhed were therefore,
How Datan and Abyron, for pryde were full youre m.
Duke Joſue was joyned, after them in pycture,
Ledynge the Iſre [...]elytes to the land of promyſſyon,
And how the ſaid land was divided by meſure
To the people of God, by equall ſundry porcyon:
The judges and bysſhops were there everychone,
Theyr noble actes, and tryumphes marcyall,
Fresſhly were browdred in theſe clothes royall.
[184]
Nexte to the greate lorde, appered fayre and bryght
Kynge Saull and David, and prudent Solomon,
Roboas ſuccedynge, whiche ſoone loſt his myght,
The good kynge Eſechyas, and his generacyon,
And ſo to the Machabees, and dyvers other nacyon,
All theſe ſayd ſtoryes, ſo rychely done and wrought.
Belongyng to kyng Wulfer, agayn that tyme were brought n.
But over the hye deſſe o, in the pryncypall place
Where the ſayd thre kynges ſate crowned all,
The beſt hallyngep hanged, as reaſon was,
Whereon were wrought the ix. orders angelicall
Dyvyded in thre ierarchyſes, not ceſſynge to call
Sanctus, ſanctus, ſanctus, bleſſed be the Trynite,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth, thre perſons in one deyte.
Next in order ſuynge q, ſette in goodly purtrayture
Was our bleſſed lady, flowre of femynyte,
With the twelve Apoſtles, echeone in his figure,
And the foure Evangelyſtes, wrought moſt curyouſly:
Alſo the Dyſcyples of Chriſt in theyr degre
Prechynge and techynge, unto every nacyon,
The faythtesr of holy chyrche, for their ſalvacyon.
Martyrs than folowed, right manifolde:
The holy Innocentes, whom Herode had ſlayne,
Bleſſed Saynt Stephen, the prothomartyr truly,
Saynt Laurence, Saynt Vyncent, ſufferynge great payne;
With many other mo, than here ben now certayne,
Of which ſayd martyrs exſample we may take,
Pacyence to obſerve, in herte, for Chryſtes ſake.
[185]
Confeſſours approched, right convenient,
Freſſely enbrodred in ryche tysſhewe and fyne;
Saynt Nycholas, Saynt Benedycte, and his convent,
Saynt Jerom, Baſylyus, and Saynt Auguſtine,
Gregory the great doctour, Ambroſe and Saynt Martyne:
All theſe were ſette in goodly purtrayture,
Them to beholde was a heavenly pleaſure.
Vyrgyns them folowed, crowned with the lyly,
Among whome our lady chefe preſident was;
Some crowned with rooſes for their great vyctory:
Saynt Kather [...]ne, Saynt Margerette, Saynt Agathas,
Saynt Cycyly, Saynt Agnes, and Saynt Charytas,
Saynt Lucye, Saynt Wenefryde, and Saynt Apolyn;
All theſe were brothered s, the clothes of golde within.
Upon the other ſyde of the hall ſette were
Noble auncyent ſtoryes, and how the ſtronge Sampſon
Subdued his enemyes by his myghty power;
Of Hector of Troye, ſlayne by fals treaſon;
Of noble Arthur, kynge of this regyon:
With many other mo, which it is to longe
Playnly to expreſſe this tyme you amonge.
The tables were covered with clothes of dyaper,
Rychely enlarged with ſilver and with golde,
The cupborde with plate ſhynyng fayre and clere,
Marſhalles theyr offyces fulfylled manyfolde:
Of myghty wyne plenty, both newe and olde,
All maner kynde of meetes delycate
(Whan grace was ſayd) to them was preparate.
[186]
To this noble feeſt there was ſuche ordinaunce,
That nothynge wanted that goten myght be
On ſee and on lande, but there was habundance
Of all maner pleaſures to be had for monye;
The bordes all charged full of meet plente,
And dyvers ſubtyltest prepared ſothly were,
With cordyall and ſpyces, theyr gueſtes for to chere.
The joyfull wordes and ſweet communycacyon
Spoken at the table, it were harde to tell;
Eche man at lyberte, without interrupcyon,
Bothe ſadnes and myrthes, alſo pryve counſell,
Some adulacyon, ſome the truth dyd tell,
But the great aſtatesu ſpake of theyr regyons,
Knyghtes of theyr chyvalry, of craftes the comons.
Certayne at eche cours of ſervice in the hall,
Trumpettes blewe up, ſhalmes and claryons,
Shewynge theyr melody, with toynesw muſycall,
Dyvers other mynſtrelles, in crafty proporcyons,
Mad ſwete concordaunce and luſty dyvyſyons:
An hevenly pleaſure, ſuche armony to here,
Rejoyſynge the hertes of the audyence full clere.
A ſinguler Mynſtrell, all other ferre paſſynge,
Toynedx his inſtrument in pleaſaunte armony,
And ſang mooſt ſwetely, the company gladynge,
Of myghty conquerours, the famous vyctory;
Wherwith was ravysſhed theyr ſprytes and memory:
Specyally he ſange of the great Alexandere,
Of his tryumphes and honours endurynge xii yere.
[187]
Solemply he ſonge the ſcate of the Romans,
Ruled under kynges by policy and wyſedome,
Of theyr hye juſtice and ryghtful ordinauns
Dayly encreaſynge in worſhyp and renowne,
Tyll Tarquyne the proude kynge, with that great confuſion,
Oppreſſed dame Lucrece, the wyfe of Colatyne,
Kynges never reyned in Rome ſyth that tyme.
Alſo how the Romayns, under thre dyctatours,
Governed all regyons of the worlde ryght wyſely,
Tyll Julyus Ceſar, excellynge all conquerours,
Subdued Pompeius, and toke the hole monarchy
And the rule of Rome to hym ſelfe manfully;
But Caſſius Brutus, the fals conſpyratour,
Cauſed to be ſlayne the ſayd noble emperour.
After the ſayd Julius, ſucceded his ſyſter ſone,
Called Octavianus, in the imperyall ſee,
And by his precepte was made deſcrypcyon
To every regyon, lande, ſhyre y, and cytee,
A tribute to pay unto his dignyte:
That tyme was univerſal peas and honour,
In whiche tyme was borne our bleſſed Savyoure.
All theſe hyſtoryes, noble and auncyent,
Rejoyſynge the audyence, he ſange with pleaſuer;
And many other mo of the Newe Teſtament,
Pleaſaunt and profytable for their ſoules cure,
Whiche be omytted, now not put in ure z:
The mynyſters were ready, theyr offyce to fullfyll,
To take up the tables at their lordes wyll.
[188]
Whan this noble feeſt and great ſolempnyte,
Dayly endurynge a longe tyme and ſpace,
Was royally ended with honour and royalte,
Eche kynge at other lyſence taken hace,
And ſo departed from thens to theyr place:
Kyng Wulfer retourned, with worſhyp and renowne,
From the houſea of Ely to his owne manſyon.

If there be any merit of imagination or invention, to which the poet has a claim in this deſcription, it altogether conſiſts in the application. The circumſtances themſelves are faithfully copied by Bradſhaw, from what his own age actually preſented. In this reſpect, I mean as a picture of antient life, the paſſage is intereſting; and for no other reaſon. The verſification is infinitely inferior to Lydgate's worſt manner.

Bradſhaw was buried in the cathedral church, to which his convent was annexed, in the year 1513 b. Bale, a violent reformer, obſerves, that our poet was a perſon remarkably pious for the times in which he flouriſhed c. This is an in [...]irect ſatire on the monks, and on the period which preceded the reformation. I believe it will readily be granted, [...] our author had more piety than poetry. His Prolog [...] contains the following humble profeſſions of his inability [...]o treat lofty ſubjects, and to pleaſe light readers.

To deſcrybe hye hyſtoryes I dare not be ſo bolde,
Syth it is a matter for clerkes convenyent;
As of the ſeven ages, and of our parentes olde,
Or of the four empyres whilom moſt excellent;
Knowyng my lerning therto inſuffycient:
As for baudy balades you ſhall have none of me,
To excyte lyght hertes to pleaſure and vanity d.

[189] A great tranſlator of the lives of the Saxon ſaints, from the Saxon, in which language only they were then extant, into Latin, was Goſcelinus, a monk of Saint Auſtin's at Canterbury, who paſſed from France into England, with Herman, biſhop of Saliſbury, about the year 1058 e. As the Saxon language was at this time but little underſtood, theſe tranſlations opened a new and ample treaſure of religious hiſtory: nor were they acquiſitions only to the religion, but to the literature, of that era. Among the reſt, were the Lives of ſaint Werburgh f, ſaint Etheldred g, and ſaint Sexburgh h, moſt probably the legends, which were Bradſhaw's originals. Uſher obſerves, that Goſcelinus alſo tranſlated into Latin the antient Catalogue of the Saxon ſaints buried in England i. In the regiſter of Ely it is recorded, that he was the moſt eloquent writer of his age; and that he circulated all over England, the lives, miracles, and GESTS, of the ſaints of both ſexes, which he reduced into proſe-hiſtories k. The words of the Latin deſerve our attention. ‘"In hiſtoriis in proſa dictando mutavit."’ Hence we may perhaps infer [...] that they were not before in proſe, and that he took the [...] from old metrical legends: this is a preſumptive proof, that the lives of the ſaints were at firſt extant in verſe. In the ſame light we are to underſtand the words which i [...] diately follow. ‘"Hic ſcripſit Proſam ſanctae Etheld [...]ae l."’ Where the Proſe of ſaint Etheldred is oppoſed to her poetical legend m. By mutavit dictando, we are to underſtand, that he [190] tranſlated, or reformed, or, in the moſt general ſenſe, wrote anew in Latin, theſe antiquated lives. His principal objects were the more recent ſaints, eſpecially thoſe of this iſland. Malmeſbury ſays, ‘"Innumeras SANCTORUM VITAS RECENTIUM ſtylo extulit, veterum vel amiſſas, vel informiter editas, comptius renovavit n."’ In this reſpect, the labours of Goſcelin partly reſembled thoſe of Symeon Metaphraſtes, a celebrated Conſtantinopolitan writer of the tenth century: who obtained the diſtinguiſhing appellation of the METAPHRAST, [191] becauſe, at the command, and under the auſpices of Conſtantine Porphyrogenitus, he moderniſed the more antient narratives of the miracles and martyrdoms of the moſt eminent eaſtern and weſtern ſaints, for the uſe of the Greek church: or rather digeſted, from detached, imperfect, or obſolete books on the ſubject, a new and more commodious body of the ſacred biography.

Among the many ſtriking contraſts between the manners and characters of antient and modern life, which theſe annals preſent, we muſt not be ſurpriſed to find a mercer, a ſheriff, and an alderman of London, deſcending from his important occupations, to write verſes. This is Robert Fabyan, who yet is generally better known as an hiſtorian, than as a poet. He was eſteemed, not only the moſt facetious, but the moſt learned, of all the mercers, ſheriffs, and aldermen, of his time: and no layman of that age is ſaid to have been better ſkilled in the Latin language. He flouriſhed about the year 1494. In his CHRONICLE, or Concordance of hiſtories, from Brutus to the year 1485, it is his uſual practice, at the diviſion of the books, to inſert metrical prologues, and other pieces in verſe. The beſt of his metres is the COMPLAINT of king Edward the ſecond; who, like the perſonages in Boccacio's FALL OF PRINCES, is very dramatically introduced, reciting his own misfortunes o. But th [...] ſoliloquy is nothing more than a tranſlation from a ſhort and a very poor Latin poem attributed to that monarch, but probably written by William of Wyrceſter, which is preſerved among the manuſcripts of the college of arms, and entitled, Lamentatio glorioſi regis Edvardi de Karnarvon quam edidit tempore ſuae incarcerationis. Our author's tranſitions [192] from proſe to verſe, in the courſe of a prolix narrative, ſeem to be made with much eaſe; and, when he begins to verſify, the hiſtorian diſappears only by the addition of rhyme and ſtanza. In the firſt edition of his CHRONICLE, by way of epilogues to his ſeven books, he has given us The ſeven joys of the Bleſſed Virgin in Engliſh Rime. And under the year 1325, there is a poem to the virgin; and another on one Badby, a Lollard, under the year 1409 p. Theſe are ſuppreſſed in the later editions. He has likewiſe left a panegyric on the city of London; but deſpairs of doing juſtice to ſo noble a ſubject for verſe, even if he had the eloquence of Tully, the morality of Seneca, and the harmony of that faire Lady Calliope q. The reader will thank me for citing only one ſtanza from king Edward's COMPLAINT.

When Saturne, with his cold and iſye face,
The ground, with his froſtes, turneth grene to white;
The time winter, which treès doth deface,
And cauſeth all verdure to avoyde quite:
Then fortune, which ſharpe was, with ſtormes not lite
Hath me aſſaulted with her froward wyll,
And me beclipped with daungers ryght yll r.

[193] As an hiſtorian, our author is the dulleſt of compilers. He is equally attentive to the ſucceſſion of the mayors of London, and of the monarchs of England: and ſeems to have thought the dinners at guildhall, and the pageantries of the city-companies, more intereſting tranſactions, than our victories in France, and our ſtruggles for public liberty at home. One of Fabyan's hiſtorical anecdotes, under the important reign of Henry the fifth, is, that a new weathercock was placed on the croſs of Saint Paul's ſteeple. It is ſaid, that cardinal Wolſey commanded many copies of this chronicle to be committed to the flames, becauſe it made too ample a diſcovery of the exceſſive revenues of the clergy. The earlier chapters of theſe childiſh annals faithfully record all thoſe fabulous traditions, which generally ſupply the place of hiſtoric monuments in deſcribing the origin of a great nation.

Another poet of this period is John Watſon, a prieſt. He wrote a Latin theological tract entitled SPECULUM CHRISTIANI, which is a ſort of paraphraſe on the decalogue and the creed r. But it is interſperſed with a great number of wretched Engliſh rhymes: among which, is the following hymn to the virgin Mary s.

[194]
Mary Moder, wel thou be;
Mary Moder thenke on mee:
Mayden and moder was never none
Togeder, lady, ſafe thou allone t.
Swete lady, mayden clene,
Schilde me fro ille, ſchame, and tene,
And out of dette, for charitee, &c. u.

Caxton, the celebrated printer, was likewiſe a poet; and beſide the rhyming introductions and epilogues with which he frequently decorates his books, has left a poem of conſiderable length, entitled the WORKE OF SAPIENCE w. It comprehends, not only an allegorical fiction concerning the two courts of the caſtle of Sapience, in which there is no imagination, but a ſyſtem of natural philoſophy, grammar, logic, rhetoric, geometry, aſtronomy, theology, and other [195] topics of the faſhionable literature. Caxton appears to be the author, by the prologue: yet it is not improbable, that he might on this occaſion employ ſome profeſſed verſifier, at leaſt as an aſſiſtant, to prepare a new book of original poetry for his preſs. The writer's deſign, is to deſcribe the effects of wiſdom from the beginning of the world: and the work is a hiſtory of knowledge or learning. In a viſion, he meets the goddeſs SAPIENCE in a delightful meadow; who conducts him to her caſtle, or manſion, and there diſplays all her miraculous operations. Caxton, in the poem, invokes the gylted goddeſs and mooſt facundyous lady Clio, apologiſes to thoſe makers who delight in termes gay, for the inelegancies of language which as a foreigner he could not avoid, and modeſtly declares, that he neither means to rival or envy Gower and Chaucer.

Among the anonymous pieces of poetry belonging to this period, which are very numerous, the moſt conſpicuous is the KALENDAR OF SHEPHERDS. It ſeems to have been tranſlated into Engliſh about the year 1480, from a French book entitled KALENDRIER DES BERGERS x. It was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in the year 1497 y. This piece was calculated for the purpoſes of a perpetual almanac; and ſeems to have been the univerſal magazine of every article of ſalutary and uſeful knowledge. It is a medley of verſe and proſe; and contains, among many other curious particulars, the ſaints of the whole year, the moveable feaſts, the ſigns of the zodiac, the properties of the twelve months, rules [196] for blood-letting, a collection of proverbs, a ſyſtem of ethics, politics, divinity, phiſiognomy, medicine, aſtrology, and geography z. Among other authors, Cathon the great clarke a, Solomon, Ptolomeus the prince of aſtronomy, and Ariſtotle's Epiſtle to Alexander, are quoted b. Every month is introduced reſpectively ſpeaking, in a ſtanza of balad royal, its own panegyric. This is the ſpeech of May c.

Of all monthes in the yeare I am kinge,
Flouriſhing in beauty excèllently;
For, in my time, in vertue is all thinge,
Fieldes and medes ſprede moſt beautiouſly,
And birdes ſinge with ſweete harmony;
Rejoyſing lovers with hot love endewed,
With fragrant flowers all about renewed [...]

In the theological part, the terrors and certainty of death are deſcribed, by the introduction of Death, ſeated on the pale horſe of the Apocalypſe, and ſpeaking thus d.

Upon this horſe, blacke and hideous
DEATH I am, that fiercely doth ſitte:
[197] There is no faireneſſe, but ſight tedious,
All gay colours I do hitte.
My horſe runneth by dales and hilles,
And many he ſmiteth dead and killes.
In my trap I take ſome by every way,
By towns [and] caſtles I take my rent.
I will not reſpite one an houre of a daye,
Before me they muſt needes be preſent.
I ſlea all with my mortall knife,
And of duety I take the life.
HELL knoweth well my killing,
I ſleepe never, but wake and warke;
Itd followeth me ever running,
With my darte I ſlea weake and ſtarke:
A great number it hath of me,
Paradyſe hath not the fourth parte, &c.

In the eighth chapter of our KALENDER are deſcribed the ſeven viſions, or the puniſhments in hell of the ſeven deadly ſins, which Lazarus ſaw between his death and reſurrection. Theſe puniſhments are imagined with great ſtrength of fancy, and accompanied with wooden cuts boldly touched, and which the printer Wynkyn de Worde probably procured from ſome German engraver at the infancy of the art e. The PROUD are bound by hooks of iron to vaſt wheels, like mills, placed between craggy precipices, which are inceſſantly whirling with the moſt violent impetuoſity, and ſound like thunder. The ENVIOUS are plunged in a lake half frozen, from which as they attempt to emerge for eaſe, their naked limbs are inſtantly ſmote with a blaſt of ſuch intolerable keenneſs, that they are compelled to dive again into the lake. To the WRATHFULL is aſſigned a gloomy cavern, in which their bodies are butchered, and their limbs mangled [198] by demons with various weapons. The SLOTHFULL are tormented in a horrible hall dark and tenebrous, ſwarming with innum [...]rable flying ſerpents of various ſhapes and ſizes, which ſting to the heart. This, I think, is the Hell of the Gothic EDDA. The COVETOUS are dipped in cauldrons filled with boiling metals. The GLUTTONOUS are placed in a vale near a loathſome pool, abounding with venomous creatures, on whoſe banks tables are ſpread, from which they are perpetually crammed with toads by devils. CONCUPISCENCE is puniſhed in a field full of immenſe pits or wells, overflowing with fire and ſulphur. This viſionary ſcene of the infernal puniſhments ſeems to be borrowed from a legend related by Matthew Paris, under the reign of king John: in which the ſoul of one Thurkhill, a native of Tidſtude in Eſſex is conveyed by ſaint Julian from his body, when laid aſleep, into hell and heaven. In hell he has a ſight of the torments of the damned, which are preſented under the form and name of the INFERNAL PAGEANTS, and greatly reſemble the fictions I have juſt deſcribed. Among the tormented, is a knight, who had paſſed his life in ſhedding much innocent blood at tilts and tournaments. He is introduced, compleatly armed, on horſeback; and couches his lance againſt the demon, who is commiſſioned to ſeize and to drag him to his eternal deſtiny. There is likewiſe a prieſt who never ſaid maſs, and a baron of the exchequer who took bribes. Turkill is then conducted into the manſions of the bleſſed, which are painted with ſtrong oriental colouring: and in Paradiſe, a garden repleniſhed with the moſt delicious fruits, and the moſt exquiſite variety of trees, plants, and flowers, he ſees Adam, a perſonage of gigantic proportion, but the moſt beautiful ſymmetry, reclined on the ſide of a fountain which ſent forth four ſtreams of different water and colour, and under the ſhade of a tree of immenſe ſize and height, laden with fruits of every kind, and breathing the richeſt odours. Afterwards ſaint Julian conveys the ſoul of Turkhill back to [199] his body; and when awakened, he relates this viſion to his pariſh-prieſt f. There is a ſtory of a ſimilar caſt in Bedeg, which I have mentioned before h.

As the ideas of magnificence and elegance were enlarged, the public pageants of this period were much improved: and beginning now to be celebrated with new ſplendour, received, among other advantages, the addition of SPEAKING PERSONAGES. Theſe ſpectacles, thus furniſhed with ſpeakers, characteriſtically habited, and accompanied with proper ſcenery, co-operated with the MYSTERIES, of whoſe nature they partook at firſt, in introducing the drama. It was cuſtomary to prepare theſe ſhews at the reception of a prince, or any other ſolemnity of a ſimilar kind: and they were preſented on moveable theatres, or occaſional ſtages, erected in the ſtreets. The ſpeeches were in verſe; and as the proceſſion moved forward, the ſpeakers, who conſtantly bore ſome alluſion to the ceremony, either converſed together in the form of a dialogue, or addreſſed the noble perſon whoſe preſence occaſioned the celebrity. Speakers ſeem to have been admitted into our pageants about the reign of Henry the ſixth.

[200] In the year 1432, when Henry the ſixth, after his coronation at Paris, made a triumphal entry into London, many ſtanzas, very probably written by Lydgate, were addreſſed to his majeſty, amidſt a ſeries of the moſt ſplendid allegorical ſpectacles, by a giant repreſenting religious fortitude, Enoch and Eli, the holy Trinity, two Judges and eight Serjeants of the coife, dame Clenneſſe, Mercy, Truth, and other perſonages of a like nature i.

In the year 1456, when Margaret wife of Henry the ſixth, with her little ſon Edward, came to Coventy, on the feaſt of the exaltation of the holy croſs, ſhe was received with the [201] preſentation of pageants, in one of which king Edward the confeſſor, ſaint John the Evangeliſt, and ſaint Margaret, each ſpeak to the queen and the prince in verſe k. In the next reign in the year 1474, another prince Edward, ſon of Edward the fourth, viſited Coventry, and was honoured with the ſame ſpecies of ſhew: he was firſt welcomed, in an octave ſtanza, by Edward the confeſſor; and afterwards addreſſed by ſaint George, completely armed: a king's daughter holding a lamb, and ſupplicating his aſſiſtance to protect her from a terrible dragon, the lady's father and mother, ſtanding in a tower above, the conduit on which the champion was placed, ‘"renning wine in four places, and minſtralcy of organ playing l."’ Undoubtedly the Franciſcan friers of Coventry, whoſe ſacred interludes, preſented on Corpus Chriſti day, in that city, and at other places, make ſo conſpicuous a figure in the hiſtory of the Engliſh drama m, were employed in the management of theſe deviſes: and that the Coventry men were famous for the arts of exhibition, appears from the ſhare they took in the gallant entertainment of queen Eliſabeth at Kenelworth-caſtle, before whom they played their old ſtorial ſhow n.

At length, perſonages of another caſt were added; and this ſpecies of ſpectacle, about the period with which we are [202] concerned, was enlivened by the admiſſion of new characters, drawn either from profane hiſtory, or from profane allegory o, in the application of which, ſome degree of learning and invention appeared.

I have obſerved in a former work, and it is a topic which will again be conſidered in its proper place, that the frequent and familiar uſe of allegoric perſonifications in the public pageants, I mean the general uſe of them, greatly contributed to form the ſchool of Spenſer p. But moreover from what is here ſaid, it ſeems probable, that the PAGEAUNTS, which being ſhewn on civil occaſions, derived great part of their decorations and actors from hiſtorical fact, and conſequently made profane characters the ſubject of public exhibition, dictated ideas of a regular drama, much ſooner than the MYSTERIES: which being confined to ſcripture ſtories, or rather the legendary miracles of ſainted martyrs, and the no leſs ideal perſonifications of the chriſtian virtues, were not calculated to make ſo quick and eaſy a tranſition to the repreſentations of real life and rational action.

In the year 1501, when the princeſs Catharine of Spain came to London, to be married to prince Arthur, her proceſſion through the city was very magnificent. The pageants were numerous, and ſuperbly furniſhed; in which the principal actors, or ſpeakers, were not only God the father, ſaint Catharine, and ſaint Urſula, but king Alphonſus the aſtronomer and an anceſtor of the princeſs, a Senator, an Angel, Job, Boethius, Nobility, and Virtue. Theſe perſonages ſuſtained a ſort of action, at leaſt of dialogue. The [203] lady was compared to Heſperus, and the prince to Arcturus; and Alphonſus, from his ſkill in the ſtars, was introduced to be the fortune-teller of the match q. Theſe machineries were contrived and directed by an eccleſiaſtic of great eminence, biſhop Fox; who, ſays Bacon, ‘"was not only a grave counſellor for war or peace, but alſo a good ſurveyor of works, and a good maſter of ceremonies, and any thing elſe that was fit for the active part, belonging to the ſervice of court, or ſtate of a great king."’ It is probable, that this prelate's dexterity and addreſs in the conduct of a courtrareeſhow procured him more intereſt, than the gravity of his counſels, and the depth of his political knowledge: at leaſt his employment in this buſineſs preſents a ſtriking picture of the importance of thoſe popular talents, which even in an age of blind devotion, and in the reign of a ſuperſtitious monarch, were inſtrumental in paving the way to the moſt opulent dignities of the church. ‘"Whoſoever, adds the ſame penetrating hiſtorian, had theſe toys in compiling, they were not altogether PEDANTICAL r."’ About the year 1487, Henry the ſeventh went a progreſs into the north; and at every place of diſtinction was received with a pageant; in which he was ſaluted, in a poetical oration, not always religious, as, at York by Ebranck, a Britiſh king and the founder of the city, as well as by the holy virgin, and king David: at Worceſter by Henry the ſixth his uncle: at Hereford by ſaint George, and king Ethelbert, at entering the cathedral there: at Briſtol, by king Bremmius, Prudence, and Juſtice. The two latter characters were perſonated by young girls s.

In the mean time it is to be granted, that profane characters were perſonated in our pageants, before the cloſe of the fourteenth century. Stowe relates, that in the year [204] 1377, for the entertainment of the young prince Richard, ſon of Edward the black prince, one hundred and thirty citizens rode diſguiſed from Newgate to Kennington where the court reſided, attended with an innumerable multitude of waxen torches, and various inſtruments of muſic, in the evening of the Sunday preceding Candlemas-day. In the firſt rank were forty-eight, habited like eſquires, with viſors; and in the ſecond the ſame number, in the character of knights. ‘"Then followed one richly arrayed like an EMPEROR, and after him, at ſome diſtance, one ſtately-tyred like a POPE, whom followed twenty-four CARDINALLS, and after them eyght or tenne with blacke viſors not amiable, as if they had been LEGATES from ſome forrain princes."’ But this parade was nothing more than a DUMB SHEW, unaccompanied with any kind of interlocution. This appears from what follows. For our chronicler adds, that when they entered the hall of the palace, they were met by the prince, the queen, and the lords; ‘"whom the ſaid mummers did ſalute, ſhewing by a pair of dice their deſire to play with the prince,"’ which they managed with ſo much complaiſance and ſkill, that the prince won of them a bowl, a cup, and a ring of gold, and the queen and lords, each, a ring of gold. Afterwards, having been feaſted with a ſumptuous banquet, they had the honour of dancing with the young prince and the nobility, and ſo the ceremony was concluded t. Matthew Paris informs us, that at the magnificent marriage of Henry the third with Eleanor of Provence, in the year 1236, certain ſtrange pageants, and wonderful deviſes, were diſplayed in the city of London; and that the number of HISTRIONES on this occaſion was infinite u. [205] But the word HISTRIO, in the Latin writers of the barbarous ages w, generally comprehends the numerous tribe [206] of mimics, juglers, dancers, tumblers, muſicians, minſtrels, and the like public practitioners of the recreative arts, with which thoſe ages abounded: nor do I recollect a ſingle inſtance in which it preciſely bears the reſtrained modern interpretation.

As our thoughts are here incidentally turned to the rudiments of the Engliſh ſtage x, I muſt not omit an anecdote, entirely new, with regard to the mode of playing the MYSTERIES at this period, which yet is perhaps of much higher antiquity. In the year 1487, while Henry the ſeventh kept his reſidence at the caſtle at Wincheſter, on occaſion of the birth of prince Arthur, on a ſunday, during the time of dinner, he was entertained with a religious drama called CHRISTI DESCENSUS AD INFEROS, or Chriſt's deſcent into hell y. It was repreſented by the PUERI ELEEMOSYNARII, or choirboys, of Hyde abbey, and ſaint Swithin's priory, two large monaſteries at Wincheſter. This is the only proof I have ever ſeen of choir-boys acting in the old MYSTERIES: nor [207] do I recollect any other inſtance of a royal dinner, even on a feſtival, accompanied with this ſpecies of diverſion z. The ſtory of this interlude, in which the chief characters were Chriſt, Adam, Eve, Abraham, and John the Baptiſt, was not uncommon in the antient religious drama, and I believe made a part of what is called the LUDUS PASCHALIS, or Eaſter Play a. It occurs in the Coventry plays acted on Corpus Chriſti day b; and in the Whitſun-plays at Cheſter, where it is called the HARROWING OF HELL c. The repreſentation is Chriſt entering hell triumphantly, delivering our firſt parents, and the moſt ſacred characters of the old and new teſtaments, from the dominion of Satan, and conveying them into Paradiſe. There is an ancient poem, perhaps an interlude, on the ſame ſubject, among the Harleian manuſcripts; containing our ſaviour's dialogues in hell with Sathanas, the Janitor, or porter of hell, Adam, Eve, Habraham, David, Johan Baptiſt, and Moyſes. It begins,

Alle herkneþ to me nou:
A ſtrif wolle y tellen ou
Of Jheſu ant of Sathan
Þo Jheſus was to hell y-gan d.

[208] The compoſers of the MYSTERIES did not think the plain and probable events of the new teſtament ſufficiently marvellous for an audience who wanted only to be ſurpriſed. They frequently ſelected their materials from books which had more of the air of romance. The ſubject of the MYSTERIES juſt-mentioned was borrowed from the PSEUDO-EVANGELIUM, or the FABULOUS GOSPEL, aſcribed to Nicodemus e: a book, which, together with the numerous apocryphal narratives, containing infinite innovations of the evangelical hiſtory, and forged at Conſtantinople [...] the early writers of the Greek church, gave birth to an [...]ndleſs variety of legends concerning the life of Chriſt and his apoſtles f; and which, in the barbarous [209] ages, was better eſteemed than the genuine goſpel, on account of its improbabilities and abſurdities.

But whatever was the ſource of theſe exhibitions, they were thought to contribute ſo much to the information and inſtruction of the people on the moſt important ſubjects of religion, that one of the popes granted a pardon of one thouſand days to every perſon who reſorted peaceably to the plays performed in the Whitſun week at Cheſter, beginning with the creation, and ending with the general judgment; and this indulgence was ſeconded by the biſhop of the dioceſe, who granted forty days of pa [...]on: the pope at the ſame time denouncing the ſentence of damnation on all thoſe incorrigible ſinners, who preſumed to diſturb or interrupt the due celebration of theſe pious ſports f. It is certain that they had their uſe, not only in teaching the great truths of ſcripture to men who could not read the bible, but in aboliſhing the barbarous attachment to military games, and the bloody contentions of the tournament, which had ſo long prevailed as the ſole ſpecies of popular amuſement. Rude and even ridiculous as they were, they ſoftened the manners of the people, by diverting the public attention to ſpectacles in which the mind was concerned, and by creating a regard for other arts than thoſe of bodily ſtrength and ſavage valour.

SECT. X.

[210]

THE only writer deſerving the name of a poet in the reign of Henry the ſeventh, is Stephen Hawes. He was patroniſed by that monarch, who poſſeſſed ſome tincture of literature, and is ſaid by Bacon to have confuted a Lollard in a public diſputation at Canterbury a.

Hawes flouriſhed [...]out the cloſe of the fifteenth century; and was a native of Suffolk b. After an academical education at Oxford, he travelled much in France; and became a complete maſter of the French and Italian poetry. His polite accompliſhments quickly procured him an eſtabliſhment in the houſhold of the king; who ſtruck with the livelineſs of his converſation, and becauſe he could repeat by memory moſt of the old Engliſh poets, eſpecially Lydgate, made him groom of the privy chamber c. His facility in the French tongue was a qualification, which might ſtrongly recommend him to the fa [...]our of Henry the ſeventh; who was fond of ſtudying the beſt French books then in vogue d.

Hawes has left many poems, which are now but imperfectly known, and ſcarcely remembered. Theſe are, the TEMPLE OF GLASSE. The CONVERSION OF SWERERS e, in octave ſtanzas, with Latin lemmata, printed by de Worde in 1509 f. A JOYFULL MEDITATION OF ALL ENGLOND, OR [211] THE CORONACYON TO OUR MOST NATURAL SOVEREIGN LORD KING HENRY THE EIGTH IN VERSE. By the ſame, and without date; but probably it was printed ſoon after the ceremony which it celebrates. Theſe coronation-carols were cuſtomary. There is one by Lydgate g. THE CONSOLATION OF LOVERS. THE EXEMPLAR OF VIRTUE. THE DELIGHT OF THE SOUL. OF THE PRINCE'S MARRIAGE. THE ALPHABET OF BIRDS. Some of the five latter pieces, none of which I have ſeen, and which perhaps were never printed, are ſaid by Wood to be written in Latin, and ſeem to be in proſe.

The beſt of Hawes's poems, hitherto enumerated, is the TEMPLE OF GLASS h. On a compariſon, it will be found to [212] be a copy of the HOUSE OF FAME of CHAUCER, in which that poet ſees in a viſion a temple of glaſs, on the walls of which were engraved ſtories from Virgil's En [...]id and Ovid's Epiſtles. It alſo ſtrongly reſembles that part of Chaucer's ASSEMBLY OF FOULES, in which there is the fiction of a temple of braſs, built on pillars of jaſper, whoſe walls are painted with the ſtories of unfortunate lovers i. And in his ASSEMBLY of LADIES, in a chamber made of beryl and cryſtal, belonging to the ſumptuous caſtle of Pleaſaunt Regard, the walls are decorated with hiſtorical ſculptures of the ſame kind k. The ſituation of Hawes's TEMPLE on a craggy rock of ice, is evidently taken from that of Chaucer's HOUSE OF FAME. In Chaucer's DREAME, the poet is tranſported into an iſland, where wall and yate was all of glaſſe l. Theſe ſtructures of glaſs have their origin in the chemiſtry of the dark ages. This is Hawes's exordium.

Me dyd oppreſſe a ſodayne, dedely ſlepe:
Within the whichè, methought that I was
Ravyſhed in ſpyrite into a TEMPLE OF GLAS,
I ne wyſt howe ful ferre in wylderneſſe,
That founded was, all by lyckelyneſſe,
Nat upon ſtele, but on a craggy roche
Lyke yſe yfroze: and as I dyd approche,
Againe the ſonne that ſhone, methought, ſo clere
As any criſtall; and ever, nere and nere,
[213] As I gan nyghe this griſely dredefull place,
I wext aſtonyed, the lyght ſo in my face
Began to ſmyte, ſo perſyng ever in one,
On every partè where that I dyde gon,
That I ne mightè nothing as I wolde
Aboutè me conſydre, and beholde,
The wondre eſters m, for brightneſſe of the ſonne:
Tyll at the laſtè, certayne ſkyes donne n
With wyndeo ychaſed, han their courſe ywent,
Before the ſtremes of Titan and iblent p [...]
So that I myght within and without,
Where ſo I wolde, behelden me about,
For to report the facyon and manere
Of all this placè, that was circuler,
In cumpace-wyſe rounde by yntale ywrought:
And whan I had longe goòn, and well ſought,
I founde a wicket, and entred yn as faſte
Into the temple, and myne eyen caſte
On every ſide, &c q.

The walls of this wonderful temple were richly pictured with the following hiſtorical portraitures; from Virgil, Ovid, king Arthur's romance, and Chaucer.

I ſawe depeynted upon a wall r,
From eſt to weſt ful many a fayre ymage,
Of ſondry lovers, lyke as they were of age
I ſet in ordre after they were true;
With lyfely colours, wonders fresſhe of hewe,
And as methought I ſaw ſom ſyt and ſom ſtande,
And ſome knelyng, with byllesf in theyr hande,
[214] An ſome with complaynt woful and pitious,
With dolefull chere, to put to Venus,
So as ſhe ſate fletynge in the ſee,
Upon theyr wo for to have pite.
And fyrſt of all I ſawe there of Cartage
Dido the quene, ſo goodly of viſage,
That gan complayne her auenture and caas,
Howe ſhe diſceyued was of Aeneas,
For all his heſtes and his othes ſworne,
And ſayd helas that ſhe was borne,
Whan ſhe ſawe that dede ſhe muſt be.
And next her I ſawe the complaynt of Medee,
Howe that ſhe was falſed of Jaſon.
And nygh by Venus ſawe I ſyt Addon,
And all the maner howe the bore hym ſloughe,
For whom ſhe wepte and had pite inoughe.
There ſawe I alſo howe Penelope,
For ſhe ſo long ne myght her lorde ſe,
Was of colour both pale and grene.
And alder next was the fresſhe quene;
I mean Alceſt, the noble true wife,
And for Admete howe ſhe loſt her lyfe;
And for her trouthe, if I ſhall nat lye,
Howe ſhe was turned into a dayſye.
There was alſo Griſildis innocence,
And all hir mekeneſſe and hir pacience.
There was eke Y [...]aude, and many other mo,
And all the tourment and all the cruell wo
That ſhe had for Triſtram all her lyue;
And howe that Tyſbe her hert dyd ryue
With thylke ſwerde of ſyr Pyramus.
And all maner, howe that Theſeus
The minotaure ſlewe, amyd the hous
That was forwrynked by craft of Dedalus,
Whan that he was in priſon ſhyt in Crete, &c.
[215]
And uppermore men depeinten might ſee,
Howe with her ring goodlie Canace
Of every foule the ledens and the ſong
Could underſtand, as ſhe hem walkt among:
And how her brother ſo often holpen was
In his miſchefe by the ſtede of braſs t.

We muſt acknowledge, that all the pictureſque invention which appears in this compoſition, entirely belongs to Chaucer. Yet there was ſome merit in daring to depart from the dull taſte of the times, and in chuſing Chaucer for a model, after his ſublime fancies had been ſo long forgotten, and had given place for almoſt a century, to legends, homilies, and chronicles in verſe. In the mean time, there is reaſon to believe, that Chaucer himſelf copied theſe imageries from the romance of GUIGEMAR, one of the metrical TALES, or LAIS, of Bretagne u, tranſlated from the Armorican original into French, by Marie, a French poeteſs, about the thirteenth century: in which the walls of a chamber are painted with Venus, and the Art of love from Ovid v. Although, perhaps, Chaucer might not look further than the temples in Boccacio's THESEID for theſe ornaments. At the ſame time it is to be remembered, that the imagination of theſe old poets muſt have been aſſiſted in this reſpect, from the mode which antiently prevailed, of entirely covering the walls of the more magnificent apartments, in caſtles and palaces, with ſtories from ſcripture, hiſtory, the claſſics, and romance. I have already given inſtances of this practice, and I will [216] here add more w. In the year 1277, Otho, duke of Milan, having reſtored the peace of that city by a ſignal victory, built a noble caſtle, in which he ordered every particular circumſtance of that victory to be painted. Paulus Jovius relates, that theſe paintings remained, in the great vaulted chamber of the caſtle, freſh and unimpaired, ſo late as the year 1547. ‘"Extantque adhuc in maximo teſtudinatoque conclavi, incorruptae praeliorum cum veris ducum vultibus imagines, Latinis elegis ſingula rerum elogia indicantibus x."’ That the caſtles and palaces of England were thus ornamented at a very early period, and in the moſt ſplendid ſtyle, appears from the following notices. Langton, biſhop of Litchfield, commanded the coronation, marriages, wars, and funeral, of his patron king Edward the firſt, to be painted in the great hall of his epiſcopal palace, which he had newly built y. This muſt have been about the year 1312. The following anecdote relating to the old royal palace at Weſtminſter, never yet was publiſhed. In the year 1322, one Symeon, a friar minor, and a doctor in theology, wrote an ITINERARY, in which is this curious paſſage. He is ſpeaking of Weſtminſter Abbey. ‘"Eidem monaſterio quaſi immediate conjungitur illud famoſiſſimum palatium regium Anglorum, in quo illa VULGATA CAMERA, in cujus parietibus ſunt omnes HISTORIAE BELLICAE TOTIUS BIBLIAE ineffabiliter depictae, atque in Gallico completiſſime et perfectiſſime conſtanter conſcriptae, in non modica intuentium admiratione, et maxima regali magnificentia z."’[217] "Near this monaſtery ſtands the moſt famous royal palace of England; in which is that celebrated chamber, on whoſe walls all the warlike hiſtories of the whole Bible are painted with inexpreſſible ſkill, and explained by a regular and complete ſeries of texts, beautifully written in French over each battle, to the no ſmall admiration of the beholder, and the increaſe of royal magnificence a."’ This ornament of a royal palace, while it conveys a curious hiſtory of the arts, admirably exemplifies the chivalry and the devotion of the times, united. That part of the Old Teſtament, indeed, which records the Jewiſh wars, was almoſt regarded as a book of chivalry: and their chief heroes, Joſhua and David, the latter of whom killed a giant, are often recited among the champions of romance. In France, the battles of the kings of Iſrael with the Philiſtines and Aſſyrians, were wrought into a grand volume, under the title of ‘"Pluſieurs Batailles des roys d'Iſrael en contre les Philiſtines et Aſſyriens b."’

[218] With regard to the form of Hawes's poem, I am of opinion, that VISIONS, which are ſo common in the poetry of the middle ages, partly took their riſe from Tully's SOMNIUM SCIPIONIS. Had this compoſition deſcended to poſterity among Tully's ſix books de REPUBLICA, to the laſt of which it originally belonged, perhaps it would have been overlooked and neglected c. But being preſerved, and illuſtrated with a prolix commentary, by Macrobius, it quickly attracted the attention of readers, who were fond of the marvellous, and with whom Macrobius was a more admired claſſic than Tully. It was printed, ſubjoined to Tully's OFFICES, in the infancy of the typographic art d. It was tranſlated into Greek by Maximus Planudes e; and is frequently quoted by Chaucer f. Particularly in the ASSEMBLY OF FOULES, he ſuppoſes himſelf to fall aſleep after reading the SOMNIUM SCIPIONIS, and that Scipio ſhewed him the beautiful viſion which is the ſubject of that poem g. Nor is it improbable, that, not only the form, but the firſt [219] idea of Dante's INFERNO, was ſuggeſted by this favourite apologue; which, in Chaucer's words, treats

—Of heaven, and hell,
And yearth, and ſouls, that therein dwell h.

Not to inſiſt on Dante's ſubject, he uſes the ſhade of Virgil for a myſtagogue; as Tully ſuppoſes Scipio to have ſhewn the other world to his anceſtor Africanus.

But Hawes's capital performance is a poem entitled, ‘"THE PASSETYME OF PLEASURE, or the HISTORIE OF GRAUNDE AMOURE and LA BAL PUCEL: contayning the knowledge of the ſeven ſciences, and the courſe of man's lyfe in this worlde. Invented by Stephen Hawes, groome of kyng Henry the ſeventh hys chambre i."’ It is dedicated to the king, and was finiſhed at the beginning of the year 1506.

If the poems of Rowlie are not genuine, the PASTIME OF PLEASURE is almoſt the only effort of imagination and invention which had yet appeared in our poetry ſince Chaucer. This poem contains no common touches of romantic and allegoric fiction. The perſonifications are often happily ſuſtained, and indicate the writer's familiarity with the Provencial ſchool. The model of his verſification and phraſeology is that improved harmony of numbers, and facility of diction, with which his predeceſſor Lydgate adorned our octave ſtanza. But Hawes has added new graces to Lydgate's manner. Antony Wood, with the zeal of a true antiquary, laments, that ‘"ſuch is the fate of poetry, that this book, which in the time of Henry the ſeventh and eighth was [220] taken into the hands of all ingenious men, is now thought but worthy of a ballad-monger's ſtall!"’ The truth is, ſuch is the good fortune of poetry, and ſuch the improvement of taſte, that much better books are become faſhionable. It muſt indeed be acknowledged, that this poem has been unjuſtly neglected: and on that account, an apology will be leſs neceſſary for giving the reader a circumſtantial analyſis of its ſubſtance and deſign.

GRAUNDE AMOURE, the hero of the poem, and who ſpeaks in his own perſon k, is repreſented walking in a delicious meadow. Here he diſcovers a path which conducts him to a glorious image, both whoſe hands are ſtretched out and pointing to two highways; one of which is the path of CONTEMPLATION, the other of ACTIVE LIFE, leading to the Tower of Beauty. He chuſes the laſt-mentioned path, yet is often tempted to turn aſide into a variety of bye-paths, which ſeemed more pleaſant: but proceeding directly forward, he ſees afar off another image, on whoſe breaſt is written, ‘"This is the road to the Tower of DOCTRINE, he that would arrive there muſt avoid ſloth, &c."’ The evening [221] being far advanced, he ſits down at the feet of the image, and falls into a profound ſleep; when, towards the morning, he is ſuddenly awakened by the loud blaſt of a horn. He looks forward through a valley, and perceives a beautiful lady on a palfrey, ſwift as the wind, riding towards him, encircled with tongues of fire l. Her name was FAME, and with her ran two milk-white greyhounds, on whoſe golden collars were inſcribed in diamond letters Grace and Governaunce m. Her palfrey is Pegaſus; and the burning tongues denote her office of conſigning the names of [222] illuſtrious perſonages to poſterity; among which ſhe mentions a lady of matchleſs accompliſhments, named LA BELL PUCELL, who lives within a tower ſeated in a delightful iſland; but which no perſon can enter, without ſurmounting many dangers. She then informs our hero, that before he engages in this enterpriſe, he muſt go to the Tower of DOCTRINE, in which he will ſee the Seven Sciences n; and that there, in the turret, or chamber, of Muſic, he will have the firſt ſight of La Bell Pucell. FAME departs, but leaves with him her two greyhounds. Graunde Amoure now arrives at the Tower, or rather caſtle, of DOCTRINE, [223] framed of fine copper, and ſituated on a craggy rock: it ſhone ſo bright, that he could diſtinctly diſcern the form of the building; till at length, the ſky being covered with clouds, he more viſibly perceives its walls decorated with figures of beaſts in gold, and its lofty turrets crowned with golden images o. He is admitted by COUNTENANCE the portreſs, who leads him into a court, where he drinks water of a moſt tranſcendent fragrance, from a magnificent fountain, whence flow four rivers, clearer than Nilus, Ganges, Tigris, or Euphrates p. He next enters the hall framed of jaſper, its windows chryſtal, and its roof overſpread with a golden vine, whoſe grapes are repreſented by rubies q: the floor is paved with beryl, and the walls hung with rich tapeſtry, on which our hero's future expedition to the Tower of La Bell Pucell was gloriouſly wrought r. The [224] marſhall of this caſtle is REASON, the ſewer OBSERVANCE, the cook TEMPERANCE, the high-ſteward LIBERALITY, &c. He then explains to DOCTRINE his name and intended adventure; and ſhe entertains him at a ſolemn feaſt. He viſits her ſeven daughters, who reſide in the caſtle. Firſt he is conducted to GRAMMAR, who delivers a learned harangue on the utility of her ſcience: next to LOGIC, who diſmiſſes him with a grave exhortation: then to RHETORIC, who crowned with laurel, and ſeated in a ſtately chamber, ſtrewed with flowers, and adorned with the clear mirrours of ſpeculation, explains her five parts in a laboured oration. Graunde Amoure reſolves to purſue their leſſons with vigour; and animates himſelf, in this difficult taſk, with the examples of Gower, Chaucer, and Lydgate s, who are panegyriſed [225] with great propriety. He is afterwards admitted to ARITHMETIC, who wears a GOLDEN wede t: and, laſt of all, is led to the Tower of MUSIC u, which was compoſed of cryſtal, in eager expectation of obtaining a view of La Bell Pucell, according to FAME'S prediction. MUSIC was playing on an organ, before a ſolemn aſſembly; in the midſt of which, at length he diſcovers La Bell Pucell, is inſtantly captivated with her beauty, and almoſt as ſoon tells her his name, and diſcloſes his paſſion w. She is more beautiful than Helen, Proſerpine, Creſſida, queen Hyppolita, Medea, Dido, Polyxena, Alcmena, Menalippa, or even fair Roſamund. The ſolemnity being finiſhed, MUSIC and La Bell Pucell go forth into a ſtately temple, whither they are followed by our hero. Here MUSIC ſeats herſelf amidſt a concert of all kinds of inſtruments x. She explains the principles of harmony. A [226] dance is plaid y, and Graunde Amoure dances with La Bell Pucell. He retires, deeply in love. He is met by COUNSELL, who conſoles and conducts him to his repoſe in a ſtately chamber of the caſtle. In the morning, COUNSELL and our hero both together viſit La Bell Pucell. At the gate of the garden of the caſtle they are informed by the portreſs CURTESY, that the lady was ſitting alone in an arbour, weaving a garland of various flowers. The garden is deſcribed as very delicious, and they find the lady in the arbour near a ſtately fountain, among the floures of aromatyke fume. After a long dialogue, in which for ſome time ſhe ſeems to reject his ſuit, at laſt ſhe reſigns her heart; but withal acquaints her lover, that he has many monſters to encounter, and many dangers to conquer, before he can obtain her. He replies, that he is well acquainted with theſe difficulties; and declares, that, after having received inſtructions from ASTRONOMY, he will go to the Tower of CHIVALRY, in order to be more completely qualified to ſucceed in this hazardous enterpriſe. They take leave with tears; and the lady is received into a ſhip, which is to carry her into the iſland where her Tower ſtood. COUNSELL conſoles Amoure z, and leaves him to attend other deſponding [227] lovers. Our hero bids adieu in pathetic terms to the Tower of MUSIC, where he firſt ſaw Pucell. Next he proceeds to the Tower of GEOMETRY, which is wonderfully built and adorned. From thence he ſeeks ASTRONOMY, who reſides in a gorgeous pavilion pitched in a fragrant and flowery meadow: ſhe delivers a prolix lecture on the ſeveral operations of the mind, and parts of the body a. He then, accompanied with his greyhounds, enters an extenſive plain overſpread with flowers; and looking forward, ſees a flaming ſtar over a tower. Going forward, he perceives that this tower ſtands on a rough precipice of ſteel, decorated with beaſts of various figures. As he advances towards it, he comes to a mighty fortreſs, at the gate of which were hanging a ſhield and helmet, with a marvellous horn. He blows the horn with a blaſt that ſhook the tower, when a knight appears; who, aſking his buſineſs, is anſwered, that his name is Graunde Amoure, and that he was juſt arrived from the tower of DOCTRINE. He is welcomed by the knight, and admitted. This is the caſtle of CHIVALRY. The next morning he is conducted by the porter STEDFASTNESS into the baſe court, where ſtood a tower of prodigious height, made of jaſper: on its ſummit were four images of armed knights on horſes of ſteel, which, on moving a ſecret ſpring, could repreſent a turney. Near this tower was an antient temple of Mars: within it was his ſtatue, or picture, of gold, with the figure of FORTUNE on her wheel; and the walls were painted with the ſiege of Troy b. He [228] ſupplicates Mars, that he may be enabled to ſubdue the monſters which obſtruct his paſſage to the Tower of Pucell. Mars promiſes him aſſiſtance; but adviſes him firſt to invoke Venus in her temple. FORTUNE reproves Mars for preſuming to promiſe aſſiſtance; and declares, that all human glory is in the power of herſelf alone. Amoure is then ledc by Minerva to king Melyzus d, the inventor of tilts and tournaments, who dubs him a knight. He leaves the caſtle of CHIVALRY, and on the road meets a perſon, habited like a Fool, named Godfrey Gobilivee, who enters into a long diſcourſe on the falſehood of women f. They both go together [229] into the temple of Venus, who was now holding a ſolemn aſſembly, or court, for the redreſs of lovers. Here he meets with SAPIENCE, who draws up a ſupplication for him, which he preſents to Venus. Venus, after having exhorted him to be conſtant, writes a letter to Pucell, which ſhe ſends by Cupid. After offering a turtle, he departs with Godfrey Gobilive, who is overtaken by a lady on a palfrey, with a knotted whip in her hand, which ſhe frequently exerciſes on Godfrey g. Amoure aſks her name, which, ſhe anſwers, is CORRECTION; that ſhe lived in the Tower of CHASTITY, and that he who aſſumed the name of Godfrey Gobilive was FALSE REPORT, who had juſt eſcaped from her priſon, and diſguiſed himſelf in a fool's coat. She invites Amoure to her Tower, where they are admitted by Dame MEASURE; and led into a hall with a golden roof, in the midſt of which was a carbuncle of a prodigious ſize, which illuminated the room h. They are next introduced to [230] a fair chamber; where they are welcomed by many famous women of antiquity, Helen, quene Proſerpine, the lady Meduſe, Pentheſilea, &c. The next morning, CORRECTION ſhews our hero a marvellous dungeon, of which SHAMFAS [...] NESSE is the keeper; and here FALSE REPORT is ſeverely puniſhed. He now continues his expedition, and near a fountain obſerves a ſhield and a horn hanging. On the ſhield was a lion rampant of gold in a ſilver field, with an inſcription, importing, that this was the way to La Bell Pucell's habitation, and that whoever blows the horn will be aſſaulted by a moſt formidable giant. He ſounds the horn: when inſtantly the giant appeared, twelve feet high, armed in braſs, with three heads, on each of which was a ſtreamer, with the inſcriptions Falſehood, Imagination, Perjury. After an obſtinate combat, he cuts off the giant's three heads with his ſword Claraprudence. He next meets three fair ladies, VANITY, GOOD-OPERATION, FIDELITY. They conduct him to their caſtle with muſic; where, being admitted by the portreſs OBSERVANCE, he is healed of his wounds by them. He proceeds and meets PERSEVERANCE, who acquaints him, that Pucell continued ſtill to love: that, after ſhe had read Venus's letter, STRANGENESS and DISDAIN came to her, to diſſuade her from loving him; but that ſoon after, PEACE and MERCYi arrived, who ſoon undid all that DISDAIN and STRANGENESS had ſaid, adviſing her to ſend PERSEVERANCE [231] to him with a ſhield. This ſhield PERSEVERANCE now preſents, and invites him to repoſe that night with her couſin COMFORT, who lived in a moated manor-place under the ſide of a neighbouring wood k. Here he is uſhered into a [232] chamber precious, per [...]umed with the richeſt odours. Next morning, guided by PERSEVERANCE and COMFORT, he goes forward, and ſees a caſtle, nobly [...]ortified, and walled with jet. Before it was a giant with ſeven heads, and upon the trees about him were hanging many ſhields of knights, whom [...]e had conquered. On his ſeven heads were ſeven h [...]lmets crowned with ſeven ſtreamers, on which were inſcribed Diſſimulation, Delay, Diſcomfort, Variance, Envy, Detraction, Doubleneſs. After a bloody battle, he kills the giant, and is ſaluted by the five ladies STEDFASTNESS, AMOROUS PURVEYANCE, JOY AFTER SORROW, PLEASAUNCE, GOOD REPORT, AMIT [...]E, CONTINUANCE, all riding from the caſtle on white palfries. Theſe ladies inform Amoure, that they had been exiled from La Bell Pucell by DISDAINE, and beſieged in this caſtle, for one whole year, by the giant whom he had juſt ſlain. They attend him on his journey, and travel through a dreary wilderneſs, full of wild beaſts: at length they diſcern, at a vaſt diſtance, a glorious region, where ſtood a ſtately palace beyond a tempeſtuous ocean. ‘"That, ſays PERSEVERANCE, is the palace of Pucelle."’ They then diſcover, in the iſland before them, an horrible fiend, roaring like thunder, and breathing flame, which my author ſtrongly paints,

The fyre was greet, it made the ylande lyght.

PERSEVERANCE tells our hero, that this monſter was framed by the two witches STRANGENESS and DISDAINE, to puniſh La Bell Pucell for having baniſhed them from her preſence. His body was compoſed of the ſeven metals, and within it a demon was incloſed. They now enter a neighbouring temple of Pallas; who ſhews Amoure, in a trance, the ſecret formation of this monſter, and gives him a box of wonderful ointment. They walk on the ſea-ſhore, and eſpy two ladies rowing towards them; who land, and having told Amoure that they are ſent by PATIENCE to enquire his [233] name, receive him and his company into the ſhip PERFECTNESS. They arrive in the iſland; and Amoure diſcovers the monſter near a rock, whom he now examines more diſtinctly. The face of the monſter reſembled a virgin's, and was of gold; his neck of ſilver; his breaſt of ſteel; his forelegs, armed with ſtrong talons, of laten; his back of copper; his tail of lead, &c. Amoure, in imitation of Jaſon, anoints his ſword and armour with the unguent of Pallas; which, at the firſt onſet, preſerves him from the voluminous torrent of fire and ſmoke iſſuing from the monſter's mouth. At length he is killed; and from his body flew out a foule ethiope, or black ſpirit, accompanied with ſuch a ſmoke that all the iſland was darkened, and loud thunder-claps enſued. When this ſpirit was entirely vaniſhed, the air grew ſerene; and our hero now plainly beheld the magnificent caſtle of La Pucell, walled with ſilver, and many a ſtory upon the wall enameled royally l. He rejoins his company; and entering the gate of the caſtle, is ſolemnly received by PEACE, MERCY, JUSTICE, REASON, GRACE, and MEMORY. He is then led by the portreſs COUNTENAUNCE into the baſe court; where, into a conduit of gold, dragons ſpouted water of the richeſt odour. The gravel of the court is like gold, and the hall and chambers are moſt ſuperbly decorated. Amoure and La Pucell ſit down and coverſe together. Venus intervenes, attended by Cupid cloathed in a blue mantle embroidered with golden hearts pierced with arrows, which he throws [234] about the lovers, declaring that they ſhould ſoon be joined in marriage. A ſudden tranſition is here made from the pagan to the chriſtian theology. The next morning they are married, according to the catholic ritual, by LEX ECCLESIAE; and in the wooden print prefixed to this chapter, the lovers are repreſented as joining hands at the weſtern portal of a great church, a part of the ceremonial of antient marriages m. A ſolemn feaſt is then held in honour of the nuptials n.

Here the poem ſhould have ended. But the poet has thought it neceſſary to extend his allegory to the death and burial of his hero. Graund Amoure having lived in conſummate happineſs with his amiable bride for many years, ſaw one morning an old man enter his chamber, carrying a ſtaff, with which he ſtrikes Amoure's breaſt, ſaying, Obey, &c. His name is OLD AGE. Not long after came POLICY or Cunning, and AVARICE. Amoure now begins to abandon his triumphal ſhows and ſplendid carouſals, and to be intent on amaſſing riches. At laſt arrived DEATH, who peremptorily denounces, that he muſt prepare to quit his wealth and the world. After this fatal admonition, came CONTRITION and CONSCIENCE, and he dies. His body is interred by MERCY and CHARITY; and while his epitaph is written by REMEMBRANCE, FAME appears; promiſing that [...]he will enroll his name with thoſe of Hector, Joſhua, [235] Judas Maccabeus, king David o, Alexander the Great, Julius Ceſar, Arthur p, Charlemagne q, and Godfrey of Bulloign r. [236] Aftewards TIME, and ETERNITIE clothed in a white veſtment and crowned with a triple diadem of gold, enter the temple, and pronounce an exhortation. Laſt follows an epilogue, in which the poet apologiſes for his hardineſs in attempting to feign and deviſe this fable.

The reader readily perceives, that this poetical apologue is intended to ſhadow the education of a complete gentleman; or rather, to point out thoſe accompliſhments which conſtitute the character of true gallantry, and moſt juſtly deſerve the reward of beauty. It is not pretended, that the perſonifications diſplay that force of colouring, and diſtinctneſs of delineation, which animate the ideal portraits of John of Meun. But we muſt acknowledge, that Hawes has ſhewn no inconſiderable ſhare of imagination, if not in inventing romantic action, at leaſt in applying and enriching the general incidents of the Gothic fable. In the creation of allegoric imagery he has exceeded Lydgate. That he is greatly ſuperior to many of his immediate predeceſſors and cotemporaries, in harmonious verſification, and clear expreſſion, will appear from the following ſtanza.

[237]
Beſydes this gyaunt, upon every tree
I did ſee hanging many a goodly ſhielde
Of noble knygtes, that were of hie degree,
Whiche he had ſlayne and murdred in the fielde:
From farre this gyaunt I ryght well behelde;
And towarde hym as I rode on my way,
On his firſt heade I ſawe a banner gay s.

To this poem a dedication of eight octave ſtanzas is prefixed, addreſſed to king Henry the ſeventh: in which our author profeſſes to follow the manner of his maiſter Lydgate.

To folowe the trace and all the perfytneſs
Of my maiſter Lydgate, with due exerciſe,
Such fayned tales I do fyndet and devyſe:
For under coloure a truthe may aryſe,
As was the guyſe, in old antiquitie,
Of the poetes olde a tale to ſurmyſe,
To cloake the truthe.—

In the courſe of the poem he complains, that ſince Lydgate, the moſt dulcet ſprynge of famous rhetoryke, that ſpecies of poetry which deals in fiction and allegoric fable, had been entirely loſt and neglected. He allows, that ſome of Lydgate's ſucceſſors had been ſkilful verſifiers in the balade royall or octave ſtanza, which Lydgate carried to ſuch perfection: but adds this remarkable reſtriction,

They fayne no fables pleaſaunt and covert:
Makyng balades of fervent amytie,
As geſtes and tryfles u.—

[238] Theſe lines, in a ſmall compaſs, diſplay the general ſtate of poetry which now prevailed.

Coeval with Hawes was William Walter, a retainer to ſir Henry Marney, chancellour of the duchy of Lancaſter: an unknown and obſcure writer whom I ſhould not have named, but that he verſified, in the octave ſtanza, Boccacio's ſtory, ſo beautifully paraphraſed by Dryden, of Sigiſmonda and Guiſcard. This poem, I think, was printed by Wynkyn de Worde, and afterwards reprinted in the year 1597, under the title of THE STATELY TRAGEDY OF GUISCARD AND SIGISMOND x. It is in two books. He alſo wrote a dialogue in verſe, called the Spectacle of Lovers y, and the Hiſtory of Titus and Geſippus, a tranſlation from a Latin romance concerning the ſiege of Jeruſalem.

About the year 1490, Henry Medwall, chaplain to Morton archbiſhop of Canterbury, compoſed an interlude, called NATURE, which was afterwards tranſlated into Latin. It is not improbable, that it was played before the archbiſhop. It was the buſineſs of chaplains in great houſes to compoſe interludes for the family. This piece was printed by Raſtel, in 1538, and entitled, ‘"NATURE, a goodly interlude of nature, compylyd by mayſter Henry Medwall, chaplayn to the right reverent father in God, Johan Morton, ſometyme cardynall, and archebyſhop of Canterbury."’

In the year 1497, Laurence Wade, a Benedictine monk of Canterbury z, tranſlated, into Engliſh rhymes, THE LIFE OF THOMAS A BECKETT, written about the year 1180, in [239] Latin a, by Herbert Boſham b. The manuſcript, which will not bear a citation, is preſerved in Benet college in Cambridge c. The original had been tranſlated into French verſe by Peter Langtoft d. Boſham was Becket's ſecretary, and preſent at his martyrdom.

SECT. VII.

[240]

I Place Alexander Barklay within the year 1500, as his SHIP OF FOOLS appears to have been projected about that period. He was educated at Oriel college in Oxford d, accompliſhed his academical ſtudies by travelling, and was appointed one of the prieſts, or prebendaries, of the college of ſaint Mary Ottery in Devonſhire e. Afterwards he became a Benedictine monk of Ely monaſtery f; and at length took the habit of the Franciſcans at Canterbury g. He temporiſed with the changes of religion; for he poſſeſſed ſome church-preferments in the reign of Edward the ſixth h. He died, very old, at Croydon, in Surry i, in the year 1552.

[241] Barklay's principal work is the SHIP OF FOOLES, abovementioned. About the year 1494, Sebaſtian Brandt, a learned civilian of Baſil, and an eminent philologiſt, publiſhed a ſatire in German with this title i. The deſign was to ridicule the reigning vices and follies of every rank and profeſſion, under the allegory of a Ship freighted with Fools of all kinds, but without any variety of incident, or artificiality of fable; yet although the poem is deſtitute of plot, and the voyage of adventures, a compoſition of ſuch a nature became extremely popular. It was tranſlated into French k; and, in the year 1497, into tolerable Latin verſe, by James Locher, a German, and a ſcholar of the inventour Brandt l. From the original, and the two tranſlations, Barklay formed a large Engliſh poem, in the balade or octave ſtanza, with conſiderable additions gleaned from the follies of his countrymen. It was printed by Pinſon, in 1509, whoſe name occurs in the poem.

Howbeit the charge PINSON has on me layde
With many fooles our navy not to charge m.

It was finiſhed in the year 1508, and in the college of ſaint Mary Ottery, as appears by this rubric, ‘"The SHYP OF FOLYS, tranſlated in the colege of ſaynt Mary Otery, in the counte of Devonſhyre, oute of Laten, Frenche, and Doch, into Engliſhe tonge, by Alexander Barclay, preſte and chaplen in the ſayd colledge, M.CCCCC.VIII n. "’Our author's [242] ſtanza is verboſe, proſaic, and tedious: and for many pages together, his poetry is little better than a trite homily in verſe. The title promiſes much character and pleaſantry: but we ſhall be diſappointed, if we expect to find the foibles of the crew of our ſhip touched by the hand of the author of the CANTERBURY TALES, or expoſed in the rough ye [...] ſtrong [...]atire of Pierce Plowman. He ſometimes has a ſtroke of humour: as in the following ſtanza, where he wiſhes to take on board the eight ſecondaries, or minor canons, of his college. ‘"Alexander Barclay ad FATUOS, ut dent locum OCTO SECUNDARIIS beatae Mariae de Ottery, qui quidem prima bujus ratis tranſtra merentur o."’

Softe, Foolis, ſofte, a litle ſlacke your pace,
Till I have ſpace you to' order by degree;
I have eyght neyghbours, that firſt ſhall have a place
Within this my ſhyp, for they moſt worthy be:
They may their learning receyve coſtles and fre [...].
Their walles abutting and joining to the ſchooles p;
Nothing they can q, yet nought will they learn nor ſee,
Therefore ſhall they guide this one ſhip of fooles.

The ignorance of the Engliſh clergy is one of the chief objects of his animadverſion. He ſays r [...]

For if one can flatter, and beare a hawke on his fiſt,
He ſhalbe made parſon of Honington or of Clift.

Theſe were rich benefices in the neighbourhood of ſaint Mary Ottery. He diſclaims the profane and petty tales of the times.

[243]
I write no jeſte ne tale of Robin Hood s,
Nor ſowe no ſparkles, ne ſede of viciouſnes;
Wi [...]e men love vertue, wilde people wantonnes,
It longeth not my ſcience nor cuning,
For Philip the ſparrow the dirige to ſing.

The laſt line is a ridicule on his cotemporary Skelton, who wrote a LITLE BOKE OF PHILIP SPARROW, or a Dirge,

For the ſoule of Philip Sparrow
That was late ſlaine at Carow, &c t.

And in another place, he thus cenſures the faſhionable reading of his age: much in the tone of his predeceſſor Hawes.

For goodly ſcripture is not worth an hawe,
But tales are loved ground of ribaudry,
And many are ſo blinded with their foly,
That no ſcriptur thinke they ſo true nor god [...]
As is a fooliſh jeſt of Robin hode u.

As a ſpecimen of his general manner, I inſert his character of the Student, or Bookworm: whom he ſuppoſes to be th [...] Firſt Fool in the veſſel.

That w in this ſhip the chiefe place I govern [...],
By this wide ſea with foolis wandering,
The cauſe is plaine and eaſy to diſcerne;
Still am I buſy bookes aſſembling,
[244] For to have plentie it is a pleaſaunt thing,
In my conceyt, to have them ay in hand;
But what they meane do I not underſtande.
But yet I have them in great reverence
And honour, ſaving them from filth and ordure;
By often bruſshing and much diligence,
Full goodly bounde in pleaſaunt coverture
Of damas, ſattin, or els of velvet pure x:
I keepe them ſure fearing leaſt they ſhould be loſt
For in them is the cunning wherein I me boaſt.
But if it fortune that any learned man
Within my houſe fall to diſputation,
I drawe the curtaynes to ſhewe my bokes then,
That they of my cunning ſhould make probation:
I love not to fall in alterication:
And while the commen, my bookes I turne and winde,
For all is in them, and nothing in my minde.
Ptolomeusy the riche cauſed, longe agone,
Over all the worlde good bookes to be ſought,
[245] Done was his commandement, &c.
Lo in likewiſe of bookès I have ſtore,
But few I reade, and fewer underſtande;
I folowe not their doctrine, nor their lore,
It is enough to beare a booke in hande:
It were too much to be in ſuch a lande;
For to be bounde to loke within the booke
I am content on the fayre coveryng to looke.—
Eche is not lettred that nowe is made a lorde,
Nor eche a clerke that hath a benefice;
They are not all lawyers that plees do recorde,
All that are promoted are not fully wiſe;
On ſuche chance now fortune throwes her dice:
That though one knowe but the yriſhe game
Yet would he have a gentlemans name.
So in likewiſe, I am in ſuch a caſe,
Though I nought can z, I would be called wiſe;
Alſo I may ſet another in my place
Which may for me my bookès exerciſe;
Or els I will enſue the common guiſe,
And ſay concedo to every argument
Leſt by much ſpeech my Latin ſhould be ſpent a.

In one part of the poem, Prodicus's apologue, of Hercules meeting VIRTUE and PLEASURE, is introduced. In the ſpeech of PLEASURE, our author changes his metre; and breaks forth into a lyrical ſtrain, not totally void of elegance and delicacy, and in a rhythmical arrangement adopted by Gray.

[246]
All my veſtùre is of golde pure,
My gay chaplèt with ſtonès ſet,
With couverture of fine aſure,
In ſilver net my haire upknet,
Softe ſilke betwene, le [...]t it might fret;
My purple pall oercovereth all,
Cleare as criſtàll, no thing egall.—
With harpe in hande, alway I ſtande,
Paſſing eche houre, in ſwete pleaſoùr;
A wanton bande, of every lande,
Are in my towre, me to honoùr,
Some of valoùr, ſome bare and poore;
Kinges in their pride ſit by my ſide:
Every freſhe floure, of ſwete odourè,
To them I provide, that with me bide.—
Whoeer they be, that folowe me,
And gladly flee to my ſtandàrde,
They ſhall be free, nor ſicke, nor ſee
Adverſitie, and paynès harde.
No poynt of payne ſhall he ſuſtayne,
But joy ſoverayne, while he is here;
No froſt ne rayne there ſhall diſtayne
His face by payne, ne hurt his chere.
He ſhall his hede caſt to no drede
To get the medeb and lawde of warre;
Nor yet have nede, for to take hede,
How battayles ſpede, but ſtande afarre.
Nor yet be bounde to care the ſounde
Of man or grounde, or trompet ſhrill;
Strokes that redound ſhall not confounde,
Nor his minde wounde, but if he will, &c c.

All antient ſatirical writings, even thoſe of an inferior caſt, have their merit, and deſerve attention, as they tranſmit [247] pictures of familiar manners, and preſerve popular cuſtoms. In this light; at leaſt, Barklay's SHIP OF FOOLS, which is a general ſatire on the times, will be found entertaining. Nor muſt it be denied, that his language is more cultivated than that of many of his cotemporaries, and that he contributed his ſhare to the improvement of the Engliſh phraſeology. His author, Sebaſtian Brandt, appears to have been a man of univerſal erudition; and his work, for the moſt part, is a tiſſue of citations from the ancient poets and hiſtorians.

Barklay's other pieces are the MIRROUR OF GOOD MANNERS, and five EGLOGES d.

The MIRROUR is a tranſlation from a Latin [...]legiac poem, written in the year 1516, by Dominic Mancini DE QUATUOR VIRTUTIBUS. It is in the ballad-ſtanza e. Our tranſlator, [248] as appears by the addreſs prefixed, had been requeſted by ſir Giles Alyngton to abridge, or moderniſe, Gower's CONFESSIO AMANTIS. But the poet declined this undertaking, as unſuitable to his age, infirmities, and profeſſion; and choſe rather to oblige his patron with a grave ſyſtem of ethics. It is certain that he made a prudent choice. The performance ſhews how little qualified he was to correct Gower.

Our author's EGLOGES, I believe, are the firſt that appeared in the Engliſh language f. They are, like Petrarch's and Mantuan's g, of the moral and ſatirical kind; and contain but few touches of rural deſcription and bucolic imagery. They ſeem to have been written about the year 1514 h. The three firſt are paraphraſed, with very large additions, from the MISERIAE CURIALIUM of Eneas Sylvius i, and treat of the Miſeryes of Courtiers and Courtes of all Princes in general. The fourth, in which is introduced a long poem in ſtanzas, called the Tower of Vertue and Honour k, of the behaviour of riche men agaynſt poetes. The fifth, of the diſputation of citizens and men of the country. Theſe paſtorals, if they deſerve the name, contain many alluſions to the times. The poet is [249] prolix in his praiſes of Alcock biſhop of Ely, and founder of Jeſus college in Cambridge k.

Yes ſince his dayes a cocke was in the fen l,
I knowe his voyce among a thouſand men:
He laught, he preached, he mended every wrong;
But, Coridon, alas no good thing bideth long!
He All was a Cock m, he wakened us from ſlepe,
And while we ſlumbered, he did our foldes kepe.
No cur, no foxes, nor butchers dogges wood,
Could hurte our fouldes, his watching was ſo good.
The hungry wolves, which that time did abounde,
What time he crowed n, abaſhed at the ſounde.
This cocke was no more abaſhed of the foxe,
Than is a lion abaſhed of an oxe.
[250] When he went, faded the floure of al the fen;
I boldly ſweare this cocke trode never hen!

Alcock, while living, erected a beautiful ſepulchral chapel in his cathedral, ſtill remaining, but miſerably defaced. To which the ſhepherd alludes in the lines that follow:

This was the father of thinges paſtorall,
And that well ſheweth his cathedrall.
There was I lately, aboute the midſt of May:
Coridon, his church is twenty ſith more gay
Then all the churches between the ſame and Kent;
There ſawe I his tombe and chapel excellent.—
Our pariſhe church is but a dongeon
To that gay churche in compariſon.—
When I ſawe his figure lye in the chapel ſide, &c o.

In another place he thus repreſents the general lamentation for the death of this worthy prelate: and he riſes above himſelf in deſcribing the ſympathy of the towers, arches, vaults, and images, of Ely monaſtery.

The prati [...] palace by him made in the fen p,
The maidès, widowes, the wives, and the men,
With deadly dolour were pearſed to the hearte,
When death conſtraynd this ſhepherd to departe.
Corne, graſſe, and fieldes, mourned for wo and payne,
For oft his prayer for them obtayned rayne.
The pleaſaunt floures for him faded eche one.—
The okès, elmè: every ſorte of dere q
Shrunke under ſhadowes, abating all their chere.
[251] The mightie walles of Ely monaſtery,
The ſtonès, rockes, and towrès ſemblably,
The marble pillours, and images ech [...] one,
Swete all for ſorrowe, when this cocke was gone, &c r.

It ſhould be remembered, that theſe paſtorals were probably written while our poet was a monk of Ely: and although Alcock was then dead, yet the memory of his munificence and piety was recent in the mo [...]aſtery s.

Speaking of the dignity and antiquity of ſhepherds, and particularly of Chriſt at his birth being firſt ſeen by ſhepherds, he ſeems to deſcribe ſome large and ſplendid picture of the Nativity painted on the walls of Ely cathedral.

I ſawe them myſelfe well paynted on the wall,
Late gaſing upon our churche cathedrall:
I ſaw great wethers, in picture, and ſmall lambes,
Daunſing, ſome ſleping, ſome ſucking of their dams;
And ſome on the grounde, meſemed, lying ſtill:
Then ſawe I horſemen appendant of an hill;
And the three kings, with all their company,
Their crownes gliſtering bright and oriently,
With their preſents and giftès miſticall:
All this behelde I in picture on the wall t.

[252] Virgil's poems are thus characteriſed, in ſome of the beſt turned lines we find in theſe paſtorals:

He ſunge of fieldes, and tilling of the grounde,
Of ſhepe and oxen, and battayle did he ſounde;
So ſhrille he ſounded in termes eloquent
I trowe his tunes went to the firmament u.

He gives us the following idea of the ſports, ſpectacles, and pleaſures, of his age.

Some men deliteth beholding men to fight,
Or goodly knightes in pleaſaunt apparayle,
Or ſturdie ſouldiers in bright harnes and male x.—
Some glad is to ſee theſe ladies beauteous,
Goodly appoynted in clothing ſumpt [...]ous:
A number of people appoynted in like wiſe y
In coſtly clothing, after the neweſt giſe;
Sportes, diſgiſing z, fayre courſers mount and praunce,
Or goodly ladies and knightes ſing and daunce:
To ſee fayre houſes, and curious picture,
Or pleaſaunt hanging a, or ſumpteous veſture,
Of ſilke, of purpure, or golde moſte orient,
And other clothing divers and excellent:
Hye curious buildinges, or palaces royall,
Or chapels, temples fayre and ſubſtanciall,
Images graven, or vaultes curious b;
Gardeyns, and meadowes, or placesc delicious,
Foreſts and parkes well furniſhed with dere,
Cold pleauſant ſtreames, or wellès fayre and clere,
Curious cundytes, &c d.

[253] We have before ſeen, that our author and Skelton were rivals. He alludes to Skelton, who had been laureated at Oxford, in the following lines.

[254]
Then is he decked as poete laureate,
When ſtinking Thais made him her graduate:
If they have ſmelled the artes triviall,
They count them poets hye and heroicall c.

The TOWRE OF VERTUE AND HONOUR, introduced as a ſong of one of the ſhepherds into theſe paſtorals, exhibits no very maſterly ſtrokes of a ſublime and inventive fancy. It has much of the trite imagery uſually applied in the fabrication of theſe ideal edifices. It, however, ſhews our author in a new walk of poetry. This magnificent tower, or caſtle, is built on inacceſſible cliffs of flint: the walls are of gold, bright as the ſun, and decorated with olde hiſtoryes and pictures manyfolde: the turrets are beautifully ſhaped. Among its heroic inhabitants are king Henry the eighth, Howard duke of Norfolk, and the earl of Shrewſbury. LABOUR is the porter at the gate, and VIRTUE governs the houſe. LABOUR is thus pictured, with ſome degree of ſpirit.

Fearfull is LABOUR, without favour at all,
Dreadfull of viſage, a monſter intractable;
Like Cerberus lying at gates infernall;
To ſome men his looke is halfe intollerable,
His ſhoulders large for burden ſtrong and able,
His bodie briſtled, his necke mightie and ſtiffe;
By ſturdie ſinewes his joynts ſtrong and ſtable,
Like marble ſtones his handès be as ſtiffe.
[255] Here muſt man vanquiſh the dragon of Cadmus,
Gainſt the Chimere here ſtoutly muſt he fight;
Here muſt he vanquiſh the fearfull Pegaſus,
For the golden flece here muſt he ſhewe his might:
If LABOUR gainſay, he can nothing be right:
This monſter LABOUR oft changeth his figure,
Sometime an oxe, a bore, or lion wight,
Playnely he ſeemeth thus changeth his nature.
Like as Protheus ofte changeth his ſtature.
* * * * * * * * *
Under his browes he dreadfully doth lowre
With gliſtering eyes, and ſide-dependant beard,
For thirſt and hunger alway his chere is ſoure,
His horned forehead doth make faynt hearts afeard.
Alway he drinketh, and yet alway is drye,
The ſweat diſtilling with droppes abundant, &c.

966The poet adds, that when the noble Howard had long boldly contended with this hideous monſter, had broken the bars and doors of the caſtle, had bound the porter, and was now preparing to aſcend the tower of Virtue and Honour, FORTUNE and DEATH appeared, and interrupted his progreſs f.

The firſt modern Latin Bucolics are thoſe of Petrarch, in number twelve, written about the year 1350 g. The Eclogues of Mantuan, our author's model, appeared about the year 1400, and were followed by many others. Their number multiplied ſo ſoon, that a collection of thirty-eight modern bucolic poets in Latin was printed at Baſil, in the year 1546 h. Theſe writers judged this indirect and diſguiſed mode of dialogue, conſiſting of ſimple characters which ſpoke freely and plainly, the moſt ſafe and convenient vehicle for abuſing [256] the corruptions of the church. Mantuan became ſo popular, as to acquire the eſtimation of a claſſic, and to be taught in ſchools. Nothing better proves the reputation in which this writer was held, than a ſpeech of Shakeſpeare's pedant, the pedagogue Holofernes. ‘"Fauſte, precor, gelida quando pecus omne ſub ulmo i, and ſo forth. Ah, good old MANTUAN! I may ſpeak of thee, as the traveller doth of Venice, Vinegia, Vinegia, chi non te v [...]di, ei non te pregia. Old MANTUAN! Old MANTUAN! Who underſtandeth thee not, loveth thee not k."’ But although Barklay copies Mantuan, the recent and ſeparate publication in England of Virgil's bucolics, by Wynkyn de Worde l, might partly ſuggeſt the new idea of this kind of poetry.

With what avidity the Italian and French poets, in their reſpective languages, entered into this ſpecies of compoſition, when the rage of Latin verſification had ſubſided, and for the purpoſes above-mentioned, is an inquiry reſerved for a future period. I ſhall only add here, that before the cloſe of the fifteenth century, Virgil's bucolics were tranſlated into Italian m, by Bernardo Pulci, Foſſa de Cremona, Benivieni, and Fiorini Buoninſegni.

SECT. VIII.

[257]

IT is not the plan of this work to comprehend the Scotch poetry. But when I conſider the cloſe and national connection between England and Scotland in the progreſs of manners and literature, I am ſenſible I ſhould be guilty of a partial and defective repreſentation of the poetry of the former, was I to omit in my ſeries a few Scotch writers, who have adorned the preſent period, with a degree of ſentiment and ſpirit, a command of phraſeology, and a fertility of imagination, not to be found in any Engliſh poet ſince Chaucer and Lydgate: more eſpecially as they have left ſtriking ſpecimens of allegorical invention, a ſpecies of compoſition which appears to have been for ſome time almoſt totally extinguiſhed in England.

The firſt I ſhall mention is William Dunbar, a native of Salton in Eaſt Lothian, about the year 1470. His moſt celebrated poems are The THISTLE AND THE ROSE, and THE GOLDEN TERGE.

The THISTLE AND THE ROSE was occaſioned by the marriage of James the fourth, king of Scotland, with Margaret Tudor, eldeſt daughter of Henry the ſeventh, king of England: an event, in which the whole future political ſtate of both nations was vitally intereſted, and which ultimately produced the union of the two crowns and kingdoms. It was finiſhed on the ninth day of May in the year 1503, nearly three months before the arrival of the queen in Scotland: whoſe progreſs from Richmond to Edinburgh was attended with a greater magnificence of parade, proceſſions, and ſpectacles, than I ever remember to have ſeen on any ſimilar occaſion a. It may be pertinent to premiſe, that Margaret [258] was a ſingular patroneſs of the Scotch poetry, now beginning to flouriſh. Her bounty is thus celebrated by Stewart of Lorne, in a Scotch poem, called LERGES OF THIS NEW YEIR DAY, written in the year 1527.

Grit god reliefb MARGARET our quene!
For and ſcho war and ſcho has bene c
Scho wold be larger of lufray d
Than all the laif that I of mene e,
For lergesf of this new-yeir day g.

Dunbar's THISTLE AND ROSE is opened with the following ſtanzas, which are remarkable for their deſcriptive and pictureſque beauties.

Quhenh Merche was with variand windis paſt,
And Apperyll had with her ſilver ſhouris
Tane leifi of Nature, with ane orient blaſt,
And luſty May, that muddirk is of flouris
Had maid the birdis to begyn thair houris l,
[259] Amang the tendir odouris reid and quhyt,
Quhois harmony to heir it was delyt:
In bed at morrow ſleiping as I lay,
Methoct Aurora, with her criſtall ene
In at th [...] window lukitm by the day,
And halſitn me with viſage pale and grene;
On quhois hand a lark ſang, fro the ſplene o [...]
"Awak, luvaris p, out of your ſlemering q,
"Se how the luſty morrow doth upſpring!"
Methoct freſhe May befoir my bed upſtude [...]
In weidr depaynt of mony diverſe hew,
Sober, benygn, and full of manſuetude,
In bright atteir of flouris forgit new s,
Hevinly of color, quhyt, reid, brown, and blew,
Balmit in dew, and gilt with Phebus' bemys;
Quhil al the houſe illumynit of her lemys t.

MAY then rebukes the poet, for not riſing early, according to his annual cuſtom, to celebrate the approach of the ſpring; eſpecially as the lark has now announced the dawn of day, and his heart in former years had always,

[260]
—glaid and bliſsful bene
Sangisu to mak undir the levis grene x.

The poet replies, that the ſpring of the preſent year was unpromiſing and ungenial; unattended with the uſual ſong of birds, and ſerenity of ſky: and that ſtorms and ſhowers, and the loud blaſts of the horn of lord Eolus, had uſurped her mild dominion, and hitherto prevented him from wandering at leiſure under the vernal branches. MAY rejects his excuſe, and with a ſmile of majeſty commands him to ariſe, and to perform his annual homage to the flowers, the birds, and the ſun. They both enter a delicious garden, filled with the richeſt colours and odours. The ſun ſuddenly appears in all his glory, and is thus deſcribed in the luminous language of Lydgate.

The purpour ſone, with tendir bemys reid,
In orient bricht as angell did appeir,
Thorow goldin ſkyis putting up his heid,
Quhois gilt treſſis ſchone ſo wondir cleir,
That all the world take comfort far and neir y.

Immediately the birds, like the morning-ſtars, ſinging together, hail the unuſual appearance of the ſun-ſhine.

And, as the bliſsful ſone of cherarchy z,
The fowlis ſung throw comfort of the licht;
The burddis did with oppin voices cry,
"O luvaris, fo away thow dully nicht,
"And welcum day that comfortis every wicht.
[261] "Hail May, hail Flora, hail Aurora ſchene,
"Hail princes Nature, hail Venus luvis quene a.

NATURE is then introduced, iſſuing her interdict, that the progreſs of the ſpring ſhould be no longer interupted, and that Neptune and Eolus ſhould ceaſe from diſturbing the waters and air.

Dame Nature gaif an inhibitioun thair,
To fers Neptune, and Eolus the bauld b,
Nocht to perturb the wattir nor the air;
And that no ſchourisc nor blaſtis cawld
Effray ſuldd floris, nor fowlis on the fauld;
Scho bad eke Juno goddes of the ſky
That ſcho the hevin ſuld amene and dry e.

This preparation and ſuſpence are judicious and ingenious; as they give dignity to the ſubject of the poem, awaken our curio [...]ity, and introduce many poetical circumſtances. NATURE immediately commands every bird, beaſt, and flower, to appear in her preſence; and, as they had been uſed to do every May-morning, to acknowledge her univerſal ſovereignty. She ſends the roe to bring the beaſts, the ſwallow to collect the birds, and the yarrowf to ſummon the flowers. They are aſſembled before her in an inſtant. The lion advances firſt, whoſe figure is drawn with great force and expreſſion.

[262]
This awefull beiſt full terrible was of cheir,
Perſing of luke, and ſtout of countenance,
Ryght ſtrong of corps, of faſſoun fair but feir g,
Luſty of ſhaip, lycht of deliverance,
Reid of his cullour as the ruby glance,
In field of gold he ſtude full mychtely
With floure de lucis ſirculith luſtely i.

This is an elegant and ingenious mode of blazoning the Scottiſh arms, which are a lion with a border, or treſſure, adorned with flower de luces. We ſhould remember, that heraldry was now a ſcience of high importance and eſteem. NATURE lifting up his cluvis cleir, or ſhining claws, and ſuffering him to reſt on her knee, crowns him with a radiant diadem of precious ſtones, and creates him the king of beaſts: at the ſame time ſhe injoins him to exerciſe juſtice with mercy, and not to ſuffer his ſubjects of the ſmalleſt ſize or degree, to be oppreſſed by thoſe of ſuperiour ſtrength and dignity. This part of NATURE'S charge to the lion, is cloſed with the following beautiful ſtroke, which indicates the moral tenderneſs of the poet's heart.

And lat no bowgle with his buſteousk hornis
The meik pluch oxl oppreſs for all hys pryd,
Bot in the yok go peciable him beſyd m.

She next crowns the eagle king of fowls; and ſharpening his talons like darts of ſteel, orders him to govern great and ſmall, the wren or the peacock, with an uniform and equal impartiality. I need not point out to my reader the political leſſons couched under theſe commands. NATURE now calls the flowers; and obſerving the thiſtle to be ſurrounded [263] with a buſh of ſpears, and therefore qualified for war, gives him a crown of rubies, and ſays, ‘"In field go forth and fend the laif n.’ The poet continues elegantly to picture other parts of the royal arms; in ordering th [...] thiſtle, who is now king of vegetables, to prefer all herbs, or flowers, of rare virtue, and rich odour: nor ever to permit the nettle to aſſociate with the flour de lys, nor any ignoble weed to be ranked in competition with the lily. In the next ſtanza, where NATURE directs the thiſtle to honour the roſe above all other flowers, excluſive of the heraldic meaning, our author with much addreſs inſinuates to king James the fourth an exhortation to conjugal fidelity, drawn from the high birth, beauty, and amiable accompliſhments, of the royal bride the princeſs Margaret o.

Nor hald no udir flower in ſic denty p
As the freſche ROSE, of cullour reid and quhyt;
For gif thou dois q, hurt is thyne honeſty,
Conſiddering that no flour is ſo perfyt,
So full of vertew, pleaſans, and delyt,
So ful of bliſsfull angelick bewty,
Imperial birth, honour, and dignite r.

NATURE then addreſſes the roſe, whom ſhe calls, ‘"O luſty daughter moſt benyng,"’ and whoſe lineage ſhe exalts above that of the lily. This was a preference of Tudor to Valois. [264] She crowns the roſe with clarefied gems, the luſtre of which illumines all the land. The roſe is hailed queen by the flowers. Laſt, her praiſes are ſung by the univerſal chorus of birds, the ſound of which awakens the poet from his delightful dream. The fairy ſcene is vaniſhed, and he calls to the muſe to perpetuate in verſe the wonders of the ſplendid viſion.

Although much fine invention and ſublime fabling are diſplayed in the allegorical viſions of our old poets, yet this mode of compoſition, by dealing only in imaginary perſonages, and by excluding real characters and human actions, neceſſarily fails in that chief ſource of entertainment which we ſeek in antient poetry, the repreſentation of antient manners.

Another general obſervation, immediately reſulting from the ſubject of this poem, may be here added, which illuſtrates the preſent and future ſtate of the Scotch poetry. The marriage of a princeſs of England with a king of Scotland, from the new communication and intercourſe opened between the two courts and kingdoms by ſuch a connection, muſt have greatly contributed to poliſh the rude manners, and to improve the language, literature, and arts, of Scotland.

The deſign of Dunbar's GOLDEN TERGE, is to ſhew the gradual and imperceptible influence of love, when too far indulged, over reaſon. The diſcerning reader will obſerve, that the caſt of this poem is tinctured with the morality and imagery of the ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE, and the FLOURE AND LEAFE, of Chaucer.

The poet walks forth at the dawn of a bright day. The effects of the riſing ſun on a vernal landſcape, with its accompaniments, are thus delineated in the manner of Lydgate, yet with more ſtrength, diſtinctneſs, and exuberance of ornament.

[265]
Richte as the ſtarre of day began to ſchyne,
When gone to bed was Veſper and Lucyne,
I raiſe, and by a roſiers did me reſt:
Upſprang the golden candle matutyne,
With cleir depuritt bemys chryſtallyne,
Glading the mirry fowlis in thair neſt:
Or Phebus was in purpour kaipu reveſt,
Upſprang the lark, the hevenis menſtral ſyne w,
In May intill a morrow mirthfulleſt.
Full angelyk the birdis ſang thair houris,
Within their courtingsx grene, within thair bouris
Apparrellit quhaite and reid with blumys ſweit:
Ennamelit was the feild with all cullouris,
The perlit droppis ſchuke as in ſilver ſchouris y,
While al in balme did branche and levis fleit
Depairt from Phebus, did Aurora greit,
Hir chryſtall teiris I ſaw hing on the flouris,
Quhilk he for lufe all drank up with his heit.
For mirth of May, with ſkippis and with hoppis,
The birdis ſang upon the tendir croppis z,
With curious notes, as Venus' chapell-clarkes:
The roſis reid, now ſpreiding of their knoppis a,
Were powderitb bricht with heavenly beryl-droppis,
Throw bemys reid lemyng as ruby ſparks;
The ſkyis rang with ſchoutyng of the larks,
The purpour hevin owreſkalit in ſilver ſloppis c
Owregilt the treis, branchis, levis and barks.
[266]
Down thruch the ryſs d ane revir ran with ſtremis
So luſtely upoun the lykande lemis,
That all the lake as lamp did leme of licht,
Quhilk ſhaddowit all about with twynklyng glemis f;
The bewisg baithit war in ſecound bemis,
Through the reflex of Phebus viſage bricht
On every ſide the egè raiſe on hicht h:
The bank was grene, the ſon was ful of bemis,
The ſtreimeirs cleir as ſtarres in froſtie nicht.
The cryſtall cleir, the ſapheir firmament,
The ruby ſkyies of the reid orient,
Keſti beryl bemis on emerault bewis grene,
The roſy garth k, depaynt, and redolent,
With purpour, aſure, gold, and gowlisl gent,
Arrayit was, by dame Flora the quene,
Sa nobilly, that joy was for to ſene:
The rocke m, agane the river reſplendent,
As low illuminate all the levis ſchene n.

[267] Our author, lulled by the muſic of the birds, and the murmuring of the water, falls aſleep on the flowers, which he calls Flora's mantill. In a viſion, he ſees a ſhip approach, whoſe ſails are like the bloſſom upon the ſpray, and whoſe maſts are of gold bright as the ſtar of day o. She glides ſwiftly through a chriſtal bay; and lands in the blooming meadows, among the green ruſhes and reeds, an hundred ladies clad in rich but looſe attire. They are cloathed in green kirtles; their golden treſſes, tied only with gl [...]ttering threads, flow to the ground; and their ſnowy boſoms are unveiled.

Als freſche as flours that in the May upſpreids
In kirtills grene, withoutin kellp or bands
Their bricht hair hung glittering on the ſtrand
In treſis cleir, wypitq with golden threidis;
With pawpysr whyt, and middills ſmall as wands s.

In this brilliant aſſembly, the poet ſees NATURE, dam [...] Venus quene, the fr [...]ſche AURORA, May, lady Flora ſchene, Juno, Latona, Proſerpine, Diana goddeſs of the chaſe and woodis grene, lady Clio, Minerva, Fortune, and Lucina. Theſe michty quenes are crowned with diadems, glittering like the morning-ſtar. They enter a garden. May, the queen of mirthful months, is ſupported between her ſiſters April and [268] June: as ſhe walks up and down the garden, the birds begin to ſing, and NATURE gives her a gorgeous robe adorned with every colour under heaven.

Thair ſawe I NATURE preſent tillt her a gown
Riche to beholde, and noble of renoune,
Of everie hew that undir the hevin has bene
Depaint and braidu by gud proportioun w.

The vegetable tribes then do their obeiſance to NATURE, in theſe poliſhed and elegant verſes.

And every blome on branche, and eik on bank,
Opnit, and ſpred thair balmy levis dank,
Full law inclyneand to thair queen full cleir,
Whom for their noble nuriſſing thay thank x.

Immediately another court, or groupe, appears. Here Cupid the king preſides:

—a bow in hand ay bent,
And dreadfull arrowis groundin ſcherp and ſquhair.
Thair ſawe I Mars the god armipotent
Awefull and ſtirnè, ſtrong and corpulent.
Thair ſawe I crabity Saturne, auld and hair z,
His look was lyk for to perturb the air.
Thair was Mercurius, wi [...]e and eloquent,
Of retorik that funda the floris fair b.

Theſe are attended with other pagan divinities, Janus, Priapus, Eolus, Bacchus the glader of the table, and Pluto. They are all arrayed in green; and ſinging amorous ditties to the [269] harp and lute, invite the ladies to dance. The poet quits his ambuſh under the trees, and preſſing forward to gain a more perfect view of this tempting ſpectacle, is eſpied by Venus. She bids her keen archers arreſt the intruder. Her attendants, a groupe of fair ladies, inſtantly drop their green mantles, and each diſcovers a huge bow. They form themſelves in battle-array, and advance againſt the poet.

And firſt of all, with bow in hand ay bent,
Came dame BEAUTY, richt as ſcho wald me ſchent;
Syne followit all her damoſalls in feir,
With many divers awfull inſtrument c:
Into the praiſs FAIR HAVINGd with her went;
Synee PORTRATOR, PLESANCE, and luſty CHEIR,
Than came RESSOUN, with Schield of gold ſo cleir,
In plait of mail, as Mars armipotent,
Defendit me that noblef chevellier g.

BEAUTY is aſſiſted by tender YOUTH with her virgins ying, GREEN INNOCENCE, MODESTY, and OBEDIENCE: but their reſiſtance was but feeble againſt the golden target of REASON. WOMANHOOD then leads on PATIENCE, DISCRETION, STEDFASTNESS, BENIGNE LOOK, MYLDE CHEIR, and HONEST BUSINESS.

Bot RESSOUN bare the Terge with ſic conſtance,
Thair ſcharp eſſay might do me no deirance h,
For all thair praiſs and awfulli ordinance k.

The attack is renewed by DIGNITY, RENOWN, RICHES, NOBILITY, and HONOUR. Theſe, after diſplaying their high banner, and ſhooting a cloud of arrows, are ſoon obliged to [270] retreat. Venus, perceiving the rout, orders DISSEMBLANCE to make an attempt to pierce the Golden Shield. DISSEMBLANCE, or DISSIMULATION, chuſes for her archers, PRESENCE, FAIR CALLING, and CHERISHING. Theſe bring back BEAUTY to the charge. A new and obſtinate conflict enſues.

Thik was the ſchott of grindin arrowis kene,
Bot RESSOUN, with the Schield of Gold ſo ſchene,
Weirlyl defendit quhoſoeir aſſayit:
The awfull ſchour he manly did ſuſtene m.

At length PRESENCE, by whom the poet underſtands that irreſiſtible incentive accruing to the paſſion of love by ſociety, by being often admitted to the company of the beloved object, throws a magical powder into the eyes of REASON; who is ſuddenly deprived of all his powers, and reels like a drunken man. Immediately the poet receives a deadly wound, and is taken priſoner by BEAUTY; who now aſſumes a more engaging air, as the clear eye of REASON is growing dim by intoxication. DISSIMULATION then tries all her arts on the poet: FAIR CALLING ſmiles upon him: CHERISHING ſooths him with ſoft ſpeeches: NEW ACQUAINTANCE embraces him awhile, but ſoon takes her leave, and is never ſeen afterwards. At laſt DANGER delivers him to the cuſtody of GRIEF.

By this time, ‘"God Eolus his bugle blew."’ The leaves are torn with the blaſt: in a moment the pageant diſappears, and nothing remains but the foreſt, the birds, the banks, and the brook n. In the twinkling of an eye they return to the ſhip; and unfurling the ſails, and ſtemming the ſea with a rapid courſe, celebrate their triumph with a diſcharge of ordinance. This was now a new topic for poetical deſcription. The ſmoke riſes to the firmament, and the roar is re [...]echoed by the rocks, with a ſound as if the rain-bow had been broken.

[271]
And as I did awak of this ſwowning o,
The joyfull fowlis merrily did ſing
For mirth of Phebus tendir bemis ſchene.
Sweit was the vapours, ſoft the morrowing,
Hailſum the vaillp depaynt with flours ying,
The air intemperit ſober and amene;
In whit and red was al the erd beſene,
Throw Naturis nobill freſch ennameling
In mirthfull May of every moneth quene q.

Our author then breaks out into a laboured encomium on Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate. This I chuſe to recite at large, as it ſhews the peculiar diſtinction antiently paid to thoſe fathers of verſe; and the high ideas which now prevailed, even in Scotland, of the improvements introduced by their writings into the Britiſh poetry, language, and literature r [...]

O reverend CHAUSER, roſe of rhetouris all,
As in our tonge and flours imperial
That raiſe in Britain ever, quha reidis richt t,
Tho beiris of makinu the triumphs royall,
The freſche enamilit termes celeſtiall:
This mater couth haif illuminit full bricht w;
Was thou nocht of our Engliſh all the licht,
Surmounting every toung terreſtriall
As far as Mayis morrow dois midnycht.
O moral GOWER, and LYDGATE laureat,
Your ſuggaritx tonguis, andy lippis aureat [...]
[272] Bene till ourz eris cauſe of gret delyte;
Your angelic mouth moſt mellifluate
Our [...]ude language has cleir illumynat,
And has owregilt our ſpeiche, that imperfyte
Stude, or your goldin pennis ſchup to wryt a,
This yle befoir was bair and diſſolat b
Of rhetorik, or luſty freſchec indyte d.

This panegyric, and the poem, is cloſed with an apology, couched in elegant metaphors, for his own comparative humility of ſtyle. He addreſſes the poem, which he calls a litill quair.

O know quhat thou of rhetoric has ſpent;
Of hir luſty roſis redolent
Is nane into thy garland ſett on hicht e.
O ſchamef thairfor, and draw thè out of ſicht!
Rude is thy weid g, deſtitute, bair, and rent,
Weill aucht thou be affeirit of the licht h!

Dunbar's DAUNCE has very great merit in the comic ſtyle of painting. It exhibits a groupe of figures touched with the capricious but ſpirited pencil of Callot. On the eve of Lent, a general day of confeſſion, the poet in a dream ſees a diſplay of heaven and hell. Mahomet i, or the devil, commands a dance to be performed by a ſelect party of fiends; particularly by thoſe, who in the other world had never [273] made confeſſion to the prieſt, and had conſequently never received abſolution. Immediately the SEVEN DEADLY SINS appear; and preſent a maſk, or mummery, with the neweſt gambols juſt imported from France k. The firſt is PRIDE, who properly takes place of all the reſt, as by that SIN fell the angels. He is deſcribed in the faſhionable and gallant dreſs of thoſe times: in a bonnet and gown, his hair thrown back, his cap awry, and [...]his gown affectedly flowing to his feet in large folds.

Let ſe, quoth he l [...] now quha beginis?
With that the fowll Deadly Sinnis
Begouth to l [...]ip attanis m.
And firſt of all in dance [...]as PRYD,
With hair wyld bak, bonet on ſyde,
Lyk to make vaiſtie wanis;
And round about him as a quheill n,
Hang all in rumpilliso to the heill,
His kethatp for the nanis q.
Many proud trumpourr with him trippit,
Throw ſkaldans fyr ay as they ſkippit
They girnd with hyddoust granis v.

Several holy harlots follow, attended by monks, who make great ſport for the devils w.

[274]
Heilie Harlottis in hawtain wyis x,
Come in with mony ſindrie gyis y,
But yet luche nevirz Mahoun:
Quhill prieſtis cum with bair ſchevina nekks,
That all the feynds lewche b, and maid gekks c,
Black-belly, and Bawſy-brown.

Black-belly and Bawſy-brown are the names of popular ſpirits in Scotland. The latter is perhaps our ROBIN GOODFELLOW, known in Scotland by the name of BROWNIE.

ANGER is drawn with great force, and his accompaniments are boldly feigned. His hand is always upon his knife, and he is followed, in pairs, by boaſters, threateners, and quarrelſome perſons, all armed for battle, and perpetually wounding one another d.

Than YRE come in with ſturte and ſtryfe;
His hand was ay upon his knyfe,
He brandeiſt lyk a beir:
Boſtaris, braggariſts, and barganeris,
Efter hym paſſit in pairis,
All bodin in feir of weir f:
In jakkis, ſtryppis, and bonnettis of ſteil g,
Thair leggis wer cheyned to the heill h,
Frawart was thair affeir i;
[275] Sum upon uder with brands beft k,
Sum jagit utheris to the heft l
With knyvis that ſcheirp coud ſcheir m.

ENVY is equal to the reſt. Under this SIN our author takes occaſion to lament, with an honeſt indignation, that the courts of princes ſhould ſtill give admittance and encouragement to the whiſperers of idle and injurious reports n.

Next in the dance followit INVY,
Fild full of feido and fellony,
Hid malyce and diſpyte;
For pryvie hateritp that tratour trymlit q,
Him followit mony freik diſſymlit r,
With feynit wordis quhyte.
And flattereris into mens facis,
And back-byttariss of ſundry racis,
To leyt that had delyte.
With rownarisu of fals leſingis w:
Allace! that courtis of noble kingis
Of tham can nevir be quyte x!

AVARICE is uſhered in by a troop of extortioners, and other miſcreants, patroniſed by the magician Warloch, or the demon of the covetous; who vomit on each other torrents of melted gold, blazing like wild-fire: and as they are emptied at every diſcharge, the devils repleniſh their throats with freſh ſupplies of the ſame liquefied metal y.

[276] SLOTH does not join the dance till he is called twice: and his companions are ſo ſlow of motion, that they cannot keep up with the reſt, unleſs they are rouſed from their lethargy by being ſometimes warmed with a glimpſe of hell-fire z.

Syne SWIRNES, at the ſeccound bidding,
Come lyk a ſow out of a midding a,
Full ſlepy was his grunyie b.
Mony ſweir bumbard belly-huddroun c,
Mony ſlute daw and ſlepy duddroun d,
Him ſervit ay with ſounyie e.
He drew tham forth intill a chenyie f,
And Belliall, with a brydill reynie g,
Evi [...] laſcht on the lunyie h.
In daunce thay wer ſo ſlow of feit
Thay gaif tham in the fyre a heit
And maid tham quicker of conyie i.

LUST enters, neighing like a horſe k, and is led by IDLENESS. When his aſſociates mingle in the dance, their viſages burn red like the turkis-ſtone l. The remainder of the ſtanza, although highly characteriſtical, is too obſcene to be tranſcribed. But this gave no offence. Their manners were too indelicate to be ſhocked at any indecency. I do not mean that theſe manners had loſt their delicacy, but that they had not yet acquired the ſenſibility ariſing from civiliſation. In one of the Scotch interludes of this age, written by a faſhionable court-poet, among other ridiculous obſcenities, the trying on of a Spaniſh padlock in public makes a part of theatrical repreſentation.

[277] GLUTTONY brings up the rear; whoſe inſatiable rout are inceſſantly calling out for meat and drink, and although they are drenched by the devils with draughts of melted lead, they ſtill aſk for more.

Than the fowll monſter GLUTTONY,
Of wamem unſaſiable and gredy,
To daunce ſyn did him dreſs:
Him followit mony fowll drunckhart,
With can and collop, copn and quart,
In ſurfett and exceſs.
Full many a waiſtleſs wally-drag o,
With waimisp unweildable did furth wag,
In creiſcheq that did increſs:
Drink, ay thay cryit with mony a gaip r,
The feynds gave them hait leid to lap s
Thair loveryt was na leſs u.

At this infernal dance no minſtrels plaid. No GLEEMAN, or minſtrel, ever went to hell; except one who committed murder, and was admitted to an inheritance in hell by brief of richt, that is, per breve de recto w. This circumſtance ſeems an alluſion to ſome real fact.

The concluding ſtanza is entirely a ſatire on the highlanders. Dunbar, as I have already obſerved, was born in Lothian, a county of the Saxons. The mutual antipathy between the Scottiſh Saxons and the Highlanders was exceſſive, and is not yet quite eradicated. Mahoun, or Mahomet, having a deſire to ſee a highland pageant, a fiend is commiſſioned to fetch Macfadyan; an unmeaning name, choſen for its harſhneſs. As ſoon as the infernal meſſenger begins [278] to publiſh his ſummons, he gathers about him a prodigious crowd of Erſche men; who ſoon took up great room in hell. Theſe loquacious termagants began to chatter like rooks and ravens, in their own barbarous language: and the devil is ſo ſtunned with their horrid yell, that he throws them down to his deepeſt abyſs, and ſmothers them with ſmoke.

Than cryd Mahoun for a heleand padyane,
Syn ran a feynd to fetch Makfadayne
Far northwart in a nuke x:
Be he the correnoth had done ſchout y,
Erſche men ſo gadderit him about,
In hell grit rume thay tuke:
Thae turmagantisz with tag and tatter
Full loud in Erſche begout to clatter,
And rowpa lyk revin and ruke.
The devil ſa devitb wes with thair yell
That in the deepeſt pot of hell
He ſmorit them with ſmoke c.

I have been prolix in my citations and explanations of [...]his poem, becauſe I am of opinion, that the imagination of [279] Dunbar is not leſs ſuited to ſatirical than to ſublime allegory: and that he is the firſt poet who has appeared with any degree of ſpirit in this way of writing ſince Pierce Plowman. His THISTLE AND ROSE, and GOLDEN TERGE, are generally and juſtly mentioned as his capital works: but the natural complexion of his genius is of the moral and didactic caſt. The meaſure of this poem is partly that of Sir THOPAS in Chaucer: and hence we may gather by the way, that Sir THOPAS was antiently viewed in the light of a ludicrous compoſition. It is certain that the pageants and interludes of Dunbar's age muſt have quickened his invention to form thoſe groteſque groupes. The exhibition of MORALITIES was now in high vogue among the Scotch. A Morality was played at the marriage of James the fourth and the princeſs Margaret d. Mummeries, which they call GYSARTS, compoſed of moral perſonifications, are ſtill known in Scotland: and even till the beginning of this century, eſpecially among the feſtivities of Chriſtmas, itinerant maſkers were admitted into the houſes of the Scotch nobility.

SECT. XIII.

[280]

ANother of the diſtinguiſhed luminaries, that marked the reſtoration of letters in Scotland at the commencement of the ſixteenth century, not only by a general eminence in elegant erudition, but by a cultivation of the vernacular poetry of his country, is Gawen Douglaſs. He was deſcended from a noble family, and born in the year 1475 e. According to the practice of that age, eſpecially in Scotland, his education perhaps commenced in a grammar-ſchool of one of the monaſteries: there is undoubted proof, that it was finiſhed at the univerſity of Paris. It is probable, as he was intended for the ſacred function, that he was ſent to Paris for the purpoſe of ſtudying the canon law: in conſequence of a decree promulged by James the firſt, which tended in ſome degree to reform the illiteracy of the clergy, as it injoined, that no eccleſiaſtic of Scotland ſhould be preferred to a prebend of any value without a competent ſkill in that ſcience f. Among other high promotions in the church, which his very ſingular accompliſhments obtained, he was provoſt of the collegiate church of ſaint Giles at Edinburgh, abbot of the opulent convent of Abberbrothrock, and biſhop of Dunkeld. He appears alſo to have been nominated by the queen regent to the archbiſhoprick, either of Glaſgow, or of ſaint Andrew's: but the appointment was repudiated by the pope g. In the year 1513, to avoid the perſecutions of the duke of Albany, he fled from Scotland into England, and was moſt graciouſly received by king Henry the eighth; who, in conſideration of his literary merit, allowed [281] him a liberal penſion h. In England he contracted a friendſhip with Polydore Virgil, one of the claſſical ſcholars of Henry's court i. He died of the plague in London, and was buried in the Savoy church, in the year 1521 k.

In his early years he tranſlated Ovid's ART OF LOVE, the favorite Latin ſyſtem of the ſcience of gallantry, into Scottiſh metre, which is now loſt l. In the year 1513, and in the ſpace of ſixteen months m, he tranſlated into Scotch heroics the Eneid of Virgil, with the additional thirteenth book by Mapheus Vegius, at the requeſt of his noble patron Henry earl of Sinclair n. But it was projected [...]o early as the year 1501. For in one of his poems written that year o [...] he promiſes to Venus a tranſlation of Virgil, in attonement for a ballad he had publiſhed againſt her court: and when the wo [...]k was finiſhed, he tells Lord Sinclair, that he had now made his peace with Venus, by tranſlating the poem which celebrated the actions of her ſon Eneas p. No metrical verſion of a claſſic had yet appeared in Engliſh; except of Boethius, who ſcarcely deſerves that appellation. Virgil was hitherto commonly known, only by Caxton's romance on the ſubject of the Eneid; which, our author ſays, no more reſembles Virgil, than the devil is like ſaint Auſtin q.

This tranſlation is executed with equal ſpirit and fidelity: and is a proof, that the lowland Scotch and Engliſh languages were now nearly the ſame. I mean the ſtyle of compoſition [...] [282] more eſpecially in the glaring affectation of angliciſing Latin words. The ſeveral books are introduced with metrical prologues, which are often highly poetical; and ſhew that Douglas's proper walk was original poetry. In the prologue to the ſixth book, he wiſhes for the Sybill's golden bough, to [...]nable him to follow his maſter Virgil through the dark and dangerous labyrinth of the infernal regions r. But the moſt conſpicuous of theſe prologues is a d [...]ſcription of May. The greater part of which I will inſert s.

As freſche Aurore, to mychty Tithone ſpous,
Iſchitt of her ſaffron bed, and euyru hous,
In crammeſyw clad and granite violate,
With ſanguyne cape, the ſelvagex purpurate;
Unſchety the wyndois of hir large hall,
Spred all with roſis, and full of balme royall.
And eik the hevinly portis criſtallyne
Upwarpis brade, the warlde till illumyne.
The twynkling ſtremourisz of the orient
Sched purpour ſprayngis with gold and aſure ment a [...]
Eous the ſtede, with ruby hammys rede,
Abouf the ſeyis liftis furth his hede
Of culloure ſore, and ſomedele broun as bery,
For to alichtin and glad our emiſpery;
The flambe out braſtin at the neis thirlis.—
Quhil ſchortlie, with the bleſandb torche of day,
Abulȝeitc in his lemandd freſche array,
Furth of his palice ryall iſchit Phebus,
With golden croun and viſage glorious,
[283] Criſp haris e, bricht as chriſſolite or thopas;
For quhais hewf mycht nane behold his face:
The firie ſparkis braſting from his ene,
To purge the air, and gilt the tender grene.—
The auriat phanisg of his trone ſoverane
With glitterand glance overſpred the octiane h;
The largè fludis, lemand all of licht,
Bot with ane blenki of his ſupernal ſicht,
For to behald, it was ane glore to ſe
The ſtabillytk wyndis, and the calmyt ſe;
The ſoft ſeſſoun l, the firmament ſerene;
The loune illuminate arem, and firthn amene:
The ſilver-ſcalit fyſchis on the grete o,
Ouer thowrtp clere ſtremes ſprinkillandq for the hete,
With fynnys ſchinand broune as ſynopare r,
And cheſal talis s, ſtourand here and there t:
The new cullour, alichtingu all the landis,
Forgane the ſtanryis ſchene w, and beriall ſtrandis:
Quhil the reflex of the diurnal bemes
The bene bonkisx keſt ful of variant glemes:
And luſtie Flora did her blomes ſprede
Under the fete of Phebus fulȝearty ſtede,
The ſwardit ſoyll enbrode with ſelkouth hewis z,
Wod and foreſt obumbrate with bewis a,
[284] Quhais blysful branchis, porturateb on the ground,
With ſchaddois ſchene ſchew rocchis rubicund:
Towris, turrettis, kirnallis c, and pynnakillis hie,
Of kirkis, caſtellis, and ilk faire citie,
Stude payntit, every fane, phioll d, and ſtage e,
Apoun the playn grounde by thaire awn umbrage f.
Of Eolus north blaſtis havandg no drede,
The ſulȝe ſpred hir brad boſum on brede h.—
The cornis croppis, and the bere new-brerde i,
With gladſum garment reveſting the erde k.—
The variant veſture of the venuſt vale
Schrowdis the ſcherand fur l, and every fale m
Ouerfrettn with fulȝeis o, and fyguris ful dyuers,
The prayp byſprent with ſpryngand ſproutis dyſpers,
For callour humours on the dewy nycht,
Rendryng ſum place the gyrs pylis thare licht,
Als fer as catal the lang ſomerys day
Had in thare paſture ete and gnyp away:
And blyſsful bloſſomys in the blomyt ȝard
Submittis thare hedys in the ȝoung ſonnys ſafgard:
Iue leiusq rank ouerſpred the barmkynr wall,
The blomit hauthorne cled his pykis all,
[285] Furth of freſche burgeounss the wyne grapist ȝing
Endlang the traȝileysu dyd on twiſtis hing,
The loukitw buttouns on the gemyt treis
Ouerſpredand leuis of naturis tapeſtryis.
Soft greſy verdoure eftir balmy ſchouris,
On curland ſtalkis ſmyland to thare flowris:
Behaldand thame ſa mony divers hew
Sum piers x, ſum pale, ſum burnet, and ſum blew,
Sum gres, ſum gowlis, ſum purpure, ſum ſanguane,
Blanchit or broun, fauch ȝallow mony ane,
Sum heuinly colourit in celeſtial gre,
Sumy watty hewit as the haw wallyz ſe,
And ſum departe in freklis rede and quhyte,
Sum bricht as gold with aureate leuis lyte.
The daſy did ona brede hir crownel ſmale,
And euery flour unlappit in the dale,
In battil gersb burgeouns, the ban wart wyld,
The clauir, catcluke, and the cammomylde;
The flourdelyce furth ſprede his heuynly hew,
Floure damas, and columbe blak and blew,
Sere downis ſmal on dentiliounc ſprang [...]
The ȝoung grened blomit ſtrabery leus amang [...]
Gimp jereflourise thareon leuis unſchet,
[...]reſche prymrois, and the pourpour violet,
The rois knoppis, tetand furth thare hede,
Gan chyp, and kyth thare vernale lippis rede,
Cryſp ſkarlet leuis ſum ſcheddand baith at attanis,
Keſtf fragrant ſmel amyd fra goldin granis g,
[286] Heuinlie lyllyis, with lokkerand toppis quhyte,
Opynnit and ſchew thare creiſtis redemyte h,
The balmy vapour from thare ſylkyn croppis
Diſtilland haleſum ſugurat hony droppis,
And ſylver ſchakerisi gan fra leuis hing,
With chryſtal ſprayngis on the verdure ȝing:
The plane pouderit with ſemelie ſeitis ſound,
Bedyit ful of dewy peirlys round;
So that ilk burgeon, ſyon, herbe, or floure,
Wox all enbalmit of the freſche liquour,
And baithit hait did in dulce humouris flete,
Quhareof the beis wrocht thare hony ſwete.—
Swannis k ſouchis throw o [...]t the reſpandl redis,
Ouer all the lochism and the fludis gray,
Serſand by kynd ane place quhare they ſuld lay;
Phebus rede foule his curale creiſt can ſtere,
Oft ſtrekand furth his hekkil crawand clere
Amyd the wortis, and the rutis gent,
Pickland hys mete in alayis quhare he went,
His wyffis Toppa and Partolet hym by,
As bird al tyme that hantis bygamy;
[287] The payntit pownen payſand with plumys gym,
Keſt up his tale ane proud pleſand quhile rym o,
Iſchrowdit in his fedderane bricht and ſchene,
Schapand the prent of Argois hundreth ene;
Amang the bronysp of the olyue twiſtis,
Sere ſmale floulis, wirkand crafty neſtis,
Endlang the hedgeis thik, and on rank akis q
Ilk bird reioſand with thare mirthful makis:
In corneris and clere feneſteris of glas
Full beſely Arachne weuand was,
To knyt hyr nettis and hyr wobbis ſle,
Tharewith to cauch the litil miger or fle:
Under the bewis bene in lufely valis,
Within fermance and parkis clois of palis,
The buſtuous bukkis rakis furth on raw,
Heirdis of hertis throw the thyck wod ſchaw,
The ȝoung fownys followand the dun days s,
Kiddis ſkippand throw ronnys eftir rais t,
In leſurisu and on leyis litill lammes
Full tait and trig ſocht bletand to thare dammes [...]
On ſalt ſtremes wolk Dorida and Thetis,
By rynnand ſtrandis, nymphs and naiades,
Sic as we clepe wenſchis and damyſſellis,
In gerſy grauis wanderand by ſpring wellis,
Of blomed branchis and flouris quhyte and rede
Plettand their luſty chaplettis for thare hede:
Sum ſang ring ſangis, ledis, and roundis,
With vocis ſchil, quhil all the dale reſoundis.—
Dame naturis menſtralis on that uthyr parte,
Thare bliſsful bay intonyng euery arte,
[288] To bete thare amouris of thare nychtis bale,
The merle, the mauys, and the nychtingale,
With mirry notis myrthfully furth briſt,
Enforſing thaym quha micht do clink it beſt:
The kowſchotw croudis and pykkis on the ryſe,
The ſtirling changis diuers ſteuynnys nyſe x,
The ſparrow chirmis in the wallis clyft,
Goldſpink and lintquhite fordynnand the lyft y,
The gukkow galis z, and ſo quhitteris the quale,
Quhil ryveris reirdit a, ſchawis, and euery dale,
And tendir twiſtis trymblit on the treis,
For birdis ſang, and bemyng of the beis,
In werblis dulce of heuinlie armonyis,
The larkis loude releiſchandb in the ſkyis,
Louis thare legec with tonys curious;
Bayth to dame Natur, and the freſche Venus,
Rendring hie laudis in thare obſeruance,
Quhais ſuggourit throttisd made glade hartis dance,
And al ſmal foulis ſingis on the ſpray;
Welcum the lord of licht, and lampe of day,
Welcum foſterare of tendir herbis grene,
Welcum quhikkynnar of fluriſt flouris ſchene,
Welcum ſupport of euery rute and vane,
Welcum confort of al kind frute and grane,
Welcum the birdis beilde apoun the brere,
Welcum maiſter and reulare of the ȝere,
Welcum welefare of huſbandis at the plewis f,
Welcum reparare of woddis, treis, and bewis,
[289] Welcum depaynter of the blomyt medis,
Welcum the lyffe of euery thing that ſpredis,
Welcum ſtorareg of all kynd beſtial,
Welcum be thy bricht bemes gladand al.

The poetical beauties of this ſpecimen will be reliſhed by every reader who is fond of lively touches of fancy, and rural imagery. But the verſes will have another merit with thoſe critics who love to contemplate the progreſs of compoſition, and to mark the original workings of genuine nature; as they are the effuſion of a mind not overlaid by the deſcriptions of other poets, but operating, by its own force and bias, in the delineation of a vernal landſcape, on ſuch objects as really occurred. On this account, they deſerve to be better underſtood: and I have therefore tranſlated them into plain modern Engliſh proſe. In the mean time, this experiment will ſerve to prove their native excellence. Diveſted of poetic numbers and expreſſion, they ſtill retain their poetry; and, to uſe the compariſon of an elegant writer on a like occaſion, appear like Ulyſſes, ſtill a king and conqueror, although diſguiſed like a peaſant, and lodged in the cottage of the herdſman Eumaeus.

"Freſh Aurora, the wife of Tithonus, iſſued from her ſaffron bed, and ivory houſe. She was cloathed in a robe of crimſon and violet-colour; the cape vermilion, and the border purple: ſhe opened the windows of her ample hall, overſpread with roſes, and filled with balm, or nard. At the ſame time, the cryſtal gates of heaven were thrown open, to illumine the world. The glittering ſtreamers of the orient diffuſed purple ſtreaks mingled with gold and azure.—The ſteeds of the ſun, in red harneſs of rubies, of colour brown as the berry, lifted their heads above th [...] ſea, to glad our hemiſphere: the flames burſt f [...]om their [290] noſtrils:—While ſhortly, apparelled in his luminous array, Phebus, bearing the blazing torch of day, iſſued from his royal palace; with a golden crown, glorious viſage, curled locks bright as the chryſolite or topaz, and with a radiance intolerable.—The fiery [...]parks, burſting from his eyes, purged the air, and gilded the new verdure.—The golden vanes of his throne covered the ocean with a glittering glance, and the broad waters were all in a blaze, at the firſt glimpſe of his appearance. It was glorious to ſee the winds appeaſed, the ſea becalmed, the ſoft ſeaſon, the ſerene firmament, the ſtill air, and the beauty of the watery ſcene. The ſilver-ſcaled fiſhes, on the gravel, gliding haſtily, as it were from the heat or ſun, through clear ſtreams, with fins ſhining brown as cinnabar, and chiſſel-tails, darted here and there. The new luſtre, enlightening all the land, beamed on the ſmall pebbles on the ſides of rivers, and on the ſtrands, which looked like beryl: while the reflection of the rays played on the banks in variegated gleams; and Flora threw forth her blooms und [...]r the feet of the ſun's brilliant horſes. The bladed ſoil was embroidered with various hues. Both wood and foreſt were darkened with boughs; which, reflected from the ground, gave a ſhadowy luſtre to the red rocks. Towers, turrets, battlements, and high pinnacles, of churches, caſtles, and every fair city, ſeemed to be painted; and, together with every baſtion and ſtory, expreſſed their own ſhape on the plains. The glebe, fearleſs of the northern blaſts, ſpread her broad boſom.—The corn-crops, and the new-ſprung barley, recloathed the earth with a gladſome garment.—The variegated veſture of the valley covered the cloven furrow; and the barleylands were diverſified with flowery weeds. The meadow was beſprinkled with rivulets: and the freſh moiſture of the dewy night reſtored the herbage which the cattle had cropped in the day. The bloſſoms in the blowing garden [291] truſted their heads to the protection of the young ſun. Rank ivy-leaves overſpread the wall of the rampart. The blooming hawthorn cloathed all his thorns in flowers. The budding cluſters of the tender grapes hung end-long, by their tendrils, from the trelliſes. The gems of the trees unlocking, expanded themſelves into the foliage of Nature's tapeſtry. There was a ſoft verdure after balmy ſhowers. The flowers ſmiled in various colours on the bending ſtalks. Some red, &c. Others, watchet, like the blue and wavy ſea; ſpeckled with red and white; or, bright as gold. The daiſy unbraided her little coronet. The graſs ſtood embattelled, with banewort, &c. The ſeeded down flew from the dandelion. Young weeds appeared among the leaves of the ſtrawberries. Gay gilliflowers, &c. The roſe buds, putting forth, offered their red vernal lips to be kiſſed; and diffuſed fragrance from the criſp ſcarlet that ſurrounded their golden ſeeds. Lilies, with white curling tops, ſhewed their creſts open. The odorous vapour moiſtened the ſilver webs that hung from the leaves. The plain was powdered with round dewy pearls. From every bud, ſcyon, herb, and flower, bathed in liquid fragrance, the bee ſucked ſweet honey.—The ſwans clamoured amid the ruſtling reeds; and ſearched all the lakes and gray rivers where to build their neſts. The red bird of the ſun lifted his coral creſt, crowing clear among the plants and rutis gent, picking his food from every path, and attended by his wives Toppa and Partlet. The painted peacock with gaudy plumes, unfolded his tail like a bright wheel, inſhrouded in his ſhining feathers, reſembling the marks of the hundred eyes of Argus. Among the boughs of the twiſted olive, the ſmall birds framed their artful neſts, or along the thick hedges, or rejoiced with their merry mates on the tall oaks. In the ſecret nook, or in the clear windows of glaſs, the ſpider full buſily wove her ſly net, to enſnare [292] the little gnat or fly. Under the boughs that ſcreen the valley, or within the pale-incloſed park, the nimble deer trooped in ranks, the harts wandered through the thick woody ſhaws, and the young fawns followed the dappled does. Kids ſkipped through the briers after the roes; and in the paſtures and leas, the lambs, full tight and trig, bleated to their dams. Doris and Thetis walked on the ſalt ocean; and Nymphs and Naiads, wandering by ſpringwells in the graſſy groves, plaited luſty chapl [...]ts for their hair, of blooming branches, or of flowers red and white. They ſung, and danced, &c.—Meantime, dame Nature's minſtrels raiſe their amorous notes, the ring-dove coo [...] and pitches on the tall copſe, the ſtarling whiſtles her varied deſcant, the ſparrow chirps in the clefted wall; the goldfinch and linnet filled the ſkies, the cuckow cried, the quail twittered; while rivers, ſhaws, and every dale reſounded; and the tender branches trembled on the trees, at the ſong of the birds, and the buzzing of the bees, &c."

This Landſcape may be finely contraſted with a deſcription of WINTER, from the Prologue to the ſeventh book h, a part of which I will give in literal proſe.

"The fern withered on the miry fallows: the brown moors aſſumed a barren moſſy hue: banks, ſides of hills, and bottoms, grew white and bare: the cattle looked hoary from the dank weather: the wind made the red weed waver on the dike: From crags and the foreheads of the yellow rocks hung great icicles, in length like a ſpear [...] the ſoil was duſky and gray, bereft of flowers, herbs, and graſs: in every holt and foreſt, the woods were ſtripped of their array. Boreas blew his bugle horn ſo loud, that the ſolitary deer withdrew to the dales: the ſmall birds flocked to the thick briers, ſhunning the tempeſtuous blaſt, and changing their loud notes to chirping: the cataracts [293] roared, and every linden-tree whiſtled and brayed to the ſounding of the wind. The poor labourers went we [...] and weary, draggled in the fen. The ſheep and ſhepherds lurked under the hanging banks, or wild broom.—Warm from the chimney-ſide, and refreſhed with generous cheer, I ſtole to my bed, and laid down to ſleep; when I ſaw the moon, ſhed through the windows her twinkling glances, and watery light: I heard the horned bird, the nightowl, ſhrieking horribly with crook [...]d bill from her cavern: I heard the wild [...]geeſe, with ſcreaming cries, fly over the city through the ſilent night. I was ſoon lulled aſleep; till the cock clapping his wings crowed thric [...], and the day peeped. I waked and ſaw the moon diſappear, and heard the jack-daws cackle on the roof of the houſe. The cranes, prognoſticating tempeſts, in a firm phalanx, pierced the air with voices ſounding like a trumpet. The kite, perched on an old tree, faſt by my chamber, cried lamentably, a ſign of the dawning day. I roſe, and halfopening my window, perceived the morning, livid, wan, and hoary; the air overwhelmed with vapour and cloud; the ground ſtiff, gray, and rough; the branches rattling; the ſides of the hills looking black and hard with the driving blaſts; the dew-drops congealed on the ſtubble and rind of trees; the ſharp hail-ſtones, deadly-cold, hopping on the thatch and the neighbouring cauſeway, &c."

Bale, whoſe titles of Engliſh books are often obſcured by being put into Latin, recites among Gawin Douglaſs's poetical works, his Narration [...]s aureae, and Comoediae aliquot ſa [...]rae i Of his NARRATIONES AUREAE, our author ſeems to ſpeak in the EPILOGUE to VIRGIL, addreſſed to his patron lord Sinclair k.

I have alſo a ſtrange command [comment] compyld,
To expone ſtrange hyſtoryes and termes wild.

[294] Perhaps theſe tales were the fictions of antient mythology. Whether the COMOEDIAE were ſacred interludes, or MYSTERIES, for the ſtage, or only ſacred narratives, I cannot determine. Another of his original poems is the PALICE OF HONOUR, a moral viſion, written in the year 1501, planned on the deſign of the TABLET of Cebes, and imitated in the elegant Latin dialogue De Tranquillitate Animi of his countryman Florence Wilſon, or Florentius Voluſenus l. It was firſt printed at London, in 1553 m. The object of this allegory, is to ſhew the inſtability and inſufficiency of worldly pomp; and to prove, that a conſtant and undeviating habit of virtue is the only way to true Honour and Happineſs, who reſide in a magnificent palace, ſituated on the ſummit of a high and inacceſſible mountain. The allegory is illuſtrated by a variety of examples of illuſtrious perſonages; not only of thoſe, who by a regular perſeverance in honourable deeds gained admittance into this ſplendid habitation, but of thoſe, who were excluded from it, by debaſing the dignity of their eminent ſtations with a vicious and unmanly behaviour. It is addreſſed, as an apologue for the conduct of a king, to James the fourth; is adorned with many pleaſing incidents and adventures, and abounds with genius and learning.

SECT. XIV.

[295]

WITH Dunbar and Douglaſs I join Sir David Lyndeſay, although perhaps in ſtrictneſs he ſhould not be placed ſo early as the cloſe of the fifteenth century. He appears to have been employed in ſeveral offices about the perſon of James the fifth, from the infancy of that monarch, by whom be was much beloved; and at length, on account of his ſingular ſkill in heraldry, a ſcience then in high eſtimation and among the moſt polite accompliſhments, he was knighted and appointed Lion king of arms of the kingdom of Scotland. Notwithſtanding theſe ſituations, he was an excellent ſcholar n.

Lyndeſay's principal performances are The DREME, and The MONARCHIE. In the addreſs to James the fifth, prefixed to the DREME, he thus, with much tenderneſs and elegance, ſpeaks of the attention he paid to his majeſty when a child.

When thou wes young, I bare thee in myne arme
Full tenderlie, till thow begouth to gang o;
And in thy bed oft lappit thee full warme
With lute in hand, ſynep ſweitlie to thee ſang.

He adds, that he often entertained the young prince with various dances and geſticulations, and by dreſſing himſelf in [...]igned characters, as in an interlude q. A new proof that theatrical diverſions were now common in Scotland.

[296]
Sumtyme in danſing feirelie I flang,
And ſumtyme playand fairſisr on the [...]lure:
And ſumtyme lyke ane feinds trans [...]igurate,
And ſumtyme lyke the grieſ [...]e gaiſt of Gy t,
In divers formis oftymes dis [...]igurate,
And ſumtyme diſſagiſt full pleſandlie u.

In the PROLOGUE to the DREME, our author diſcovers ſtrong talents for high deſcription and rich imagery. In a [297] morning of the month of January, the poet quits the copſe and the bank, now deſtitute of verdure and flowers, and walks towards the ſea-beach. The dawn of day is expreſſed by a beautiful and brilliant metaphor.

By this, fair Titan with his lemis licht
Oer all the land had ſpred his banner bricht.

In his walk, muſing on the deſolations of the winter, and the diſtance of ſpring, he meets Flora diſguiſed in a ſable robe w.

I met dame Flora in dule weid diſſgyſit x,
Quhilk into May was dulce and delectabill,
With ſtalwarty ſtorms hir ſweitneſs war ſuppriſt,
Her hevinlie hewis war turnid into ſabill,
Quhilk umquihlez war to luffaris amiabill.
Fled from the froſt the tender flouris I ſaw
Under dame NATURIS mantill lurking law a.

The birds are then repreſented, [...]locking round NATURE, complaining of the ſeverity of the ſeaſon, and calling for the genial warmth of ſummer. The expoſtulation of the lark with Aurora, the ſun, and the months, is conceived and conducted in the true ſpirit of poetry.

"Allace, AURORE, the ſyllie lark gan cry,
"Quhare has thou left thy balmy liquour ſweit,
"That us rejoyſit, mounting in the ſkye?
"Thy ſylver dropps are turnit into ſleit!
"O fair Phebus, where is thy holſum heit?
[298]
"Quhair art thou, MAY, with JUNE thy ſiſter ſchene,
"Weill bordourit with daſyis of delyte?
"And gentill JULIE, with thy mantill grene
"Enamilit with roſis reid and quhyte?

The poet aſcends the cliffs on the ſea-ſhore, and entering a cavern, high in the crags, ſits down to regiſter in rhyme ſome mery mater of antiquitie. He compares the fluctuation of the ſea with the inſtability of human affairs; and at length, being comfortably ſhrouded from the falling ſleet by the cloſeneſs of his cavern, is lulled aſleep by the whiſtling of the winds among the rocks, and the beating of the tide. He then has the following viſion.

He ſees a lady of great beauty, and benignity of aſpect; who ſays, ſhe comes to ſooth his melancholy by ſhewing him ſome new ſpectacles. Her name is REMEMBRANCE. Inſtantaneouſly ſhe carries him into the center of the earth. Hell is here laid open b; which is filled with popes, cardinals, abbots, archbiſhops in their pontifical attire, and eccleſiaſtics of every degree. In explaining the cauſes of their puniſhments, a long ſatire on the clergy enſues. With theſe are joined biſhop Caiphas, biſhop Annas, the traitor Judas, Mahomet, Chorah, Dathan, and Abiram. Among the tyrants, or unjuſt kings, are Nero, Pharaoh, and Herod. Pontius Pilate is hung up by the heels. He ſees alſo many ducheſſes and counteſſes, who ſuffer for pride and adultery. She then gives the poet a view of purgatory c.

[299]
A litle above that dolorous dungeon,
We enterit in ane countre full of cair;
Quhare that we ſaw mony one legioun
Gretand and grouland with mony ruthfull rair d.
Quhat place is this, quod I, of blis ſo bair?
Scho anſwerit and ſaid, Purgatorie,
Qhuilk purgis ſaulis or they cum to glorie e.

After ſome theological reaſonings on the abſurdity of this intermediate ſtate, and having viewed the dungeon of unbaptized babes, and the limbus of the ſouls of men who died before Chriſt, which is placed in a vault above the region of torment, they reaſcend through the bowels of the earth. In paſſing, they ſurvey the ſecret riches of the earth, mines of gold, ſilver, and precious ſtones. They mount, through the ocean, which is ſuppoſed to environ the earth: then travel through the air, and next through the fire. Having paſſed the three elements, they bend towards heaven, but firſt viſit the ſeven planets f. They enter the ſphere of the moon, who is elegantly ſtyled,

[300]
Quene of the ſea, and beautie of the nicht.

The ſun is then deſcribed, with great force.

Than paſt we to the ſpheir of Phebus bricht,
That luſty lamp and lanterne of the hevin;
And glader of the ſterris with his licht;
And principal of all the planets ſevin,
And ſate in myddis of thame all full evin:
As royg royall rolling in his ſphair
Full pleſandlie into his goldin chair.—
For to diſcryve his diademe royall,
Bordourit about with ſtonis ſchyning bricht,
His goldin car, or throne imperiall,
The four ſtedis that drawith it full richt, &c h.

They now arrive at that part of heaven which is called the CHRYSTALLINE i, and are admitted to the Empyreal, or heaven of heavens. Here they view the throne of God, ſurrounded by the nine orders of angels, ſinging with ineffable harmony k. Next the throne is the Virgin Mary, the queen of [301] queens, ‘"well cumpanyit with ladyis of delyte."’ An exterior circle is formed by patriarchs, prophets, evangeliſts, apoſtles, conquerors in the three battles of the world, of the fleſh, and of the devil, martyrs, confeſſors, and doctours in divinitie, under the command of ſaint Peter, who is repreſented as their lieutenant-general l.

Milton, who feigns the ſame viſionary route with very different ideas, has theſe admirable verſes, written in his nineteenth year, yet marked with that characteriſtical great manner, which diſtinguiſhes the poetry of his maturer age. He is addreſſing his native language.

Yet I had rather, if I were to chuſe,
Thy ſervice in ſome graver ſubject uſe;
Such as may make thee ſearch thy coffers round,
Before thou clothe my fancy in fit ſound:
[302] Such, where the deep-tranſported mind may ſoar
Above the wheeling poles; and at Heaven's door
Look in, and ſee each bliſsfull deitie
How he before the thunderous throne doth lie,
Liſtening to what unſhorn Apollo ſings
To th' touch of golden wires, while Hebe brings
Immortal nectar to her kingly ſire.
Then paſſing through the ſphears of watchfull fire,
And miſtie regions of wide air next under,
And hills of ſnow, and lofts of piled thunder,
May tell at length how green-eyed Neptune raves,
In heaven's defiance muſtering all his waves m.

REMEMBRANCE and the poet, leaving heaven, now contemplate the earth, which is divided into three parts. To have mentioned America, recently diſcovered, would have been hereſy in the ſcience of coſmography; as that quarter of the globe did not occur in Pliny and Ptolemy n. The moſt famous cities are here enumerated. The poet next deſires a view of Paradiſe; that glorious garth, or garden, of every flower. It is repreſented as elevated in the middle region of the air, in a climate of perpetual ſerenity o. From a fair fountain, ſpringing in the midſt of this ambroſial garden, deſcend four rivers, which water all the eaſt. It is incloſed with walls of fire, and guarded by an angel.

[303]
The cuntre cloſit is about full richt,
With wallis hie of hote and birnyng fyre,
And ſtraitly kepit by an angell bricht p.

From Paradiſe a very rapid tranſition is made to Scotland. Here the poet takes occaſion to lament, that in a country ſo fertile, and filled with inhabitants ſo ingenious and active, univerſal poverty, and every national diſorder, ſhould abound. It is very probable, that the poem was written ſolely with a view of introducing this complaint. After an enquiry into the cauſes of theſe infelicities, which are referred to political miſmanagement, and the defective adminiſtration of juſtice, the COMMONWEALTH OF SCOTLAND appears, whoſe figure is thus delineated.

We ſaw a buſteous berneq cum oer the bent r,
Buts hors on fute, als faſt as he micht go;
Quhoſe rayment was all raggit, rewin t, and rent,
With viſage leyne, as he had faſtit Lent:
And fordwart faſt his wayis he did advance,
With ane richt melancholious countenance:
With ſcrip on hip, and pyikſtaff in his hand,
As he had bene purpoſit to pas fra hame.
Quod I, gude man, I wald fane underſtand,
Geve that ye pleiſit u, to witw quhat wer your name?
Quod he, my ſone, of that I think greit ſchame.
Bot ſen thow wald of my name have ane feill,
Forſwith they call mex Johne the Comoun weill y.

[304] The reply of SYR COMMONWEALTH to our poet's queſtion, is a long and general ſatire on the corrupt ſtate of Scotland. The ſpiritual plelates, he ſays, have ſent away Devotion to the mendicant friars: and are more fond of deſcribing the diſhes at a feaſt, than of explaining the nature of their own eſtabliſhment.

Senſual Pleaſure has baniſhed Chaſtity.

Liberality, Loyalty, and Knightly Valour, are fled,

And Cowardice with lords is laureate.

From this ſketch of Scotland, here given by Lyndeſay, under the reign of James the fifth, who acted as a viceroy to France, a Scotch hiſtorian might collect many ſtriking features of the ſtate of his country during that intereſting period, drawn from the life.

The poet then ſuppoſes, that REMEMBRANCE conducts him back to the cave on the ſea-ſhore, in which he fell aſleep. He is awakened by a ſhip firing a broadſide z. He returns home, and entering his oratory, commits his viſion to verſe. To this is added an exhortation of ten ſtanzas to king James the fifth: in which he gives his majeſty advice, and cenſures his numerous inſtances of miſconduct, with incredible boldneſs and aſperity. Moſt of the addreſſes to James the fifth, by the Scotch poets, are ſatires inſtead of panegyrics.

[305] I have not at preſent either leiſure or inclination, to enter into a minute enquiry, how far our author is indebted in his DREME to Tully's DREAM OF SCIPIO, and the HELL, PURGATORY, and HEAVEN, of Dante a.

Lyndeſay's poem, called the MONARCHIE, is an account of the moſt famous monarchies that have flouriſhed in the world: but, like all the Gothic proſe-hiſtories, or chronicles, on the ſame favorite ſubject, it begins with the creation of the world, and ends with the day of judgment b. There is much learning in this poem. It is a dialogue between EXPERIENCE and a courtier. This mode of conducting a narrative by means of an imaginary myſtagogue, is adopted from Boethius. A deſcriptive prologue, conſiſting of octave ſtanzas, opens the poem, in which the poet enters a delightful park c. The ſun clad in his embroidered mantle, brighter than gold or precious ſtones, extinguiſhes the horned queen of night, who hides her viſage in a miſty veil. Immediately Flora began to expand,

—hir tapiſtry
Wrocht by dame NATURE queynt and curiouſlie,
Depaynt with many hundreth hevinlie hewis.

[306] Meanwhile, Eolus and Neptune reſtrain their fury, that no rude [...]ounds might mar the melody of the birds which echoe [...] among the rocks d.

In the park our poet, under the character of a courtier, meets EXPERIENCE, repoſing under the ſhade of a holly. This pourtrait is touched with uncommon elegance and expreſſion.

Into that park I ſaw appeir
One agit man, quhilk drew me neir;
Quhoſe berd was weil thre quarters lang,
His hair doun oer his ſchulders hang,
The qhylke as ony ſnawe was whyte,
Quhome to beholde I thocht delyte.
His habit angellyke of hew,
Of colour lyke the ſapheir blew:
Under an holyne he repoſit.—
To ſit down he requeſtit me
Under the ſchaddow of that tre,
To ſaif me from the ſonnis heit,
Amanges the flouris ſoft and ſweit f.

[307] In the midſt of an edifying converſation concerning the fall of man and the origin of human miſery, our author, before he proceeds to his main ſubject, thinks it neceſſary to deliver a formal apology for writing in the vulgar tongue. He declares that his intention is to inſtruct and to be underſtood, and that he writes to the people g. Moſes, he ſays, did not give the Judaic law on mount Sinai in Greek or Latin. Ariſtotle and Plato did not communicate their philoſophy in Dutch or Italian. Virgil and Cicero did not write in Chaldee or Hebrew. Saint Jerom, it is true, tranſlated the bible into Latin, his own natural language; but had ſaint Jerom been born in Argyleſhire, he would have tranſlated it into Erſe. King David wrote the pſalter in Hebrew, becauſe he was a Jew. Hence he very ſenſibly takes occaſion to recommend the propriety and neceſſity of publiſhing the ſcriptures and the miſſal, and of compoſing all books intended for common uſe, in the reſpective vernacular language of every country. This objection being anſwered, which ſhews the ideas of the times, our author thus deſcribes the creation of the world and of Adam.

Quhen god had made the hevinnis bricht,
The ſone, and mone, for to gyf licht,
The ſtarry hevin, and criſtalline;
And, by his ſapience divine,
The planerts, in their circles round
Quhirlyng about with merie ſound:—
He clad the erth with herbs and treis;
All kynd of fiſchis in the ſeis,
All kynd of beſt he did prepair,
With foulis fleting in the air.—
[308] When hevin, and erth, and thare contents,
Were endit, with thare ornaments,
Than, laſt of all, the lord began
Of moſt vile erth to make the man:
Not of the lillie or the roſe,
Nor cyper-tre, as I ſuppoſe,
Nether of gold, nor precious ſtonis,
Of earth he made fleſche, blude, and bonis;
To that intent he made him thus,
That man ſhuld nocht be glorious,
And in himſelf no thinge ſhulde ſe
But matter of humilite h.

Some of theſe nervous, terſe, and poliſhed lines, need only to be reduced to modern and Engliſh orthography, to pleaſe a reader accuſtomed ſolely to reliſh the tone of our preſent verſification.

To theſe may be added the deſtruction of Jeruſalem and Solomon's temple.

Prince Titus with his chivalrie
With ſound of trumpe triumphantlie,
He enterit in that greit citie, &c.
Thare was nocht ells but tak and ſlay,
For thence might no man win his way i.
The ſtramis of blude ran thruch the ſtreit,
Of deid folk tramplit under feit;
Auld wydowis in the preis were ſmorit k,
Young virgins ſchamefullie deflorit.
The tempill greit of Solamone,
With mony a curious carvit ſtone,
With perfyt pinnakles on hicht,
Quhilks wer richt bewtifull and wicht l,
[309] Quharein riche jowells did abound,
Thay ruſcheitm rudely to the ground;
And ſet, in tyll their furious ire n,
Sanctum Sanctorum into fire o.

The appearance of Chriſt coming to judgement is poetically painted, and in a ſtyle of correctneſs and harmony, of which few ſpecimens were now ſeen.

As fire flaucht haſtily glanſing p,
Diſcend ſhall the moſt hevinly king;
As Phebus in the orient
Lichinisq in haiſt to occident,
So pleſandlie he ſhall appeir
Among the hevinlie cloudis cleir.—
The angellis of the ordours nyne
Inviron ſhall his throne divyne.—
In his preſence thare ſalbe borne
The ſignisr of cros, and croun of thorne [...]
Pillar, nailis, ſcurgis, and ſpeir,
With everilk thing that did hym deir s,
The tyme of his grym paſſioun:
And, for our conſolatioun,
Appeir ſall, in his hands and feit,
And in his ſyde the print compleit
Of his fyve woundis precious
Schyning lyke rubies radious.

When Chriſt is ſeated at the tribunal of judging the world, he adds,

[310]
Thare ſall ane angell blawe a blaſt
Quhilk ſall make all the warld agaſt t.

Among the monarchies, our author deſcribes the papal ſee: whoſe innovations, impoſtures, and errors, he attacks with much good ſenſe, ſolid argument, and ſatirical humour; and whoſe imperceptible increaſe, from ſimple and humble beginnings to an enormity of ſpiritual tyranny, he traces through a gradation of various corruptions and abuſes, with great penetration, and knowledge of hiſtory u.

Among antient peculiar cuſtoms now loſt, he mentions a ſuperſtitious idol annually carried about the ſtreets of Edinburgh.

Of Edingburgh the great idolatrie,
And manifeſt abominatioun!
On thare feiſt day, all creature may ſee,
Thay beir ane ald ſtok-imagew throw the toun,
With talbrone x, trumpet, ſhalme, and clarioun,
Quhilk has bene uſit mony one yeir bigone,
With prieſtis, and freris, into proceſſioun,
Siclykey as Bal was borne through Babilon z.

He alſo ſpeaks of the people flocking to be cured of various infirmities, to the auld rude, or croſs, of Kerrail a.

[311] Our poet's principal vouchers and authorities in the MONARCHIE, are Livy, Valerius Maximus, Joſephus, Diodorus Siculus, Avicen the Arabic phyſician, Oroſius, ſaint Jerom, Polydore Virgil, Cario's chronicle, the FASCICULUS TEMPORUM, and the CHRONICA CHRONICARUM. The FASCICULUS TEMPORUM is a Latin chronicle, written at the cloſe of the fifteenth century by Wernerus Rolewinck, a Weſtphalian, and a Carthuſian monk of Cologne; a moſt venerable volume, cloſed with this colophon. ‘"FASCICULUS TEMPORUM, a Carthuſienſe compilatum in formam cronicis figuratum uſque in annum 1478, a me Nicolao Gatz de Seltztat impreſſum b."’ The CHRONICA CRONICARUM or CHRONICON MUNDI, written by Hartmannus Schedelius, a phyſician at Nuremburgh, and from which our author evidently took his philoſophy in his DREME, was printed at Nuremburgh in 1493 c. This was a moſt popular compilation, and is at preſent a great curioſity to thoſe who are fond of hiſtory in the Gothic ſtyle, conſiſting of wonders conveyed in the black letter and wooden cuts. Cario's chronicle is a much more rational and elegant work: it was originally compoſed, about the beginning of the ſixteenth century, by Ludovicus Cario, an eminent mathematician, and improved or written anew by Melancthon. Of Oroſius, a wretched but admired chriſtian hiſtorian, who compiled in Latin a ſeries of univerſal annals from the creation to the fifth century, he cites a tranſlation.

The tranſlatour of Oroſius
In his cronicle wryttis thus d.

I know of no Engliſh tranſlation of Oroſius, [...]nleſs th [...] Anglo-ſaxon verſion by king Alfred, and which would perhaps [312] have been much more difficult to Lyndeſay than the Latin original, may be called ſuch: yet Oroſius was early tranſlated into Frenche and Italian f. For the ſtory of Alexander the Great, our author ſeems to refer to Adam Davie's poem on that ſubject, written in the reign of Edward the ſecond g: a work, which I never remember to have ſeen cited before, and of which, although deſerving to be printed, only two public manuſcripts now remain, the one in the library of Lincoln's inn, and the other in the Bodleian library at Oxford.

Alexander the conqueror,
Geve thou at lenth wald reid his ring h,
And of his cruell conqueſſing,
In INGLIS TUNGE IN HIS GREAT BUKE,
At lenth his LYFE thare thow may luke i.

He acquaints us, yet not from his own knowledge, but on the teſtimony of other writers, that Homer and Heſiod were the inventors in Greece, of poetry, medicine, muſic, and aſtronomy k.

EXPERIENCE departs from the poet, and the dialogue is ended, at the approach of the evening; which is deſcribed with theſe circumſtances.

Behald, quhow Phebus downwart dois diſcend,
Toward his palice in the occident!—
[313] The dew now donkisl the roſis redolent:
The mariguldis, that all day wer rejoyſit
Of Phebus heit, now craftily ar cloſit m.—
The cornecraick in the croft, I heir hir cry;
The bat, the howlatt n, feebill of thare eis,
For thare paſtyme, now in the evinning flies.
The nichtingaill with myrthfull melody
Her naturall notis, peirſit throuch the ſky o.

Many other paſſages in Lyndeſay's poems deſerve attention. Magdalene of France, married to James the fifth of Scotland p, did not live to ſee the magnificent preparations made for her public entry into Edinburgh. In a poem, called the DEITH OF QUENE MAGDALENE, our author, by a moſt ſtriking and lively proſopopeia, an expoſtulation with DEATH, deſcribes the whole order of the proceſſion. I will give a few of the ſtanzas.

THEIEF, ſaw thou not the greit preparativis
Of Edinburgh, the nobill famous toun?
Thow ſawe the peple labouring for thare livis,
To make tryumph with trumpe and clarioun!—
Thow ſawe makandq rycht coſtly ſcaffolding,
Depayntyt weill with golde and aſure fyne,
Reddie preparit for the upſetting,
With fountanis flowing water cleir and wyne:
Diſagyſitr folkis, lyke creaturis divyne,
[314] On ilk ſcaffold to play ane ſundrie ſtorie s:
Bot all in greittingt turnit thow that glorie.
Thow ſaw mony ane luſtie freſche galland
Weill ordourit for reſaiving of thair quene,
Ilk craftiſman with bent bowe in his hand,
Ful galȝeartlie in ſchort clothing of grene, &c.—
Syne next in ordour paſſing throw the toun,
Thou ſuld have herd the din of inſtrumentis,
Of tabrone, trumpet, ſchalme, and clarioun,
With reirdu reboundand throw the elementis;
The heraulds with thare awfull veſtimentis,
With maſerisw upon ather of thare handis,
To rewle the prois, with burneiſt ſilver wandis.
Thow ſhuld have hardx the ornate oratouris,
Makand hir hienes ſalutatioun,
Boith of the clergy toun and counſalouris,
With mony notable narratioun.
Thow ſuld have ſene her coronation,
In the fair abbay of the holie rude,
In preſence of ane myrthfull multitude.
Sic banketting, ſic awfull tournamentis
On hors and fute, that tyme quhilk ſuld have bene,
Sic chapell royall with ſic inſtrumentis,
And craftie muſick, &c y.—

Excluſive of this artificial and very poetical mode of introducing a deſcription of theſe ſplendid ſpectacles, inſtead [315] of ſaying plainly that the queen's death prevented the ſuperb ceremonies which would have attended her coronation, theſe ſtanzas have another merit, that of tranſmitting the ideas of the times in the exhibition of a royal entertainment z.

Our author's COMPLAYNT contains a curious picture, like that in his DREME, of the miſerable policy by which Scotland was governed under James the fifth. But he diverſifies and enlivens the ſubject, by ſuppoſing the public felicity which would take place, if all corrupt miniſters and evil counſellors were removed from the throne. This is deſcribed by ſtriking and pictureſque perſonifications.

Juſtice holds her ſwerd on hie,
With her ballànce of equitie.—
Dame Prudence has the by the heid,
And Temperance dois thy brydill leid.
I ſee dame Force mak aſſiſtance,
Beirand thy targe of aſſurance:
And luſty lady Chaſtitie
Has banniſchit Senſualitie.
Dame Riches takes on the ſic cure,
I pray God that ſhe long indure!
That Poverte dar nocht be ſene
Into thy hous, for baith her ene:
But fra thy grace fled mony mylis
Amangis the hunteris in the ylis a.1333

[316] I know not whether it be worth obſerving, that playing at cards is mentioned in this poem, among the diverſions, or games, of the court.

Thar was no play but CARTIS and dice c.

And it is mentioned as an accompliſhment in the character of a biſhop.

Bot geve thay can play at the CAIRTIS d.

Thus, in the year 1503, James the fourth of Scotland, at an interview with the princeſs Margaret in the caſtle of Newbattle, finds her playing at cards. ‘"The kynge came prively to the ſaid caſtell, and entred within the chammer [chamber] with a ſmall cumpany [...] whare he founde the quene playing at the CARDES e."’

[317] Propheſies of apparent impoſſibilities were common in Scotland: ſuch as the removal of one place to another. Under this popular prophetic formulary, may be ranked the prediction in Shakeſpeare's MACBETH, where the APPARITION ſays, that Birnam-wood ſhall go to Duſinane. In the ſame ſtrain, peculiar to his country, ſays our author,

Quhen the Bas and the iſle of May
Beis ſet upon the mount Sinay,
Quhen the Lowmound beſyde Falkland
Beis liftit to Northumberland.

But he happily avails himſelf of the form, to introduce a ſtroke of ſatire.

Quhen Kirkman ȝairnisf no dignite,
Nor wyffis no ſoveranite g.

The minority of James the fifth was diſſipated in pleaſures, and his education moſt induſtriouſly neglected. He [318] was flattered, not inſtructed, by his preceptors. His unguarded youth was artfully expoſed to the moſt alluring temptations h. It was in this reign, that the nobility of Scotland began to frequent the court; which ſoon became the theatre of all thoſe idle amuſements which were calculated to ſolicit the attention of a young king. All theſe abuſes are painted in this poem with an honeſt unreſerved indignation. It muſt not in the mean time be forgotten, that James poſſeſſed eminent abilities, and a love of literature: nor is it beſide our preſent purpoſe to obſerve, that he was the author of the celebrated ballad called CHRIST'S KIRK ON THE GREEN i.

The COMPLAYNT OF THE PAPINGO is a piece of the like tendency. In the Prologue, there is a curious and critical catalogue of the Scotch poets who flouriſhed about the fourteenth, fifteenth, and ſixteenth centuries. As the names and works of many of them ſeem to be totally forgotten, and as it may contribute to throw ſome new lights on the neglected hiſtory of the Scotch poetry, I ſhall not ſcruple to give the paſſage at large, with a few illuſtrations. Our author declares, that the poets of his own age dare not aſpire to the praiſe of the three Engliſh poets, Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate. He then, under the ſame idea, makes a tranſition to the moſt diſtinguiſhed poets, who formerly flouriſhed in Scotland.

[319]
Or quho can now the workis contrefait k
Of KENNEDIE l, with termis aureait?
Or of DUNBAR, quha language had at large,
As may be ſene intyll his GOLDIN TARGE m?
QUINTYN n, MERSER o, ROWL p, HENDERSON q, HAY r, and HOLLAND s,
Thocht thay be deid, thair libellis bene livand t,
Quhilk to reheirs makis redaris to rejoiſe.
Allace for one quhilk lamp was of this land,
Of eloquence the flowand balmy ſtrand u,
And in our Inglis rhetorick the roſe,
As of rubeis the carbuncle bene choſe,
[320] And as Phebus dois Cynthie precell;
So GAWIN DOWGLAS, biſchop of Dunkell,
Had, quhen he was into this land on lyve,
Above vulgar poetis prorogatyve,
Both in practick and ſpeculatioun.
I ſay no more: gude redaris may diſcryve
His worthy workis, in noumer mo than fyve.
And ſpeciallie the trew tranſlatioun
Of Virgill, quhilk bene conſolatioun
To cunnyng men to knawe his greit ingyne,
As weill in ſcience naturall as devyne.
And in the court bene preſent in their dayis,
That ballatis brevisw luſtally and layis,
Quhilkis to our princis daylie thay do preſent.
Qho can ſay more than ſchir JAMES INGLIS ſayis
In ballatis, farſis, and in pleſand playis x?
Bot CULTROSE has his pen maid impotent,
Kid in cunnyngy and practick richt prudent.
And STEWART quhilk deſireth one ſtatlie ſtyle
Full ornate workis daylis dois compyle.
STEWART of Lorne will carp richt curiouſlie z,
GALBRAITH, KYNLOICH a, quhen thay tham lyſt applie
Into that art, ar craftie of ingyne.
[321] Bot now of late is ſtart up haiſtelie,
One cunnyng clarke, quhilk wrytith craftelie:
One plant of poets callit BALLENDYNE b;
Quhoſe ornate workis my wit can nocht defyne:
Get he into the court auctorite,
He will precell Quintyn and Kennedie c.

The Scotch, from that philoſophical and ſpeculative caſt which characteriſes their national genius, were more zealous and early friends to a reformation of religion than their neighbours in England. The pomp and elegance of the catholic worſhip made no impreſſion on a people, whoſe devotion ſought only for ſolid edification; and who had no notion that the interpoſition of the ſenſes could with any propriety be admitted to cooperate in an exerciſe of ſuch a nature, which appealed to reaſon alone, and ſeemed to exclude all aids of the imagination. It was natural that ſuch a people, in their ſyſtem of ſpiritual refinement, ſhould warmly prefer the ſevere and rigid plan of Calvin: and it is from this principle, that we find moſt of their writers, at the reſtoration of learning, taking all occaſions of cenſuring [322] the abſurdities of popery with an unuſual degree of abhorrence and aſperity.

In the courſe of the poem before us, an allegory on the corruptions of the church is introduced, not deſtitute of invention, humour, and elegance: but founded on one of the weak theories of Wickliffe, who not conſidering religion as reduced to a civil eſtabliſhment, and becauſe Chriſt and his apoſtles were poor, imagined that ſecular poſſeſſions were inconſiſtent with the ſimplicity of the goſpel.

In the primitive and pure ages of chriſtianity, the poet ſuppoſes, that the Church married Poverty, whoſe children were Chaſtity and Devotion. The emperour Conſtantine ſoon afterwards divorced this ſober and decent couple; and without obtaining or aſking a diſpenſation, married the Church with great ſolemnity to Property. Pope Silveſter ratified the marriage: and Devotion retired to a hermitage. They had two daughters, Riches and Senſuality; who were very beautiful, and ſoon attracted ſuch great and univerſal regard, that they acquired the chief aſcendancy in all ſpiritual affairs. Such was the influence of Senſuality in particular, that Chaſtity, the daughter of the Church by Poverty, was exiled: ſhe tried, but in vain, to gain protection in Italy and France. Her ſucceſs was equally bad in England. She ſtrove to take refuge in the court of Scotland: but they drove her from the court to the clergy. The biſhops were alarmed at her appearance, and proteſted they would harbour no rebel to the See of Rome. They ſent her to the nuns, who received her in form, with proceſſions and other honours. But news being immediately diſpatched to Senſuality and Riches, of her friendly reception among the nuns, ſhe was again compelled to turn fugitive. She next fled to the mendicant friers, who declared they could not take charge of ladies. At laſt ſhe was found ſecreted in the nunnery of the Burrowmoor near Edinburgh, where ſhe had met her mother Poverty and her ſiſter Devotion. Senſuality attempts to beſiege [323] this religious houſe, but without effect. The pious ſiſters were armed at all points, and kept an irreſiſtible piece of artillery, called Domine cuſtodi nos.

Within quhoſe ſchot, thare dar no enemies
Approche their places for dread of dyntis dour d;
Boith nicht and day thay work lyke beſie beis e,
For thar defence reddie to ſtand in ſtour:
And keip ſic watchis on their utter tour,
That dame Senſuall with ſeige dar not aſſaile,
Nor cum within the ſchot of thare artaile f.

I know not whether this chaſte ſiſterhood had the delicacy to obſerve ſtrictly the injunctions preſcribed to a ſociety of nuns in England; who, to preſerve a cool habit, were ordered to be regularly blooded three times every year, but not by a ſecular perſon, and the prieſts who performed the operation were never ſuffered to be ſtrangers g.

I muſt not diſmiſs this poem, without pointing out a beautiful valediction to the royal palace of Snowdon; which is not only highly ſentimental and expreſſive of poetical feelings, but ſtrongly impreſſes on the mind an image of the romantic magnificence of antient times, ſo remote from the ſtate of modern manners.

Adew fair Snawdoune, with thy touris hie,
Thy chapell royall, park, and tabill rounde h!
May, June, and July, wald I dwell in the,
War I one man, to heir the birdis ſound
Quhilk doth againe thy royal roche rebound i!

[324] Our author's poem, To the Kingis grace in contemptioun of ſyde taillis, that is, a cenſure on the affectation of long trains worn by the ladies, has more humour than decency k. He allows a tail to the queen, but thinks it an affront to the royal dignity and prerogative that,

Every lady of the land
Should have hir taill ſo ſyde trailland l.—
Quhare ever thay go it may be ſene
How kirk and calſay they ſuepe clene m.—
Kittok that clekkit was yeſtrene n,
The morne wyll counterfute the quene.
Ane murelando Mag that milkid the ȝowis
Claggitp with clay above the howis,
In barn, nor byir, ſcho woll nocht byde
Without her kyrtill taill beſyde.—
They waiſt more claith [cloth] within few yeiris
Than wald claith fyftie ſcore of freris q.

In a ſtatute of James the ſecond of Scotland r, about the year 1460, it was ordered, that no woman ſhould come to church or to market with her face muſſaled, that is muzzled, or covered. Notwithſtanding this ſeaſonable interpoſition of the legiſlature, the ladies of Scotland continued muzzled during three reigns s. The enormous excreſcence of female [325] tails was prohibited in the ſame ſtatute, ‘"That na woman wear tails unfit in length."’ The legitimate length of theſe tails is not, however, determined in this ſtatute; a circumſtance which we may collect from a mandate iſſued by a papal legate in Germany, in the fourteenth century. ‘"It is decreed, that the apparel of women, which ought to be conſiſtent with modeſty, but now, through their fooliſhneſs, is degenerated into wantonneſs and extravagance, more particularly the immoderate length of their petticoats, with which they ſweep the ground, be reſtrained to a moderate faſhion, agreeably to the decency of the ſex, under pain of the ſentence of excommunication t."’ The orthodoxy of petticoats is not preciſely aſcertained in thi [...] ſalutary edict: but as it excommunicates thoſe female tails, which, in our author's phraſe, keep the kirk and cauſey clean, and allows ſuch a moderate ſtandard to the petticoat, as is compatible with female delicacy, it may be concluded, that, the ladies who covered their feet were looked upon as very laudable conformiſts: an inch or two leſs would have been avowed immodeſty; an inch or two more an affectation bordering upon hereſy u. What good effects followed from this eccleſiaſtical cenſure, I do not find: it is, however, evident [...] that the Scottiſh act of parliament againſt long tails was as little obſerved, as that againſt muzzling. Probably the force of the poet's ſatire effected a more ſpeedy reformation of ſuch abuſes, than the menaces of the church, or the laws of the land. But theſe capricious vanities were not confined to Scotland alone. In England, as we are informed by ſeveral antiquaries, the women of quality firſt wore trains in the reign of Richard the ſecond: a novelty which induced a well [326] meaning divine, of thoſe times, to write a tract Contra caudas dominarum, againſt the Tails of the Ladies w. Whether or no this remonſtrance operated ſo far, as to occaſion the contrary extreme, and even to have been the diſtant cauſe of producing the ſhort petticoats of the preſent age, I cannot ſay. As an apology, however, for the Engliſh ladies, in adopting this faſhion, we ſhould in juſtice remember, as was the caſe of the Scotch, that it was countenanced by Anne, Richard's queen: a lady not leſs enterpriſing than ſucceſsful in her attacks on eſtabliſhed forms; and whoſe authority and example were ſo powerful, as to aboliſh, even in defiance of France, the [...]afe, commodious, and natural mode of riding on horſeback, hitherto practiced by the women of England, and to introduce ſide-ſaddles x.

An anonymous Scotch poem has lately been communicated to me, belonging to this period: of which, as it was never printed, and as it contains capital touches of ſatirical humour, not inferior to thoſe of Dunbar and Lyndeſay, I am tempted to tranſcribe a few ſtanzas y. It appears to have been written ſoon after the death of James the fifth z. The poet mentions the death of James the fourth, who was killed in the battle of Flodden-field, fought in the year 1513 a. It is entitled DUNCANE LAIDER, or MAKGREGOR'S TESTAMENT b. The Scotch poets were fond of conveying invective, under the form of an aſſumed character writing a will c. In the poem before us, the writer expoſes the ruinous [327] policy, and the general corruption of public manners, prevailing in Scotland, under the perſonage of the STRONG MAN d, that is, tyranny or oppreſſion. Yet there are ſome circumſtances which ſeem to point out a particular feudal lord, famous for his exactions and inſolence, and who at length was outlawed. Our teſtator introduces himſelf to the reader's acquaintance, by deſcribing his own character and way of life, in the following expreſſive allegories.

My maiſter houſhold was heiche Oppreſſioun,
Reiff my ſtewart, that cairit of na wrang g;
Murthure, Slauchtir h, aye of ane profeſſioun,
My cubicularisi has bene thir yearis lang:
Recept, that oft tuik in mony ane fang k,
Was porter to the yettis l, to oppin wyde;
And Covatice was chamberlane at all tyde m.
Conſpiracie, Invy, and Falſe Report,
Were my prime counſalouris, leven and dear [...];
Then Robberie, the peepill to extort,
And common Thifto tuke on tham [...]a the ſteir p [...]
That Treuth in my preſince durſt not appeir,
For Falſheid had him ay at mortal feid q,
And Thift brocht Lautie finallie to deid r [...]
Oppreſſioun clikit Gude Reules be the hair,
And ſuddainlie in ane preeſount him flang;
And Crueltie caſt Piti [...] our the ſtair u,
[328] Qhuill Innocence was murthurit in that thrang w.
Than Falſheid ſaid, he maid my houſe richt ſtrang,
And furniſt weill with meikill wrangus geir x,
And bad me neither god nor man to feir y.

At length, in conſequence of repeated enormities and violations of juſtice, Duncane ſuppoſes himſelf to be impriſoned, and about to ſuffer the extreme ſentence of the law. He therefore very providently makes his laſt will, which contains the following witty bequeſts.

To my CURAT Negligence I reſigne,
Thairwith his parochinarisz to teche;
Ane ather gift I leif him als condigne a,
Slouth and Ignorance ſendillb for to preche:
The ſaullis he committis for to bleiche c
In purgatorie, quhilld thaie be waſchin clene,
Pure religion thairbie to ſuſtene.
To the VICAR I leif Diligence and Care
To tak the upmoſt claith and the kirk kow e,
Mair norf to put the corps in ſepulture:
Have pouir wad ſix gryis and ane ſow g,
He will have ane to fill his bellie fowe h:
[329] His thocht is mair upon the paſche fynis,
Nor the ſaullis in purgatorie that pynis i.
Oppreſſioun the PERSONE I leif untill k,
Pouir mens corne to hald upon the rig l,
Quhill he get the teynd [...]lhail at his will m:
Suppois the barins thair bread ſuld go thig n,
His purpois is na kirkis for to big o;
Sa fair an barne-tymep god has him ſendin,
This ſeven years the queir will ly unmendin q [...]
I leif unto the DEAN Dignite, bot faill r,
With Greit Attendence quilk he ſall not miſs,
Fra adulteraris [to] tack the buttock-maill s;
Gif ane man to ane madin gif ane kiſs t,
Get he not geir, thai ſall not come to bliſs u:
His winnyngw is maiſt throw fornicatioun,
Spending it ſhur with ſiclikex occupatioun.
[330]
I leif unto the PRIOURE, for his part,
Gluttony, him and his monkis to feid,
With far better will to drink ane quart y,
Nor an the bible ane chaptourez to reid;
Yit ar thai wyis and ſubtile into deid a,
Fenȝeis thame pouir b, and has gret ſufficence,
And takith wolth away with gret patience.
I leif the ABBOT Pride and Arrogance,
With trappit mules in the court to ryde c,
Not in the cloſter to make reſidence;
It is na honoure thair for him to byde d,
But ever for ane biſchoprik provyde e:
For weill ye wat ane pouir benefice,
Of ten thouſand markisf may not him ſuffice.
To the BISCHOP his Free will I allege g,
Becaus thair [is] na man him [dares] to blame;
Fra ſecular men he will him replege h,
[331] And weill ye wat the pape is fur fra hame i:
To preich the goſpell he thinkis ſchame,
(Suppoſis ſum tym it was his profeſſioun,)
Rather nor for to ſit upon the ſeſſioun k.
I leif my Flatterie, and Fals Diſſembling,
Unto the FRERIS, thai ſa weill can fleitche l,
With mair profit throwe ane marriage-making
Nor all the lentranem in the kirk to preiche n.
Thai gloiſso the ſcripture, ever quhen thai teache,
Moer in intent the auditouris to pleiſs,
Nor the trew worde of god for to appeiſs p.
Thirq gifts that dame Nature has me lent
I have diſponitr heir, as ye may ſee:
It nevir was, nor yit is, my intent,
That trew kirkmen get acht belongis to me s:
But that haulist Huredome and Harlottrie,
Gluttony, Invy, Covatice, and Pryde,
My executouris I mak tham at this tyde.
Adew all friends, quhillu after that we meit,
I cannot tell yow quhair, nor in quhat place;
But as the lord diſpouſis for my ſpreit,
[332] Quher is the well of mercie and of grace,
That I may [ſtand] befoirr his godlie face:
Unto the devill I leif my ſynnisw all,
Fra him thai came, to him agane thei fall x.

Some readers may perhaps be of opinion, that Makgregor was one of thoſe Scottiſh lairds, who lived profeſſedly by rapine and pillage: a practice greatly facilitated, and even ſupported, by the feudal ſyſtem. Of this ſort was Edom o'Gordon, whoſe attack on the caſtle of Dunſe is recorded by the Scotch minſtrels, in a pathetic ballad, which begins thus.

It fell about the Martinmas,
Qhen the wind blew ſchril and cauld,
Said Edom o'Gordon to his men,
We maun draw to a hauld:
And quhat a hauld ſall we draw to,
My mirry men and me?
We wul gae to the houſe o' the Rhodes,
To ſee that fair ladie y.

Other parts of Europe, from the ſame ſituations in life, afford inſtances of the ſame practice. Froiſſart has left a long narrative of an eminent robber, one Amergot Marcell; who became at length ſo formidable and powerful, as to claim a place in the hiſtory of France. About the year 1380, he had occupied a ſtrong caſtle for the ſpace of ten years, in the province of Auvergne, in which he lived with the ſplendor and dominion of a petty ſovereign [...] having amaſſed, by pillaging the neighbouring country, one hundred thouſand francs. His depredations brought in an annual revenue of twenty thouſand floreins. Afterwards he [333] is tempted imprudently to ſell his caſtle to one of the generals of the king for a conſiderable ſum. Froiſſart introduces Marcell, after having ſold his fortreſs, uttering the following lamentation, which ſtrongly paints his ſyſtem of depredation, the feudal anarchy, and the trade and travelling of thoſe days. ‘"What a joy was it when we rode forthe at adventure, and ſomtyme found by the way a ryche priour, or marchaunt, or a route of mulettes, of Montpellyer, of Narbone, of Lymons, of Fongans, of Tholous, or of Carcaſſone, laden with clothe of Bruſſelles, or peltre ware comynge from the fayres, or laden with ſpycery from Bruges, from Damas, or from Alyſaunder! Whatſoever we met, all was ours, or els raunſomed at our pleaſures. Dayly we gate newe money; and the vyllaynes of Auvergne and of Lymoſyn dayly provyded, and brought to our caſtell, whete mele, breed [bread] ready baken, otes for our horſes and lytter, good wynes, beffes, and fatte mottons, pullayne, and wylde foule. We were ever furnyſhed, as though we had been kings. Whan we rode forthe, all the country trembled for feare. All was oures, goynge or comynge. Howe toke we Carlaſte, I and the Bourge of Companye! and I and Perot of Bernoys toke Caluſet. How dyd we ſcale with lytell ayde the ſtronge caſtell of Marquell pertayninge to the erle Dolphyn! I kept it not paſt fyve dayes, but I receyved for it, on a fayre table, fyve thouſand frankes; and forgave one thouſand, for the love of the erle Dolphyn's chyldren. By my faithe, this was a fayre and goodlie life! &c z."’

But on the whole I am inclined to think, that our teſtator Makgregor, although a robber, was a perſonage of high rank, whoſe power and authority were ſuch, as to require this indirect and artificial mode of abuſe. For the ſame reaſon, I believe the name to be fictitious.

[334] I take this opportunity of obſerving, that the old Scotch poet Blind Harry belongs to this period; and, at the ſame time, of correcting the miſtake, which, in conformity to the common opinion, and on the evidence of Dempſter and Mackenzie, I have committed, in placing him towards the cloſe of the fourteenth century a. John Major the Scotch hiſtorian, who was born about the year 1470, remembered Blind Harry to have been living, and to have publiſhed a poem on the achievements of Sir William Wallace, when he was a boy. He adds, that he cannot vouch for the credibility of thoſe tales which the bards were accuſtomed to ſing for hire in the caſtles of the nobility b. I will give his own words. ‘"Integrum librum Gulielmi Wallacei Henricus, a nativitate luminibus captus, meae infantiae tempore cudit: et quae vulgo dicebantur carmine vulgari, in quo peritus erat, conſcripſit. Ego autem talibus ſcriptis ſolum in parte fidem impertior; quippe qui HISTORIARUM RECITATIONE CORAM PRINCIPIBUS victum et veſtitum, quo dignus erat, nactus eſt c."’ And that, in this poem, Blind Harry has intermixed much fable with true hiſtory, will appear from ſome proofs collected by ſir David Dalrymple, in his judicious and accurate annals of Scotland, lately publiſhed d.

I cannot return to the Engliſh poets without a hint, that a well-executed hiſtory of the Scotch poetry from the thirteenth century, would be a valuable acceſſion to the general literary hiſtory of Britain. The ſubject is pregnant with much curious and inſtructive information, is highly deſerving of a minute and regular reſearch, has never yet been uniformly examined in its full extent, and the materials are both acceſſible and ample. Even the bare lives of the vernacular poets of Scotland [335] have never yet been written with tolerable care; and at preſent are only known from the meagre outlines of Dempſter and Mackenzie. The Scotch appear to have had an early propenſity to theatrical repreſentations; and it is probable, that in the proſecution of ſuch a deſign, among ſeveral other intereſting and unexpected diſcoveries, many anecdotes, conducing to illuſtrate the riſe and progreſs of our ancient drama, might be drawn from obſcurity.

SECT. XV.

[336]

MOST of the poems of John Skelton were written in the reign of king Henry the eighth. But as he was laureated at Oxford about the year 1489 e, I conſider him as belonging to the fifteenth century.

Skelton, having ſtudied in both our univerſities, was promoted to the rectory of Diſs in Norfolk f. But for his buffooneries in the pulpit, and his ſatirical ballads againſt the [337] mendicants g, he was ſeverely cenſured, and perhaps ſuſpended by Nykke his dioceſan, a rigid biſhop of Norwich, from exerciſing the duties of the ſacerdotal function. Wood ſays, he was alſo puniſhed by the biſhop for ‘"having been guilty of certain crimes, AS MOST POETS are h."’ But theſe perſecutions only ſerved to quicken his ludicrous diſpoſition, and to exaſperate the acrimony of his ſatire. As his ſermons could be no longer a vehicle for his abuſe, he vented his ridicule in rhyming libels. At length, daring to attack the dignity of cardinal Wolſey, he was cloſely purſued by the officers of that powerful miniſter; and, taking ſhelter in the ſanctuary of Weſtminſter abbey, was kindly [338] entertained and protected by abbot Iſlip i, to the day of his death. He died, and was buried in the neighbouring church of ſaint Margaret, in the year 1529.

Skelton was patroniſed by Henry Algernoon Percy, the fifth earl of Northumberland, who deſerves particular notice here; as he loved literature at a time when many of the nobility of England could hardly read or write their names, and was the general patron of ſuch genius as his age produced. He encouraged Skelton, almoſt the only profeſſed poet of the reign of Henry the ſeventh, to write an elegy on the death of his father, which is yet extant. But ſtill ſtronger proofs of his literary turn, eſpecially of his ſingular paſſion for poetry, may be collected from a very ſplendid manuſcript, which formerly belonged to this very diſtinguiſhed peer, and is at preſent preſerved in the Britiſh Muſeum k. It contains a large collection of Engliſh poems, elegantly engroſſed on vellum, and ſuperbly illuminated, which had been thus ſumptuouſly tranſcribed for his uſe. The pieces are chiefly thoſe of Lydgate, after which follow the aforeſaid Elegy of Skelton, and ſome ſmaller compoſitions. Among the latter are a metrical hiſtory of the family of Percy, preſented to him by one of his own chaplains; and a prolix ſeries of poetical inſcriptions, which he cauſed to be written on the walls and ceilings of the principal apartments of his caſtles of Lekinfield and Wreſſil l. His [339] cultivation of the arts of external elegance appears, from the ſ [...]ately ſepulchral monuments which he erected in the minſter, or collegiate church, of Beverly in Yorkſhire, to the memory of his father and mother; which are executed in [340] the richeſt ſtyle of the florid Gothic architecture, and remain to this day, the conſpicuous and ſtriking evidences of his taſte and magnificence. In the year 1520, he founded an annual ſtipend of ten marcs for three years, for a preceptor, or profeſſor, to teach grammar and philoſophy in the monaſtery of Alnewick, contiguous to another of his magnificent caſtles m. A further inſtance of his attention to letters and ſtudious employments, occurs in his HOUSHOLD-BOOK, dated 1512, yet remaining; in which the LIBRARIES of this earl and of his lady are ſpecified n: and in the ſame curious monument of antient manners it is ordered, that one of his chaplains ſhould be a MAKER OF INTERLUDES o. With ſo much boldneſs did this liberal nobleman abandon the example of his brother peers, whoſe principal occupations were hawking and tilting; and who deſpiſed learning, as an ignoble and petty accompliſhment, fit only for the purpoſes of laborious and indigent eccleſiaſtics. Nor was he totally given up to the purſuits of leiſure and peace: he was, in the [341] year 1497, one of the leaders who commanded at the battle of Blackheath againſt lord Audley and his partiſans; and was often engaged, from his early years, in other public ſervices of truſt and honour. But Skelton hardly deſerved ſuch a patronage p.

It is in vain to apologiſe for the coarſeneſs, obſcenity, and ſcurrility of Skelton, by ſaying that his poetry is tinctured with the manners of his age. Skelton would have been a writer without decorum at any period. The manners of Chaucer's age were undoubtedly more rough and unpoliſhed than thoſe of the reign of Henry the ſeventh. Yet Chaucer, a poet abounding in humour, and often employed in deſcribing the vices and follies of the world, writes with a degree of delicacy, when compared with Skelton. That Skelton's manner is groſs and illiberal, was the opinion of his cotemporaries; at leaſt of thoſe critics who lived but a few years afterwards, and while his poems yet continued in vogue. Puttenham, the author of the ARTE OF ENGLISH POESIE, publiſhed in the year 1589, ſpeaking of the ſpecies of ſhort metre uſed in the minſtrel-romances, for the convenience of being ſung to the harp at feaſts, and in CAROLS and ROUNDS, ‘"and ſuch other light or laſcivious poems which are commonly more commodiouſly uttered by thoſe buffoons or Vices in playes than by any other perſon,"’ and in which the ſudden return of the rhyme fatigues the ear, immediately ſubjoins: ‘"Such were the rimes of Skelton, being indeed but a rude rayling rimer, and all his doings ridiculous; he uſed both ſhort diſtaunces and ſhort meaſures, pleaſing only the popular care o."’ And Meres, in his PALLADIS [342] TAMIA, or WIT'S TREASURY, publiſhed in 1598. ‘"Skelton applied his wit to ſkurilities and ridiculous matters: ſuch among the Greekes were called pantomimi, with us buffoons q."’

[...]kelton's characteriſtic vein of humour is capricious and groteſque. If his whimſical extravagancies ever move our laughter, at the ſame time they ſhock our ſenſibility. His feſtive levities are not only vulgar and indelicate, but frequently want truth and propriety. His ſubjects are often as ridiculous as his metre: but he ſometimes debaſes his matter by his verſification. On the whole, his genius ſeems better ſuited to low burleſque, than to liberal and manly ſatire. It is ſuppoſed by Caxton, that he improved our language; but he ſometimes affects obſcurity, and ſometimes adopts the moſt familiar phraſeology of the common people.

He thus deſcribes, in the BOKE OF COLIN CLOUTE, the pompous houſes of the clergy.

[343]
Building royally
Their mancyons, curiouſly
With turrettes, and with toures,
With halles, and with boures,
Streching to the ſtarres;
With glaſſe windowes and barres:
Hangyng about the walles
Clothes of golde and palles;
Arras of ryche arraye,
Freſhe as floures in Maye:
With dame Dyana naked;
Howe lyſtye Venus quaked,
And howe Cupide ſhaked
His darte, and bente his bowe,
For to ſhote a crowe
At her tyrly tyrlowe:
And how Paris of Troye
Daunced a l [...]ge de moy,
Made luſtye ſporte and toye
With dame Helyn the queene:
With ſuche ſtoryes by deen r,
Their chambres wel be ſeene.
With triumphes of Ceſar, &c.—
Nows all the world ſtares
How they ryde in goodly chares,
Conveyed by olyphantes
With lauriat garlantes;
And by unycornes
With their ſemely hornes;
Upon theſe beaſtes riding
Naked boyes ſtriding,
With wanton wenches winkyng.—
[344] For prelates of eſtate
Their courage to abate;
From wordly wantonnes,
Their chambers thus to dres
With ſuch parfytneſs,
And all ſuch holynes,
How beit they lett down fall
Their churches cathedrall t.

Theſe lines are in the beſt manner of his petty meaſure: which is made ſtill more diſguſting by the repetition of the rhymes. We ſhould obſerve, that the ſatire is here pointed at the ſubject of theſe tapeſtries. The graver eccleſiaſtics, who did not follow the levities of the world, were contented with religious ſubjects, or ſuch as were merely hiſtorical. Roſſe of Warwick, who wrote about the year 1460, relates, that he ſaw in the abbat's hall at ſaint Alban's abbey a ſuite of arras, containing a long train of incidents belonging to a moſt romantic and pathetic ſtory in the life of the Saxon king Offa, which that hiſtorian recites at large u.

[345] In the poem, WHY COME YE NOT TO THE COURT, he thus ſatiriſes cardinal Wolſey, not without ſome tincture of humour.

He is ſet ſo hye
In his ierarchye w,
Of frantike freneſy,
And foliſh fantaſy,
That in chambre of ſtars x
Al maters ther he mars,
Clapping his rod on the borde,
No man dare ſpeake a worde;
For he hath al the ſaying
Without any renaying,
He rolleth in his Recordes:
He ſaith, "how ſay ye my lordes?
[346] "Is not my reaſon good?
"Good!—even good—Robin-hood!
Borne up on every ſyde
With pompe and with pryde,
With trump up alleluya y,
For dame Philargyria z
Hath ſo his hart in hold, &c.—
Adew Philoſophia!
Adew Theologia!
Welcome dame Simonia a,
With dame Caſtimergia b,
To drynke and for to eate
Swete ipocras, and ſwete meate c:
[347] To kepe his fleſhe chaſte,
In Lente, for his repaſte
He eateth capons ſtewed,
Feſaunt and partriche mewed:—
Spareth neyther mayd ne wife,
This is a poſtel's life d!

The poem called the BOUGE OF COURT, or the Rewards of a Court, is in the manner of a pageaunt, conſiſting of ſeven perſonifications. Here our author, in adopting the more grave and ſtately movement of the ſeven lined ſtanza e, has ſhewn himſelf not always incapable of exhibiting allegorical imagery with ſpirit and dignity. But his comic vein predominates.

[348] RYOTT is thus forcibly and humourouſly pictured.

With that came RYOTTE ruſhing al at ones,
A ruſtie galande f, to ragged and to rente g;
And on the borde he whirled a paire of bones h,
Quater treye dews he clattered as he went:
Nowe have at all by ſaint Thomas of Kente i,
And ever he threwe, and kyſtk I wote nere what:
His here was growen thorowe out of his hat.
Than I behylde how he dyſgyſed was;
His hedd was heavy for watchinge over night,
His eyen blered, his face ſhone like a glas;
His gowne ſo ſhorte, that it ne cover myght
His rompe, he went ſo all for ſomer light;
His hoſe was gardyd with a lyſte of grene l,
Yet at the knee they broken were I ween.
His cote was checkerd with patches rede and blewe,
Of Kyrkbye Kendallm was his ſhort demye n;
And aye he ſange in fayth decon thou crewe:
His elbowe bare, he ware his gere ſo nye o [...]
His noſe droppinge, his lippès were full drye:
And by his ſyde his whynarde, and his pouche,
The devyll myght dance therin for any crouche p [...]

[349] There is alſo merit in the delineation of DISSIMULATION, in the ſame poem q: and it is not unlike Arioſto's manner in imagining theſe allegorical perſonages.

Than in his hode I ſawe there faces tweyne;
That one was lene and lyke a pyned ghoſt,
That other loked as he wolde me have ſlayne:
And to me ward as he gan for to cooſt,
Whan that he was even at me almooſt,
I ſawe a knyfe hid in his one ſleve,
Whereon was wryten this worde MISCHEVE.
And in his other ſleve methought I ſawe
A ſpone of goldè, full of hony ſwete,
To feed a fole, and for to prey a dawe r, &c.

The ſame may be obſerved of the figure of DISDAYNE.

He looked hawtie, he ſette eche man at nought;
His gawdy garment with ſcornes was al wrought,
With indignacyon lyned was his hode;
He frowned as he wolde ſwere by cockes blode s.
He botet the lyppe, he loked paſſynge coye;
His face was belymmed, as bees had hym ſtounge:
It was no tyme with hym to jape nor toye,
Envye hath waſted his lyver and his lounge;
Hatred by the herte ſo had hym wrounge,
[350]
That he loked pale as aſshes to my ſyghte:
DISDAYNE, I wene, this comberous crab is hyghte.—
Forthwith he made on me a proude aſſawte,
With ſcornfull lokè movyd all in mode u;
He wente about to take me in a fawte,
He fround, he ſtared, he ſtamped where he ſtoode:
I loked on hym, I wendew he had be woode x:
He ſet the arme proudly under the ſyde,
And in this wyſe he gan with me chyde y.

In the CROWNE OF LAWRELL our author attempts the higher poetry: but he cannot long ſupport the tone of ſolemn deſcription. Theſe are ſome of the moſt ornamented and poetical ſtanzas. He is deſcribing a garden belonging to the ſuperb palace of FAME.

In an herberz I ſawe brought where I was;
The byrdes on the brere ſange on every ſyde,
With aleys enſandyd about in compas,
The bankes enturfed with ſingular ſolas a,
Enrailed with roſers b, and vines engraped;
It was a new comfort of ſorowes eſcaped.
In the middes a cundite, that curiouſly was caſt
With pypes of golde, enguſhing out ſtreames
Of criſtall, the clerenes theſe waters far paſt,
Enſwimminge with roches, barbilles, and breames,
Whoſe ſkales enſilvred again the ſon beames
Engliſterd .....
.....
[351]
Where I ſawe growyng a goodly laurell tre,
Enverdured with leave, continually grene;
Above in the top a byrde of Araby,
Men call a Phenix: her wynges bytwene
She bet up a fyre with the ſparkes full kene,
With braunches and bowes of the ſwete olyve,
Whoſe fragraunt flower was chefe preſervative
Ageynſt all infections with rancour enflamed:
* * * * * * * * * *
It paſſed all baumes that ever were named,
Or gummes of Saby, ſo derely that be ſolde:
There blewe in that garden a ſoft piplynge colde,
Enbrething of Zephirus, with his pleaſaunt wynde;
Al frutes and flowers grew there in their kynde.
Dryades there daunſed upon that goodly ſoile,
With the nyne Muſes, Pierides by name;
Phillis and Teſtelis, there treſſes with oyle
Were newly enbibed: And, round about the ſame
Grene tre of laurell, moche ſolacious game
They made, with chaplettes and garlandes grene;
And formoſt of al dame Flora the quene;
Of ſomer ſo formally ſhe foted the daunce:
There Cinthius ſat, twinklyng upon his harpeſtringes:
And Jopas his inſtrument dyd avaunce,
The poemes and ſtories auncyent in bringes
Of Atlas aſtrology, &c c.—

Our author ſuppoſes, that in the wall ſurrounding the palace of FAME were a thouſand gates, new and old, for the entrance and egreſs of all nations. One of the gates is [352] called ANGLIA, on which ſtood a leopard d. There is ſom [...] boldneſs and animation in the figure and attitude of this ferocious animal.

The buyldyng thereof was paſſing commendable;
Wheron ſtode a lybbard crowned with gold and ſtones,
Terrible of countinaunce and paſſing formidable,
As quicklye touched as it were fleſhe and bones,
As gaſtly that glaris f, as grimly that grones,
As fierſly frownyng as he had ben fyghtynge,
And with firme fote he ſhoke forthe his writynge.

Skelton, in the courſe of his allegory, ſuppoſes that the poets laureate, or learned men, of all nations, were aſſembled before Pallas. This groupe ſhews the authors, both antient and modern, then in vogue. Some of them are quaintly characteriſed. They are, firſt,—Olde Quintilian, not with his Inſtitutes of eloquence, but with his Declamations: Theocritus, with his bucolicall relacions: Heſiod, the Icononucar g: Homer, the freſhe hiſtoriar: The prince of eloquence, Cicero: Salluſt, who wrote both the hiſtory of Catiline and Jugurth: Ovid, enſhryned with the Muſys nyne: Lucan h: Statius, writer [353] of Achilleidos: Perſius, with problems dif [...]uſe: Virgil, Juvenal, Livy: Ennius, who wrote of marciall warre: Aulus Gellius, that noble hiſtoriar: Horace, with his N [...]w Po [...]try i: Maiſter Terence, the famous comicar, with Plautus: Sen [...]ca, the tragedian: Boethius: Maximian, with his madde diti [...]s how dotyng age wolde jape with young foly k: Boccacio, with hi [...] volumes grete: Quintus Curtius: Macrobius, who treated o [...] Scipion's dr [...]ame: Poggius Florentinus, with many a mad tale l: a friar of France ſyr Gaguine, who frowned on me full angrily m: Plutarch and Petrarch, two famous clarkes: Lucilius, Valerius Maximus, Propertius, Piſander n, and Vincentius Bellovacenſis, who wrote the SPECULUM HISTORIALE. The catalogue is cloſed by Gower, Chaucer, and Lydgate, who firſt adorned the Engliſh language o: in alluſion to which part of their characters, their apparel is ſaid to ſhine [354] beyond the power of deſcription, and their tabards to be ſtudded with diamonds and rubies p. That only theſe three Engliſh poets are here mentioned, may be con [...]idered as a proof, that only theſe three were yet thought to deſerve the name.

No writer is more unequal than Skelton. In the midſt of a page of the moſt wretched ribaldry, we ſometimes are ſurprized with three or four nervous and manly lines, like theſe.

Ryot and Revell be in your court roules,
Mayntenaunce and Miſchefe theſe be men of myght,
Extorcyon is counted with you for a knyght q.

Skelton's modulation in the octave ſtanza is rough and inharmonious. The following are the ſmootheſt lines in the poem before us; which yet do not equal the liquid melody of Lydgate, whom he here manifeſtly attempts to imitate r.

Lyke as the larke upon the fomers daye,
When Titan radiant burniſheth his bemes bright,
Mounteth on hye, with her melodious laye,
Of the ſon ſhyne engladed with the light.

The following little ode deſerves notice; at leaſt as a ſpecimen of the ſtructure and phraſeology of a love-ſonnet about the cloſe of the fifteenth century.

TO MAISTRESS MARGARY WENTWORTH,

With margerain s gentill,
The flowre of goodly hede t,
Enbrawdered the mantill
Is of your maydenhede u.
[355] Plainly I can not gloſe w;
Ye be, as I devine x,
The praty primèroſe,
The goodly columbyne.
With margerain gentill, &c.
Benyne, courteis, and meke,
With wordès well deviſed;
In you, who lyſt to ſeke,
Bey vertues well compryſed z.
With margerain gentill,
The flowre of goodly hede,
Enbrawdered the mantill
Is of your maydenhede.

For the ſame reaſon this ſtanza in a ſonnet to Maiſtreſs Margaret Huſſey deſerves notice.

Mirry Margaret
As Midſomer flowre,
Gentyll as faucon,
Or hawke of the towre a.

As do the following flowery lyrics, in a ſonnet addreſſed to Maiſtreſs Iſabell Pennel.

—Your colowre
Is lyke the daiſy flowre,
After the April ſhowre,
[356] Sterre of the morowe graye!
The bloſſome on the ſpraye,
The freſh [...]ſt flowre of Maye!
Madenly demure,
Of woma [...]hede the lure! &c b.

But Skelton moſt commonly appears to have miſtaken his genius, and to write in a forced character, exc [...]pt when he is indulging his native vein of ſatire and jocularity, in the ſhort minſtrel-metre abovementioned: which he mars by a multiplied repetition of rhymes, arbitrary abbreviations of the verſe, cant expreſſions, hard and ſounding words newlycoined, and patches of Latin and French. This anomalous and motley mode of verſification is, I believe, ſuppoſed to be peculiar to our author c. I am not, however, quite certain that it originated with Skelton.

About the year 1512, Martin Coccaie of Mantua, whoſe true name was Theophilo Folengio, a Benedictine monk of Caſino in Italy, wrote a poem entitled PHANTASIAE MACARONICAE, divided into twenty-five parts. This is a burleſque Latin poem, in heroic metre, checquered with Italian and Tuſcan words, and thoſe of the plebeian character, yet not deſtitute of proſodical harmony. It is totally ſatirical, and has ſome degree of drollery; but the ridicule is too frequently founded on obſcene or vulgar ideas. Prefixed is a ſimilar burleſque poem called ZANITONELLA, or the Amours of Tonellus and Zanina e: and a piece is ſubjoined, with the title of MOSCHEA, or the War with the Flies and the Ants. The author died in 1544 d, but theſe poems, with [357] the addition of ſ [...]me epiſtles and epigrams, in the ſame ſtyle, did not, I believe, appear in print before the year 1554 e. Coccaie is often cited by Rabelais, a writer of a cogenial caſt f. The three laſt books, containing a deſcription of hell, are a parody on part of Dante's INFERNO. In the preface, or APOLOGETICA, our author gives an account of this new ſpecies of poetry, ſince called the MACARONIC, which I muſt give in his own words. ‘"Ars iſta poetica nuncupatur Ars MACARONICA, a Macaronibus derivata: qui Macarones ſunt quoddam pulmentum, farina, caſeo, butyro compaginatum, groſſum, rude, et ruſticanum. Ideo MACARONICA nil niſi groſſedinem, ruditatem, et VOCABULAZZOS, debet in ſe continere g."’ Vavaſſor obſerves, that Coccaie in Italy, and Antonius de Arena in France, were the two firſt, at leaſt the chief, authors of the ſemi-latin burleſque poetry h. As to Antonius de Arena, he was a civilian of Avignon; and wrote, in the year 1519, a Latin poem in elegiac verſes, ridiculouſly interlarded with French words and phraſes. It is addreſſed to his fellow-ſtudents, or, in his own words, ‘"Ad ſuos compagnones ſtudiantes, qui ſunt de perſona friantes, baſſas danſas, in galanti ſtilo biſognatas, cum guerra Romana, totum ad longum ſine require, et cum guerra Neapolitana, et cum revoluta Genuenſi, et guerra Avenionenſi, et epiſtola ad falotiſſimam garſam pro paſſando lo tempos i."’ I have gone out of my way, to mention theſe two obſcure writersk with ſo much particularity, in order to obſerve, [358] that Skelton, their cotemporary, probably copied their manner: at leaſt to ſhew, that this ſingular mode of verſification was at this time faſhionable, not only in England, but alſo in France and Italy. Nor did it ceaſe to be remembered in England, and as a ſpecies of poetry thought to be founded by Skelton, till even ſo late as the cloſe of queen Elizabeth's reign. As appears from the following poem on the SPANISH ARMADA, which is filled with Latin words.

A SKELTONICALL ſalutation,
Or condigne gratulation,
And juſt vexation,
Of the Spaniſh nation;
That in a bravado
Spent many a cruſado,
In ſetting forth the armado
England to envado, &c l.

But I muſt not here forget, that Dunbar, a Scotch poet of Skelton's own age, already mentioned, wrote in this way. His TESTAMENT OF MAISTER ANDRO KENNEDY, which repreſents the character of an idle diſſolute ſcholar, and ridicules the funeral ceremonies of the Romiſh communion, has [359] almoſt every alternate line compoſed of the formularies of a Latin Will, and ſhreds of the breviary, mixed with what the French call Latin de cuiſine l. There is ſome humour, ariſing from theſe burleſque applications, in the following ſtanzas m.

In die meae ſepulturae,
I will have nane but our awin gang n,
Et duos ruſticos de rure,
Berand ane barrell on a ſtang o;
Drinkand and playand cap out, even
Sicut egomet ſolebam;
Singand and greitand with the ſtevin p,
Potum meum cum fletu miſcebam.
I will no prieſtis for me ſing,
Dies ille, dies irae q;
Nar yet no bellis for me ring
Sicut ſemper ſolet fieri;
But a bag-pyp to play a ſpring,
Et unum ale-wiſp ante me,
Inſtead of torchis, for to bring,
Quatuor lag [...]nas cerviſiae
Within the graif to ſett, fit thing,
In modum crucis juxta me,
To fle the feyndis r, then hardly ſing
De terra plaſmaſti me s.

[360] We muſt, however, acknowledge, that Skelton, notwithſtanding his ſcurrility, was a claſſical ſcholar; and in that capacity, he was tutor to prince Henry, afterwards king Henry the eighth: at whoſe acceſſion to the throne, he was appointed the royal orator. He is ſtyled by Eraſmus, ‘"Britannicarum literarum decus et lumen u.’ His Latin elegiacs are pure, and often unmixed with the monaſtic phraſeology; and they prove, that if his natural propenſity to the ridiculous had not more frequently ſeduced him to follow the whimſies of Walter Mapes and Golias w, than to copy the elegancies of Ovid, he would have appeared among the firſt writers of Latin poetry in England at the general reſtoration of literature. Skelton could not avoid acting as a buffoon in any language, or any character.

I cannot quit Skelton, of whom I yet fear too much has been already ſaid, without reſtoring to the public notice a play, or MORALITY, written by him, not recited in any catalogue of his works, or annals of Engliſh typography; and, I believe, at preſent totally unknown to the antiquarians in this ſort of literature. It is, The NIGRAMANSIR, a morall ENTERLUDE and a pithie written by Maiſter SKELTON [361] laureate and plaid before the king and other eſtatys at Woodſtoke on Palme Sunday. It was printed by Wynkin de Worde in a thin quarto, in the year 1504 x. It muſt have been preſented before king Henry the ſeventh, at the royal manor or palace, at Woodſtock in Oxfordſhire, now deſtroyed. The characters are a Necromancer, or conjurer, the devil, a notary public, Simonie y, and Philargyria z, or Avarice. It is partly a ſatire on ſome abuſes in the church; yet not without a due regard to decency, and an apparent reſpect for the dignity of the audience. The ſtory, or plot, is the tryal of SIMONY and AVARICE: the devil is the judge, and the notary public acts as an aſſeſſor or ſcribe. The priſoners, as we may ſuppoſe, are found guilty, and ordered into hell immediately. There is no ſort of propriety in calling this play the Necromancer: [362] for the only buſineſs and uſe of this character, is to open the ſubject in a long prologue, to evoke the devil, and ſummon the court. The devil kicks the necromancer, for waking him ſo ſoon in the morning: a proof, that this drama was performed in the morning, perhaps in the chapel of the palace. A variety of meaſures, with ſhreds of Latin and French, is uſed: but the devil ſpeaks in the octave ſtanza. One of the ſtage-directions is, Enter Balſebub with a Berde. To make him both frightful and ridiculous, the devil was moſt commonly introduced on the ſtage, wearing a viſard with an immenſe beard a. Philargyria quotes Seneca and ſaint [363] Auſtin: and Simony offers the devil a bribe. The devil rejects her offer with much indignation: and ſwears by the foule Eumenides, and the hoary beard of Charon, that ſhe ſhall be well fried and roaſted in the unfathomable ſulphur of Cocytus, together with Mahomet, Pontius Pilate, the traitor Judas, and king Herod. The laſt ſcene is cloſed with a view of hell, and a dance between the devil and the necromancer. The dance ended, the devil trips up the necromancer's heels, and diſappears in fire and ſmoke b. Great muſt have been the edification and entertainment which king Henry the ſeventh and his court derived from the exhibition of ſo elegant and rational a drama! The royal taſte for dramatic repreſ [...]tation ſeems to have ſuffered a very rapid tranſition: for in the year 1520, a goodlie comedie of Plautus was played before king Henry the eighth at Greenwich c. I have before mentioned Skelton's play of MAGNIFICENCE d.

[364] MORALITIES ſeem have arrived at their heighth about the cloſe of the ſeventh Henry's reign e. This ſort of ſpectacle was now ſo faſhionable, that John Raſtall, a learned typographer, brother in law to ſir Thomas More, extended its province, which had hitherto been confined, either to moral allegory, or to religion blended with buffoonery, and conceived a deſign of making it the vehicle of ſcience and philoſophy. With this view he publiſhed, A new INTERLUDE and a mery, of the nature of the iiii Elements, declaringe many proper points of phyloſophy naturall and dyvers ſtraunge landys, &c f. In the coſmographical part of the play, in which the poet profeſſes to treat of dyvers ſtraunge regyons, and of the new founde landys, the tracts of America recently diſcovered, and the manners of the natives, are deſcribed. The characters are, a Meſſenger who ſpeaks the prologue, Nature, Humanity, Studious Deſire, Senſual Appetite, a Taverner, Experience, and Ignorance g.

[365] I have before obſerved, that the frequent and public exhibition of perſonifications in the PAGEAUNTS, which antiently accompanied every high feſtivity, greatly contributed to cheriſh the ſpirit of allegorical poetry, and even to enrich the imagination of Spenſer h. The MORALITIES, which now began to acquire new celebrity, and in which the ſame groupes of the imperſonated vices and virtues appeared, muſt have concurred in producing this effect. And hence, at the ſame time, we are led to account for the national reliſh for allegorical poetry, which ſo long prevailed among our anceſtors. By means of theſe ſpectacles, ideal beings became common and popular objects: and emblematic imagery, which at preſent is only contemplated by a few retired readers in the obſolete pages of our elder poets, grew familiar to the general eye.

SECT. XVI.

[366]

IN a work of this general and comprehenſive nature, in which the fluctuations of genius are ſurveyed, and the dawnings or declenſions of taſte muſt alike be noticed, it is impoſſible that every part of the ſubject can prove equally ſplendid and intereſting. We have, I fear, been toiling for ſome time through materials, not perhaps of the moſt agreeable and edifying nature. But as the mention of that very rude ſpecies of our drama, called the MORALITY, has incidentally diverted our attention to the early ſtate of the Engliſh ſtage, I cannot omit ſo fortunate and ſeaſonable an opportunity of endeavouring to relieve the wearineſs of my reader, by introducing an obvious digreſſion on the probable cauſes of the riſe of the MYSTERIES, which, as I have before remarked, preceded, and at length produced, theſe allegorical fables. In this reſpect I ſhall imitate thoſe map-makers mentioned by Swift, who

—O'er inhoſpitable downs,
Place elephants for want of towns.

Nor ſhall I perhaps fail of being pardoned by my reader, if, on the ſame principle, I ſhould attempt to throw new light on the hiſtory of our theatre, by purſuing this enquiry through thoſe deductions which it will naturally and more immediately ſuggeſt g.

About the eighth century, trade was principally carried on by means of fairs, which laſted [...]everal days. Charlemagne eſtabliſhed many great marts of this ſort in France; as did William the conqueror, and his Norman ſucceſſors, in [367] England h. The merchants, who frequented theſe fairs in numerous caravans or companies, employed every art to draw the people together. They were therefore accompanied by juglers, minſtrels, and buffoons; who were no leſs intereſted in giving their attendance, and exerting all their ſkill, on theſe occaſions. As now but few large towns exiſted, no public ſpectacles or popular amuſements were eſtabliſhed; and as the ſedentary pleaſures of domeſtic life and private ſociety were yet unknown, the fair-time was the ſeaſon for diverſion. In proportion as theſe ſhews were attended and encouraged, they began to be ſet off with new decorations and improvements: and the arts of buffoonery being rendered ſtill more attractive by extending their circle of exhibition, acquired an importance in the eyes of the people. By degrees the clergy, obſerving that the entertainments of dancing, muſic, and mimicry, exhibited at theſe protracted annual celebrities, made the people leſs religious, by promoting idleneſs and a love of feſtivity, proſcribed theſe ſports, and excommunicated the performers. But finding that no regard was paid to their cenſures, they changed their plan, and determined to take theſe recreations into their own hands. They turned actors; and inſtead of pro [...]ane mummeries, preſented ſtories taken from legends or the bible. This was the origin of ſacred comedy. The death of ſaint Catharine, acted by the monks of ſaint Dennis, rivalled the popularity of the profeſſed players. Muſic was admitted into the churches, which ſerved as theatres for the repreſention of holy farces. The feſtivals among the French, called LA FETE DE FOUX, DE L'ANE i, and DES INNOCENS, at length [368] became greater favorites, as they certainly were more c [...] pricious and abſurd, than the interludes of the buffoons at the fairs. Theſe are the ideas of a judicious French writer, now living, who has inveſtigated the hiſtory of human manners with great comprehenſion and ſagacity.

Voltaire's theory on this ſubject is alſo very ingenious, and quite new. Religious plays, he ſuppoſes, came originally from Conſtantinople; where the old Grecian ſtage continued to flouriſh in ſome degree, and the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides were repreſented, till the fourth century. About that period, Gregory Nazianzen, an archbiſhop, a poet, and one of the fathers of the church, baniſhed pagan plays from the ſtage at Conſtantinople, and introduced ſelect ſtories from the old and new Teſtament. As the antient Greek tragedy was a religious ſpectacle, a tranſition was made on the ſame plan; and the choruſſes were turned into Chriſtian hymns l. Gregory wrote many ſacred dramas for this purpoſe, which have not ſurvived thoſe inimitable compoſitions over which they triumphed for a time: one, however, his tragedy called [...], or CHRIST'S PASSION, is ſtill extant m. In the prologue it is ſaid to be in imitation of Euripides, and that this is the firſt time the Virgin Mary has been produced on the ſtage. The faſhion of acting [369] ſpiritual dramas, in which at firſt a due degree of method and decorum was preſerved, was at length adopted from Conſtantinople by the Italians; who framed, in the depth of the dark ages, on this foundation, that barbarous ſpecies of theatrical repreſentation called MYSTERIES, or ſacred comedies, and which were ſoon afterwards received in France n. This opinion will acquire probability, if we conſider the early commercial intercouſe between Italy and Conſtantinople: and although the Italians, at the time when they may be ſuppoſed to have imported plays of this nature, did not underſtand the Greek language, yet they could underſtand, and conſequently could imitate, what they ſaw.

In defence of Voltaire's hypotheſis it may be further obſerved, that the FEAST OF FOOLS and of the Ass, with other religious farces of that ſort, ſo common in Europe, originated at Conſtantinople. They were inſtituted, although perhaps under other names, in the Greek church, about the year 990, by Theophylact, patriarch of Conſtantinople, probably with a better deſign than is imagined by the eccleſiaſtical annaliſts; that of weaning the minds of the people from the pagan ceremonies, particularly the Bacchanalian and calendary ſolemnities, by the ſubſtitution of chriſtian ſpectacles, partaking of the ſame ſpirit of licentiouſneſs. The fact is, however, recorded by Cedrenus, one of the Byzantine hiſtorians, who flouriſhed about the year 1050, in the following words. ‘" [...] [370] [...]. "’ That is, ‘"Theophylact introduced the practice, which prevails even to this day, of ſcandaliſing god and the memory of his ſaints, on the moſt ſplendid and popular feſtivals, by indecent and ridiculous ſongs, and enormous ſhoutings, even in the midſt of thoſe ſacred hymns, which we ought to offer to the divine grace with compunction of heart, for the ſalvation of our ſouls. But he, having collected a company of baſe fellows, and placing over them one Euthymius, ſurnamed Caſnes, whom he alſo appointed the ſuperintendant of his church, admitted into the ſacred ſervice, diabolical dances, exclamations of ribaldry, and ballads borrowed from the ſtreets and brothels o."’ This practice was ſubſiſting in the Greek church two hundred years afterwards: for Balſamon, patriarch of Antioch, complains of the groſs abominations committed by the prieſts at Chriſtmas and other feſtivals, even in the great church at Conſtantinople; and that the clergy, on certain holidays, perſonated a variety of feigned characters, and even entered the choir in a military habit, and other enormous diſguiſes p.

I muſt however obſerve here, what perhaps did not immediately occur to our lively philoſopher on this occaſion, that in the fourth century it was cuſtomary to make chriſtian parodies and imitations in Greek, of the beſt Greek claſſics, for the uſe of the chriſtian ſchools. This practice prevailed much under the emperor Julian, who forbad the pagan poets, orators, and philoſophers, to be taught in the chriſtian ſeminaries [...] [371] Apollinaris biſhop of Laodicea, abovementioned, wrote Greek tragedies, adapted to the ſtage, on moſt of the grand events recorded in the old Teſtament, after the manner of Euripides. On ſome of the familiar and domeſtic ſtories of ſcripture, he compoſed comedies in imitation of Menander. He wrote chriſtian odes on the plan of Pindar. In imitation of Homer, he wrote an heroic poem on the hiſtory of the bible, as far as the reign of Saul, in twenty-four books q. Sozomen ſays, that theſe compoſitions, now loſt, rivalled their great originals in genius, expreſſion, and conduct. His ſon, a biſhop alſo of Laodicea, reduced the four goſpels and all the apoſtolical books into Greek dialogues, reſembling thoſe of Plato r.

But I muſt not omit a much earlier and more ſingular ſpecimen of a theatrical repreſentation of ſacred hiſtory, than this mentioned by Voltaire. Some fragments of an antient Jewiſh play on the EXODUS, or the Departure of the Iſraelites from Egypt under their leader and prophet Moſes, are yet preſerved in Greek iambics s. The principal characters of this drama are Moſes, Sapphora, and God from the Buſh, or God ſpeaking from the burning buſh. Moſes delivers the prologue, or introduction, in a ſpeech of ſixty lines, and his rod is turned into a ſerpent on the ſtage. The author [372] of this piece is Ezekiel, a Jew, who is called [...], or the tragic poet of the Jews t. The learned Huetius endeavours to prove, that Ezekiel wrote at leaſt before the chriſtian era u. Some ſuppoſe that he was one of the ſeventy, or ſeptuagint, interpreters of the bible under the reign of Ptolomy Philadelphus. I am of opinion, that Ezekiel compoſed this play after the deſtruction of Jeruſalem, and even in the time of Barocbas, as a political ſpectacle, with a view to animate his dejected countrymen with the hopes of a future deliverance from their captivity under the conduct of a new Moſes, like that from the Egyptian ſervitude w. Whether a theatre ſubſiſted among the Jews, who by their peculiar ſituation and circumſtances were prevented from keeping pace with their neighbours in the culture of the ſocial and elegant arts, is a curious ſpeculation. It ſeems moſt probable, on the whole, that this drama was compoſed in imitation of the Grecian ſtage, at the cloſe of the ſecond century, after the Jews had been diſperſed, and intermixed with other nations.

Boileau ſeems to think, that the antient PILGRIMAGES introduced theſe ſacred exhibitions into France.

Chez nos devots ayeux le theátre abhorré
Fut long-tems dans la France une plaiſir ignoré.
De PELERINS, dit on, une troupe groſſiere
En public à Paris y monta la prémiere;
Et ſotement zélee en ſa ſimplicité,
Iöua les SAINTS [...] la VIERGE, et DIEU, par piété.
Le Savoir, a la fin, diſſipant l'Ignorance,
Fit voir de ce projet la devote imprudence:
On chaſſa ces docteurs préchant ſans miſſion,
On vit renaitre Hector, Andromaque, Ilion x.

[373] The authority to which Boileau alludes in theſe nervous and elegant verſes is Meneſt [...]ier, an intelligent French antiquary y. The pilgrims who returned from Jeruſalem, ſaint James of Compoſtella, ſaint Baume of Provence, ſaint Reine, Mount ſaint Michael, Notre dame du Puy, and other places eſteemed holy, compoſed ſongs on their adventures; intermixing recitals of paſſages in the life of Chriſt, deſcriptions of his crucifixion, of the day of judgement, of miracles, and martyrdoms. To theſe tales, which were recommended by a pathetic chant and a variety of geſticulations, the credulity of the multitude gave the name of Viſions. Theſe pious itinerants travelled in companies; and taking their ſtations in the moſt public ſtreets, and ſinging with their ſtaves in their hands, and their hats and mantles fantaſtically adorned with ſhells and emblems painted in various colours, formed a ſort of theatrical ſpectacle. At length their performances excited the charity and compaſſion of ſome citizens of Paris; who erected a theatre, in which they might exhibit their religious ſtories in a more commodious and advantageous manner, with the addition of ſcenery and other decorations. At length profeſſed practitioners in the hiſtrionic art were hired to perform theſe ſolemn mockeries of religion, which ſoon became the principal public amuſement of a devout but undiſcerning people.

To thoſe who are accuſtomed to contemplate the great picture of human follies, which the unpoliſhed ages of Europe hold up to our view, it will not appear ſurpriſing, that the people, who were forbidden to read the events of the ſacred hiſtory in the bible, in which they were faithfully and beautifully related, ſhould at the ſame time be permitted to ſee them repreſented on the ſtage, diſgraced with the groſſeſt improprieties, corrupted with inventions and additions of [374] the moſt ridiculous kind, ſullied with impurities, and expreſſed in the language and geſticulations of the loweſt farce.

On the whole, the MYSTERIES appear to have originated among the eccleſiaſtics; and were moſt probably firſt acted, at leaſt with any degree of form, by the monks. This was certainly the caſe in the Engliſh monaſteries z. I have already mentioned the play of ſaint Catharine, performed at Dunſtable abbey by the novices in the eleventh century, under the ſuperintendence of Geoffry a Pariſian eccleſiaſtic: and the exhibition of the PASSION, by the mendicant friers of Coventry and other places. Inſtances have been given of the like practice among the French a. The only perſons who could read were in the religious ſocieties: and various other circumſtances, peculiarly ariſing from their ſituation, profeſſion, and inſtitution, enabled the monks to be the ſole performers of theſe repreſentations.

As learning encreaſed, and was more widely diſſeminated from the monaſteries, by a natural and eaſy tranſition, the practice migrated to ſchools and univerſities, which were formed on the monaſtic plan, and in many reſpects reſembled the eccleſiaſtical bodies. Hence a paſſage in Shakeſpeare's HAMLET is to be explained; where Hamlet ſays to Polonius, ‘"My lord, you played once in the UNIVERSITY, you ſay."’ Polonius anſwers, ‘"That I did, my Lord, and was accounted a good actor.—I did enact Julius Ceſar, I was killed i' th' capitol b."’ Boulay obſerves, that it was a cuſtom, not only ſtill ſubſiſting, but of very high antiquity, vetuſtiſſima [375] conſuetudo, to act tragedies and comedies in the univerſity of Paris c. He cites a ſtatute of the college of Navarre at Paris, dated in the year 1315, prohibiting the ſcholars to perform any immodeſt play on the feſtivals of ſaint Nicholas and ſaint Catharine. ‘"In feſtis ſancti Nicolai et beatae Catharinae nullum ludum inhoneſtum faciant d."’ Reuchlin, one of the German claſſics at the reſtoration of antient literature, was the firſt writer and actor of Latin plays in the academies of Germany. He is ſaid to have opened a theatre at Heidelberg; in which he brought ingenuous yo [...]ths or boys on the ſtage, in the year 1498 e. In the prologue to one of his comedies, written in trimeter iambics, and printed in 1516 [...] are the following lines.

Optans poeta placere paucis verſibus,
Sat eſſe adeptum gloriae arbitratus eſt,
Si autore ſe Germaniae SCHOLA luſerit
Graecanicis et Romuleis LUSIBUS.

The firſt of Reuchlin's Latin plays, ſeems to be one entitled, SERGIUS, SEU CAPITIS CAPUT, COMOEDIA, a ſatire on bad kings or bad miniſters, and printed in 1508 f. He calls it his primiciae. It conſiſts of three acts, and is profeſſedly written in imitation of Terence. But the author promiſes, if this attempt ſhould pleaſe, that he will write INTEGRAS [376] COMEDIAS, that is comedies of five acts g. I give a few lines from the Prologue h.

Si unquam tuliſtis ad jocum veſtros pedes,
Aut ſi rei aures praebuiſtis ludicrae,
In hac nova, obſecro, poetae fabula,
Dignemini attentiores eſſe quam antea;
Non hic erit laſciviae aut libidini
Meretriciae, aut triſti ſenum curae locus,
Sed hiſtrionum exercitus et ſcommata.

For Reuch [...]in's other pieces of a like nature, the curious reader is referred to a very rare volume in quarto, PROGYMNASMATA SCENICA, ſeu LUDICRA PRAEEXERCITAMENTA varii generis. Per Joannem Bergman de Olpe, 1498. An old biographer affirms, that Conradus Celtes was the firſt who introduced into Germany the faſhion of acting tragedies and comedies in public halls, after the manner of the antients. ‘"Primus comaedias et tragaedias in publicis aulis veterum more egit i."’ Not to enter into a controverſy concerning the priority of theſe two obſcure theatrical authors, which may be ſufficiently decided for our preſent ſatisfaction by obſerving, that they were certainly cotemporaries; about the year 1500, Celtes wrote a play, or maſque, called the PLAY OF DIANA, preſented by a literary ſociety, or ſeminary of ſcholars, before the emperor Maximilian and his court. It was printed in 1502, at Nuremberg, with this title, ‘"Incipit LUDUS DYANAE, coram Maximiliano rege, per Sodalitate [...] Litt [...]rariam Damulianam in Linzi [...] k."’ It conſiſts of the [377] iambic, hexameter, and elegiac meaſures; and has five acts, but is contained in eight quarto pages. The plot, if any, is entirely a compliment to the emperor; and the perſonages, twenty-four in number, among which was the poet, are Mercury, Diana, Bacchus, Silenus drunk on his aſs, Satyrs, Nymphs, and Bacchanalians. Mercury, ſent by Diana, ſpeaks the Prologue. In the middle of the third act, the emperor places a crown of laurel on the poet's head: at the concluſion of which ceremony, the chorus ſings a panegyric in verſe to the emperor. At the cloſe of the fourth act, in the true ſpirit of a German ſhew, the imperial butlers refreſh the performers with wine out of golden goblets, with a ſymphony of horns and drums: and at the end of the play, they are invited by his majeſty to a ſumptuous banquet l.

It is more generally known, that the practice of acting Latin plays in the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, continued to Cromwell's uſurpation. The oldeſt notice I can recover of this ſort of ſpectacle in an Engliſh univerſity, is in the fragment of an antient accompt-roll of the diſſolved college of Michael-houſe in Cambridge: in which, under the year 1386, the following expence is entered. ‘"Pro ly pallio bruſdato et pro ſex larvis et barbis in comedia."’ That is, for an embroidered pall, or cloak, and ſix viſors and ſix beards, for the comedy m. In the year 1544, a Latin comedy, called PAMMACHIUS, was acted at Chriſt's college in Cambridge: which was laid before the privy council by biſhop Gardiner, chancellor of the univerſity, as a dangerous libel, containing [378] many offenſive reflections on the papiſtic ceremonies yet unaboliſhed n. The comedy of GAMMAR GURTON'S NEEDLE was acted in the ſame ſociety about the year 1552. In an original draught of the ſtatutes of Trinity college at Cambridge, founded in 1546, one of the chapters is entitled, De Proefecto Ludorum qui IMPERATOR dicitur, under whoſe direction and authority, Latin comedies and tragedies are to be exhibited in the hall at Chriſtmas; as alſo Sex SPECTACULA, or as many DIALOGUES. Another title to this ſtatute, which ſeems to be ſubſtituted by another and a more modern hand, is, De Comediis ludiſque in natali Chriſti exhibendis. With regard to the peculiar buſineſs and office of IMPERATOR, it is ordered, that one of the maſters of arts ſhall be placed over the juniors, every Chriſtmas, for the regulation of their games and diverſions at that ſeaſon of feſtivity. At the ſame time, he is to govern the whole ſociety in the hall and chapel, as a republic committed to his ſpecial charge, by a ſet of laws, which he is to frame in Latin or Greek verſe. His ſovereignty is to laſt during the twelve days of Chriſtmas, and he is to exerciſe the ſame power on Candlemas-day. During this period, he is to ſee that ſix SPECTACLES or DIALOGUES be preſented. His fee is forty ſhillings o. Probably [379] the conſtitution of this officer, in other words, a Maſter of the Revels, gave a latitude to ſome licentious enormities, incompatible with the decorum of a houſe of learning and religion; and it was found neceſſary to reſtrain theſe Chriſtmas celebrities to a more rational and ſober plan. The SPECTACULA alſo, and DIALOGUES, originally appointed, were growing obſolete when the ſubſtitution was made, and were giving way to more regular repreſentations. I believe theſe ſtatutes were reformed by queen Elizabeth's viſitors of the univerſity of Cambridge, under the conduct of archbiſhop Parker, in the year 1573. John Dee, the famous occult philoſopher, one of the firſt fellows of this noble ſociety, acquaints us, that by his advice and endeavours, both here, and in other colleges at Cambridge, this maſter of the Chriſtmas plays was firſt named and confirmed and EMPEROR. ‘"The firſt was Mr. John Dun, a very goodly man of perſon [...] habit, and complexion, and well learned alſo p."’ He alſo further informs us, little thinking how important his boyiſh attempts and exploits ſcholaſtical would appear to future ages, that in the refectory of the college, in the character of Greek lecturer, he exhibited, before the whole univerſity, the [...], or PAX, of Ariſtophanes, accompanied with a piece of machinery, for which he was taken for a conjuror: ‘"with the performance of the ſcarabeus his flying up to Jupiter's palace, with a man, and his baſket of victuals, on her back: whereat was great wondering, and many vai [...] reports ſpread abroad, of the means how that was effected q."’ The tragedy of Jepthah, from the eleventh chapter of the book of JUDGES, written both in Latin and Greek, and dedicated to king Henry the eighth, about the year 1546, by a very grave and learned divine, John Chriſtopherſon, another [380] of the firſt fellows of Trinity college in Cambridge, afterwards maſter, dean of Norwich, and biſhop of Chicheſter, was moſt probably compoſed as a Chriſtmas-play for the ſame ſociety. It is to be noted, that this play is on a religious ſubject r. Roger Aſcham, while on his travels in Flanders, ſays in one of his Epiſtles, written about 1550, that the city of Antwerp as much exceeds all other cities, as the refectory of ſaint John's college in Cambridge exceeds itſelf, when furniſhed at Chriſtmas with its theatrical apparatus for acting plays s. Or, in his own words, ‘"Quemadmodum aula Johannis, theatrali more ornata, ſeipſam poſt Natalem ſuperat t."’ In an audit-book of Trinity college in Oxford, I think for the year 1559, I find the following diſburſements relating to this ſubject. ‘"Pro apparatu in comoedia Andria, vii l. ix s. iv d. Pro prandio Principis NATALICII eodem tempor [...], xiii s. ix d. Pro refectione proefectorum et doctorum magis illuſtrium cum Burſariis prandentium tempore comoedioe, iv l. vii d."’ That is, For dreſſes and ſcenes in acting Terence's ANDRIA, for the dinner of the CHRISTMAS PRINCE, and for the entertainment of the heads of the colleges and the moſt eminent doctors dining with the burſars or treaſurers, at the time of acting the comedy, twelve pounds, three ſhillings, and eight pence. A CHRISTMAS PRINCE, or LORD OF MISRULE, correſponding to the IMPERATOR at Cambridge juſt mentioned, was a common temporary magiſtrate in the colleges at Oxford: but at Cambridge, they were cenſured in the ſermons of the puritans, in the reign of James the firſt, [381] as a relic of the pagan ritual u. The laſt article of this diſ [...]urſement ſhews, that the moſt reſpectable company in the univerſity were invited on theſe occaſions. At length our univerſities adopted the repreſentation of plays, in which the ſcholars by frequent exerciſe had undoubtedly attained a conſiderable degree of ſkill and addreſs, as a part of the entertainment at the reception of princes and other eminent perſonages. In the year 1566, queen Elizabeth viſited the univerſity of Oxford. In the magnificent hall of the college of Chriſt Church, ſhe was entertained with a Latin comedy [382] called MARC [...]S GEMINUS, the Latin tragedy of PROGNE, and an Engliſh comedy on the ſtory of Chaucer's PALAMON AND ARCITE, all acted by the ſtudents of the univerſity. The queen's obſervations on the perſons of the laſt mentioned piece, deſerve notice: as they are at once a curious picture of the romantic pedantry of the times, and of the characteriſtical turn and predominant propenſities of the queen's mind. When the play was over, ſhe ſummoned the poet into her preſence, whom ſhe loaded with thanks and compliments: and at the ſame time turning to her levee, remarked, that Palamon was ſo juſtly drawn as a lover, that he certainly muſt have been in love indeed: that Arcite was a right martial knight, having a ſwart and manly countenance, yet with the aſpect of a Venus clad in armour: that the lovely Emilia was a virgin of uncorrupted purity and unblemiſhed ſimplicity, and that although ſhe ſung ſo ſweetly, and gathered flowers alone in the garden, ſhe preſerved her chaſtity undeflowered. The part of Emilia, the only female part in the play, was acted by a boy of fourteen years of age, a ſon of the dean of Chriſt-Church, habited like a young princeſs; whoſe performance ſo captivated her majeſty, that ſhe gave him a preſent of eight guineas w. During the exhibition a cry of hounds, belonging to Theſeus, was counterfeited without, in the great ſquare of the college: the young ſtudents thought it a real chace, and were ſeized with a ſudden tranſport to join the hunters: at which the queen cried out from her box, ‘"O excellent! Theſe boys, in very troth, are ready to leap out of the windows to follow the [383] hounds x!"’ In the year 1564, queen Elizabeth honoured the univerſity of Cambridge with a royal viſit y. Here ſhe was preſent at the exhibition of the AULULARIA of Plautus, and the tragedies of DIDO, and of HEZEKIAH, in Engliſh: which were played in the body, or nave, of the chapel of King's college, on a ſtage extended from ſide to ſide, by a ſelect company of ſcholars, choſen from different colleges at the diſcretion of five doctors, ‘"eſpecially appointed to ſet forth ſuch plays as ſhould be exhibited before her grace z."’ The chapel, on this occaſion, was lighted by the royal guards; each of whom bore a ſtaff-torch in his hand a. Her majeſty's patience was ſo fatigued by the ſumptuous parade of ſhews and ſpeeches, with which every moment was occupied, that ſhe could not ſtay to ſee the AJAX of Sophocles, in Latin, which was prepared. Having been praiſed both in Latin and Greek, and in proſe and verſe, for her learning and her chaſtity, and having received more compliments than are paid to any of the paſtoral princeſſes in Sydney's ARCADIA, ſhe was happy to return to the houſes of ſome of her nobility in the neighbourhood. In the year 1583, Albertus de Alaſco, a Poliſh prince Palatine, arrived at Oxford b. In the midſt of a medley of pithy orations, tedious ſermons, degrees, dinners, diſputations, philoſophy, and fire-works, he was invited to the comedy of the RIVALES c, and the [384] tragedy of DIDO, which were preſented in Chriſt-Church hall by ſome of the ſcholars of that ſociety, and of ſaint John's college. In the latter play, Dido's ſupper, and the deſtruction of Troy, were repreſented in a marchpane, or rich cake: and the tempeſt which drove Dido and Eneas to the ſame cave, was counterfeited by a ſnow of ſugar, a hailſtorm of comfits, and a ſhower of roſe-water d. In the year 1605, king James the firſt gratified his pedantry by a viſit to the ſame univerſity e. He was preſent at three plays in Chriſt-Church hall: which he ſeems to have regarded as childiſh amuſements, in compariſon of the more ſolid delights of ſcholaſtic argumentation. Indeed, if we conſider this monarch's inſatiable thirſt of profound erudition, we ſhall not be ſurpriſed to find, that he ſlept at theſe theatrical performances, and that he ſate four hours every morning and afternoon with infinite ſatisfaction, to hear ſyllogiſms in juriſprudence and theology. The firſt play, during this ſolemnity, was a paſtoral comedy called ALBA: in which five men, almoſt naked, appearing on the ſtage as part of the repreſentation, gave great offence to the queen and the maids of honour: while the king, whoſe delicacy was not eaſily ſhocked at other times, concurred with the ladies, and availing himſelf of this lucky circumſtance, peeviſhly expreſſed his wiſhes to depart, before the piece was half finiſhed f. The ſecond play was VERTUMNUS, which although learnedly penned in Latin, and by a doctor in divinity, could not keep the king awake, who was wearied in conſequence of having executed the office of moderator all that day at [385] the diſputations in ſaint Mary's church g. The third drama was the AJAX of Sophocles, in Latin, at which the ſtage was varied three times h. ‘"The king was very wearie before he came thither, but much more wearied by it, and ſpoke many words of diſlike i."’ But I muſt not omit, that as the king entered the city from Woodſtock, he was ſaluted at the gate of ſaint John's college with a ſhort interlude, which probably ſuggeſted a hint to Shakeſpeare to write a tragedy on the ſubject of Macbeth. Three youths of the college, habited like witches, advancing towards the king, declared they were the ſame who once met the two chiefs of Scotland, Macbeth and Bancho; propheſying a kingdom to the one, and to the other a generation of monarchs: that they now appeared, a ſecond time, to his majeſty, who was deſcended from the ſtock of Bancho, to ſhew the confirmation of that prediction k. Immediately afterwards, ‘"Three young youths, in habit and attire like Nymphs, confronted him, repreſenting England, Scotland, and Ireland; and talking dialogue wiſe, each to the other, of their ſtate, at laſt concluded, yielding themſelves up to his gracious government l."’

[386] It would be unneceſſary to trace this practice in our univerſities to later periods. The poſition advanced is beſt illuſtrated by proofs moſt remote in point of time; which, on that account, are alſo leſs obvious, and more curious. I could have added other antient proofs; but I choſe to ſelect thoſe which ſeemed, from concomitant circumſtances, moſt likely to amuſe.

Many inſtances of this practice in ſchools, or in ſeminaries of an inferior nature, may be enumerated. I have before mentioned the play of ROBIN and MARIAN, performed, according to an annual cuſtom, by the ſchool-boys of Angiers in France, in the year 1392 m. But I do not mean to go abroad for illuſtrations of this part of our preſent inquiry. Among the writings of Udal, a celebrated maſter of Eton, about the year 1540, are recited Plures Comediae, and a tragedy de Papatu, on the papacy: written probably to be acted by his ſcholars. An extract from one of his comedies may be ſeen in Wilſon's LOGIKE n. In the antient CONSUETUDINARY, as it is called, of Eton-School, the following paſſage occurs. ‘"Circa feſtum divi Andreae, ludimagiſter eligere ſolet, pro ſuo arbitrio, SCENICAS FABULAS optimas et accommodatiſſimas, quas Pueri feriis Natalitiis ſubſequentibus, non ſine LUDORUM ELEGANTIA, populo ſpectante, publice aliquando peragant.—Interdum etiam exhibet Anglico ſermone contextas fabulas, ſiquae habeant acumen et leporem o."’ That is, about the feaſt of ſaint Andrew, the thirtieth day of November, the maſter is accuſtomed to chuſe, according to his own diſcretion, ſuch Latin ſtage-plays as are moſt excellent and convenient; which the boys are to act in the following Chriſtmas holidays, before a public audience, and with all the elegance of ſcenery and ornaments [387] uſual at the performance of a play. Yet he may ſometimes order Engliſh plays; ſuch, at leaſt, as are ſmart and witty. In the year 1538, Ralph Radcliffe, a polite ſcholar, and a lover of graceful elocution, opening a ſchool at Hitchin in Hertfordſhire, obtained a grant of the diſſolved friery of the Carmelites in that town: and converting the refectory into a theatre, wrote ſeveral plays, both in Latin and Engliſh, which were exhibited by his pupils. Among his comedies were Dives and Lazarus, Boccacio's Patient Griſilde, Titus and Geſippus p, and Chaucer's Melibeus: his tragedies were, the Delivery of Suſannah, the Burning of John Huſs, Job's Sufferings, the Burning of Sodom, Jonas, and the Fortitude of Judith. Theſe pieces were ſeen by the biographer Bale in the author's library, but are now loſt q. It is ſcarcely neceſſary to remind the reader, that this very liberal exerciſe is yet preſerved, and in the ſpirit of true claſſical purity, at the college of Weſtminſter r. I believe, the frequency of theſe ſchool-plays ſuggeſted to Shakeſpeare the names of Seneca and Plautus as [388] dramatic authors; where Hamlet, ſpeaking of a variety of theatrical performances, ſays, ‘"Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light s."’ Jonſon, in his comedy of THE STAPLE OF NEWES, has a ſatirical alluſion to this practice, yet ironically applied: where CENSURE ſays, ‘"For my part, I beleeve it, and there were no wiſer than I, I would have neer a cunning ſchoole-maſter in England: I mean a Cunning-man a ſchoole-maſter; that is, a conjurour, or a poet, or that had any acquaintance with a poet. They make all their ſchollers Play-boyes! Is't not a fine ſight to ſee all our children made Enterluders? Doe we pay our money for this? Wee ſend them to learne their grammar and their Terence, and they learne their playbookes. Well, they talk we ſhall have no more parliaments, god bleſſe us! But an wee have, I hope Zeale of the Land Buzzy, and my goſſip Rabby Trouble-truth, will ſtart up, and ſee we have painfull good miniſters to keepe ſchoole, and catechiſe our youth; and not teach em to ſpeake Playes, and act fables of falſe newes, &c t.’

In tracing the hiſtory of our ſtage, this early practice of performing plays in ſchools and univerſities has never been conſidered, as a circumſtance inſtrumental to the growth and improvement of the drama. While the people were amuſed with Skelton's TRIAL OF SIMONY, Bale's GOD'S PROMISES, and CHRIST'S DESCENT INTO HELL, the ſcholars of the times were compoſing and acting plays on hiſtorical ſubjects, and in imitation of Plautus and Terence. Hence ideas of a legitimate fable muſt have been imperceptibly derived to the popular and vernacular drama. And we may add, while no ſettled or public theatres were known, and plays were chiefly acted by itinerant minſtrels in the halls of the nobility at Chriſtmas, theſe literary ſocieties ſupported ſome idea of a [389] ſtage: they afforded the beſt accommodations for theatrical exhibition, and were almoſt the only, certainly the moſt rational, companies of players that exiſted.

But I mean yet to treſpaſs on my reader's patience, by purſuing this inquiry ſtill further; which, for the ſake of comprehenſion and connection, has already exceeded the limits of a digreſſion.

It is perhaps on this principle, that we are to account for plays being acted by ſinging-boys: although they perhaps acquired a turn for theatrical repreſentation and the ſpectacular arts, from their annual exhibition of the ceremonies of the boy-biſhop; which ſeem to have been common in almoſt every religious community that was capable of ſupporting a choir u. I have before given an inſtance of the ſinging-boys of Hyde abbey and ſaint Swithin's priory at [390] Wincheſter, performing a MORALITY before king Henry the ſeventh at Wincheſter caſtle, on a Sunday, in the year 1487. In the accompts of Maxtoke priory near Coventry, in the year 1430, it appears, that the eleemoſinary boys, or choriſters, of that monaſtery, acted a play, perhaps every year, on the feaſt of the Purification, in the hall of the neighbouring caſtle belonging to lord Clinton: and it is ſpecified, that the cellarer took no money for their attendance, becauſe his lordſhip's minſtrels had often aſſiſted this year at ſeveral feſtivals in the refectory of the convent, and in the hall of the prior, without fee or gratuity. I will give the article, [391] which is very circumſtantial, at length, ‘"Pro jentaculis puerorum eleemoſynae exeuntium ad aulam in caſtro ut ibi LUDUM peragerent in die Purificationis, xiv d. Unde nihil a domini [Clinton] theſaurario, quia ſaepius hoc anno miniſtralli caſtri fecerunt miniſtralſiam in aula conventus et Prioris ad feſta plurima ſine ullo regardo w."’ That is, For the extraordinary breakfaſt of the children of the almonry, or ſinging-boys of the convent, when they went to the hall in the caſtle, to perform the PLAY on the feaſt of the Purification, fourteenpence. In conſideration of which performance, we received nothing in return from the treaſurer of the lord Clinton, becauſe the minſtrels of the caſtle had often this year plaid at many feſtivals, both in the hall of the convent and in the prior's hall, without reward. So early as the year 1378, the ſcholars, or choriſters, of ſaint Paul's cathedral in London, preſented a petition to king Richard the ſecond, that his majeſty would prohibit ſome ignorant and unexperienced perſons from acting the HISTORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, to the great prejudice of the clergy of the church, who had expended conſiderable ſums for preparing a public preſentation of that play at the enſuing Chriſtmas x. From MYSTERIES this young fraternity proceeded to more regular dramas: and at the commencement of a theatre, were the beſt and almoſt only comedians. They became at length ſo favorite a ſet of players, as often to act at court: and, on particular occaſions of feſtivity, were frequently removed from London, for this purpoſe only, to the royal houſes at ſome diſtance from town. This is a circumſtance in their dramatic hiſtory, not commonly known. In the year 1554, while the princeſs Elizabeth reſided at Hatfield-houſe in Hertfordſhire, under the cuſtody of ſir Thomas Pope, ſhe was viſited by queen Mary. The next morning, after maſs, they were entertained with a grand exhibition of bear-baiting, with [392] which their highneſſes were right well content. In the evening, the great chamber was adorned with a ſumptuous ſuit of tapeſtry, called The Hanginge [...] of Antioch: and after ſupper, a play was preſented by the children of Paul's y. After the play, and the next morning, one of the children, named Maximilian Poines, ſung to the princeſs, while ſhe plaid at the virginalls z. Strype, perhaps from the ſame manuſcript chronicle, thus deſcribes a magnificent entertainment given to queen Elizabeth, in the year 1559, at Nonſuch in Surry, by lord Arundel, her majeſty's houſekeeper, or ſuperintendant, at that palace, now deſtroyed. I chuſe to give the deſcription in the words of this ſimple but pictureſque compiler. ‘"There the queen had great entertainment, with banquets, eſpecially on Sunday night, made by the ſaid earl: together with a Maſk, and the warlike ſounds of drums and flutes, and all kinds of muſick, till midnight. On Monday, was a great ſupper made for her: but before night, ſhe ſtood at her ſtanding in the further park, and there ſhe ſaw a Courſe. At night was a Play by the Children of Paul's, and their [muſic] maſter Sebaſtian. After that, a coſtly banquet, accompanied with drums and flutes. This entertainment laſted till three in the morning. And the earl preſented her majeſty a cupboard of plate a."’ In the year 1 [...]62, when the ſociety of pariſh clerks in London celebrated [393] one of their annual feaſts, after morning ſervice in Guildhall chapel, they retired to their hall; where, after dinner, a goodly play was performed by the choriſters of Weſtminſter abbey, with waits, and regals, and ſinging b. The children of the chapel-royal were alſo famous actors; and were formed into a company of players by queen Elizabeth, under the conduct of Richard Edwards, a muſician, and a writer of Interludes, already mentioned, and of whom more will be ſaid hereafter. All Lilly's plays, and many of Shakeſpeare's and Jonſon's, were originally performed by theſe boys c: and it ſeems probable, that the title given by Jonſon to one of his comedies, called CYNTHIA'S REVELS, firſt acted in 1605 ‘"by the children of her majeſties chapel, with the allowance of the Maſter of the Revels,"’ was an alluſion to this eſtabliſhment of queen Elizabeth, one of whoſe romantic names was CYNTHIA d. The general reputation which they gained, and the particular encouragement and countenance which they received from the queen, excited the jealouſy of the grown actors at the theatres: and Shakeſpeare, in HAMLET, endeavours to extenuate the applauſe which was idly indulged to their performance, perhaps not always very juſt, in the [394] following ſpeeches of Roſencrantz and Hamlet.—‘"There is an aiery of little children, little eyaſes e, that cry out on the top of the queſtion, and are moſt tyrannically clapped for't: theſe are now the faſhion, and ſo berattle the common ſtages, ſo they call them, that many wearing rapiers are afraid of gooſe quills, and dare ſcarce come thither.—Ham. What, are they children? Who maintains them? How are they eſcoted f? Will they purſue the Quality no longer than they can ſing, &c g."’ This was about the year 1599. The latter clauſe means, ‘"Will they follow the profeſſion of players, no longer than they keep the voices of boys, and ſing in the choir?"’ So Hamlet afterwards ſays to the player, ‘"Come, give us a taſte of your quality: come, a paſſionate ſpeech h."’ Some of theſe, however, were diſtinguiſhed for their propriety of action, and became admirable comedians at the theatre of Black-friers i. Among the children of queen Elizabeth's chapel, was one Salvadore Pavy, who acted in Jonſon's POETASTER, and CYNTHIA'S [395] REVELS, and was inimitable in his repreſentation of the character of an old man. He died about thirteen years of age, and is thus elegantly celebrated in one of Jonſon's epigrams.

An Epitaph on S. P. a child of queene Elizabeth's chapell.
Weep with me, all you that read
This little ſtory!
And know, for whom a teare you ſhed
DEATH'S ſelfe is ſorry.
Twas a child, that ſo did thrive
In grace and feature,
As HEAVEN and NATURE ſeem'd to ſtrive
Which own'd the creature.
Yeares he numbred ſcarce thirteene,
When Fates turn'd cruell;
Yet three fill'd zodiackes had he beene
The Stage's Jewell:
And did acte, what now we moane,
Old men ſo duely;
As, ſooth, the PARCAE thought him one,
He plaid ſo truely.
So, by errour, to his fate
They all conſented;
But viewing him ſince, alas! too late,
They have repent [...]d:
And have ſought, to give new birthe,
In bathes to ſteep him:
But, being ſo much too good for earthe,
HEAVEN vowes to keep him k.

To this eccleſiaſtical origin of the drama, we muſt refer the plays acted by the ſociety of the pariſh-clerks of London, [396] for eight days ſucceſſively, at Clerkenwell, which thenc [...] took its name, in the preſence of moſt of the nobility and gentry of the kingdom, in the years 1390, and 1409. In the ignorant ages, the pariſh-clerks of London might juſtly be conſidered as a literary ſociety. It was an eſſential part of their profeſſion, not only to ſing but to read; an accompliſhment almoſt ſolely confined to the clergy: and, on the whole, they ſeem to come under the character of a religious fraternity. They were incorporated into a guild, or fellowſhip, by king Henry the third about the year 1240, under the patronage of ſaint Nicholas. It was antiently cuſtomary for men and women of the firſt quality, eccleſiaſtics, and others, who were lovers of church-muſic, to be admitted into this corporation: and they gave large gratuities for the ſupport, or education, of many perſons in the practice of that ſcience. Their public feaſts, which I have already mentioned, were frequent, and celebrated with ſinging and muſic; moſt commonly at Guildhall chapel or college l. Before the reformation, this ſociety was conſtantly hired to aſſiſt as a choir, at the magnificent funerals of the nobility, or other diſtinguiſhed perſonages, which were celebrated within the city of London, or in its neighbourhood. The ſplendid ceremonies of their anniverſary proceſſion and maſs, in the year 1554, are thus related by Strype, from an old chronicle. ‘"May the ſixth, was a goodly evenſong at Guildhall college, by the Maſters of the CLARKS and their Fellowſhip, with ſinging and playing; and the morrow after, was a great maſs, at the ſame place, and by the ſame fraternity: when every clark offered an halfpenny. The maſs was ſung by diverſe of the queen's [Mary's] chapel and children. And after maſs done, every clark went their proceſſion, two and two together; each having on, a ſurplice and a rich cope, and a garland. And then, fourſcore [397] ſtandards, ſtreamers, and banners; and each one that bare them had an albe or a ſurplice. Then came in order the waits playing: and then, thirty clarkes, ſinging FESTA DIES. There were four of theſe choirs. Then came a canopy, borne over the Sacrament by four of the maſters of the clarkes, with ſtaffe torches burning, &c m."’ Their profeſſion, employment, and character, naturally dictated to this ſpiritual brotherhood the repreſentation of plays, eſpecially thoſe of the ſcriptural kind: and their conſtant practice in ſhews, proceſſions, and vocal muſic, eaſily accounts for their addreſs in detaining the beſt company which England afforded in the fourteenth century, at a religious farce, for more than a week.

Before I conclude this inquiry, a great part of which has been taken up in endeavouring to ſhew the connection between places of education and the ſtage, it ought to be remarked, that the antient faſhion of acting plays in the inns of court, which may be ranked among ſeminaries of inſtruction, although for a ſeparate profeſſion, is deducible from this ſource. The firſt repreſentation of this ſort which occurs on record, and is mentioned with any particular circumſtances, was at Gray's-inn. John Roos, or Roo, ſtudent at Gray's-inn, and created a ſerjeant at law in the year 1511, wrote a comedy which was acted at Chriſtmas in the hall of that ſociety, in the year 1527. This piece, which probably contained ſome free reflections on the pomp of the clergy, gave ſuch offence to cardinal Wolſey, that the author was degraded and impriſoned n. In the year 1550, under the reign of Edward the ſixth, an order was made in the ſame ſociety, that no comedies, commonly called Interludes, ſhould be acted in the refectory in the intervals of vacation, except at the celebration of Chriſtmas: and that then, the whole body of ſtudents ſhould jointly contribute towards the dreſſes, [398] ſcenes, and decorations o. In the year 1561, Sackville's and Norton's tragedy of FERREX AND PORREX was preſented before queen Elizabeth at Whitehall, by the gentlemen of the Inner Temple p. In the year 1566, the SUPPOSES, a comedy, was acted at Gray's-inn, written by Gaſcoigne, one of the ſtudents. Dekker, in his ſatire againſt Jonſon above cited, accuſes Jonſon for having ſtolen ſome jokes from the Chriſtmas plays of the lawyers. ‘"You ſhall ſweare not to bumbaſt out a new play with the old lyning of jeſtes ſtolne from the Temple-revells q."’ It the year 1632 it was ordered, in the Inner Temple, that no play ſhould be continued after twelve at night, not even on Chriſtmas-eve r.

But theſe ſocieties ſeem to have ſhone moſt in the repreſentation of Maſques, a branch of the old drama. So early as the year 1431, it was ordered, that the ſociety of Lincoln's inn ſhould celebrate four revels s, on four grand feſtivals, every year, which I conceive to have conſiſted in [399] great meaſure of this ſpecies of imperſonation. In the year 1613, they preſented at Whitehall a maſque before king James the firſt, in honour of the marriage of his daughter the princeſs Elizabeth with the prince Elector Palatine of the Rhine, at the coſt of more than one thouſand and eighty pounds t. The poetry was by Chapman, and the machinery by Jones u. But the moſt ſplendid and ſumptuous performance of this kind, plaid by theſe ſocieties, was the maſque which they exhibited at Candlemas-day, in the year 1633, at the expence of two thouſand pounds, before king Charles the firſt; which ſo pleaſed the king, and probably the queen, that he invited one hundred and twenty gentlemen of the law to a ſimilar entertainment at Whitehall on Shrove Tueſday following w. It was called the TRIUMPH OF PEACE, and written by Shirley, then a ſtudent of Gray's-inn. The ſcenery was the invention of Jones, and the muſic was compoſed by William Lawes and Simon Ives x. Some curious [400] anecdotes of this exhibition are preſerved by a cotemporary, a diligent and critical obſerver of thoſe ſeemingly inſignificant occurrences, which acquire importance in the eyes of poſterity, and are often of more value than events of greater dignity. ‘"On Monday after Candlemas-day, the gentlemen of the inns of court performed their MASQUE at Court. They were ſixteen in number, who rode through the ſtreets y, in four chariots, and two others to carry their pages and muſicians; attended by an hundred gentlemen on great horſes, as well clad as every I ſaw any [...] They far exceeded in bravery [ſplendor] any Maſque that had formerly been preſented by thoſe ſocieties, and performed the dancing part with much applauſe. In their company, was one Mr. Read of Gray's-inn; whom all the women, and ſome men, cried up for as handſome a man as the duke of Buckingham. They were well uſed at court by the king and queen. No diſguſt given them, only this one accident fell: Mr. May, of Gray's-inn, a fine poet, he who tranſlated Lucan, came athwart my lord chamberlain in the banquetting-houſe z, and he broke his ſtaff over his ſhoulders, not knowing who he was; the king preſent, who knew him, for he calls him HIS POET, and told the chamberlain of it, who ſent for him the next morning, and fairly excuſed himſelf to him, and gave him fifty pounds in pieces.—This riding-ſhew took ſo well, that both king and queen deſired to ſee it again, ſo that they invited themſelves to ſupper to my lord mayor's within a week after; and the Maſquers came in a more glorious ſhow with all the riders, which were increaſed twenty, to Merchant-taylor's Hall, and there performed again a."’ But it was not only by the parade of proceſſions, [401] and the decorations of ſcenery, that theſe ſpectacles were recommended. Some of them, in point of poetical compoſition, were eminently beautiful and elegant. Among theſe may be mentioned a maſque on the ſtory of Circe and Ulyſſes, called the INNER TEMPLE MASQUE, written by William [402] Brown, a ſtudent of that ſociety, about the year 1620 b [...] From this piece, as a ſpecimen of the temple-maſques in this view, I make no apology for my anticipation in tranſcribing the following ode, which Circe ſings as a charm to drive away ſleep from Ulyſſes, who is diſcovered repoſing under a large tree. It is addreſſed to Sleep.

THE CHARME.
Sonne of Erebus and Nighte!
Hye away, and aime thy flighte,
Where conſorte none other fowle
Than the batte and ſullen owle:
Where, upon the lymber gras,
Poppy and mandragoras,
With like ſimples not a fewe,
Hange for ever droppes of dewe:
Where flowes Lethe, without coyle,
Softly like a ſtreame of oyle.
Hye thee thither, gentle Sleepe!
With this Greeke no longer keepe.
[403] Thrice I charge thee by my wand,
Thrice with moly from my hand
Doe I touch Ulyſſes' eyes,
And with th' iaſpis. Then ariſe
Sageſt Greeke c!

In praiſe of this ſong it will be ſufficient to ſay, that it reminds us of ſome favorite touches in Milton's COMUS, to which it perhaps gave birth. Indeed one cannot help obſerving here in general, although the obſervation more properly belongs to another place, that a maſque thus recently exhibited on the ſtory of Circe, which there is reaſon to think had acquired ſome popularity, ſuggeſted to Milton the hint of a maſque on the ſtory of Comus. It would be ſuperfluous to point out minutely the abſolute ſimilarity of the two characters: they both deal in incantations conducted by the ſame mode of operation, and producing effects exactly parallel.

From this practice of performing interludes in the inns of court, we may explain a paſſage in Shakeſpeare: but the preſent eſtabliſhment of the context embarraſſes that explanation, as it perplexes the ſentence in other reſpects. In the SECOND PART OF HENRY THE FOURTH, Shallow is boaſting to his couſin Silence of his heroic exploits when he ſtudied the law at Clement's-inn. ‘"I was once of Clement's inn, where I think they will talk of mad Shallow yet. Sil. You were called luſty Shallow then, couſin. Shal. I was called any thing, and I would have done any thing, indeed too, and roundly too. There was I, and little John Doit of Staffordſhire, &c. You had not four ſuch ſwinge-bucklers in the inns of court again. We knew where all the Bona Roba's were, &c.—Oh, the mad days that I have ſpent d!"’ Falſtaffe then enters, and is recogniſed by Shallow, as his brother-ſtudent at Clement'sinn; [404] on which, he takes occaſion to reſume the topic of his juvenile frolics exhibited in London fifty years ago. ‘"She's old, and had Robin Night work, before I came to Clement's inn.—Ha, couſin Silence, that thou hadſt That that this knight and I have ſeen! Hah, Sir John, &c."’ Falſtaffe's recruits are next brought forward to be inrolled. One of them is ordered to handle his arms: when Shallow ſays, ſtill dwelling on the old favorite theme of Clement'sinn, ‘"He is not his craft-maſter, he doth not do it right. I remember at Mile-End Green, when I lay at Clement's-inn, I was then Sir Dagonet in ARTHUR'S SHOW, there was a little quiver fellow, and he would manage you his piece thus, &c."’ Does he mean, that he acted ſir Dagonet at Mile-end Green, or at Clement's-inn? By the application of a parentheſis only, the paſſage will be cleared from ambiguity, and the ſenſe I would aſſign will appear to be juſt. ‘"I remember at Mile-end Green, (when I lay at Clement's-inn, I was then Sir Dagonet in ARTHUR'S SHOW,) there was a little quiver fellow, &c."’ That is, ‘"I remember, when I was a very young man at Clement's-inn, and not fit to act any higher part than Sir Dagonet in the interludes which we uſed to play in the ſociety, that among the ſoldiers who were exerciſed in Mile-end Green, there was one remarkable fellow, &c e."’ The performance of this part of Sir Dagonet was another of Shallow's feats at Clement's-inn, on which he delights to expatiate: a circumſtance, in the mean time, quite foreign to the purpoſe of what he is ſaying, but introduced, on that account, to heighten the ridicule of his character. Juſt as he had told Silence, a little before, that he ſaw Schoggan's head broke by [...]alſtaffe at the court-gate, [405] "and the very ſame day, I did fight with one Sampſon Stockfiſh, a fruiterer, behind Gray's-inn."’ Not to mention the ſatire implied in making Shallow act Sir Dagonet, who was King Arthur's Fool. ARTHUR'S SHOW, here ſuppoſed to have been preſented at Clement's-inn, was probably an interlude, or maſque, which actually exiſted, and was very popular, in Shakeſpeare's age: and ſeems to have been compiled from Mallory's MORTE ARTHUR, or the hiſtory of king Arthur, then recently publiſhed, and the favorite and moſt faſhionable romance f.

When the ſocieties of the law performed theſe ſhews within their own reſpective refectories, at Chriſtmas, or any other feſtival, a Chriſtmas-prince, or revel-maſter, was conſtantly appointed. At a Chriſtmas celebrated in the hall of the Middle-temple, in the year 1635, the juriſdiction, privileges, and parade, of this mock-monarch, are thus circumſtantially deſcribed g. He was attended by his lord keeper, lord treaſurer, with eight white ſtaves, a captain of his band of penſioners and of his guard; and with two chaplains, who were ſo ſeriouſly impreſſed with an idea of his regal dignity, that when they preached before him on the preceding Sunday in the Temple church, on aſcending the pulpit, they ſaluted him with three low bows. He dined, both in the hall, and in his privy-chamber, under a cloth of eſtate. The pole-axes for his gentlemen penſioners were borrowed of lord Saliſbury. Lord Holland, his temporary Juſtice in Eyre, ſupplied him with veniſon, on demand: and the lord mayor and ſheriffs of London, with wine. On twelfth-day, at going to church, he received many petitions, [406] which he gave to his maſter of requeſts: And, like other kings, he had a favorite, whom, with others, gentlemen of high quality, he knighted at returning from church. His expences, all from his own purſe, amounted to two thouſand pounds h. We are alſo told, that in the year 1635, ‘"On Shrovetide at night, the lady Hatton feaſted the king, queen, and princes, at her houſe in Holborn. The Wedneſday before, the PRINCE OF THE TEMPLE invited the prince Elector and his brother to a Maſque at the Temple i, which was very compleatly fitted for the variety of the ſcenes, and excellently well performed. Thither came the queen with three of her ladies diſguiſed, all clad in the attire of citizens.—This done, the PRINCE was depoſed, but ſince the king knighted him at Whitehall k."’

But theſe ſpectacles and entertainments in our law-ſocieties, not ſo much becauſe they were romantic and ridiculous in their mode of exhibition, as that they were inſtitutions celebrated for the purpoſes of merriment and feſtivity, were ſuppreſſed or ſuſpended under the falſe and illiberal ideas of reformation and religion, which prevailed in the fanatical court of Cromwell. The countenance afforded by a polite court to ſuch entertainments, became the leading topic of animadverſion and abuſe in the miſerable declamations of the puritan theologiſts; who attempted the buſineſs of national reformation without any knowledge of the nature of ſociety, and whoſe cenſures proceeded not ſo much from principles of a purer morality, as from a narrowneſs of mind, and from that ignorance of human affairs which neceſſarily accompanies the operations of enthuſiaſm.

SECT. XVII.

[407]

WE are now arrived at the commencement of the ſixteenth century. But before I proceed to a formal and particular examination of the poetry of that century, and of thoſe that follow, ſome preliminary conſiderations of a more general nature, and which will have a reference to all the remaining part of our hiſtory, for the purpoſe of preparing the reader, and facilitating our future inquiries, appear to be neceſſary.

On a retroſpect of the fifteenth century, we find much poetry written during the latter part of that period. It is certain, that the recent introduction into England of the art of typography, to which our countrymen afforded the moſt liberal encouragement, and which for many years was almoſt ſolely confined to the impreſſion of Engliſh books, the faſhion of tranſlating the claſſics from French verſions, the growing improvements of the Engliſh language, and the diffuſion of learning among the laity, greatly contributed to multiply Engliſh compoſition, both in proſe and verſe. Theſe cauſes, however, were yet immature; nor had they gathered a ſufficient degree of power and ſtability, to operate on our literature with any vigorous effects.

But there is a circumſtance, which, among ſome others already ſuggeſted, impeded that progreſſion in our poetry, which might yet have been expected under all theſe advantages. A revolution, the moſt fortunate and important in moſt other reſpects, and the moſt intereſting that occur [...] in the hiſtory of the migration of letters, now began to take place; which, by diverting the attention of ingenious men to new modes of thinking, and the culture of new languages, introduced a new courſe of ſtudy, and gave a temporary [408] check to vernacular compoſition. This was the revival of claſſical learning.

In the courſe of theſe annals we muſt have frequently remarked, from time to time, ſtriking ſymptoms of a reſtleſs diſpoſition in the human mind to rouſe from its lethargic ſtate, and to break the bonds of barbariſm. After many imperfect and interrupted efforts, this mighty deliverance, in which the mouldering Gothic fabrics of falſe religion and falſe philoſophy fell together, was not effectually completed till the cloſe of the fifteenth century. An event, almoſt fortuitous and unexpected, gave a direction to that ſpirit of curioſity and diſcovery, which had not yet appeared in its full force and extent, for want of an object. About the year 1453, the diſperſion of the Greeks, after Conſtantinople had been occupied by the Turks, became the means of gratifying that natural love of novelty, which has ſo frequently led the way to the nobleſt improvements, by the introduction of a new language and new books [...] and totally changed the ſtate of letters in Europe l.

This great change commenced in Italy; a country, from many circumſtances, above all others peculiarly qualified and prepared to adopt ſuch a deviation. Italy, during the darkeſt periods of monaſtic ignorance, had always maintained a greater degree of refinement and knowledge than any other European country. In the thirteenth century, when the manners of Europe appear to have been overwhelmed with every ſpecies of abſurdity, its luxuries were leſs ſavage, and its public ſpectacles more rational, than thoſe of France, [409] England, and Germany. Its inhabitants were not only enriched, but enlightened, by that flouriſhing ſtate of commerce, which its commodious ſituation, aided by the combination of other concomitant advantages, contributed to ſupport. Even from the time of the irruptions of the northern barbarians, ſome glimmerings of the antient erudition ſtill remained in this country; and in the midſt of ſuperſtition and falſe philoſophy, repeated efforts were made in Italy to reſtore the Roman claſſics. To mention no other inſtances, Alberti Muſſatom of Padua, and a commander in the Paduan army againſt the Veroneſe, wrote two Latin tragedies, ECERRINIS n, or the fate of the tyrant Ecerinus of Verona, and ACHILLEIS, on the plan of the Greek drama, and in imitation of Seneca, befor [...] the year 1320. The many monuments of legitimate ſculpture and architecture preſerved in Italy, had there kept alive ideas of elegance and grace; and the Italians, from their familiarity with thoſe precious remains of antiquity, ſo early as the cloſe of the fourteenth century, had laid the rudiments of their perfection in the antient arts. Another circumſtance which had a conſiderable ſhare in cl [...]aring the way for this change, and which deſerves particular attention, was the innovation introduced into the Italian poetry by Petrarch: who, inſpired with the moſt elegant of paſſions, and cloathing his exalted feelings on that delicate ſubject in the moſt melodious and brilliant Italian verſification, had totally eclipſed the barbarous [410] beauties of the Provencial troubadours; and by this new and powerful magic, had in an eminent degree contributed to reclaim, at leaſt for a time, the public taſte, from a love of Gothic manners and romantic imagery.

In this country, ſo happily calculated for their favourable reception, the learned [...]ugitives of Greece, when their empire was now deſtroyed, found ſhelter and protection. Hither they imported, and here they interpreted, their antient writers, which had been preſerved entire at Conſtantinople. Theſe being eagerly ſtudied by the beſt Italian ſcholars, communicated a taſte for the graces of genuine poetry and eloquence; and at the ſame time were inſtrumental in propagating a more juſt and general reliſh for the Roman poets, orators, and hiſtorians. In the mean time a more elegant and ſublime philoſophy was adopted: a philoſophy more friendly to works of taſte and imagination, and more agreeable to the ſort of reading which was now gaining ground. The ſcholaſtic ſubtleties, and the captious logic of Ariſtotle, were aboliſhed for the mild and divine wiſdom of Plato.

It was a circumſtance, which gave the greateſt ſplendour and importance to this new mode of erudition, that it was encouraged by the popes: who, conſidering the encouragement of literature as a new expedient to eſtabliſh their authority over the minds of men, and enjoying an opulent and peaceable dominion in the voluptuous region of Italy, extended their patronage on this occaſion with a liberality ſo generous and unreſerved, that the court of Rome on a ſudden loſt its auſtere character, and became the ſeat of elegance and urbanity. Nicholas the fifth, about the year 1440, eſtabliſhed public rewards at Rome for compoſition in the learned languages, appointed p [...]ofeſſors in humanity, and employed intelligent perſons to traverſe all parts of Europe in ſearch of claſſic manuſcripts buried in the monaſteries o. [411] It was by means of the munificent ſupport of pope Nicholas, that Cyriac of Ancona, who may be conſidered as the firſt antiquary in Europe, was enabled to introduce a taſte for gems, medals, inſcriptions, and other curious remains of claſſical antiquity, which he collected with indefatigable labour in various parts of Italy and Greece p. He allowed Francis Philelphus, an elegant Latin poet of Italy, about 1450, a ſtipend for tranſlating Homer into Latin q. Leo the tenth, not leſs conſpicuous for his munificence in reſtoring letters, deſcended ſo far from his apoſtolical dignity, as to be a ſpectator of the POENULUS of Plautus; which was performed in a temporary theatre in the court of the capitol, by the flower of the Roman youth, with the addition of the moſt coſtly decorations r: and Leo, while he was pouring the thunder of his anathemas againſt the h [...]retical doctrines of Martin Luther, publiſhed a bulle of excommunication againſt all thoſe who ſhould dare to cenſure the poems of Arioſto. It was under the pontificate of Leo, that a perpetual indulgence was granted for rebuilding the church of a monaſtery, which poſſeſſed a manuſcript of Tacitus s. [412] It is obvious to obſerve, how little conformable, this juſt taſte, theſe elegant arts, and theſe new amuſements, proved in their conſequences to the ſpirit of the papal ſyſtem: and it is remarkable, that the court of Rome, whoſe ſole deſign and intereſt it had been for ſo many centuries, to enſlave the minds of men, ſhould be the firſt to reſtore the religious and intellectual liberties of Europe. The apoſtolical fathers, aiming at a fatal and ill-timed popularity, did not reflect, that they were ſhaking the throne, which they thus adorned.

Among thoſe who diſtinguiſhed themſelves in the exerciſe of theſe ſtudies, the firſt and moſt numerous were the Italian eccleſiaſtics. If not from principles of inclination, and a natural impulſe to follow the paſſion of the times, it was at leaſt their intereſt, to concur in forwarding thoſe improvements, which were commended, countenanced, and authoriſed, by their ſpiritual ſovereign: they abandoned the pedantries of a barbarous theology, and cultivated the pureſt models of antiquity. The cardinals and biſhops of Italy compoſed Latin verſes, and with a ſucceſs attained by none in more recent times, in imitation of Lucretius, Catullus, and Virgil. Nor would the encouragement of any other European potentate have availed ſo much, in this great work of reſtoring literature: as no other patronage could have operated with ſo powerful and immediate an influence on that order of men, who, from the nature of their education and profeſſion, muſt always be the principal inſtruments in ſupporting every ſpecies of liberal erudition.

And here we cannot but obſerve the neceſſary connection between literary compoſition and the arts of deſign. No ſooner had Italy baniſhed the Gothic ſtyle in eloquence and poetry, than painting, ſculpture, and architecture, at the ſame time, and in the ſame country, arrived at maturity, and appeared in all their original ſplendour. The beautiful or ſublime ideas which the Italian artiſts had conceived from the contemplation of antient ſtatues and antient temples, [413] were invigorated by the deſcriptions of Homer and Sophocles. Petrarch was crowned in the capitol, and Raphael was promoted to the dignity of a cardinal.

Theſe improvements were ſoon received in other countries. Laſcaris, one of the moſt learned of the Conſtantinopolitan exiles, was invited into France by Lewis the twelfth, and Francis the firſt: and it was under the latter of theſe monarch that he was employed to form a library at Fontainbleau, and to introduce Greek profeſſors into the univerſity of Paris t. Yet we find Gregory Typhernas teaching Greek at Paris, ſo early as the year 1472 x. About the ſame time, Antonius Eparchus of Corſica ſold one hundred Greek books to the emperour Charles the fifth and Francis the firſt y, thoſe great rivals, who agreed in nothing, but in promoting the cauſe of literature. Francis the firſt maintained even a Greek ſecretary, the learned Angelus Vergerius, to whom he aſſigned, in the year 1541, a penſion of four hundred livres from his exchequer z. He employed Julius Camillus to teach him to ſpeak fluently the language of Cicero and Demoſthe [...]es, in the ſpace of a month: but ſo chimerical an attempt neceſſarily proved abortive, yet it ſhewed his paſſion for letters a. In the year 1474, the parliament of Paris, who, like other public bodies, eminent for their wiſdom, could proceed on no other foundation than that of ancient forms and cuſtoms, and were alarmed at the appearance of an innovation, commanded a cargo of books, ſome of the firſt ſpecimens of typography, which were imported into Paris by a factor of the city of Mentz, to be ſeized and deſtroyed. [414] Francis the firſt would not ſuffer ſo great a diſhonour to remain on the French nation; and although he interpoſed his authority too late for a revocation of the decree, he ordered the full price to be paid for the books. This was the ſame parliament that oppoſed the reformation of the calendar, and the admiſſion of any other philoſophy than that of Ariſtotle. Such was Francis's ſollicitude to encourage the graces of a claſſical ſtyle, that he aboliſhed the Latin tongue from all public acts of juſtice, becauſe the firſt preſident of the parliament of [...] Paris had uſed a barbarous term in pronouncing ſentence b: and becauſe the Latin code and judicial proceſſes, hitherto adopted in France, familiariſed the people to a baſe Latinity. At the ſame time, he ordered theſe formularies to be turned, not into good Latin, which would have been abſurd or impoſſible, but into pure French c: a reformation which promoted the culture of the vernacular tongue. He was the firſt of the kings of France, that encouraged brilliant aſſemblies of ladies to frequent the French court: a circumſtance, which not only introduced new ſplendour and refinement into the parties and carouſals of the court of that monarchy, but gave a new turn to the manners of the French eccleſiaſtics, who of courſe attended the king, and deſtroyed much of their monkiſh pedantry d.

When we mention the ſhare which Germany took in the reſtitution of letters, ſhe needs no greater panegyric, than that her mechanical genius added, at a lucky moment, to all theſe fortunate contingencies in favour of ſcience, an admirable invention, which was of the moſt ſingular utility in facilitating the diffuſion of the antient writers over every part of Europe: I mean the art of printing. By this obſervation, I do not mean to inſinuate that Germany kept no pace with [415] her neighbours in the production of philological ſcholars. Rodolphus Langius, a canon of Munſter, and a tolerable Latin poet, after many ſtruggles with the inveterate prejudices and authoritative threats of German biſhops, and German univerſities, opened a ſchool of humanity at Munſter: which ſupplied his countrymen with every ſpecies of elegant learning, till it was overthrown by the fury of fanaticiſm, and the revolutions introduced by the barbarous reformations of the anabaptiſtic zealots, in the year 1534 u. Reuchlin, otherwiſe called Capnio, cooperated with the laudable endeavours of Langius by profeſſing Greek, before the year 1490, at Baſil w. Soon afterwards he tranſlated Homer, Ariſtophanes, Plato, Xenophon, Aeſchines, and Lucian, into Latin, and Demoſthenes into German. At Heidelberg he founded a library, which he ſtored with the choiceſt Greek manuſcripts. It is worthy to remark, that the firſt public inſtitution in any European univerſity for promoting polite literature, by which I underſtand theſe improvements in erudition, appears to have been eſtabliſhed at Vienna. In the year 1501, Maximilian the firſt, who, like Julius Ceſar, had compoſed a commentary on his own illuſtrious military achievements, founded in the univerſity of Vienna a COLLEGE of POETRY. This ſociety conſiſted of four profeſſors: one for poetry, a ſecond for oratory, and two others for mathematics. The profeſſor of poetry was ſo ſtyled, becauſe he preſided over all the reſt: and the firſt perſon appointed to this office was Conradus Celtes, one of the reſtorers of the Greek language in Germany, an elegant Latin poet, a critic on the art of Latin verſification, the firſt poet laureate of his country, and the firſt who introduced the practice of acting Latin tragedies and [416] comedies in public, after the manner of Terence e. It was the buſineſs of this profeſſor, to examine candidates in philology; and to reward thoſe who appeared to have made a diſtinguiſhed proficiency in claſſical ſtudies with a crown of laurel. Maximilian's chief and general deſign in this inſtitution, was to reſtore the languages and the eloquence of Greece and Rome f.

Among the chief reſtorers of literature in Spain, about 1490, was Antonio de Lebrixa, one of the profeſſors in the univerſity of Alacala, founded by the magnificent cardinal Ximenes, archbiſhop of Toledo. It was to the patronage of Ximenes that Lebrixa owed his celebrity g. Profoundly verſed in every ſpecies of ſacred and profane learning, and appointed to the reſpectable office of royal hiſtorian, he choſe to be diſtinguiſhed only by the name of the grammarian h; that is, a teacher of polite letters. In this department, he enriched the ſeminaries of Spain with new ſyſtems of grammar, in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; and, with a view to reduce his native tongue under ſome critical laws, he wrote comparative lexicons, in the Latin, Caſtilian, and Spaniſh languages. Theſe, at this time, were [417] plans of a moſt extraordinary nature in Spain; and placed the literature of his country, which, from the phlegmatic temper of the inhabitants was tenacious of antient forms, on a much wider baſis than before. To theſe he added a manual of rhetoric, compiled from Ariſtotle, Tully, and Quintilian: together with commentaries on Terence, Virgil, Juvenal, Perſius, and other claſſics. He was deputed by Ximenes, with other learned linguiſts, to ſuperintend the grand Complutenſian edition of the bible: and in the conduct of that laborious work, he did not eſcape the cenſure of heretical impiety for exerciſing his critical ſkill on the ſacred text, according to the ideas of the holy inquiſition, with too great a degree of preciſion and accuracy i.

Even Hungary, a country by no means unifo [...]mly advanced with other parts of Europe in the common arts of civiliſation, was illuminated with the diſtant dawning of ſcience. Mattheo Corvini, king of Hungary and Bohemia, in the fifteenth century, and who died in 1490, was a lover and a guardian of literature k. He purchaſed innumerable volumes of Greek and Hebrew writers at Conſtantinople and other Grecian cities, when they were ſacked by the Turks: and, as the operations of typography were now but imperfect, employed at Florence many learned librarians to multiply copies of claſſics, both Greek and Latin, which he could not procure in Greece l. Theſe, to the number of fifty thouſand, he placed in a tower, which he had erected in the metropolis of Buda m: and in this library he eſtabliſhed thirty amanuenſes, ſkilled in painting, illuminating, and writing: who, under the conduct of Felix Raguſinus, a [418] Dalmatian, conſummately learned in the Greek, Chaldaic, and Arabic languages, and an elegant deſigner and painter of ornaments on vellum, attended inceſſantly to the buſineſs of tranſcription and decoration n. The librarian was Bartholomew Fontius, a learned Florentine, the writer of many philological works o, and a profeſſor of Greek and oratory at Florence. When Buda was taken by the Turks in the year 1526, cardinal Bozmanni offered for the redemption of this ineſtimable collection, two hundred thouſand pieces of the Imperial money: yet without effect, for the barbarous beſiegers defaced or deſtroyed moſt of the books, in the violence of ſeizing the ſplendid covers and the ſilver boſſes and claſps with which they were enriched p. The learned Obſopaeus relates, that a book was brought him by an Hungarian ſoldier, which he had picked up, with many others, in the pillage of king Corvino's library, and had preſerved as a prize, merely becauſe the covering retained ſome marks of gold and rich workmanſhip. This proved to be a manuſcript of the ETHIOPICS of Heliodorus; from which, in the year 1534, Obſopaeus printed at Baſil the firſt edition of that elegant Greek romance q.

But as this incidental ſketch of the hiſtory of the revival of modern learning, is intended to be applied to the general ſubject of my work, I haſten to give a detail of the riſe and [419] progreſs of theſe improvements in England: nor ſhall I ſcruple, for the ſake of producing a full and uniform view, to extend the enquiry to a diſtant period.

Efforts were made in our Engliſh univerſities for the revival of critical ſtudies, much ſooner than is commonly imagined. So early as the year 1439, William Byngham, rector of Saint John Zachary in London, petitioned king Henry the ſixth, in favour of his grammar ſcholars, for whom he had erected a commodious manſion at Cambridge, called GOD'S HOUSE, and which he had given to the college of Clare-hall: to the end, that twenty-four youths, under the direction and government of a learned prieſt, might be there perpetually educated, and be from thence tranſmitted, in a conſtant ſucceſſion, into different parts of England, to thoſe places where grammar ſchools had fallen into a ſtate of deſolation r. In the year 1498, Alcock biſhop of Ely founded Jeſus College in Cambridge, partly for a certain number of ſcholars to be educated in grammar s. Yet there is reaſon to apprehend, that theſe academical pupils in grammar, with which the art of rhetoric was commonly [420] joined, inſtead of ſtudying the real models of ſtyle, were chiefly trained in ſyſtematic manuals of theſe ſciences, filled with unprofitable definitions and unneceſſary diſtinctions: and that in learning the arts of elegance, they acquired the barbarous improprieties of diction which thoſe arts were intended to remove and reform. That the foundations I have mentioned did not produce any laſting beneficial effects, and that the technical phraſeology of metaphyſics and caſuiſtry ſtill continued to prevail at Cambridge, appears from the following anecdote. In the reign of Henry the ſeventh, that univerſity was ſo deſtitute of ſkill in latinity, that it was obliged to hire an Italian, one Caius Auberinus, for compoſing the public orations and epiſtles, whoſe fee was at the rate of twenty-pence for an epiſtle t. The ſame perſon was employed to explain Terence in the public ſchools u. Undoubtedly the ſame attention to a futile philoſophy, to unintelligible elucidations of Scotus and Aquinas, notwithſtanding the acceſſions accruing to ſcience from the eſtabliſhment of the Humfredian library, had given the ſame tincture to the ordinary courſe of ſtudies at Oxford. For, about the year 1468, the univerſity of Oxford complimented Chadworth bi [...]hop of Lincoln, for his care and endeavours in reſtoring grammatical literature, which, as they repreſent, had long decayed and been forgotten in that ſeminary w.

[421] But although theſe gleams of ſcience long ſtruggled with the ſcholaſtic cloud which inveloped our univerſities, we find the culture of the claſſics embraced in England much ſooner than is ſuppoſed. Before the year 1490, many of our countrymen appear to have turned their thoughts to the revival of the ſtudy of claſſics: yet, chiefly in conſequence of their communications with Italy, and, as moſt of them were clergymen, of the encouragements they received from the liberality of the Roman pontiffs x. Millyng, abbot of Weſtminſter, about the year 1480, underſtood the Greek language: which yet is mentioned as a ſingular accompliſhment, in one, although a prelate, of the monaſtic profeſſion y. Robert Flemmyng ſtudied the Greek and Latin languages under Baptiſta Guarini at Ferrara; and at his return into England, was preferred to the deanery of Lincoln about the [422] year 1450 z. During the reign of Edward the fourth, he was at Rome; where he wrote an elegant Latin poem in heroic verſe, entitled LUCUBRATIONES TIBURTINAE, which he inſcribed to pope Sixtus his ſingular patron a. It has theſe three chaſte and ſtrong hexameters, in which he deſcribes the perſon of that illuſtrious pontiff.

Sane, quiſquis in hunc oculos converterit acr [...]is,
In facie vultuque viri ſublime videbit
Elucere aliquid, majeſtatemque verendam.

Leland aſſures us, that he ſaw in the libraries of Oxford a Greco-Latin lexicon, compiled by Flemmyng, which has eſcaped my ſearches. He left many volumes, beauti [...]ully written and richly illuminated, to Lincoln college in Oxford, where he had received his academical education b. About the ſame period, John Gunthorpe, afterwards, among other numerous and eminent promotions, dean of Wells, keeper of the privy ſeal, and maſter of King's hall in Cambridge, attended alſo the philological lectures of Guarini: and for the poliſhed latinity with which he wrote EPISTLES and ORATIONS, compoſitions at that time much in uſe and requeſt, was appointed by king Edward the fourth Latin ſecretary to queen Anne, in the year 1487 c. The manuſcripts [423] collected in Italy, which he gave to both the univerſities of England, were of much more real value, than the ſumptuous ſilver image of the virgin Mary, weighing one hundred and forty-three ounces, which he preſented to his cathedral of Wells d. William Gray imbibed under the ſame preceptors a knowledge of the beſt Greek and Roman writers: and in the year 1454, was advanced by pope Nicholas the fifth, equally a judge and a protector of ſcholars, to the biſhoprick of Ely e. This prelate employed at Venice and Florence many ſcribes and illuminators f, in preparing copies of the claſſics and other uſeful books, which he gave to the library of Baliol college in Oxford g, at that time eſteemed the beſt in the univerſity. John Phrea, or Free, an eccleſiaſtic of Briſtol, receiving information from the Italian merchants who trafficked at Briſtol, that multitudes of ſtrangers were conſtantly crouding to the capitals of Italy for inſtruction in the learned languages, paſſed over to Ferrara; where he became a fellow-ſtudent with the prelate laſt mentioned, by whoſe patronage and aſſiſtance his ſtudies were ſupported h. He tranſlated Diodorus Siculus, and many pieces of Xenophon, into Latin i. On account of the former work, he was nominated biſhop of Bath and Wells by pope Paul the ſecond, [424] but died before conſecration in the year 1464 k. His Latin Epiſtles, five of which are addreſſed to his patron the biſhop of Ely, diſcover an uncommon terſeneſs and facility of expreſſion. It was no inconſiderable teſtimony of Phrea's taſte, that he was requeſted by ſome of his elegant Italian friends, to compoſe a new epitaph in Latin elegiacs for Petrarch's tomb: the original inſcription in monkiſh rhymes, not agreeing with the new and improved ideas of Latin verſification l. William Sellynge, a fellow of All Souls college in Oxford, diſguſted with the barren and contracted circle of philoſophy taught by the irrefragable profeſſors of that ample ſeminary, acquired a familiarity with the moſt excellent antient authors, and cultivated the converſation of Politian at Bononia m, to whom he introduced the learned Linacer n. About the year 1460, he returned into England; and being elected prior of Chriſt-Church at Canterbury, enriched the library of that fraternity with an ineſtimable collection of Greek and Roman manuſcripts, which he had amaſſed in Italy o. It has been ſaid, that among theſe books, which were all ſoon afterwards accidentally conſumed by fire, there was a complete copy of Cicero's Platonic ſyſtem of politics DE REPUBLICA p. King Henry the ſeventh ſent Sellynge in [425] the quality of an envoy to the king of France: before whom he ſpoke a moſt elegant Latin oration p. It is mentioned on his monument, now remaining in Canterbury cathedral, that he underſtood Greek.

Doctor theologus Selling, GRAECA atque Latina
Lingua perdoctus.—

This is an uncommon topic of praiſe in an abbot's epitaph. William Grocyn, a fellow of New college at Oxford, purſued the ſame path about the year 1488: and having perfected his knowledge of the Greek tongue, with which he had been before tinctured, at Florence under Demetrius Chalcondylas and Politian, and at Rome under Hermolaus Barbarus, became the firſt voluntary lecturer of that language at Oxford, before the year 1490 q. Yet Polydore Virgil, perhaps only from a natural partiality to his county, affirms, that Cornelius Vitellus, an Italian of noble birth, and of the moſt accompliſhed learning, was the firſt who taught the Greek and Roman claſſics at Oxford r. Nor muſt I forget to mention John Tiptoft, the unfortunate earl of Worceſter; who, in the reign of Henry the ſixth, rivalled the moſt learned eccleſiaſtics of his age, in the diligence and felicity with which he proſecuted the politer ſtudies. At Padua, his ſingular ſkill in refined Latinity endeared him to [426] pope Pius the ſecond, and to the moſt capital ornaments of the Italian ſchool s. His Latin Letters ſtill remain, and abundantly prove his abilities and connections t. He tranſlated Cicero's dialogue on FRIENDSHIP into Engliſh u. He was the common patron of all his ingenious countrymen, who about this period were making rapid advances in a more rational and ample plan of ſtudy; and, among other inſtances of his unwearied liberality to true literature, he prepared a preſent of choſen manuſcript books, valued at five hundred marcs, for the encreaſe of the Humphredian library at Oxford, then recently inſtituted w. Theſe books appear to have been purchaſed in Italy; at that time the grand and general mart of antient authors, eſpecially the Greek claſſics x. For the Turkiſh emperors, now ſeated at [427] Conſtantinople, particularly Bajazet the ſecond, freely imparted theſe treaſures to the Italian emiſſaries, who availing themſelves of the faſhionable enthuſiaſm, traded in the cities of Greece for the purpoſe of purchaſing books, which they [428] ſold in Italy: and it was chiefly by means of this literary t [...]affic, that Coſmo and Laurence of Medici, and their munificent ſucceſſors the dukes of Florence, compoſed the famous Florentine library y.

It is obvious to remark the popularity which muſt have accrued to theſe politer ſtudies, while they thus paved the way to the moſt opulent and honourable promotions in the church: and the authority and eſtimation with which they muſt have been ſurrounded, in being thus cultivated by the moſt venerable eccleſiaſtics. It is indeed true, that the dignified clergy of the early and darker ages were learned beyond the level of the people z. Peter de Blois, ſucceſſively [429] archdeacon of Bath and London, about the year 1160, acquaints us, that the palace of Becket, archbiſhop of Canterbury, was perpetually filled with biſhops highly accompliſhed in literature: who paſſed their time there, in reading, diſputing, and deciding important queſtions of the ſtate. He adds, that theſe prelates, although men of the world, were [430] a ſociety of ſcholars: yet very different from thoſe who frequented the univerſities, in which nothing was taught but words and ſyllables, unprofitable ſubtleties, elementary ſpeculations, and trifling diſtinctions a. De Blois was himſelf eminently learned, and one of the moſt diſtinguiſhed ornaments of Becket's attendants. He tells us, that in his youth, when he learned the ARS VERSIFICATORIA, that is, philological literature, he was habituated to an urbanity of ſtyle and expreſſion: and that he was inſtituted, not in idle fables and legendary tales, but in Livy, Quintus Curtius, Suetonius, Joſephus, Trogus Pompeius, Tacitus, and other claſſical hiſtorians b. At the ſame time he cenſures with a juſt indignation, the abſurdity of training boys in the frivolous intricacies of logic and geometry, and other parts of the ſcholaſtic philoſophy; which, to uſe his own emphatical words, ‘"Nec domi, nec militiae, nec in foro, nec in clauſtro, nec in eccleſia, nec in curia, nec alicubi proſunt alicui c."’ The [431] Latin Epiſtles of De Blois, from which theſe anecdotes are taken, are full of good ſenſe, obſervations on life, elegant turns, and ingenious alluſions to the claſſics. He tells Jocelyne, biſhop of Saliſbury, that he had long wiſhed to ſee the biſhop's two nephews, according to promiſe: but that he feared he expected them as the Britons expected king Arthur, or the Jews the Meſſiah d. He deſcribes, with a livelineſs by no means belonging to the archdeacons of the twelfth century, the difficulties, diſappointments, and inconveniencies, of paying attendance at court e. In the courſe of his correſpondence, he quotes Quintilian, Cicero, Livy, Salluſt, Seneca, Virgil, Quintus Curtius, Ovid, Statius, Suetonius, Juvenal, and Horace, more frequently and familiarly than the fathers f. Horace ſeems his favorite. In one of the letters, he quotes a paſſage concerning Pompey the Great, from the Roman Hiſtory of Salluſt, in ſix books, now loſt, and which appears at preſent only in part among the fragments of that valuable hiſtorian g. In the NUGAE CURIALIUM of MAPES, or ſome other manuſcript Latin tract written by one of the ſcholars of the twelfth century, I remember to have ſeen a curious and ſtriking anecdote, which in a [432] ſhort compaſs ſhews Becket's private ideas concerning the bigottries and ſuperſtitious abſurdities of his religion. The writer gives an account of a dinner in Becket's palace; at which was preſent, among many other prelates, a Ciſtercian abbot. This abbot engroſſed almoſt the whole converſation, in relating the miracles performed by Robert, the founder of his order. Becket heard him for ſome time with a patient contempt; and at length could not help breaking out with no ſmall degree of indignation, And theſe are your miracles!

We muſt however view the liberal ideas of theſe enlightened dignitaries of the twelfth century under ſome reſtrictions. It muſt be acknowledged, that their literature was clogged with pedantry, and depreſſed by the narrow notions of the times. Their writings ſhew, that they knew not how to imitate the beauties of the antient claſſics. Exulting in an excluſive privilege, the certainly did not ſee the ſolid and popular uſe of theſe ſtudies: at leaſt they did not chuſe, or would not venture, to communicate them to the people, who on the other hand were not prepared to receive them. Any attempts of that kind, for want of aſſiſtances which did not then exiſt, muſt have been premature; and theſe lights were too feeble to diſſipate the univerſal darkneſs. The writers who firſt appeared after Rome was ravaged by the Goths, ſuch as Boethius, Prudentius, Oroſius, Fortunatius, and Sedulius, and who naturally, from that circumſtance, and becauſe they were Chriſtians, came into vogue at that period, ſtill continued in the hands of common readers, and ſuperſeded the great originals. In the early ages of Chriſtianity a ſtrange opinion prevailed, in conformity to which Arnobius compoſed his celebrated book againſt the gentile ſuperſtitions, that pagan authors were calculated to corrupt the pure theology of the goſpel. The prejudice however remained, when even the ſuſpicions of the danger were removed. But I return to the progreſs of modern letters in the fifteenth century.

SECT. XVIII.

[433]

SOON after the year 1500, Lillye, the famous grammarian, who had learned Greek at Rhodes, and had afterwards acquired a poliſhed Latinity at Rome, under Johannes Sulpicius and Pomponius Sabinus, became the firſt teacher of Greek at any public ſchool in England. This was at ſaint Paul's ſchool in London, then newly eſtabliſhed by dean Colet, and celebrated by Eraſmus; and of which Lillye, as one of the moſt exact and accompliſhed ſcholars of his age, was appointed the firſt maſter h. And that antient prejudices were now gradually wearing off, and a national taſte for critical ſtudies and the graces of compoſition began to be diffuſed, appears from this circumſtance alone: that from the year one thouſand five hundred and three to the reformation, there were more grammar ſchools, moſt of which at preſent are perhaps of little uſe and importance, founded and endowed in England, than had been for three hundred years before. The practice of educating our youth in the monaſteries growing into diſuſe, near twenty new grammar ſchools were eſtabliſhed within this period: and among theſe, Wolſey's ſchool at Ipſwich, which ſoon fell a ſacrifice to the reſentment or the avari [...]e of Henry the eighth, deſerves particular notice, as it rivalled thoſe of Wincheſter and Eton. To give ſplendor to the inſtitution [...] [434] beſide the ſcholars, it conſiſted of a dean, twelve canons, and a numerous choir i. So attached was Wolſey to the new modes of inſtruction, that he did not think it inconſiſtent with his high office and rank, to publiſh a general addreſs to the ſchoolmaſters of England, in which he orders them to inſtitute their youth in the moſt elegant literature k. It is to be wiſhed that all his edicts had been employed to ſo liberal and uſeful a purpoſe. There is an anecdote on record, which ſtrongly marks Wolſey's character in this point of view. Notwithſtanding his habits of pomp, he once condeſcended to be a ſpectator of a Latin tragedy of DIDO, from Virgil, acted by the ſcholars of ſaint Paul's ſchool, and written by John Rightwiſe, the maſter, an eminent grammarian l. But Wolſey might have pleaded the authority of pope Leo the tenth, who more than once had been preſent at one of theſe claſſical ſpectacles.

It does not however appear, that the cardinal's liberal ſentiments were in general adopted by his brother prelates. At the foundation of ſaint Paul's ſchool above-mentioned, one of the biſhops, eminent for his wiſdom and gravity, at a public aſſembly, ſeverely cenſured Colet the founder for ſuffering the Latin poets to be taught in the new ſtructure, which he ther [...]fore ſtyled a houſe of pagan idolatry m.

In the year 1517, Fox, biſhop of Wincheſter, founded a college at Oxford, in which he conſtituted, with competent ſtipends, two profeſſors for the Greek and Latin languages n. Although ſome ſlight idea of a claſſical lecture had already appeared at Cambridge in the ſyſtem of collegiate diſcipline o, [435] this philological eſtabliſhment may juſtly be looked upon, as the firſt conſpicuous inſtance of an attempt to depart from the narrow plan of education, which had hitherto been held ſacred in the univerſities of England. The courſe of the Latin profeſſor, who is expreſſly directed to extirpate BARBARISM from the new ſociety p, is not confined to the private limits of the college, but open to the ſtudents of Oxford in general. The Greek lecturer is ordered to explain the beſt Greek claſſics: and the poets, hiſtorians, and orators, in that language, which the judicious founder, who ſeems of have conſulted the moſt intelligent ſcholars of the times, recommends by name on this occaſion, are the pureſt, and ſuch as are moſt eſteemed even in the preſent improved ſtate of antient learning. And it is at the ſame time worthy of remark, that this liberal prelate, in forming his plan of ſtudy, does not appoint a philoſophy-lecturer in his college, as had been the conſtant practice in moſt of the previous foundations: perhaps ſuſpecting, that ſuch an endowment would not have coincided with his new courſe of erudition, and would have only ſerved to encourage that ſpecies of doctrine, which had ſo long choaked the paths of ſcience, and obſtructed the progreſs of uſeful knowledge [...]

Theſe happy beginnings in favour of new and a rational ſyſtem of academical education, were ſeconded by the auſpicious munificence of cardinal Wolſey. About the year 1519, he founded a public chair at Oxford, for rhetoric and humanity, and ſoon afterwards another for teaching the Greek language; endowing both with ample ſalaries q. About [436] the year 1524, king Henry the eighth, who deſtroyed or advanced literary inſtitutions from caprice, called Robert Wakefield, originally a ſtudent of Cambridge, but now a profeſſor of humanity at Tubingen in Germany, into England, that one of his own ſubjects, a linguiſt of ſo much celebrity, might no longer teach the Greek and oriental languages abroad: and when Wakefield appeared before the king, his majeſty lamented, in the ſtrongeſt expreſſions of concern, the total ignorance of his clergy and the univerſities in the learned tongues; and immediately aſſigned him a competent ſtipend for opening a lecture at Cambridge, in this neceſſary and neglected department of letters r. Wakefield was afterwards a preſerver of many copies of the Greek claſſics, in the havock of the religious houſes. It is recorded by Fox, the martyrologiſt, as a memorable occurrence s, and very deſervedly, that about the ſame time, Robert Barnes, prior of the Auguſtines at Cambridge, and educated at Louvain, with the aſſiſtance of his ſcholar Thomas Parnell, explained within the walls of his own monaſtery, Plautus, Terence, and Cicero, to thoſe academics who ſaw the utility of philology, and were deſirous of deſerting the Gothic philoſophy. It may ſeem at firſt ſurpriſing, that Fox, a weak and prejudiced writer, ſhould allow any merit to a catholic: but Barnes afterwards appears to have been one of Fox's martyrs, and was executed at the ſtake in Smithfield for a defence of Lutheraniſm.

But theſe innovations in the ſyſtem of ſtudy were greatly diſcouraged and oppoſed by the friends of the old ſcholaſtic circle of ſciences, and the bigotted partiſans of the catholic communion, who ſtigmatiſed the Greek language by the name of hereſy. Even biſhop Fox, when he founded the [437] Greek lecture abovementioned, that he might not appear to countenance a dangerous novelty, was obliged to cover his excellent inſtitution under the venerable mantle of the authority of the church. For as a ſeeming apology for what he had done, he refers to a canonical decree of pope Clement the fifth, promulged in the year 1311, at Vienne in Dauphine, which enjoined, that profeſſors of Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, ſhould be inſtituted in the univerſities of Oxford, Paris, Bononia, Salamanca, and in the cout of Rome t. It was under the force of this eccleſiaſtical conſtitution, that Gregory Typhernas, one of the learned Greek exiles, had the addreſs to claim a ſtipend for teaching Greek in the univerſity of Paris u. We cannot but wonder at the ſtrange diſagreement in human affairs between cauſe and effect, when we conſider, that this edict of pope Clement, which originated from a ſuperſtitious reverence annexed to two of theſe languages, becauſe they compoſed part of the ſuperſcription on the croſs of Chriſt, ſhould have ſo ſtrongly counteracted its own principles, and proved an inſtrument in the reformation of religion.

The univerſity of Oxford was rent into factions on account of theſe bold attempts; and the advocates of the recent improvements, when the gentler weapons of perſuaſion could not prevail, often proceeded to blows with the rigid champions of the ſchools. But the facetious diſpoſition of [438] ſir Thomas More had no ſmall ſhare in deciding this ſingular controverſy, which he treated with much ingenious ridicule w. Eraſmus, about the ſame time, was engaged in attempting theſe reformations at Cambridge: in which, notwithſtanding the mildneſs of his temper and conduct, and the general luſtre of his literary character, he met with the moſt obſtinate oppoſition. He expounded the Greek grammar of Chryſ [...]loras in the public ſchools without an audience x: and having, with a view to preſent the Grecian literature in the moſt ſpecious and agreeable form by a piece of pleaſantry, tranſlated Lucian's lively dialogue called ICAROMENIPPUS, he could find no ſtudent in the univerſity capable of tranſcribing the Greek with the Latin y. His edition of the Greek teſtament, the moſt commodious that had yet appeared, was abſolutely proſcribed at Cambridge: and a programma was iſſued in one of the moſt ample colleges, threatening a ſevere fine to any member of the ſociety, who ſhould be detected in having ſo fantaſtic and impious a book in his poſſeſſion z. One Henry Standiſh, a doctor in divinity and a mendicant frier, afterwards biſhop of ſaint Aſaph, was a vehement adverſary of Eraſmus in the promotion of this heretical literature; whom he called in a declamation, by way of reproach, Graeculus iſt [...], which ſoon became a ſynonymous appellation for an heretic a. Yet it ſhould be remembered, that many Engliſh prelates patroniſed Eraſmus; and that one of our archbiſhops was at this time ambi [...]ious of learning Greek b.

[439] Even the public diverſions of the court took a tincture from this growing attention to the languages, and aſſumed a claſſical air. We have before ſeen, that a comedy of Plautus was acted at the royal palace of Greenwich in the year 1520. And when the French ambaſſadors with a moſt ſplendid ſuite of the French nobility were in England for the ratification of peace in the year 1514, amid the moſt magnificent banquets, tournaments, and maſques, exhibited at the ſame palace, they were entertained with a Latin interlude; or, to uſe the words of a cotemporary writer, with ſuch an ‘"excellent Interlude made in Latin, that I never heard the like; the actors apparel being ſo gorgious, and of ſuch ſtrange devices, that it paſſes my capacitie to relate them c."’

Nor was the protection of king Henry the eighth, who notwithſtanding he had attacked the opinions of Luther, yet, from his natural livelineſs of temper and a love of novelty, thought favourably of the new improvements, of inconſiderable influence in ſupporting the reſtoration of the Greek language. In 1519, a preacher at the public church of the univerſity of Oxford, harangued with much violence, and in the true ſpirit of the antient orthodoxy, againſt the doctrines inculcated by the new profeſſors: and his arguments were canvaſſed among the ſtudents with the greateſt animoſity. But Henry, being reſident at the neighbouring royal manor of Woodſtock, and having received a juſt detail of the merits of this diſpute from Pace and More, interpoſed his uncontrovertible authority; and tranſmitting a royal mandate to the univerſity, commanded that the ſtudy of the ſcriptures in their original languages ſhould not only be permitted for the future, but received as a branch of the academical inſtitution d. Soon afterwards, one of the king's [440] chaplains preaching at court, took an opportunity to cenſure the genuine interpretations of the ſcriptures, which the Grecian learning had introduced. The king, when the ſermon was ended, to which he had liſtened with a ſmile of contempt, ordered a ſolemn diſputation to be held, in his own preſence: at which the unfortunate preacher oppoſed, and ſir Thomas More, with his uſual dexterity, defended, the utility and excellence of the Greek language. The divine, who at leaſt was a good courtier, inſtead of vindicating his opinion, inſtantly fell on his knees, and begged pardon for having given any offence in the pulpit before his majeſty. However, after ſome ſlight altercation, the preacher, by way of making ſome ſort of conceſſion in form, ingenuouſly declared, that he was now better reconciled to the Greek tongue, becauſe it was derived from the Hebrew. The king, aſtoniſhed at his ridiculous ignorance, diſmiſſed the chaplain, with a charge, that he ſhould never again preſume to preach at court e. In the grammatical ſchools eſtabliſhed in all the new cathedral foundations of this king, a maſter is appointed, with the uncommon qualification of a competent ſkill in both the learned languages f. In the year 1523, Ludovicus Viv [...]s, having dedicated his commentary on Auſtin's DE CIVITATE DEI to Henry the eighth, was invited into England, and read lectures at Oxford in juriſprudence and humanity; which were countenanced by the preſence, not only of Henry, but of queen Catharine and ſome of the principal nobility g. At length antient abſurdities univerſally gave way to theſe encouragements. Even the vernacular language [441] began to be cultivated by the more ingenious clergy. Colet, dean of ſaint Paul's, a divine of profound learning, with a view to adorn and improve the ſtyle of his diſcourſes, and to acquire the graces of an elegant preacher, employed much time in reading Gower, Chaucer, and Lydgate, and other Engliſh poets, whoſe compoſitions had embelliſhed the popular diction h. The practice of frequenting Italy, for the purpoſe of acquiring the laſt poliſh to a Latin ſtyle both in eloquence and poetry, ſtill continued in vogue; and was greatly promoted by the connections, authority, and good taſte, of cardinal Pole, who conſtantly reſided at the court of Rome in a high character. At Oxford, in particular, theſe united endeavours for eſtabliſhing a new courſe of liberal and manly ſcience, were finally conſummated in the magnificent foundation of Wolſey's college, to which all the accompliſhed ſcholars of every country in Europe were invited; and for whoſe library, tranſcripts of all the valuable manuſcripts which now fill the Vatican, were deſigned i.

But the progreſs of theſe proſperous beginnings was ſoon obſtructed. The firſt obſtacle I ſhall mention, was, indeed, but of ſhort duration. It was however an unfavourable circumſtance, that in the midſt of this career of ſcience, Henry, who had ever been accuſtomed to gratify his paſſions at any rate, ſued for a divorce againſt his queen Catharine. The legality of this violent meaſure being agitated with much deliberation and ſolemnity, wholly engroſſed the attention of many able philologiſts, whoſe genius and acquiſitions were deſtined to a much nobler employment; and tended to revive for a time the frivolous ſubtleties of caſuiſtry and theology.

But another cauſe which ſuſpended the progreſſion of theſe letters, of much more importance and extent, ultimately moſt [442] happy in its conſequences, remains to be mentioned. The enlarged conceptions acquired by the ſtudy of the Greek and Roman writers ſeem to have reſtored to the human mind a free exertion of its native operations, and to have communicated a certain ſpirit of enterpriſe in examining every ſubject: and at length to have releaſed the intellectual capacity of mankind from that habitual ſubjection, and that ſervility to ſyſtem, which had hitherto prevented it from advancing any new principle, or adopting any new opinion. Hence, under the concurrent aſſiſtance of a preparation of circumſtances, all centering in the ſame period, aroſe the reformation of religion. But this defection from the catholic communion, alienated the thoughts of the learned from thoſe purſuits by which it was produced; and diverted the ſtudies of the moſt accompliſhed ſcholars, to inquiries into the practices and maxims of the primitive ages, the nature of civil and eccleſiaſtical juriſdiction, the authority of ſcripture and tradition, of popes, councils, and ſchoolmen: topics, which men were not yet qualified to treat with any degree of penetration, and on which the ideas of the times unenlightened by philoſophy, or warped by prejudice and paſſion, were not calculated to throw juſt and rational illuſtrations. When the bonds of ſpiritual unity were once broken, this ſeparation from an eſtabliſhed faith ended in a variety of ſubordinate ſects, each of which called forth its reſpective champions into the field of religious contention. The ſeveral princes of chriſtendom were politically concerned in theſe diſputes; and the courts in which poets and orators had been recently careſſed and rewarded, were now filled with that moſt deplorable ſpecies of philoſophers, polemical metaphyſicians. The public entry of Luther into Worms, when he had been ſummoned before the diet of that city, was equally ſplendid with that of the emperor Charles the fifth k. Rome in return, [443] rouſed from her deep repoſe of ten centuries, was compelled to vindicate her inſulted doctrines with reaſoning and argument. The profound inveſtigations of Aquinas once more triumphed over the graces of the Ciceronian urbanity; and endleſs volumes were written on the expediency of auricular confeſſion, and the exiſtence of purgatory. Thus the cauſe of polite literature was for awhile abandoned; while the nobleſt abilities of Europe were waſted in theological ſpeculation, and abſorbed in the abyſs of controverſy. Yet it muſt not be forgotten, that wit and raillery, drawn from the ſources of elegant erudition, were ſometimes applied, and with the greateſt ſucceſs, in this important diſpute. The lively colloquies of Eraſmus, which expoſed the ſuperſtitious practices of the papiſts, with much humour, and in pure Latinity, made more proteſtants than the ten tomes of John Calvin. A work of ridicule was now a new attempt: and it ſhould be here obſerved, to the honour of Eraſmus, that he was the firſt of the literary reformers who tried that ſpecies of compoſition, at leaſt with any degree of popularity. The polite ſcholars of Italy had no notion that the German theologiſts were capable of making their readers laugh: they were now convinced of their miſtake, and ſoon found that the German pleaſantry prepared the way for a revolution, which proved of the moſt ſerious conſequence to Italy.

Another great temporary che [...]k given to the general ſtate of letters in England at this period, was the diſſolution of the monaſteries. Many of the abuſes in civil ſociety are attended with ſome advantages. In the beginnings of reformation, the loſs of theſe advantages is always felt very ſenſibly: while the benefit ariſing from the change is the ſlow effect of time, and not immediately perceived or enjoyed. Scarce any inſtitution can be imagined leſs favorable to the intereſts of mankind than the monaſtic. Yet theſe ſeminaries, although they were in a general view the nurſeries [444] of illiterate indolence, and undoubtedly deſerved to be [...]uppreſſed under proper reſtrictions, contained invitations and opportunities to ſtudious leiſure and literary purſuits. On this event therefore, a viſible revolution and decline in the national ſtate of learning ſucceeded. Moſt of the youth of the kingdom betook themſelves to mechanical or other illiberal employments, the profeſſion of letters being now ſuppoſed to be without ſupport and reward. By the abolition of the religious houſes, many towns and their adjacent villages were utterly deprived of their only means of inſtruction. At the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, Williams, ſpeaker of the houſe of commons, complained to her majeſtry, that more than an hundred flouriſhing ſchools were deſtroyed in the demolition of the monaſteries, and that ignorance had prevailed ever ſince l. Provincial ignorance, at leaſt, became univerſal, in conſequence of this haſty meaſure of a rapacious and arbitrary prince. What was taught in the monaſteries, was not always perhaps of the greateſt importance, but ſtill it ſerved to keep up a certain degree of neceſſary knowledge m. Nor ſhould it be forgot, that many of the abbots were learned, [445] and patrons of literature; men of public ſpirit, and liberal views. By their connections with parliament, and the frequent embaſſies to foreign courts in which they were employed, they became acquainted with the world, and the improvements of lif [...]: and, knowing where to chuſe proper objects, and having no other uſe for the ſuperfluities of their vaſt revenues, encouraged in their reſpective circles many learned young men. It appears to have been cuſtomary for the governors of the moſt conſiderable convents, eſpecially thoſe that were honoured with the mitre, to receive into their own private lodgings the ſons of the principal families of the neighbourhood for education. About the year 1450, Thomas Bromele, abbot of the mitred monaſtery of Hyde near Wincheſter, entertained in his own abbatial houſe within that monaſtery, eight young gentlemen, or gentiles pueri, who were placed there for the purpoſe of literary inſtruction, and conſtantly dined at the abbot's table. I will not ſcruple to give the original words, which are more particular and expreſſive, of the obſcure record which preſerves this curious anecdote of monaſtic life. ‘"Pro octo gentilibus pueris apud dominum abbatem ſtudii cauſa perhendinantibus, et ad menſam domini victitantibus, cum garcionibus ſuis ipſos comitantibus, hoc anno, xvii l. ix s. Capiendo pro ... n"’ This, by the way, was more extraordinary, as William of Wykeham's celebrated ſeminary was ſo near [...] And this ſeems to have been an eſtabliſhed practice of the abbot of Glaſtonbury: ‘"whoſe apartment in the abbey was a kind of well-diſciplined court, where the ſons of noblemen and young gentlemen were wont to be ſent for virtuous education, who returned thence home excellently accompliſhed o."’ Richard Whiting, the laſt [446] abbot of Glaſtonbury, who was cruelly executed by the king, during the courſe of his government, educated near three hundred ingenuous youths, who conſtituted a part of his family: b [...]ſide many others whom he liberally ſupported at the univerſities p. Whitgift, the moſt excellent and learned archbiſhop of Canterbury in the reign of queen Elizabeth, was educated under Robert Whitgift his uncle, abbot of the Auguſtine monaſtery of black canons at Wellhow in Lincolnſhire: who, ‘"ſays Strype, had ſeveral other young gentlemen under his care for education q."’ That, at the reſtoration of literature, many of theſe dignitaries were eminently learned, and even zealous promoters of the new improvements, I could bring various inſtances. Hugh Farringdon, the laſt abbot of Reading, was a polite ſcholar, as his Latin epiſtles addreſſed to the univerſity of Oxford abundantly teſtify r. Nor was he leſs a patron of critical ſtudies. Leonard Coxe, a popular philological writer in the reign of Henry the eighth, both in Latin and Engliſh, and a great traveller, highly celebrated by the judicious Leland for his elegant accompliſhments in letters, and honoured with the affectionate correſpondence of Eraſmus, dedicates to this abbot, his ARTE OR CRAFTE OF RHETORICKE, printed in the year 1524, at that time a work of an unuſual nature s. Wakefield abovementioned, a very capital Greek and oriental ſcholar, in his DISCOURSE ON THE EXCELLENCY AND UTILITY OF THE THREE LANGUAGES, written in the year 1524, celebrates William Fryſſell, prior of the cathedral Benedictine convent at Rocheſter, as a diſtinguiſhed judge and encourager of critical literature t. Robert Shirwoode, an Engliſhman, but a profeſſor of Greek and Hebrew at Louvaine, [447] publiſhed a new Latin tranſlation of ECCLESIASTES, with critical annotations on the Hebrew text, printed at Antwerp in 1523 u. This, in an elegant Latin epiſtle, he dedicates to John Webbe, prior of the Benedictine cathedral convent at Coventry; whom he ſtyles, for his ſingular learning, and attention to the general cauſe of letters, MONACHORUM DECUS. John Batmanſon, prior of the Carthuſians in London, controverted Eraſmus's [...] commentary on the new Teſtament with a degee of ſpirit and erudition, which was unhappily miſapplied, and would have done honour to the cauſe of his antagoniſt w. He wrote many other pieces; and was patroniſed by Lee, a learned archbiſhop of York, who oppoſed Eraſmus, but allowed Aſcham a penſion x. Kederminſter, abbot of Winchcombe in Glouceſterſhire, a traveller to Rome, and a celebrated preacher before king Henry the eighth, eſtabliſhed regular lectures in his monaſtery, for explaining both ſcriptures in their original languages; which were ſo generally frequented, that his little cloiſter acquired the name and reputation of a new univerſity y. He was maſter of a terſe and perſpicuous Latin ſtyle, as appears from a fragment of the HISTORY OF WYNCHCOMB ABBEY [...] written by himſelf z. His erudition is atteſted in an epiſtle from the univerſity to king Henry the eighth a. Longland, biſhop of Lincoln, the moſt eloquent preacher of his time, [448] in the dedication to Kederminſter, of five quadrageſimal ſermons, delivered at court, and printed by Pinſon in the year 1517, inſiſts largely on his SINGULARIS ERUDITIO, and other ſhining qualifications.

Before we quit the reign of Henry the eighth, in this review of the riſe of modern letters, let us turn our eyes once more on the univerſities; which yet do not always give the tone to the learning of a nation b. In the year 1531, the learned Simon Grynaeus viſited Oxford. By the intereſt of Claymund, [449] preſident of Corpus Chriſti college, an admirable ſcholar, a critical writer, and the general friend and correſpondent of the literary reformers, he was admitted to all the libraries of the univerſity; which, he ſays, were about twenty in number, and amply furniſhed with the books of antiquity. Among theſe he found numerous manuſcripts of Proclus on Plato, many of which he was eaſily permitted to carry abroad by the governors of the colleges, who did not know the value of theſe treaſures c. In the year 1535, the king ordered lectures in humanity, inſtitutions which have their uſe for a time, and while the novelty laſts, to be founded in thoſe colleges of the univerſity, where they were yet wanting: and theſe injunctions were ſo warmly approved by the ſcholars in the largeſt ſocieties, that they ſeized on the venerable volumes of Duns Scotus and other irrefragable logicians, in which they had ſo long toiled without the attainment of knowledge, and tearing them in pieces, diſperſed them in great triumph about their quadrangles, or gave them away as uſeleſs lumber d. The king himſelf alſo eſtabliſhed ſome public lectures with large endowments e. Notwithſtanding, the number of ſtudents at Oxford daily decreaſed: inſomuch, that in 1546, not becauſe a general cultivation of the new ſpecies of literature was increaſed, there were only ten inceptors in arts, and three in theology and juriſprudence f.

As all novelties are purſued to exceſs, and the moſt beneficial improvements often introduce new inconveniencies, ſo this univerſal attention to polite literature deſtroyed philoſophy. [450] The old philoſophy was aboliſhed, but a new one was not adopted in its ſtead. At Cambridge we now however find the antient ſcientific learning in ſome degree reformed, by the admiſſion of better ſyſtems.

In the injunctions given by Henry to that univerſity in the year 1535, for the reformation of ſtudy, the dialectics of Rodolphus Agricola, the great favorite of Eraſmus, and the genuine logic of Ariſtotle, are preſcribed to be taught, inſtead of the barren problems of Scotus and Burlaeus g. By the ſame edict, theology and cauſuiſtry were freed from many of their old incumbrances and perplexities: degrees in the canon law were forbidden; and heavy penalties were impoſed on thoſe academics, who relinquiſhed the ſacred text, to explain the tedious and unedifying commentaries on Peter Lombard's ſcholaſtic cyclopede of divinity, called the SENTENCES, which alone were ſufficient to conſtitute a moderate library. Claſſical lectures were alſo directed, the ſtudy of words was enforced, and the books of Melancthon, and other ſolid and elegant writers of the reformed party, recommended. The politer ſtudies, ſoon afterwards, ſeem to have riſen into a flouriſhing ſtate at Cambridge. Biſhop Latimer complains, that there were now but few who ſtudied divinity in that univerſity h. But this is no proof of a decline of learning in that ſeminary. Other purſuits were now gaining ground there; and ſuch as in fact were ſubſervient to theological truth, and to the propagation of the reformed religion. Latimer himſelf, whoſe diſcourſes from the royal pulpit appear to be barbarous beyond their age, in ſtyle, manner, and argument, is an example of the neceſſity of the ornamental ſtudies to a writer in divinity. The [451] Greek language was now making conſiderable advances at Cambridge, under the inſtruction of Cheke and Smith; notwithſtanding the interruptions and oppoſition of biſhop Gardiner, the chancellor of the univerſity, who loved learning but hated novelties, about the proprieties of pronunciation. But the controverſy which was agitated on both ſides with much erudition, and produced letters between Cheke and Gardiner equal to large treatiſes, had the good effect of more fully illuſtrating the point in debate, and of drawing the general attention to the ſubject of the Greek literature i. Perhaps biſhop Gardiner's intolerance in this reſpect was like his perſecuting ſpirit in religion, which only made more heretics. Aſcham obſerves, with no ſmall degree of triumph, that inſtead of Plautus, Cicero, Terence, and Livy, almoſt the only claſſics hitherto known at Cambridge, a more extenſive field was opened; and that Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, Demoſthenes, Xenophon, an Iſocrates, were univerſally and critically ſtudied k. But Cheke being ſoon called away to the court, his auditors relapſed into diſſertations on the doctrines of original ſin and predeſtination; and it was debated with great obſtinacy and acrimony, whether thoſe topics had been moſt ſucceſsfully handled by ſome modern German divines or ſaint Auſtin l. Aſcham obſerves, that at Oxford, a decline of taſte in both languages was indicated, by a preference of Lucian, Plutarch, and Herodian, in Greek, and of Seneca, Gellius, and Apuleius, in Latin, to the more pure, antient, and original writers, of Greece and Rome m. At length, [452] both univerſities ſeem to have been reduced to the ſame deplorable condition of indigence and illiteracy.

It is generally believed, that the reformation of religion in England, the moſt happy and important event of our annals, was immediately ſucceeded by a flouriſhing ſtate of letters. But this was by no means the caſe. For a long time afterwards an effect quite contrary was produced. The reformation in England was completed under the reign of Edward the ſixth. The rapacious courtiers of this young prince were perpetually graſping at the rewards of literature; which being diſcouraged or deſpiſed by the rich, was neglected by thoſe of moderate fortunes. Avarice and zeal were at once gratified in robbing the clergy of their revenues, and in reducing the church to its primitive apoſtolical ſtate of purity and poverty n. The opulent ſee of Wincheſter was lowered to a bare title: its ampleſt eſtates were portioned out to the laity; and the biſhop, a creature of the protector Somerſet, was contented to receive an inconſiderable annual ſtipend from the exchequer. The biſhoprick of Durham, almoſt equally rich, was entirely diſſolved. A favorite nobleman of the court occupied the deanery and treaſurerſhip of a cathedral with ſome of its beſt canonries o. The miniſters of this abuſed monarch, by theſe arbitrary, diſhoneſt, and imprudent meaſures, only provided inſtruments, and furniſhed arguments, for reſtoring in the ſucceeding reign that ſuperſtitious religion, which they profeſſed to deſtroy. By thus impoveriſhing the eccleſiaſtical dignities, they countenanced the clamours of the catholics; who declared, that the reformation was apparently founded on temporal views, and that the proteſtants pretended to oppoſe the doctrines of the church, ſolely with a view that they might ſhare in the plunder of its revenues. In every one of theſe ſacrilegious robberies the intereſt of [453] learning alſo ſuffered. Exhibitions and penſions were, in the mean time, ſubſtracted from the ſtudents in the univerſities p. Aſcham, in a letter to the marquis of Northampton, dated 1550, laments the ruin of grammar ſchools throughout England; and predicts the ſpeedy extinction of the univerſities from this growing calamity q. At Oxford the public ſchools were neglected by the profeſſors and pupils, and allotted to the loweſt purpoſes r. Academical degrees were abrogated as antichriſtian s. Reformation was ſoon turned into fanaticiſm. Abſurd refinements, concerning the inutility of human learning, were ſuperadded to the juſt and rational purgation of chriſtianity from the papal corruptions. The ſpiritual reformers of theſe enlightened days, at a viſitation of the laſt-mentioned univerſity, proceeded ſo far in their ideas of a ſuperior rectitude, as totally to ſtrip the public library, eſtabliſhed by that munificent patron Humphrey duke o [...] Glouceſter, of all its books and manuſcripts t.

I muſt not, however, forget, as a remarkable ſymptom of an attempt now circulating to give a more general and unreſerved diffuſion of ſcience, that in this reign, Thomas Wilſon, originally a fellow of King's college in Cambridge, preceptor to Charles and Henry Brandon dukes of Suffolk, dean of Durham, and chief ſecretary to the king, publiſhed a ſyſtem a rhetoric and of logic, in Engliſh u. This diſplay of the venerable myſteries of the latter of theſe arts in a vernacular language, which had hitherto been confined within the ſacred pale of the learned tongues, was eſteemed [454] an innovation almoſt equally daring with that of permitting the ſervice of the church to be celebrated in Engliſh: and accordingly the author, ſoon afterwards happening to viſit Rome, was incarcerated by the inquiſitors of the holy ſee, as a preſumptuous and dangerous heretic.

It is with reluctance I enter on the bloody reign of the relentleſs and unamiable Mary; whoſe many dreadful martyrdoms of men eminent for learning and piety, ſhock our ſenſibility with a double degree of horrour, in the preſent ſoftened ſtate of manners, at a period of ſociety when no po [...]entate would inflict executions of ſo ſevere a nature, and when it would be difficult to find devotees hardy enough to die for difference of opinion. We muſt, however, acknowledge, that ſhe enriched both univerſities with ſome conſiderable benefactions: yet theſe donations ſeem to have been made, not from any general or libe [...]al principle of advancing knowledge, but to repair the breaches of reformation, and to ſtrengthen the return of ſuperſtition. It is certain, that her reſtoration of popery, together with the monaſtic inſtitution, its proper appendage, muſt have been highly pernicious to the growth of polite erudition. Yet although the elegant ſtudies were now beginning to ſuffer a new relapſe, in the midſt of this reign, under the diſcouragement of all theſe inauſpicious and unfriendly circumſtances, a college was eſtabliſhed at Oxford, in the conſtitution of which, the founder principally inculcates the uſe and neceſſity of claſſical literature; and recommends it as the moſt important and leading object in that ſyſtem of academical ſtudy, which he preſcribes to the youth of the new ſociety w. For, beſide a lecturer in philoſophy appointed for the ordinary purpoſe of teaching the ſcholaſtic ſciences, he eſtabliſhes in this ſeminary a teacher of humanity. The buſineſs of this preceptor is deſcribed with a particularity not uſual in the conſtitutions [455] given to collegiate bodies of this kind, and he is directed to exert his utmoſt diligence, in tincturing his auditors with a juſt reli [...]h for the graces and purity of the Latin language x: and to explain critically, in the public hall, for the ſpace of two hours every day, the Offices, De Oratore, and rhetorical treatiſes of Cicero, the inſtitutes of Quintilian, Aulus Gellius, Plautus, Terence, Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Lucan; together with the moſt excellent modern philological treatiſes then in vogue, ſuch as the ELEGANCIES of Laurentius Valla, and the MISCELLANIES of Politian, or any other approved critical tract on oratory or verſification y. In the mean time, the founder permits it to the diſcretion of the lecturer, occaſionally to ſubſtitute Greek authors in the place of theſe z. He moreover requires, that the candidates for admiſſion into the college be completely ſkilled in Latin poetry; and in writing Epiſtles, then a favorite mode of compoſition a, and on which Eraſmus b, and Conradus Celtes the reſtorer of letters in Germany c, had each recently publiſhed a diſtinct ſyſtematical work. He injoins, that the ſtudents ſhall be exerciſed every day, in the intervals of vacation, in compoſing declamations, and Latin verſes both [456] lyric and heroic d: and in his prefatory ſtatute, where he deſcribes the nature and deſign of his foundation, he declares, that he deſtines the younger part of his eſtabliſhment, not only to dialectics and philoſophy, but to the more polite literature e. The ſtatutes of this college were ſubmitted to the inſpection of cardinal Pole, one of the chief protectors of the revival of polite letters in England, as appears from a curious paſſage in a letter written by the founder, now remaining; which not only diſplays the cardinal's ideas of the new erudition, but ſhews the ſtate of the Greek language at this period. ‘"My lord Cardinalls grace has had the overſeeinge of my ſtatutes. He muche lykes well, that I have therein ordered the Latin tonge [Latin claſſics] to be redde to my ſchollers. But he advyſes me to order the Greeke to be more taught there than I have provyded. This purpoſe I well lyke: but I fear the tymes will not bear it now. I remember when I was a yong ſcholler at Eton f, the Greeke tonge was growing apace; the ſtudie of which is now alate much decaid g."’ Queen Mary was herſelf eminently learned. But her accompliſhments in letters were darkened or impeded by religious prejudices. At the deſire of queen Catharine Parr, ſhe tranſlated in her youth Eraſmus's paraphraſe on ſaint John. The preface is written by Udall, maſter of Eton ſchool: in which he much extolls her diſtinguiſhed proficience in literature h. It would have been fortunate, if Mary's attention to this work had ſoftened her temper, and enlightened her underſtanding. She frequently ſpoke in public with propriety, and always with prudence and dignity.

[457] In the beginning of the reign of queen Eliſabeth, which ſoon followed, when the return of proteſtantiſm might have been expected to produce a ſpeedy change for the better, puritaniſm began to prevail; and, as the firſt fervours of a new ſect are always violent, retarded for ſome time the progreſs of ingenuous and uſeful knowledge. The ſcriptures being tranſlated into Engliſh, and every man aſſuming a right to dictate in matters of faith, and to chuſe his own principles, weak heads drew falſe concluſions, and erected an infinite variety of petty religions. Such is the abuſe which attends the beſt deſigns, that the meaneſt reader of the new Teſtament thought he had a full comprehenſion of the moſt myſterious metaphyſical doctrines in the chriſtian faith; and ſcorned to acquieſce in the ſober and rational expoſitions of ſuch difficult ſubjects, which he might have received from a competent and intelligent teacher, whom it was his duty to follow. The bulk of the people, who now poſſeſſed the means of diſcuſſing all theological topics, from their ſituation and circumſtances in life, were naturally averſe to the ſplendor, the dominion, and the opulence of an hierarchy, and diſclaimed the yoke of epiſcopal juriſdiction. The new deliverance from the numerous and burthenſome ſuperſtitions of the papal communion, drove many pious reformers into the contrary extreme, and the rage of oppoſition ended in a devotion entirely ſpiritual and abſtracted. External forms were aboliſhed, as impediments to the viſionary reveries of a mental intercourſe with heaven; and becauſe the church of Rome had carried ceremonies to an abſurd exceſs, the uſe of any ceremonies was deemed unlawful. The love of new doctrines and a new worſhip, the triumph of gaining proſelytes, and the perſecutions which accompanied theſe licentious zealots, all contributed to fan the flame of enthuſiaſm. The genius of this refined and falſe ſpecies of religion, which defied the ſalutary checks of all human authority, when operating in its full force, [458] was attended with conſequences not leſs pernicious to ſociety, although leſs likely to laſt, than thoſe which flowed from the eſtabliſhment of the antient ſuperſtitions. During this unſettled ſtate of things, the Engliſh reformed clergy who had fled into Germany from the menaces of queen Mary, returned home in great numbers: and in conſideration of their ſufferings and learning, and their abilities to vindicate the principles of a national church erected in oppoſition to that of Rome, many of them were preferred to biſhopricks, and other eminent eccleſiaſtical ſtations. Theſe divines brought back with them into England thoſe narrow principles concerning church-government and ceremonies, which they had imbibed in the petty ſtates and republics abroad, where the Calviniſtic diſcipline was adopted, and where they had lived like a ſociety of philoſophers; but which were totally inconſiſtent with the nature of a more extended church, eſtabliſhed in a great and magnificent nation, and requiring an uniform ſyſtem of policy, a regular ſubordination of officers, a ſolemnity of public worſhip, and an obſervance of exterior inſtitutions. They were, however, in the preſent circumſtances, thought to be the moſt proper inſtruments to be employed at the head of eccleſiaſtical affairs; not only for the purpoſe of vindicating the new eſtabliſhment by argument and authority, but of eradicating every trace of the papal corruptions by their practice and example, and of effectually fixing the reformation embraced by the church of England on a durable baſis. But, unfortunately, this meaſure, ſpecious and expedient as it appeared at firſt, tended to deſtroy that conſtitution which it was deſigned to ſupport, and to counteract thoſe principles which had been implanted by Cranmer in the reformed ſyſtem of our religion. Their reluctance or refuſal to conform, in a variety of inſtances, to the eſtabliſhed ceremonies, and their refinements in theological diſcipline, filled the church with the moſt violent diviſions; and introduced endleſs [459] intricate diſputations, not on fundamental doctrines of ſolid importance to the real intereſts of chriſtianity, but on poſitive points of idle and empty ſpeculation, which admitting no elegance of compoſition, and calling forth no vigour of abilities, exerciſed the learning of the clergy in the moſt barbarous and barren field of controverſial divinity, and obſtructed every purſuit of polite or manly erudition. Even the conforming clergy, from their want of penetration, and from their attachment to authorities, contributed to protract theſe frivolous and unbecoming controverſies: for if, in their vindication of the ſacerdotal veſtments, and of the croſs of baptiſm, inſtead of arguing from the jews, the primitive chriſtians, the fathers, councils, and cuſtoms, they had only appealed to common ſenſe and the nature of things, the propriety and expediency of thoſe formalities would have been much more eaſily and more clearly demonſtrated. To theſe inconveniencies we muſt add, that the common eccleſiaſtical preferments were ſo much diminiſhed by the ſeizure and alienation of impropriations, in the late depredations of the church, and which continued to be carried on with the ſame ſpirit of rapacity in the reign of Eliſabeth, that few perſons were regularly bred to the church, or, in other words, received a learned education. Hence, almoſt any that offered themſelves were, without diſtinction or examination, admitted to the ſacred function. Inſomuch, that in the year 1560, an injunction was directed to the biſhop of London from his metropolitan, requiring him to forbear ordaining any more artificers and other illiterate perſons who exerciſed ſecular occupations i. But as the [...]vil was unavoidable, this caution took but little effect k. [460] About the year 1563, t [...]ere were only two divines, and thoſe of higher rank, the preſident of Magdalen college l, and the dean of Chriſt Church, who were capable of preaching the public ſermons before the univerſity of Oxford m. I will mention one inſtance of the extreme ignorance of our inferiour clergy about the middle of the ſixteenth century. In the year 1570, Horne, biſhop of Wincheſter, enjoined the minor canons of his cathedral to get by memory, every week, one chapter of ſaint Paul's epiſtles in Latin: and this formidable taſk, almoſt beneath the abilities of an ordinary ſchool-boy, was actually repeated by ſome of them, before the biſhop, dean, and prebendaries, at a public epiſcopal viſitation of that church n. It is well known that a ſet of homilies was publiſhed to ſupply their incapacity in compoſing ſermons: but it ſhould be remembered, that one reaſon for preſcribing this authoriſed ſyſtem of doctrine, was to prevent preachers from diſturbing the peace of the church by diſſeminating their own novel and indigeſted opinions.

The taſte for Latin compoſition in the reign of Eliſabeth, notwithſtanding it was faſhionable both to write and ſpeak in that language, was much worſe than in the reign of Henry the eighth, when juſter models were ſtudied, and when the novelty of claſſical literature excited a general emulation to imitate the Roman authors. The Latinity of Aſcham's proſe has little elegance. The verſification and phraſeology of [461] Buchanan's Latin poetry are ſplendid and ſonorous, but not marked with the chaſte graces and ſimple ornaments of the Auguſtan age. One is ſurpriſed to find the learned archbiſhop Grindal, in the ſtatutes of a ſchool which he founded, and amply endowed, recommending ſuch barbarous and degenerate claſſics as Palingenius, Sedulius, and Prudentius, to be taught in his new foundation o. Theſe, indeed, were the claſſics of a reforming biſhop: but the well-meaning prelate would have contributed much more to the ſucceſs of his intended reformation, by directing books of better taſte and leſs piety. That claſſical literature, and the public inſtitution of youth, were now in the loweſt ſtate, we may collect from a proviſion in archbiſhop Parker's foundation of three ſcholarſhips at Cambridge, in the year 1567. He orders that the ſcholars, who are appointed to be elected from three the moſt conſiderable ſchools in Kent and Norfolk, ſhall be ‘"the beſt and apteſt ſchollers, well inſtructed in the grammar, and, if it may be, ſuch as can make a verſe p."’ It became faſhionable in this reign to ſtudy Greek at court. The maids of honour indulged their ideas of ſentimental affection in the ſublime contemplations of Plato's Phaedo: and the queen, who underſtood Greek better than the canons of Windſor, and was certainly a much greater pedant than her ſucceſſor James the firſt, tranſlated Iſocrates q. But this paſſion for the Greek language ſoon ended where it began: nor do we find that it improved the national taſte, or influenced the writings, of the age of Eliſabeth.

All changes of rooted eſtabliſhments, eſpecially of a national religion, are attended with ſhocks and convulſions, unpropitious to the repoſe ſcience and ſtudy. But theſe unavoidable inconveniencies laſt not long. When the liberal genius of proteſtantiſm had perfected its work, and the firſt [462] [...]anaticiſms of well-meaning but miſguided zealot [...] had ſubſided, every ſpecies of uſeful and elegant knowledge recovered its ſtrength, and aroſe with new vigour. Acquiſitions, whether in theology or humanity, were no longer excluſively confined to the clergy: the laity eagerly embraced thoſe purſuits from which they had long been unjuſtly reſtrained: and, ſoon after the reign of Eliſabeth, men attained that ſtate of general improvement, and thoſe ſituations with reſpect to literature and life, in which they have ever ſince perſevered.

But it remains to bring home, and to apply, this change in the ſentiments of mankind, to our main ſubject. The cuſtoms, inſtitutions, traditions, and religion, of the middle ages, were favorable to poetry. Their pageaunts, proceſſions, ſpectacles, and ceremonies, were friendly to imagery, to perſonification and allegory. Ignorance and ſuperſtition, ſo oppoſite to the real intereſts of human ſociety, are the parents of imagination. The very devotion of the Gothic times was romantic. The catholic worſhip, beſides that its numerous exteriour appendages were of a pictureſque and even of a poetical nature, diſpoſed the mind to a ſtate of deception, and encouraged, or rather authoriſed, every ſpecies of credulity: its viſions, miracles, and legends, propagated a general propenſity to the Marvellous, and ſtrengthened the belief of ſpectres, demons, witches, and incantations. Theſe illuſions were heightened by churches of a wonderful mechaniſm, and conſtructed on ſuch principles of inexplicable architecture as had a tendency to impreſs the ſoul with every falſe ſenſation of religious fear. The ſavage pomp and the capricious heroiſm of the baronial manners, were replete with incident, adventure, and enterpriſe: and the intractable genius of the feudal policy, held forth thoſe irregularities of conduct, diſcordancies of intereſt, and diſſimilarities of ſituation, that framed rich materials for the minſtrel-muſe. The tacit compact of faſhion, which promotes civility by [463] diffuſing habits of uniformity, and therefore deſtroys peculiarities of character and ſituation, had not yet operated upon life: nor had domeſtic convenience aboliſhed unwieldy magnificence. Literature, and a better ſenſe of things, not only baniſhed theſe barbarities, but ſuperſeded the mode of compoſition which was formed upon them. Romantic poetry gave way to the force of reaſon and inquiry; as its own inchanted palaces and gardens inſtantaneouſly vaniſhed, when the chriſtian champion diſplayed the ſhield of truth, and baffled the charm of the necromancer. The ſtudy of the claſſics, together with a colder magic and a tamer mythology, introduced method into compoſition: and the univerſal ambition of rivalling thoſe new patterns of excellence, the faultleſs models of Greece and Rome, produced that bane of invention, IMITATION. Erudition was made to act upon genius. Fancy was weakened by reflection and philoſophy. The faſhion of treating every thing ſcientifically, applied ſpeculation and theory to the arts of writing. Judgment was advanced above imagination, and rules of criticiſm were eſtabliſhed. The brave eccentricities of original genius, and the daring hardineſs of native thought, were intimidated by metaphyſical ſentiments of perfection and refinement. Setting aſide the conſideration of the more ſolid advantages, which are obvious, and are not the diſtinct object of our contemplation at preſent, the lover of true poetry will aſk, what have we gained by this revolution? It may be anſwered, much good ſenſe, good taſte, and good criticiſm. But, in the mean time, we have loſt a ſet of manners, and a ſyſtem of machinery, more ſuitable to the purpoſes of poetry, than thoſe which have been adopted in their place. We have parted with extravagancies that are above propriety, with incredibilities that are more acceptable than truth, and with fictions that are more valuable than reality.

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

Appendix A EMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS IN THE Firſt and Second VOLUME.

[]

[]*** The Binder is directed to place EMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS at the End of the Second Volume.

Appendix A.1 EMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS. VOL. I.

[]

Appendix A.1.1 DISSERTATION I.

SIGNAT. a. fol. verſ. Not. a. lin. For ‘"Pocock,"’ READ ‘"Erpenius."’

Signat. c 2. fol. verſ. lin. 3. READ ‘"Vienne."’

Signat. e. Not. q. lin. 4. For ‘"101,"’ READ ‘"92."’

Signat. g. lin. 3. For ‘"mulſorum,"’ READ ‘"mulſo ſeu."’

Ibid. lin. 4. READ ‘"Woton."’

Signat. h 2. lin. 20. Before ‘"compoſed,"’ INSERT ‘"not."’

Appendix A.1.2 DISSERTATION II.

SIGNAT. a. fol. verſ. lin. 24. READ ‘"Fryeſby."’

Signat. b. lin. 7. READ ‘"Roger."’

Ibid. lin. antep. and pen. READ ‘"Bukdene, 10 jun."’

Ibid. Not. x. lin. 2. READ ‘"vii.".’

Signat. b 2. fol. verſ. lin. ult. For ‘"monks,"’ READ ‘"canons."’

[] Signat. b 4. Not. o. lin. 9. READ ‘"ſon."’

Signat. c 3. lin. 19. READ ‘"Vitalian."’ So again fol. verſ. lin. 5.

Signat. e 4. fol. verſ. lin. 22. READ ‘"York."’

Signat. f. 2. lin. 9. READ ‘"priory of Dunſtable."’

Signat. f. 4. Not. x. lin. ult. READ ‘"Hall."’

Signat. g. fol. verſ. lin. 15. READ ‘"1270."’ [In Tanner's date, (viz. MLXX) cc had probably ſlipped out at the Preſs.]

Signat. i. Notes, col. 2. lin. 10. READ ‘"Martyrologium Ovidii de faſtis."’

Signat. i. 4. Not. m. lin. 1. DELE ‘"Monoſtichon."’

Signat. k. 2. fol. verſ. to Note f. ADD, ‘"But ſee Wood, Hiſt. et Antiq. Univ. Oxon. i. 46. a."’

Appendix A.1.3

PAG. 1. Not. b. lin. 1. For ‘"4,"’ READ ‘"24."’

Pag. 3. l. 7. For ‘"even the lower claſs of people,"’ READ ‘"the nobility."’

Pag. 6. lin. 17. After ‘"language,"’ INSERT ‘"Among the Records of the Tower, a great revenue-roll, on many ſheets of vellum, or MAGNUS ROTULUS, of the Duchy of Normandy, for the year 1083, is ſtill preſerved; indorſed, in a coevel hand, ANNO AB INCARNATIONE DNI Mo LXXXo IIIo APUD CADOMUM [Caen] WILLIELMO FILIO RADULFI SENESCALLO NORMANNIE. This moſt exactly and minutely reſembles the pipe-rolls of our exchequer belonging to the ſame age, in form, method, and character. Ayloffe's CALENDAR of ANT. CHART. Pref. p. xxiv. edit. Lond. 1774. 4to.’

Pag. 8. Not. g. lin. 13. READ ‘"Flacius Illyricus."’

Pag. 11. to the laſt Note ADD, ‘"The ſecular indulgences, particularly the luxury, of a female convent, are intended to be repreſented in the following paſſage of an antient poem, called [] A Diſputation bytwene a cryſtene mon and a Jew, written before the year 1300. MS. VERNON, fol. 301. [See vol. ii. p. 231.]’

Till a Nonneri thei came,
But I knowe not the name;
Ther was mony a derworthea dame
In dyapre dere b:
Squiȝeresc in vche ſyde,
In the wonesd ſo wyde:
Hur ſchul we longee abyde,
Auntresf to heare.
Thene ſwitheg ſpekethe he,
Til a ladi ſo fre,
And biddeth that he welcum be,
"Sire Water my feere h."
Ther was bordsi i clothed clene
With ſchirek clothes and ſchene,
Seþþel a waſſchen m, i wene,
And wente to the ſete:
Riche metes was forth brouht,
To all men that gode thouht:
The criſten mon wolde nouht
Drynke nor ete.
Ther was wyn ful clere
In mony a feir maſere n,
And other drynkes that weore dere,
In coupeso ful gret:
[]
Siththe was ſchewed him bi
Murththe and munſtralſy p,
And preyed hem do gladly,
With ryal rechet q.
Bi the bordes up thei ſtode, &c.

Pag. 13. l. 15. READ ‘"Ciclatoun ant purpel pal."’

Pag. 14. to Not. k. ADD, ‘"The LIVES OF THE SAINTS in verſe, in Bennet library, contain the martyrdom and tranſlation of Becket, NUM. clxv. This manuſcript is ſuppoſed to be of the fourteenth century. Archbiſhop Parker, in a remark prefixed, has aſſigned the compoſition to the reign of Henry the ſecond. But in that caſe, Becket's tranſlation, which did not happen till the reign of king John, muſt have been added. See a ſpecimen in Mr. Naſmith's accurate and learned CATALOGUE of the Bennet manuſcripts, pag. 217. Cantab. 1777. 4to. There is a manuſcript of theſe LIVES in Trinity college library at Oxford, but it has not the Life of Becket. MSS. NUM. LVII. In Pergamen. fol. The writing is about the fourteenth century. I will tranſcribe a few lines from the LIFE OF SAINT CUTHBERT. f. 2. b.’

Seint Cuthberd was ybore here in Engelonde,
God dude for him meraccle, as ȝe ſcholleth vnderſtonde.
And wel ȝong child he was, in his eigtethe ȝere,
Wit children he pleyde atte balle, that his felawes were:
That com go a lite childe, it thoȝt thre ȝer old,
A ſwete creature and a fayr, yt was myld and bold:
To the ȝong Cuthberd he ȝede, ſene brother he ſede,
Ne þench not ſuch ydell game for it ne oȝte noȝt be thy dede:
Seint Cuthberd ne tok no ȝeme to the childis rede
And pleyde forth with his felawes, al ſo they him bede.
[] Tho this ȝonge child y ſeȝ that he his red forſok,
A doun he fel to grounde, and gret del to him to tok,
It by gan to wepe ſore, and his honden wrynge,
This children hadde alle del of him, and byſened hare pleyinge.
As that they couthe hy gladede him, ſore he gan to ſiche,
At even this ȝonge child made del y ſiche,
A welaway, qd ſeint Cuthbert, why wepes thou ſo ſore
Ȝif we the haveth oȝt myſdo we ne ſcholleth na more.
Thanne ſpake this ȝonge child, ſore hy wothe beye,
Cuthberd it falleth noȝt to the with ȝonge children to pleye,
For no ſuche idell games it ne cometh the to worche,
Whanne god hath y proveyd the an heved of holy cherche.
With this word, me nyſte whidder, this ȝong child wente,
An angel it was of heven that our lord thuder ſent.

Saxon letters are uſed in this manuſcript. I will exhibit the next twelve lines as they appear in that mode of writing; together with the punctuation.

þo by gan ſeint Cuthberd . for to wepe ſore
He made his fader and frendis . ſette him to lore
So þat he ſervede boþe nyȝt and day . to pleſe god þe more
And in his ȝoughede nyȝt and day . of ſervede godis ore
þo he in grettere elde was . as þe bok us haþ y ſed
It by fel þat ſeint Aydan . þe biſſchop was ded
Cuthberd was a felde with ſchep . angeles of heven he ſeȝ
þe biſſchopis ſoule ſeint Aydan . to heven bere on heȝ
Allas ſede ſeint Cuthberd . fole ech am to longe
I nell þis ſchep no longer kepe . a fonge hem who ſo a fonge
He wente to þe abbeye of Germans . a grey monk he þer bycom
Gret joye made alle þe covent . þo he that abbyt nom, &c."

The reader will obſerve the conſtant return of the hemiſtichal point, which I have been careful to preſerve, and to repreſent with exactneſs; as I ſuſpect, that it ſhews how theſe poems were ſung to the harp by the minſtrels. Every line was perhaps uniformly recited to the ſame monotonous modulation, with [] a pauſe in a midſt: juſt as we chant the pſalms in our choral ſervice. In the pſalms of our liturgy, this pauſe is expreſſed by a colon: and often, in thoſe of the Roman miſſal, by an aſteriſc. The ſame mark occurs in every line of this manuſcript; which is a folio volume of conſiderable ſize, with upwards of fifty verſes in every page.

Pag. 18. Not. x. lin. 3. Inſtead of ‘"Saint Dorman,"’ READ ‘"The Seven Sleepers."’

Pag. 30. to Not. d. ADD, ‘"In the ſame ſtile, as it is manifeſtly of the ſame antiquity, the following little deſcriptive ſong, on the Approach of Summer, deſerves notice. MSS. HARL. 978. f. 5.’

Sumer is i cumen,
Lhude ſing cuccu:
Groweth ſed, and bloweth med,
And ſpringeth the wde nu.
Sing, cuccu, cuccu.
Awe bleteth after lomb,
Louth after calve cu;
Bulluc ſterteth,
Bucke verteth:
Murie ſing, cuccu:
Wel ſings thu cuccu;
Ne ſwik thou never nu.

That is, ‘"Summer is coming: Loud ſing, Cuckow! Groweth ſeed, and bloweth mead, and ſpringeth the wood now. Ewe bleateth after lamb, loweth cow after calf; bullock ſtarteth, buck verteth g: merry ſing, Cuckow! Well ſingeſt thou, Cuckow, Nor ceaſe to ſing now."’ This is the moſt antient Engliſh ſong that appears in our manuſcripts, with the muſical notes annexed. The muſic is of that ſpecies of compoſition [] which is called Canon in the Uniſon, and is ſuppoſed to be of the fifteenth century.

Pag. 47. ADD to Not. e. ‘"Compare Tanner in JOANNES CORNUBIENSIS, who recites his other pieces. BIBL. p. 432. Notes, f. g.’

Pag. 50. Not. q. For ‘"hills,"’ READ ‘"halls."’

Pag. 59. l. 9. For ‘"monk,"’ READ ‘"canon."’

Pag. 62. Not. l. lin. 7. READ ‘"Johnſton."’

Pag. 68. Not. n. lin. 1. DELE ‘"abſurdly."’ And l. 3. DELE ‘"It is a catapult or battering ram."’

Pag. 68. Ibid. Notes, col. 2. After lin. 4. INSERT, ‘"See infr. p. 72. MANGONEL alſo ſignified what was thrown from the machine ſo called. Thus Froiſſart."’ Et avoient les ‘"Brabançons de tres grans engins devant la ville, qui gettoient pierres de faix et mangoneaux juſques en la ville."’ Liv. iii. c. 118. And in the old French OVIDE cited by Borel, TRESOR. in V.

Onques pour une tor abatre,
Ne oit on Mangoniaux deſcendre
Plus briement ne du ciel deſtendre
Foudre pour abatre un clocher.

Ibid. ibid. After lin. 17. ADD, ‘"The uſe of artillery, however, is proved by a curious paſſage in Petrarch, to be older than the period to which it has been commonly referred. The paſſage is in Petrarch's book de REMEDIIS UTRIUSQUE FORTUNAE, undoubtedly written before the year 1334. ‘"G. Habeo machinas et baliſtas. R. Mirum, niſi et glandes aeneas, quae flammis injectis horriſono ſonitu jaciuntur.—Erat haec peſtis nuper rara, ut cum ingenti miraculo cerneretur: nunc, ut rerum peſſimarum dociles ſunt animi, ita communis eſt, ut quodlibet genus armorum."’ Lib. i. DIAL. 99. See Muratori, ANTIQUITAT. Med. Aev. tom. ii. col. 514. Cannons are ſuppoſed to have been firſt uſed by the Engliſh at the battle of Creſſy, in the year 1346. It is extraordinary that Froiſſart, [] who minutely deſcribes that battle, and is fond of decorating his narrative with wonders, ſhould have wholly omitted this circumſtance. Muſquets are recited as a weapon of the infantry ſo early as the year 1475. ‘"Quilibet peditum habeat baliſtam vel bombardam."’ LIT. Caſimiri iii. an. 1475. LEG. POLON. tom. i. p. 228. Theſe are generally aſſigned to the year 1520.’

Pag. 72. l. 6. READ ‘"ſueynes."’

Pag. 73. to l. 21. ADD this Note, ‘"The rhymes here called, by Robert de Brunne, Couwée, and Enterlacée, were undoubtedly derived from the Latin rhymers of that age, who uſed verſus caudati et interlaqueati. Brunne here profeſſes to avoid theſe elegancies of compoſition, yet he has intermixed many paſſages in Rime Couwée. See his CHRONICLE, p. 266. 273. &c. &c. And almoſt all the latter part of his work from the Conqueſt is written in rhyme enterlacée, each couplet rhyming in the middle, as well as the end. As thus, MSS. HARL. 1002.’

Plauſus Graecorum | lux caecis et via claudis | Incola caelorum | virgo digniſſima laudis.

The rhyme Baſton had its appellation from Robert Baſton, a celebrated Latin rhymer about the year 1315. The rhyme ſtrangere means uncommon. See CANTERBURY TALES, vol. 4. p. 72. ſeq. ut infr. The reader, curious on this ſubject, may receive further information from a manuſcript in the Bodleian library, in which are ſpecimens of METRA Leonina, criſtata, cornuta, recriproca, &c. MSS. LAUD. K. 3. 4to. In the ſame library, there is a very antient manuſcript copy of Aldhelm's Latin poem De Virginitate et Laude Sanctorum, written about the year 700, and given by Thomas Allen, with Saxon gloſſes, and the text almoſt in ſemi-ſaxon characters. Theſe are the two firſt verſes.

Metrica tyrones nunc promant carmina caſti,
Et laudem capiat quadrato carmine Virgo.

[] Langbaine, in reciting this manuſcript, thus explains the quadratum carmen.

"Scil. prima cujuſque verſus litera, per Acroſtichidem, conficit verſum illum Metrica tyrones. Ultima cujuſque verſus litera, ab ultimo carmine ordine retrogardo numerando, hunc verſum facit.
"Metrica tyrones nunc promant carmina caſti."

[Langb. MSS. v. p. 126.] MSS. DIGB. 146. There is a very antient tract, by one Mico, I believe called alſo LEVITA, on Proſody, De Quantitate Syllabarum, with examples from the Latin poets, perhaps the firſt work of the kind. Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Bodl. A. 7. 9. See J. L. Hocker's CATAL. MSS. Bibl. Heidelb. p. 24. who recites a part of Mico's Preface, in which he appears to have been a grammatical teacher of youth. See alſo Dacheri SPICILEG. tom. ii. p. 300. b. edit. ult.

Pag. 85. Not. d. After ‘"pereſſe,"’ INSERT, ‘"In this manuſcript the whole title is this. ‘"Le ROSSIGNOL, ou la penſee Jehan de Hovedene clerc la roine d'Engleterre mere le roi Edward de la naiſſance et de la mort et du relievement et de laſcenſion Jeſu Criſt et de laſſumpcion notre dame."’ This manuſcript was written in the fourteenth century.’

Pag. 86. INSERT at the Beginning of Not. f. ‘"Among the learned Engliſhmen who now wrote in French, The Editor of the CANTERBURY TALES mentions Helis de Guinceſtre, or WINCHESTER, a tranſlator of CATO into French. [See vol. ii. p. 169.] And Hue de Roteland, author of the Romance, in French verſe, called Ipomedon, MSS. Cott. VESP. A. vii. [See vol. i. p. 169.] The latter is alſo ſuppoſed to have written a French Dialogue in metre, MSS. Bodl. 3904. La pleinte par entre mis Sire Henry de Lacy Counte de Nichole [Lincoln] et Sire Wauter de Bybleſworth pur la croiſerie en la terre ſeinte. And a French romantic poem on a knight called CAPANEE, perhaps Statius's Capaneus. MSS. Cott. VESP. A. vii. ut ſupr. It begins, [] Qui bons countes viel entendre.

See ‘"The CANTERBURY TALES of CHAUCER. To which are added An ESSAY upon his LANGUAGE and VERSIFICATION, an INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, and NOTES. Lond. 1775. 4 vol. 8vo."’ This maſterly performance, in which the author has diſplayed great taſte, judgement, ſagacity, and the moſt familiar knowledge of thoſe books which pecuculiarly belong to the province of a commentator on Chaucer, did not appear till more than half of my Second Volume was printed.

Pag. 88. Not. k. ADD ‘"And at Bennet college, Num. L. 1. It begins, Ki veut oir chaunçoun damur."

Ibid. Not. m. l. 11. READ ‘"Davench."’

Pag. 99. Not. q. READ ‘"Them."’

Pag. 108. l. 1. ADD this Note to ‘"Edward."’ It appears that king Edward the firſt, about the year 1271, took his HARPER with him to the Holy Land. This officer was a cloſe and conſtant attendant of his maſter: for when Edward was wounded with a poiſoned knife at Ptolemais, the harper, cithareda ſuus, hearing the ſtruggle, ruſhed into the royal apartment, and killed the aſſaſſin. CHRON. Walt. Hemingford, cap. xxxv. p. 591. Apud V HISTOR. ANGLIC. SCRIPTOR. vol. ii. Oxon. 1687. fol.

Pag. 111. ADD to laſt Note, ‘"Geoffrey of Vineſauf ſays, that when king Richard the firſt arrived at the Chriſtian camp before Ptolemais, he was received with populares Cantiones, which recited Antiquorum Praeclara Geſta. IT. HIEROSOL. cap. ii. p. 332. ibid.’

Pag. 112. Before ‘"commenced,"’ INSERT ‘"and that it."’

Pag. 113. ADD to Not. i. ‘"On a review of this paſſage in Hoveden, it appears to have been William biſhop of Ely, chancellor to king Richard the firſt, who thus invited minſtrels [] from France, whom he loaded with favours and preſents to ſing his praiſes in the ſtreets. But it does not much alter the doctrine of the text, whether he or the king was inſtrumental in importing the French minſtrels into England. This paſſage is in a Letter of Hugh biſhop of Coventry, which ſee alſo in Hearne's Benedictus Abbas, vol. ii. p. 704. ſub ann. 1191. It appears from this letter, that he was totally ignorant of the Engliſh language. ibid. p. 708. By his cotemporary Gyraldus Cambrenſis, he is repreſented as a monſter of injuſtice, impiety, intemperance, and luſt. Gyraldus has left theſe anecdotes of his character, which ſhew the ſcandalous groſſneſs of the times. ‘"Sed taceo quod ruminare ſolet, nunc clamitat Anglia tota, qualiter puella, matris induſtria tam coma quam cultu puerum profeſſa, ſimulanſque virum verbis et vultu, ad cubiculum belluae iſtius eſt perducta. Sed ſtatim ut exoſi illius ſexus eſt inventa, quanquam in ſe pulcherrima, thalamique thorique deliciis valde idonea, repudiata tamen eſt et abje [...]ta. Unde et in craſtino, matri filia, tam flagitioſi facinoris conſcia, cum Petitionis effectu, terriſque non modicis eandem jure haereditario contingentibus, virgo, ut venerat, eſt reſtituta. Tantae nimirum intemperantiae, et petulantiae fuerat tam immoderatae, quod quotidie in prandio circa finem, pretioſis tam potionibus quam cibariis ventre diſtento, virga aliquantulum longa in capite aculeum praeferente pueros nobiles ad menſam miniſtrantes, eique propter multimodam qua fungebatur poteſtatem in omnibus ad nutum obſequentes, pungere viciſſim conſueverit: ut eo indicio, quaſi ſigno quodam ſecretiore, quem fortius, inter alios, atque frequentius ſic quaſi ludicro pungebat, &c. &c."’ De VIT. GALFRID. Archiepiſcop. Ebor. Apud Whart. ANGL. SACR. vol. ii. p. 406. But Wharton endeavours to prove, that the character of this great prelate and ſtateſman in many particulars had been miſrepreſented through prejudice and envy. Ibid. vol. i. p. 632.’

It ſeems the French minſtrels, with whom the Song of ROLAND originated, were famous about this period. Muratori [] cites an old hiſtory of Bologna, under the year 1288, by which it appears, that they ſwarmed in the ſtreets of Italy. ‘"Ut CANTATORES FRANCIGENARUM in plateis comunis ad cantandum morari non poſſent."’ On which words he obſerves, ‘"Colle quali parole ſembra veroſimile, che ſieno diſegnati i cantatore del favole romanze, che ſpezialmente della Franzia erano portate in Italia."’ DISSERT. ANTICHIT. Ital. tom. ii. c. xxix. p. 16. In Napoli, 1752. He adds, that the minſtrels were ſo numerous in France, as to become a peſt to the community; and that an edict was iſſued about the year 1200, to ſuppreſs them in that kingdom. Muratori, in further proof of this point, quotes the above paſſage from Hoveden; which, as I had done, he miſapplies to our king Richard the firſt. But, in either ſenſe, it equally ſuits his argument. In the year 1334, at a feaſt on Eaſter Sunday, celebrated at Rimini, on occaſion of ſome noble Italians receiving the honour of knighthood, more than one thouſand five hundred HISTRIONES are ſaid to have attended. ‘"Triumphus quidem maximus fuit ibidem, &c.—Fuit etiam multitudo HISTRIONUM circa mille quingentos et ultra."’ ANNAL. CAESENAT. tom. xiv. RER. ITALIC. SCRIPTOR. col. 1141. But their countries are not ſpecified. In the year 1227, at a feaſt in the palace of the archbiſhop of Genoa, a ſumptuous banquet and veſtments without number were given to the minſtrels, or Joculatores, then preſent, who came from Lombardy, Provence, Tuſcany, and other countries. Caffari ANNAL. GENUENS. lib. vi. p. 449. D. Apud Tom. vi. ut ſupr. In the year 774, when Charlemagne entered Italy and found his paſſage impeded, he was met by a minſtrel of Lombardy, whoſe ſong promiſed him ſucceſs and victory. ‘"Contigit JOCULATOREM ex Longobardorum gente ad Carolum venire, et CANTIUNCULAM A SE COMPOSITAM, rotando in conſpectu ſuorum, cantare."’ Tom. ii. P. 2. ut ſupr. CHRON. MONAST. NOVAL. lib. iii. cap. x. p. 717. D.

To recur to the origin of this Note. Rymer, in his SHORT VIEW OF TRAGEDY, on the notion that Hovede [...] is here [] ſpeaking of king Richard, has founded a theory, which is conſequently falſe, and is otherwiſe but imaginary. See p. 66. 67. 69. 74. He ſuppoſes, that Richard, in conſequence of his connection with Raimond count of Tholouſe, encouraged the hereſy of the Albigenſes; and that therefore the hiſtorian Hoveden, as an eccleſiaſtic, was intereſted in abuſing Richard, and in in [...]inuating, that his reputation for poetry reſted only on the venal praiſes of the French minſtrels. The words quoted are, indeed, written by a churchman, although not by Hoveden. But whatever invidious turn they bear, they belong, as we have ſeen, to quite another perſon; to a biſhop who juſtly deſerved ſuch an indirect ſtroke of ſatire, for his criminal enormities, not for any vain pretenſions to the character of a Provencial ſongſter.

Pag. 114. l. 15. For ‘"ſecond,"’ READ ‘"third."’

Pag. 15. l. 4. To ‘"Robert Borron"’ ADD this Note, ‘"In Bennet college library at Cambridge, there is an Engliſh poem on the SANGREAL, and its appendages, containing forty thouſand verſes. MSS. LXXX. chart. The manuſcript is imperfect both at the beginning and at the end. The title at the head of the firſt page is ACTA ARTHURI REGIS, written probably by Joceline, chaplain and ſecretary to archbiſhop Parker. The narrative, which appears to be on one continued ſubject, is divided into books, or ſections, of unequal length. It is a tranſlation made from Robert Borron's French romance called LANCELOT, abovementioned, which includes the adventure of the SANGREAL, by Henry Lonelich Skynner, a name which I never remember to have ſeen among thoſe of the Engliſh poets. The diction is of the age of king Henry the ſixth. Borel, in his TRESOR de Recherches et Antiquitez Gauloiſes et Francoiſes, ſays, ‘"Il y'a un Roman ancien intitule LE CONQUESTE DE SANGREALL, &c."’ Edit. 1655. 4•o. V. GRAAL. It is difficult to determine with any preciſion which is Robert Borron's French Romance now under conſideration, as ſo many have been written on the ſubject. [See vol. i. p. 134.] The diligence [] and accuracy of Mr. Naſmith have furniſhed me with the following tranſcript from Lonelich Skynner's tranſlation in Bennet college library.’

Thanne paſſeth forth this ſtorye with al
That is cleped of ſom men SEYNT GRAAL
Alſo the SANK RYAL iclepid it is
Of mochel peple with owten mys
Now of al this ſtorie have I mad an ende
That is ſchwede of Celidoygne and now forthere to wend
And of anothir brawnche moſt we be gynne
Of the ſtorye that we clepen prophet Merlynne
Wiche that Maiſter ROBERT of BORROWN
Owt of Latyn it tranſletted hol and ſoun
Onlich into the langage of Frawnce
This ſtorie he drowgh be adventure and chaunce
And doth Merlynne inſten with SANK RYAL
For the ton ſtorie the tothir medlyth withal
After the ſatting of the forſeid ROBERT
That ſomtym it tranſletted in Middilerd
And I as an unkonneng man trewely
Into Engliſch have drawen this ſtorye
And thowgh that to ȝow not pleſyng it be
Ȝit that ful excuſed ȝe wolde haven me
Of my neclegence and unkonnenge
On me to taken ſwich a thinge
Into owre modris tonge for to endite
The ſwettere to ſowne to more and lyte
And more cler to ȝoure undirſtondyng
Thanne owthir Frenſh other Latyn to my ſuppoſing
And therfore atte the ende of this ſtorye
A pater noſter ȝe wolden for me preye
For me that HERRY LONELICH hyhte
And greteth owre lady ful of myhte
[] Hartelich with an ave that ȝe hir bede
This proceſſe the bettere I myhte procede
And bringen this book to a good ende
Now thereto Jeſu Criſt grace me ſende
And than an ende there offen myhte be
Now good Lord graunt me for charite
Thanne Merlyn to Blaſye cam anon
And there to hym he ſeide thus ſon
Blaſye thou ſchalt ſuffren gret peyne
This ſtorye to an ende to bringen certeyne
And ȝit ſchall I ſuffren mochel more
How ſo Merlyn quod Blaſye there
I ſchall be ſowht quod Merlyne tho
Owt from the weſt with meſſengeris mo
And they that ſcholen comen to ſeken me
They have maad ſewrawnce I telle the
Me forto ſlen for any thing
This ſewrawnce hav they mad to her kyng
But whanne they me ſen and with me ſpeke
No power they ſchol hav on me to ben a wreke
For with hem hens moſte I gon
And thou into othir partyes ſchalt wel ſon
To hem that hav the holy veſſel
Which that is icleped the SEYNT GRAAL
And wete thow wel and ek forſothe
That thow and ek this ſtorye bothe
Ful wel beherd now ſchall it be
And alſo beloved in many contre
And has that will knowen in ſertaygne
What kynges that weren in grete Bretaygne
Sithan that Criſtendom thedyn was browht
They ſcholen hem fynde has ſo that it ſawht
In the ſtorye of BRWTTES book
There ſcholen ȝe it fynde and ȝe weten look
[] Which that MARTYN DE BEWRE tranſlated here
From Latyn into Romaunce in his manere
But leve me now of BRWTTES book
And aftyr this ſtorye now lete us look.

After this latter extract, which is to be found nearly in the middle of the manuſcript, the ſcene and perſonages of the poem are changed; and king Enalach, king Mordrens, Sir Neſciens, Joſeph of Arimathea, and the other heroes of the former part, give place to king Arthur, king Brangors, king Loth, and the monarchs and champions of the Britiſh line. In a paragraph, very ſimilar to the ſecond of theſe extracts, the following note is written in the hand of the text, Henry Lonelich Skynner, that tranſlated this boke out of Frenſhe into Englyſhe, at the inſtaunce of Harry Barton.

The QUEST OF THE SANGREAL, as it is called, in which devotion and necromancy are equally concerned, makes a conſiderable part of king Arthur's romantic hiſtory, and was one grand object of the knights of the Round Table. He who achieved this hazardous adventure was to be placed there in the ſiege perillous, or ſeat of danger. ‘"When Merlyn had ordayned the rounde table, he ſaid, by them that be fellowes of the rounde table the truthe of the SANGREALL ſhall be well knowne, &c.—They which heard Merlyn ſay ſoe, ſaid thus to Merlyn, ſithence there ſhall be ſuch a knight, thou ſhouldeſt ordayne by thy craft a ſiege that no man ſhould ſitte therein, but he onlie which ſhall paſſe all other knights.—Then Merlyn made the ſiege perillous, &c."’ Caxton's MORT D'ARTHUR, B. xiv. cap. ii. Sir Lancelot, who is come but of the eighth degree from our lord Jeſus Chriſt, is repreſented as the chief adventurer in this honourable expedition. Ibid. B. iii. c. 35. At a celebration of the feaſt of Pentecoſt at Camelot by king Arthur, the Sangreal ſuddenly enters the hall, ‘"but there was no man might ſee it nor who bare it,"’ and the knights, as by ſome inviſible power, are inſtantly ſupplied with [] a feaſt of the choiceſt diſhes. Ibid. c. 35. Originally LE BRUT, LANCELOT, TRISTAN, and the SAINT GREAL were ſeparate hiſtories; but they were ſo connected and confounded before the year 1200, that the ſame title became applicable to all. The book of the SANGREAL, a ſeparate work, is referred to in MORTE ARTHUR. ‘"Now after that the queſt of the SANCGREALL was fulfylled [...] and that all the knyghtes that were lefte alive were come agayne to the Rounde Table, as the BOOKE OF THE SANCGREALL makethe mencion, than was there grete joye in the courte. And eſpeciallie king Arthur and quene Guenever made grete joye of the remnaunt that were come home. And paſſynge glad was the kinge and quene of ſyr Launcelot and ſyr Bors, for they had been paſſynge longe awaye in the queſt of the SANCGREALL. Then, as the Frenſhe booke ſayeth, ſyr Lancelot, &c."’ B. xviii. cap. 1. And again, in the ſame romance. ‘"Whan ſyr Bors had tolde him [Arthur] of the adventures of the SANCGREALL, ſuch as had befallen hym and his felawes,—all this was made in grete bookes, and put in almeryes at Saliſbury."’ B. xvii. cap. xxiii s. The former part of this paſſage is almoſt literally tranſlated from one in the French romance of TRISTAN, Bibl. Reg. MSS. 20 D. ii. fol. antep. ‘"Quant Boort ot conte laventure del Saint Graal teles com eles eſloient avenues, eles furent miſes en eſcrit, gardees en lamere de Salibieres, dont Meſtre GALTIER MAP l'eſtreſt a faiſt ſon livre du Saint Graal por lamor du roy Herri ſon ſengor, qui fiſt leſtoire tralater del Latin en romanz t."’ Whether Saliſbury, or Salibieres is, in the two paſſages, the right reading, I cannot aſcertain. [But ſee Not [...]. p. 117. vol. ii.] But in the royal library at Paris there is ‘"Le Roman de TRISTAN ET ISEULT, traduit de Latin en François, par Lucas chevalier du Gaſt pres de Sariſberi, Anglois, avec figures."’ Montfauc. CATAL. [] MSS. Cod. Reg. Paris. Cod. 6776. fol. max. And again Cod. 6956. fol. max. ‘"Liveres de TRISTAN mis en François par Lucas chevalier ſieur de chateau du Gat u."’ [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 115. Notes.] Almeryes in the Engliſh, and l'Amere, properly aumoire in the French, mean, I believe, Preſſes, Cheſts, or Archives. Ambry, in this ſenſe, is not an uncommon old Engliſh word. From the ſecond part of the firſt French quotation which I have diſtinguiſhed by Italics, it appears, that Walter Mapes, a learned archdeacon in England, under the reign of king Henry the ſecond, wrote a French SANGREAL, which he tranſlated from Latin, by the command of that monarch. Under the idea, that Walter Mapes was a writer on this ſubject, and in the fabulous way, ſome critics may be induced to think, that the WALTER, archdeacon of Oxford, from whom Geoffrey of Monmouth profeſſes to have received the materials of his hiſtory, was this Walter Mapes, and not Walter Calenius, who was alſo an eminent ſcholar, and an archdeacon of Oxford. [See vol. i. p. 65.] Geoffrey ſays in his Dedication to Robert earl of Glouceſter, ‘"Finding nothing ſaid in Bede or Gildas of king Arthur and his ſu [...]ceſſours, although their actions highly deſerved to be recorded in writing, and are orally celebrated by the Britiſh bards, I was much ſurpriſed at ſo ſtrange an omiſſion. At length Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, a man of great eloquence, and learned in foreign hiſtories, offered me an ancient book in the Britiſh or Armorican tongue; which, in one unbroken ſtory, and an elegant diction, related the deeds of the Britiſh kings from Brutus to Cadwallader. At his requeſt, although unuſed to rhetorical flouriſhes, and contented with the ſimplicity of my own plain language, I undertook the tranſlation of that book into Latin."’ B. i. ch. i. See alſo B. xii. ch. xx. Some writers ſuppoſe, that Geoffrey pretended to have received his materials [] from archdeacon Walter, by way of authenticating his romantic hiſtory. Theſe notices ſeem to diſprove that ſuſpicion. In the year 1488, a French romance was publiſhed, in two magnificent folio volumes, entitled, HISTOIRE de ROY ARTUS et des CHEVALIERS de la TABLE RONDE. The firſt volume was printed at Rouen, the ſecond at Paris. It contains in four detached parts, the Birth and Achievements of king Arthur, the Life of Sir Lancelot, the Adventure of the Sangreal, and the Death of Arthur, and his Knights. In the body of the work, this romance more than once is ſaid to be written by Walter Map or Mapes, and by the command of his maſter king Henry. For inſtance, tom. ii. at the end of PARTIE DU SAINT GRAAL, Signat. d d i. ‘"Cy fine Maiſtre GUALTIER MAP ſon traittie du Saint Graal."’ Again, tom. ii. LA DERNIERE PARTIE, ch. i. Signat. d d ii. ‘"Apres ce que Maiſtre GUALTIER MAP eut tractie des avantures du Saint Graal, aſſez ſou [...]iſamment, ſicomme il luy ſembloit, il fut ad adviz au ROY HENRY SON SEIGNEUR, que ce quil avoit fait ne debuit ſoufrire ſil ne racontoys la fin de ceulx dont il fait mention.—Et commence Maiſtre Gualtier en telle manier ceſte derniere partie."’ This derniere partie treats of the death of king Arthur and his knights. At the end of the ſecond tome there is this colophon. ‘"Cy fine le dernier volume de La Table Ronde, faiſant mencion des fais et proeſſes de monſeigneur Launcelot du Lac et dautres pluſieurs nobles et vaillans hommes ſes compagnons. Compile et extraict preciſement et au juſte des vrayes hiſtoires faiſantes de ce mencion par treſnotable et treſexpert hiſtorien Maiſtre GUALTIER MAP, et imprime a Paris par Jehan du Pre. Et lan du grace, mil. cccc. iiiixx. et viii. le xvi jour du Septembre."’ The paſſage quoted above from the royal manuſcript in the Britiſh Muſeum, where king Arthur orders the adventures of the Sangreal to be chronicled, is thus repreſented in this romance. ‘"Et quant Boort eut compte depuis le commencement juſques a la fin les avantures du Saint Graal telles comme ils [] les avoit veues, &c. Si fiſt le roy Artus rediger et mettre par eſcript aus dictz clers tout ci que Boort avoit compte, &c."’ Ibid. tom. ii. La Partie du SAINT GRAAL, ch. ult.w At the end of the royal manuſcript [...]t Paris, [Cod. 6783.] entitled LANCELOT DU LAC mis en François par Robert de Borron par le commandement de Henri roi d'Angleterre, it is ſaid, that Meſſire Robert de Borron tranſlated into French, not only LANCELOT, but alſo the ſtory of the SAINT GRAAL li tout du Latin du GAUTIER MAPPE. But the French antiquaries in this ſort of literature are of opinion, that the word Latin, here ſignifies Italian; and that by this LATIN of Gualtier Mapes, were are to underſtand Engliſh verſions of thoſe romances made from the Italian language. The French Hiſtory of the SANGREAL, printed at Paris in folio by Gallyot du Prè in 1516, is ſaid, in the title, to be tranſlated from Latin into French rhymes, and from thence into French proſe by Robert Borron. This romance was reprinted in 1523.

Caxton's MORTE ARTHUR, finiſhed in the year 1469, profeſſes to treat of various ſeparate hiſtories. But the matter of the whole is ſo much of the ſame ſort, and the heroes and adventures of one ſtory are ſo mutually and perpetually blended with thoſe of another, that no real unity or diſtinction is preſerved. It conſiſts of twenty-one books. The firſt ſeven books treat of king Arthur. The eighth, ninth, and tenth, of ſir Tryſtram. The eleventh and twelfth of ſir Lancelot x. The thirteenth of the SAINGRAL, which is alſo called ſir Lancelot's Book. The fourteenth of ſir Percival. The fifteenth, again, of ſir Lancelot. The ſixteenth of ſir Gawaine. The ſeventeenth of ſir Galahad. [But all the four laſt mentioned books are alſo called the hiſtorye of the holy Sancgreall.] The eighteenth and nineteenth [] of miſcellaneous adventures. The two laſt of king Arthur and all the knights. Lwhyd mentions a Welſh SANGREALL, which, he ſays, contains various fables of king Arthur and his knights, &c. ARCHAEOLOG. BRIT. Tit. vii. p. 265. col. 2. MORTE ARTHUR is often literally tranſlated from various and very ancient detached hiſtories of the heroes of the round table, which I have examined; and on the whole, it nearly reſembles Walter Map's romance abovementioned, printed at Rouen and Paris, both in matter and diſpoſition.

I take this opportunity of obſerving, that a very valuable vellum fragment of LE BRUT, of which the writing is uncommonly beautiful and of high antiquity, containing part of the ſtory of Merlin and king Vortigern, covers a manuſcript of Chaucer's ASTROLABE, lately preſented, together with ſeveral oriental manuſcripts, to the Bodleian library, by Thomas Hedges, eſquire, of Alderton in Wiltſhire: a gentleman poſſeſſed of many curious manuſcripts, and Greek and Roman coins, and moſt liberal in his communications.

Pag. 119. ADD to Not. x. ‘"Among Crynes's books in the Bodleian library is a copy of king Richard's romance, printed by W. de Worde in 1509. CR. 734. 8vo. This edition was in the Harleian library.’

Pag. 120. Notes. l. 13. col. 2. After ‘"ſixth,"’ ADD ‘"By the way, it appears from this quotation, that there was an old romance called WADE. Wade's Bote is mentioned in Chaucer's MARCHAUNTS TALE, v. 940. p. 68. Urr. And eke theſe olde wivis, god it wote, They connin ſo much crafte in Wadis bote. Again, TROIL. CRESS. iii. 615. He ſonge, ſhe plaide, he tolde a tale of Wade. Where, ſays the gloſſariſt, ‘"A romantick ſtory, famous at that time, of one WADE, who performed many ſtrange exploits, [] and met with many wonderful adventures in his Boat Guigelot."’ Speght ſays, that Wade's hiſtory was long and fabulous.

Pag. 126. ADD to Not. c. 1. 9. ‘"See Preface to Hearne's Rob. of Glouceſter, p. lx. And Strype's ANNALS, ii. p. 313. edit. 1725. Where Stowe is mentioned as an induſtrious collector of antient chronicles. In the year 1568, among the proofs of Stowe's attachment to popery, it was reported to the privy council by archbiſhop Grindal, that ‘"he had a great ſort of fooliſh fabulous books of old print, as of ſir DEGORY, ſir TRYAMOUR, &c. A great parcell alſo of old-written Engliſh chronicles, both in parchment and paper."’ See Strype's GRINDALL. B. i. ch. xiii. pag. 125. And APPEND. Num. xvii."’

Pag. 127. Not. d. l. 2. After ‘"Latin,"’ ADD ‘"romance."’ In Lincoln's-inn library there is a poem entitled BELLUM TROJANUM, Num. 150. Pr.

Sichen god hade this worlde wroght.

Pag. 128. l. 7. DELE the firſt ‘"of."’

Pag. 129. l. 3. READ ‘"Olynthian."’

Pag. 131. l. 21. Not. col. 1. After ‘"fables,"’ ADD ‘"See Wolfii Bibl. Hebr. i. 468. ii. 931. iii. 350. iv. 934."’

Pag. 143. Not. p. ADD ‘"Among the Bennet manuſcripts there is ROMANZ DE GUI DE WARWYK. Num. L. It begins, Puis cel tems ke deus fu nez. This book belonged to Saint Auguſtin's abbey at Canterbury. With regard to the preceding romance of BEVIS, the Italians had Buovo d'Antona, undoubtedly from the French, before 1348. And Luhyd recites in Welſh, Yſtori Boun o Hamtun. ARCHAEOL. p. 264.’

Pag. 147. Not. d. l. 2. DELE ‘"Treatiſé on Monarchy."’ Afterwards READ ‘"that piece."’

Pag. 154. to l. [...]4. ADD this Note, ‘"It is ‘"One and twenti [] inches aboute."’ So doctor Farmer's manuſcript, purchaſed from Mr. Martin's library. See ſupr. p. 121. Not. g. This is in Engliſh.’

Pag. 156. ADD to Not. y. ‘"Or perhaps, By the lyfte, is, through the air. See Lye in Junius, V. LIFT.’

Pag. 157. l. 15. READ ‘"Comnena."’

Pag. 158. Not. i. l. 17. READ ‘"area."’

Pag. 161. ADD to Not. q. ‘"In the wardrobe-roll of prince Edward, afterwards king Edward the ſecond, under the year 1272, the maſters of the horſe render their accounts for horſes purchaſed, ſpecifying the colours and prices with the greateſt accuracy. One of them is called, ‘"Unus equus FAVELLUS cum ſtella in fronte, &c."’ Hearne's JOANN. DE TROKELOWE. Praef. p. xxvi. Here favellus is interpreted by Hearne to be honeycomb. I ſuppoſe he underſtands a dappled or roan horſe. But FAVELLUS, evidently an adjective, is barbarous Latin for FALVUS, or fulvus, a dun or light yellow, a word often uſed to expreſs the colour of horſes and hawks. See Carpentier, SUPPL. Du Freſne LAT. GLOSS. V. FAVELLUS. tom. ii. p. 370. It is hence that king Richard's horſe is called FAVEL. From which word PHANUEL, in Robert de Brunne, is a corruption.’

Pag. 165. Not. k. l. 3. READ ‘"paytrell."’

Pag. 170. to ‘"corall"’ in l. 16. ADD this Note, ‘"I do not perfectly underſtand the materials of this fairy palace. The walls thereof were of criſtall And the ſomers of corall. But Chaucer mentions corall in his temple of Diana. KNIGHTES TALE, v. 1912. And northward, in a touret on the wall,Of alabaſtre white, and red corall,An oratorie riche for to ſee.

[] Carpentier cites a paſſage from the romance De Troyes, in which a chamber of al [...]baſter is mentioned. SUPPL. LAT, GLOSS. Du Cange, tom. i. p. 136.

En celle chambre n'oit noienz,
De chaux, d'areine, de cimenz,
Enduit, ni moillerons, ni emplaiſtre,
Tot entiere fut alambaſtre.

Pag. 175. ADD to Not. w. ‘"The etymologiſts have been puzzled to find the derivation of an oriel-window. A learned correſpondent ſuggeſts, that ORIEL is Hebrew for Lux mea, or Dominus illuminatio mea.

Pag. 180. to Not. . ADD, ‘"Cloath of Rennes ſeems to have been the fineſt ſort of linen. In the old manuſcript MYSTERY, or religious comedy, of MARY MAGDALENE, written in 1512, a GALANT, one of the retainers to the groupe of the Seven Deadly Sins, is introduced with the following ſpeech.’

Hof, Hof, Hof, a fryſch new galaunt!
Ware of thryft, ley that a doune:
What mene ye, ſyrrys, that I were a marchaunt,
Becauſe that I am new com to toun?
With praty .... wold I fayne round,
I have a ſhert of reyns with ſleves peneaunt,
A laſe of ſylke for my lady Conſtant—
I woll, or even, be ſhaven for to ſeme yong, &c.

So alſo in Skelton's MAGNIFICENCE, a Morality written much about the ſame time. f. xx. b.

Your ſkynne, that was wrapped in ſhertes of raynes,
Nowe muſt be ſtorm ybeten.—

Pag. 186. Not. n. READ ‘"Ne wiſt."’

Pag. 190. Not. col. 1. lin. 7. After ‘"Robert,"’ ADD ‘"The [] French proſe romance of ROBERT LE DIABLE, printed in 1496, is extant in the little collection, of two volumes, called BIBLIOTHEQUE BLEUE. It has been tranſlated into other languages: among the reſt into Engliſh. The Engliſh verſion was printed by Wynkyn de Worde. The title of one of the chapters is, How god ſent an aungell to the hermyte to ſhewe him the penaunce that [...]e ſholde gyve to Robert for his ſynnes.‘"Yf that Robert wyll be ſhryven of his ſynnes, he muſt kepe and counterfeite the wayes of a fole and be as he were dombe, &c."’ It ends thus [...] Thus endeth the lyfe of Robert the devyllThat was the ſervaunte of our lordeAnd of his condycyons that was full evyllEmprinted in London by Wynkyn de Worde.

The volume has this colophon. ‘"Here endeth the lyfe of the mooſt ferefulleſt and unmercyfulleſt and myſchevous Robert the devill which was afterwards called the ſervaunt of our Lorde Jheſu Cryſte. Emprinted in Fleteſtrete in [at] the ſygne of the ſonne by Wynkyn de Worde."’ There is an old Engliſh MORALITY on this tale, under the very corrupt title of ROBERT CICYLL, which was repreſented at the HighCroſs in Cheſter, in 1529. There is a manuſcript copy of the poem, on vellum, in Trinity college library at Oxford, MSS. Num. LVII. fol.

Pag. 197. to l. 15. ADD this Note; ‘"I know not if by ſire Jovyn he means Jupiter, or the Roman emperour called Jovinian, againſt whom ſaint Jerom wrote, and whoſe hiſtory is in the GESTA ROMANORUM, c. 59. He is mentioned by Chaucer as an example of pride, luxury, and luſt. SOMP. T. v. 7511. Verdier (in V.) recites a Moralite on Jovinian, with nineteen characters, printed at Lyons, from an antient copy in 1581, 8vo. With the title L'Orgueil et preſomption de l'Empereur JOVINIAN. But Jovyn being mentioned here with Plotoun and Apollin, ſeems to mean Jove or Jupiter; and the appellation, SIRE, perhaps implies father, or chief, of the heathen gods.’

[] Pag. 200. to the Note ADD, ‘"Margaret counteſs of Richmond was a juſtice of peace."’

Pag. 208. to Not. c. ADD ‘"I make no apology for adding here an account of the furniture of a CLOSET at the old royal palace of Greenwich, in the reign of Henry the eighth; as it throws light on our general ſubject, by giving a lively picture of the faſhions, arts, amuſements, and modes of life, which then prevailed. From the ſame manuſcript in the Britiſh Muſeum. ‘"A clocke. A glaſſe of ſteele. Four battell axes of wood. Two quivers with arrowes. A painted table, [i. e. a picture.] A payre of ballance [balances], with waights. A caſe of tynne with a plot. In the window [a large bowwindow], a rounde mapp, A ſtandinge glaſſe of ſteele in ſhip.—A branche of flowres wrought upon wyre. Two payre of playing tables of bone. A payre of cheſmen in a caſe of black lether. Two birds of Araby. A gonne [gun] upon a ſtocke wheeled. Five paxes [crucifixes] of glaſſe and woode. A tablet of our ladie and ſaint Anne. A ſtandinge glaſſe with imagery made of bone. Three payre of hawkes gloves, with two lined with velvett. Three combe-caſes of bone furniſhed. A night-cappe of blacke velvett embrawdered. Sampſon made in alablaſter. A peece of unicorne's horne. Littel boxes in a caſe of woode. Four littel coffres for jewels. A horne of ivorie, A ſtandinge diall in a caſe of copper. A horne-glaſſe. Eight caſes of trenchers. Forty four dogs collars, of ſondrye makynge. Seven lyans of ſilke. A purſe of crymſon ſatten for a ..... embrawdered with golde. A round painted table with th' ymage of a kinge. A foldinge table of images. One payre of bedes [beads] of jaſper garnyſhed with lether. One hundred and thirty eight hawkes hoodes. A globe of paper. A mappe made lyke a ſcryne. Two green boxes with wrought corall in them. Two boxes covered with blacke velvett. A reede tipt at both ends with golde, and bolts for a turony bowe y. A [] chaire of joyned worke. An elle of ſynnamounde [cinnamon] ſticke tipt with ſylver. Three ridinge roddes for ladies, and a yard [rod] of blake tipt with horne. Six walkyng ſtaves, one covered with ſilke and golde. A blake ſatten-bag with cheſmen. A table with a cloth [a picture] of ſaint George embrawdered. A caſe of fyne carved work. A box with a bird of Araby. Two long caſes of blacke lether with pedegrees. A caſe of Iriſh arrows. A table, with wordes, of Jheſus. A target. Twenty-nine bowes."’ MSS. Harl. 1419. fol. 58. In the GALLERY at Greenwich, mention is made of a ‘"Mappe of England."’ Ibid. fol. 58. And in Weſtminſter-palace ‘"a Mappe of Hantſhire."’ fol. 133. A proof that the topography of England was now ſtudied. Among various HEADS of Furniture, or ſtores, at the caſtle of Windſor, ſuch as HORNS, GYRDELLES, HAWKES HOODS, WEAPONS, BUCKLERS, DOGS COLLARS, and AIGLETTES, WALKINGSTAVES are ſpecified. Under this laſt HEAD we have, ‘"A Cane garniſhed with ſylver and gilte, with aſtronomie upon it. A Cane garniſhed with golde havinge a perfume in the toppe, undre that a diall, with a paire of twitchers, and a paire of compaſſes of golde and a foote reule of golde, a knife and the file, th' afte [the handle of the knife] of golde with a whetſtone tipped with golde, &c."’ fol. 407.’

Ibid. Notes, col. 1. To l. 25. ADD ‘"It is in this romance of Syr BEVYS, that the knight paſſes over a bridge, the arches of which are hung round with ſmall bells. Signat. E iv. This is an oriental idea. In the ALCORAN it is ſaid, that one of the felicities in Mahomet's paradiſe, will be to liſten to the raviſhing muſic of an infinite number of bells, hanging on the trees, which will be put in motion by the wind proceeding from the throne of God. Sale's KORAN, Prelim. Diſc. p. 100. In the enchanted horn, as we ſhall ſee hereafter, in le Lai du Corn, the rim of the horn is hung round with a hundred bells of a moſt muſical ſound.’

Pag. 219. REFER Not. o. to ilome in the text.

[] Pag. 220. to l. 18. ADD this Note. In the Lincoln's-inn manuſcript it is,

Divers is this myddel erde.

Hoſpit. Linc. MSS. N. 150.

Pag. 221. Not. f. READ ‘"Aurifrigium."’

Ibid. Not. col. 1. l. 2, For ‘"Ethiope,"’ READ ‘"Europe."’ So MS. Hoſpit. Linc.

Pag. 232. Not. g. l. antep. READ ‘"Hubert."’ [See Leland. SCRIPT. BRIT. p. 228. And a Note in the editor's firſt Index, under GULIELMUS DE CANNO.]

Pag. 248. l. 8. READ ‘"canonical."’

Pag. 255. Not. s. READ ‘"238."’

Pag. 265. To l. 11. ADD this Note, ‘"Much about the ſame period, Lawrence Minot, not mentioned by Tanner, wrote a collection of poems on the principal events of the reign of king Edward the third, preſerved in the Britiſh Muſeum. MSS. Cotton. GALB. E. ix.’

Pag. 276. Not. u. READ ‘"360."’

Pag. 277. ADD to Not. z. ‘"Or, Couſin."’

Pag. 278. ADD to Not. f. ‘"See below, p. 300."’

Pag. 279. l. 18. To the word ‘"Wy"’ ADD this Note. ‘"Wy is probably Weyhill in Hampſhire, where a famous fair ſtill ſubſiſts.’

Pag. 289. Not. d. READ ‘"Auſtins."’

Pag. 292. For ‘"John,"’ READ ‘"Thomas."’

Pag. 298. Not. READ ‘"p. 40."’

Ibid. DELE Not. . And SUBSTITUTE ‘"Robartes men, or Roberdſmen, were a ſet of lawleſs vagabonds, notorious for their outrages when PIERCE PLOWMAN was written, that is, about the year 1350. The ſtatute of Edward the third [an. reg. 5. c. xiv.] ſpecifies ‘"divers manſlaughters, felonies, and robberies, done by people that be called Roberdeſmen, Waſtours, and drawlatches."’ And the ſtatute of Richard the ſecond [an. reg. 7. c. v.] ordains, that the ſtatute of king [] Edward concerning Roberdſmen and Drawlacches ſhall be rigorouſly obſerved. Sir Edward Coke [INSTIT. iii. 197.] ſuppoſes them to have been originally the followers of Robert Hood in the reign of Richard the firſt. See Blackſtone's COMM. B. iv. ch. 17. Biſhop Latimer ſays, that in a town where he intended to preach, he could not collect a congregation, becauſe it was Robinhoodes daye. ‘"I thought my rochet would have been regarded, though I were not: but it would not ſerve, it was faine to give place to Robinhoodes men."’ SERMONS, fol. 74. b. This expreſſion is not without an alluſion to the bad ſenſe of Roberdſmen.

Pag. 299. To l. 4. ADD this Note. ‘"In the LIBER PAENITENTIALIS there is this injunction, ‘"Si monachus per EBRIETATEM vomitum fecerit, triginta dies paeniteat."’ MSS. JAM. V. 237. Bibl. Bodl.’

Pag. 300. ADD to Not. p. ‘"Moſt of the printed copies read praid. Hearne, in a quotation of this paſſage, reads yrad. GUL. NEWBRIG. p. 770. He quotes an edition of 1553. ‘"Your name ſhall be richly written in the windows of the church of the monaſtery, which men will READ there for ever."’ This ſeems to be the true reading.’

Ibid. Not. m. Before ‘"Painted,"’ INSERT ‘"Muſt be."’ Mote is often uſed in Chaucer for muſt.

Pag. 301. l. antep. READ ‘"ycorven."’

Pag. 302. DELE Not. p. And SUBSTITUTE, ‘"By Merkes of merchauntes we are to underſtand their ſymbols, cyphers, or badges, drawn or painted in the windows. Of this paſſage I have received the following curious explication from Mr. Cole, rector of Blechley in Bucks, a learned antiquary in the heraldic art. ‘"Mixed with the arms of their founders and benefactors ſtand alſo the MARKS of tradeſmen and merchants, who had no Arms, but uſed their Marks in a Shield like Arms. Inſtances of this ſort are very common. In many places in Great Saint Mary's church in Cambridge ſuch a SHIELD of MARK occurs: the ſame that is to be ſeen in the windows of the [] great ſhop oppoſite the Conduit on the Market-hill, and the corner houſe of the Petty Curry. No doubt, in the reign of Henry the ſeventh, the owner of theſe houſes was a benefactor to the building, or glaſing Saint Mary's church. I have ſeen like inſtances in Briſtol cathedral; and the churches at Lynn are full of them."’—In an antient ſyſtem of heraldry in the Britiſh Muſeum, I find the following illuſtration, under a ſhield of this ſort. ‘"Theys be none armys, bvt a MARKE as MARCHAUNTS vſe, for every mane may take hyme a Marke, but not armys, without an herawde or purcyvaunte."’ MSS. Harl. 2259. 9. fol. 110.’

Ibid. Not. . ADD ‘"But perhaps we ſhould read HURNES, interpreted, in the ſhort Gloſſary to the CREDE, CAVES, that is, in the preſent application, niches, arches. See GLOSS. Rob. Glouc. p. 660. col. i. HURN, is angle, corner. From the Saxon Pẏ [...]n, Angulus. Chaucer FRANKEL. T. Urr. p. 110. v. 2677. Seeking in every halke [nook], and every herne. And again, CHAN. YEM. Prol. p. 121. v. 679. Lurking in hernis and in lanis blind. Read the line, thus pointed. Houſed in HURNES hard ſet abouten. The ſenſe is therefore. ‘"The tombs were within lofty-pinnacled tabernacles, and encloſed in a multiplicity of thickſet arches."’ HARD is cloſe or thick. This conveys no bad idea of a Gothic ſepulchral ſhrine.’

Ibid. DELE Not. .

Ibid. l. antep. For ‘"often,"’ READ ‘"of ten."’

Pag. 303. l. antep. READ ‘"quentelyche."’

Pag. 309. Not. . l. 1. READ ‘"140."’

Pag. 317. ADD to Not. . ‘"The Holy Virgin appears to a [] prieſt who often ſung to her, and calls him her joculator. MSS. JAMES. xxvi. p. 32.’

Pag. 321. l. 23. READ ‘"1594."’

Pag. 339. Not. s. ADD ‘"Perhaps by Cenes, Froiſſart means SHENE, the royal palace at Richmond.’

Pag. 343. l. 10. READ ‘"Glouceſterſhire."’

Ibid. Not. g. l. 1. READ ‘"Glanville."’ And ADD at the end ‘"See Lewis's WICCLIFFE, p. 66. 329. And Lewis's HISTORY of the TRANSLATIONS of the BIBLE, p. 66.’

Pag. 346. l. 17. After ‘"Lucca in,"’ INSERT, ‘"1570. The title of Granucci's proſe THESEIDE is this, THESEIDE di Boccacio de ottava Rima nuovamente ridotta in proſa per Nicolao Granucci di Lucca. In Lucca appreſſo Vinzenzza Buſdraghi. MDLXX. In the DEDICAZIONE to this work, which was printed more than two hundred years ago, and within one hundred years after the Ferrara edition of the THESEIDE appeared, Granucci mentions Boccacio's work as a TRANSLATION from the barbarous Greek poem cited below. DEDICAZ. fol. 5. ‘"Volendo far coſa, que non ſio ſtata fatta da loro, pero mutato parere mi dicoli a ridurre in proſa queſto Innamoramento, Opera di M. Giovanni Boccacio, quale egli tranſporto DAL GRECO in octava rima per compiacere alla ſua Fiametta, &c."’ Lib. SLONIAN. 1614. Brit. Muſ.’

Pag. 349. l. 5. After ‘"Theſeid,"’ INSERT ‘"The writer has tranſlated the prefatory epiſtle addreſſed by Boccacio to the Fiametta.’

Ibid. l. 10. READ ‘"1453."’

Pag. 350. ADD to the laſt Note. ‘"In the edition of the GESTA ROMANORUM, printed at Rouen in 1521, and containing one hundred and eighty-one chapters, the hiſtory of Apollonius of Tyre occurs, ch. 153. This is the firſt of the additional chapters.’

Pag. 352. To Not. r. ADD ‘"The tranſlation of FLORES and BLANCAFLORE in Greek iambics might alſo be made in compliment to Boccacio. Their adventures make the principal [] ſubject of his PHILOCOPO: but the ſtory exiſted long before, as Boccacio himſelf informs us, L. i. p. 6. edit. 1723. Flores and Blancaflore are mentioned as illuſtrious lovers by Matfres Eymengau de Bezers, a poet of Languedoc, in his BREVIARI D'AMOR, dated in the year 1288. MSS. REG. 19 C. i. fol. 199. This tale was probably enlarged in paſſing through the hands of Boccacio. See CANTERB. T. iv. p. 169.’

Ibid. ADD to Not. t. ‘"I am informed, that Dr. George's books, amongſt which was the Greek Theſeid, were purchaſed by Lord Spencer.’

Ibid. Not. c. l. 3. READ ‘"Tzetzes."’

Pag. 357. l. 7. ADD this Note. ‘"Boccacio's ſituations and incidents, reſpecting the lovers, are often inartificial and unaffecting. In the Italian poet, Emilia walking in the garden and ſinging, is ſeen and heard firſt by Arcite, who immediately calls Palamon. They are both equally, and at the ſame point of time, captivated with her beauty; yet without any expreſſions of jealouſy, or appearance of rivalry. But in Chaucer's management of the commencement of this amour, Palamon by ſeeing Emilia firſt, acquires an advantage over Arcite, which ultimately renders the cataſtrophe more agreeable to poetical juſtice. It is an unnatural and unanimated picture which Boccacio preſents, of the two young princes violently enamoured of the ſame object, and ſtill remaining in a ſtate of amity. In Chaucer, the quarrel between the two friends, the foundation of all the future beautiful diſtreſs of the piece, commences at this moment, and cauſes a converſation full of mutual rage and reſentment. This rapid tranſition from a friendſhip cemented by every tie, to the moſt implacable hoſtility, is on this occaſion not only highly natural, but produces a ſudden and unexpected change of circumſtances, which enlivens the detail, and is always intereſting. Even afterwards, when Arcite is releaſed from the priſon by Perithous, he embraces Palamon at parting. And in the fifth book of the THESEIDE, when Palamon goes armed to the grove in ſearch of Arcite, whom he finds [] ſleeping, they meet on terms of much civility and friendſhip, and in all the mechanical formality of the manners of romance. In Chaucer, this dialogue has a very different caſt. Palamon at ſeeing Arcite, feels a colde ſwerde glide throughout his heart: he ſtarts from his ambuſcade, and inſtantly ſalutes Arcite with the appellation of falſe traitour. And although Boccacio has merit in diſcriminating the characters of the two princes, by giving Palamon the impetuoſity of Achilles, and Arcite the mildneſs of Hector; yet Arcite by Boccacio is here injudiciouſly repreſented as too moderate and pacific. In Chaucer he returns the ſalute with the ſame degree of indignation, draws his ſword, and defies Palamon to ſingle combat. So languid is Boccacio's plan of this amour, that Palamon does not begin to be jealous of Arcite, till he is informed in the priſon, that Arcite lived as a favorite ſervant with Theſeus in diſguiſe, yet known to Emilia. When the lovers ſee Emilia from the window of their tower, ſhe is ſuppoſed by Boccacio to obſerve them, and not to be diſpleaſed at their ſigns of admiration. This circumſtance is juſtly omitted by Chaucer, as quite unneceſſary; and not tending either to promote the preſent buſineſs, or to operate in any diſtant conſequences. On the whole, Chaucer has eminently ſhewn his good ſenſe and judgement in rejecting the ſuperfluities, and improving the general arrangement, of the ſtory. He frequently corrects or ſoftens Boccacio's falſe manners: and it is with ſingular addreſs he has often abridged the Italian poet's oſtentatious and pedantic parade of antient hiſtory and mythology.’

Pag. 357. l. 21. READ ‘"ſharpe."’

Pag. 359. l. 14. For ‘"boris,"’ READ ‘"beris."’

Pag. 360. Not. c. l. 11. For ‘"wende,"’ READ ‘"wonde."’

Pag. 362. l. ult. DELE ‘"court."’

Pag. 363. ADD to end of Note, col. 2. ‘"But to be more particular as to theſe imitations.’

Ver. 900. p. 8. Urr. edit.

A company of ladys twey and twey, &c.

[] Thus Theſeus, at his return in triumph from conquering Scythia, is accoſted by the dames of Thebes, Stat. THEB. xii. 519.

Jamque domos patrias, Scythicae poſt aſpera gentis
Praelia, laurigero ſubeuntem Theſea curru
Laetifici plauſus, &c. &c.
Paulum et ab inſeſſis moeſtae Pelopeides aris
Promovere gradum, ſeriemque et dona triumphi
Mirantur, victique animo rediere mariti.
Atque ubi tardavit currus, et ab axe ſuperbo
Explorat cauſas victor, poſcitque benigna
Aure preces; orſa ante alias Capaneia conjux,
Belliger Aegide, &c.

Chaucer here copies Statius, (v. 861,—966.) KN. T. from v. 519. to v. 600. THEB. See alſo ibid. 465. ſeq.

V. 930. p. 9.

Here in the Temple of the goddeſs Clemence, &c.

Statius mentions the temple of Clemency as the aſylum where theſe ladies were aſſembled, THEB. xii. 481.

Urbe fuit media, nulli conceſſa potentum
Ara deum, mitis poſuit Clementia ſedem, &c.

V. 2947.

Ne what jewillis men into the fire caſt, &c.

Literally from Statius, THEB. vi. 206.

Ditantur flammae, non unquam opulentior illa
Ante cinis; crepitant gemmae, &c.

But the whole of Arcite's funeral is minutely copied from Statius. More than a hundred parallel lines on this ſubject might be produced from each poet. In Statius the account of [] the trees felled for the pyre, with the conſternation of the Nymphs, takes up more than twenty-four lines. v. 84.—116. In Chaucer about thirteen, v. 2922.—2937. In Boccacio, ſix ſtanzas. B. xi. Of the three poets, Statius is moſt reprehenſible, the firſt author of this ill-placed and unneceſſary deſcription, and who did not live in a Gothic age. The ſtatues of Mars and Venus I imagined had been copied from Fulgentius, Boccacio's favorite mythographer. But Fulgentius ſays nothing of Mars: and of Venus, that ſhe only ſtood in the ſea on a couch, attended by the Graces. It is from Statius that Theſeus became a hero of romance.

Pag. 366. l. antep. "READ ‘"laughith."’ And ADD this Note. ‘"For Orient, perhaps Oriſount, or the horiſon, is the true reading. So the edition of Chaucer in 1561. So alſo the barbarous-Greek poem on this ſtory, [...]. Dryden ſeems to have read, or to have made out of this miſpelling of Horiſon, ORIENT.’

Pag. 370. l. 8. READ ‘"buſke."’

Pag. 372. l. antep. For ‘"at,"’ READ ‘"al."’

Pag. 374. l. 20. READ ‘"forto."’

Pag. 375. l. 6. READ ‘"This."’

Pag. 376. ADD to Not. in col. 1. ‘"AMILED is from the French EMAIL, or ENAMEL. This art flouriſhed moſt at Limoges in France. So early as the year 1197, we have ‘"Duas tabulas aeneas ſuperauratas de labore Limogiae."’ Chart. ann. 1197. apud Ughelin. tom. vii. ITAL. SACR. p. 1274. It is called Opus Lemnoviticum, in Dugdale's MON. iii. 310. 313. 331. And in Wilkins's CONCIL. i. 666. where two cabinets for the hoſt are ordered, one of ſilver or of ivory, and the other de opere Lemovicino. SYNOD. WIGORN. A. D. 1240. And in many other places. I find it called Limaiſe, in a metrical romance, the name of which I have forgot, where a tomb is deſcribed, And yt was, the Romans ſayes, All with golde and limaiſe. [] Carpentier [V. LIMOGIA.] obſerves, that it was antiently a common ornament of ſumptuous tombs. He cites a Teſtament of the year 1327, ‘"Je lais huit cent livres pour faire deux tombes hautes et levées de l'EUVRE de LIMOGES."’ The original tomb of Walter de Merton, biſhop of Rocheſter, erected in his cathedral about the year 1276, was made at Limoges. This appears from the accompts of his executors, viz. ‘"Et computant xl l. v s. vi d. liberat. Magiſtro Johanni Linnomcenſi, pro tumba dicti Epiſcopi Roffenſis, ſcil. pro Conſtructione et carriagio de Lymoges ad Roffam. Et xl s. viii d. cuidam Executori apud Lymoges ad ordinandum et providendum Conſtructionem dictae Tumbae. Et x s. viii d. cuidam garcioni eunti apud Lymoges quaerenti dictam tumbam conſtructam, et ducenti eam cum dicto Mag. Johanne uſque Roffam. Et xxii l. in materialibus circa dictam tumbam defricandam. Et vii marcas, in ferramento ejuſdem, et carriagio a Londin. uſque ad Roff. et aliis parandis ad dictam tumbam. Et xi s. cuidam vitriario pro vitris feneſtrarum emptarum juxta tumbam dicti Epiſcopi apud Roffam."’ Ant. Wood's MS. MERTON PAPERS, Bibl. Bodl. COD. BALLARD. 46.’

Pag. 378. l. 9. READ ‘"preis."’

Pag. 383. l. 4. READ ‘"Petrarch having deſired his friend Guy de Gonzague to ſend him ſome new piece, he ſent him, &c."’

Pag. 385. l. 2. To the word Boccacio, ADD this Note. ‘"Boccacio's FILOSTRATO was printed in quarto at Milan, in 1488. The title is, ‘"Il FYOLOSTRATO, che tracta de lo innamoramento de TROILO a GRYSEIDA: et de molte altre infinite battaglie. Impreſſo nella inclita cita de Milano par magiſtro Uldericho Scinzenzeler nell anno M. CCCCLXXXXVIII. a di xxvii di meſe Septembre."’ It is in the octave ſtanza. The editor of the CANTERBURY TALES informs me, that Boccacio himſelf, in his DECAMERON, has made the ſame honourable mention of this poem as of the THESEIDA: although without acknowledging either for his own. In the Introduction to the Sixth Day, he ſays, that ‘"Dioneo inſieme con [] Lauretta de TROILE ET DI CRISEIDA cominciarono cantare."’ Juſt as, afterwards, in the concluſion of the Seventh Day he ſays, that the ſame ‘"Dioneo et Fiametta gran pezzi cantarono inſieme D'ARCITA ET DI PALAMONE."’ See CANTERB. T. vol. iv. p. 85. iii. p. 311. Chaucer appears to have been as much indebted to Boccacio in his TROILUS AND CRESSEIDE, as in his KNIGHTES TALE. At the ſame time we muſt obſerve, that there are ſeveral long paſſages, and even epiſodes, in TROILUS, of which no traces appear in the FILOSTRATO. Chaucer ſpeaks of himſelf as a tranſlator out of Latin, B. ii. 14. And he calls his author LOLLIUS, B. i. 394.—421. and B. v. 1652. The latter of theſe two paſſages is in the PHILOSTRATO: but the former, containing Petrarch's ſonnet, is not. And when Chaucer ſays, he tranſlates from Latin, we muſt remember, that the Italian language was called Latino volgare. Shall we ſuppoſ [...], that Chaucer followed a more complete copy of the FILOSTRATO than that we have at preſent, or one enlarged by ſome officious interpolator? The Pariſian manuſcript might perhaps clear theſe difficulties. In Bennet library at Cambridge, there is a manuſcript of Chaucer's TROILUS, elegantly written, with a frontiſpiece beautifully illuminated, LXI.’

Ibid. l. 16. READ ‘"ſike, and efte to."’

Pag. 387. l. 5. READ ‘"alofte."’

Ibid. l. 15. READ ‘"lo which a dede!"’

Pag. 388. l. 14. READ ‘"Bradwardine."’ So alſo, p. 421. l. 2. infr.

Pag. 389. Not. k. l. 3. READ ‘"B. iii."’

Ibid. ibid. l. 2. col. 2. For ‘"Thomas a Beckett,"’ READ ‘"Thomas Becket."’ So alſo, p. 14. l. 13. p. 85. l. 15. p. 397. l. 4. p. 445. l. 12. [For this, ſee H. Wharton's Letter at the end of Strype's CRANMER, p. 526.]

Ibid. ibid. l. 5. col. 2. READ ‘"B. ii. v. 526."’

Pag. 390. Not. . l. 3. READ ‘"owne."’

Pag. 392. l. 21. READ ‘"parlirs."’

[] Ibid. Not. z. READ ‘"iii."’

Ibid. l. 25. READ ‘"William Thomas."’ And ADD this Note. ‘"Chaucer's Life in Urry's edition. William Thomas digeſted this Life from collections by Dart. His brother, Dr. Timothy Thomas, wrote or compiled the Gloſſary and Preface to that edition. See Dart's WESTMINST. ABBEY, i. 86. Timothy Thomas was of Chriſt Church Oxford, and died in 1751.’

Pag. 401. l. 18. For ‘"Seraphic,"’ READ ‘"Angelic."’

Pag. 403. l. 9. READ ‘"mede."’

Pag. 407. Not. f. ADD ‘"The ſame fiction is in Caxton's TROYE BOKE. ‘"Upon the pinacle or top of the towre he made an ymage of copper and gave hym in his hande a looking-glaſſe, having ſuch vertue, that if it happened that any ſhippes came to harme the citie ſuddenly, their army and their coming ſhould appear in the ſaid looking-glaſſe."’ B. ii. ch. xxii.’

Pag. 408. Not. i. l. 1. col. 2. READ ‘"Gallic."’

Pag. 413. To Not. h. l. 2. ADD, ‘"Mahomet believed this fooliſh ſtory, at leaſt thought it fit for a popular book, and has therefore inſerted it in the Alcoran. See Grey on HUDIBRAS, part i. cant. i. v. 547.’

Pag. 415. ADD to l. 15. this Note. ‘"The bridle of the enchanted horſe is carried into the tower, which was the treaſury of Cambuſcan's caſtle, to be kept among the jewels. Thus when king Richard the firſt, in a cruſade, took Cyprus, among the treaſures in the caſtles are recited pretious ſtones, and golden cups, together with ‘"Sellis aureis frenis et calcaribus."’ Galfr. Vineſauf. ITER. HIEROSOL. cap. xli. p. 328. VET. SCRIPT. ANGL. tom. ii.’

Pag. 416. ADD to Not. r. ‘"It may be doubted whether Boccacio invented the ſtory of Griſilde. For, as the late inquiſitive and judicious editor of THE CANTERBURY TALES obſerves, it appears by a Letter of Petrarch to Boccacio, [OPP. Petrarch. p. 540—7. edit. Baſil. 1581.] ſent with his Latin [] tranſlation, in 1373, that Petrarch had heard the ſtory with pleaſure, many years before he ſaw the Decameron. vol. iv. p. 157.’

Pag. 417. To l. 9. ADD, ‘"And in Bennet college library with this title. ‘"HISTORIA [...]ive FABULA de nobili Marchione WALTERIO domino terrae Saluciarum, quomodo duxit in uxorem GRISILDEM pauperculam, et ejus conſtantiam et patientiam mirabiliter et acriter comprobavit: quam de vulgari ſermone Saluciarum in Latinum tranſtulit D. Franciſcus Petrarcha."’ CLXXVII. 10. fol. 76. Again, ibid. CCLXXV. 14. fol. 163. Again, ibid. CCCCLVIII. 3. with the date 1476, I ſuppoſe, from the ſcribe. And in Bibl. Bodl. MSS. LAUD. G. 80.’

Ibid. Not. w. l. 2. After ‘"Bonne [...]ons,"’ INSERT, ‘"This is the whole title. ‘"Le MYSTERE de Griſeldis, Marquis d [...] Saluces, mis en rime françoiſe et par perſonnaiges."’ Without date, in quarto, and in the Gothic type. In the colophon, Cy finiſt la vie de Griſeldis, &c.’

Pag. 419. l. 2. After ‘"growth,"’ INSERT, ‘"The ſtory of the cock and the fox is evidently borrowed from a collection of Eſopean and other fables, written by Marie a French poeteſs, whoſe LAIS are preſerved in MSS. HARL. ut infr. ſee f. 139. Beſide the abſolute reſemblance, it appears ſtill more probable that Chaucer copied from Marie, becauſe no ſuch fable is to be found either in the Greek Eſop, or in any of the Latin Eſopean compilations of the dark ages. See MSS. HARL. 978. f. 76. All the manuſcripts of Marie's fables in the Britiſh Muſeum prove, that ſhe tranſlated her work ‘"de l'Anglois en Roman."’ Probably her Engliſh original was Alfred's Anglo-Saxon verſion of Eſop moderniſed, and ſtill bearing his name. She profeſſes to follow the verſion of a king; who, in the beſt of the Harleian copies, is called LI REIS ALURED. MSS. HARL. 978. ſupr. citat. She appears, from paſſages in her LAIS, to have underſtood Engliſh. See Chaucer's CANTERB. TALES, vol. iv. p. 179. I will give her Epilogue to the Fables from MSS. JAMES. viii. p. 23. Bibl. Bodl.’

[]
Al finement de ceſt eſcrit
Qu' en romanz ai treite e dit
Me numerai pour remembraunce
Marie ai nun ſui de France
Pur cel eſtre que clerc pluſur
Prendreient ſur eus mun labeur
Ne voit que nul ſur li ſa die
Eil feit que fol que ſei ublie
Pur amur le cunte Wllame
Le plus vaillant de nul realme
Meinlemir de ceſte livre feire
E des Engleis en romanz treire
Eſop apelum ceſt livre
Quil tranſlata e fiſt eſcrire
Del Gru en Latin le turna
Le Reiz Alurez que mut lama
Le tranſlata puis en Engleis
E jeo lai rimee en Franceis
Si cum jeo poi plus proprement
Ore pri a dieu omnipotent, &c.

Pag. 420. l. 18. READ ‘"beke."’

Pag. 421. To Not. t. ADD, ‘"The ludicrous adventure of the Pear Tree, in JANUARY AND MAY, is taken from a collection of Fables in Latin elegiacs, written by one Adolphus in the year 1315. Leyſer. HIST. POET. MED. AEVL. p. 2008. The ſame fable is among the Fables of Alphonſe, in Caxton's ESOP.’

Pag. 425. l. 15. For ‘"in,"’ READ ‘"is."’

Pag. 427. l. 9. READ ‘"perlid."’

Pag. 428. Not. n. l. 2. READ ‘"be went."’ [So the edit. in 1561.]

Ibid. To Not. q. ADD, ‘"Calcei feneſtraſti occur in antient Injunctions to the clergy. In Eton-college ſtatutes, given in 1446, the fellows are forbidden to wear, ſotularia roſtrata, as [] alſo caligae, white, red, or green. CAP. xix. In a chantry, or chapel, founded at Wincheſter in the year 1318, within the cemitery of the Nuns of the Bleſſed Virgin by Roger Inkpenne, the members, that is, a warden, chaplain and clerk, are ordered to go ‘"in meris caligis, et ſotularibus non roſtratis, niſi forſitan botis uti voluerunt."’ And it is added, ‘"Veſtes deferant non fibulatas, ſed deſuper clauſas, vel brevitate non notanda [...]."’ REGISTR. Priorat. S. Swithini Winton. MS. ſupr. citat. Quatern. 6. Compare Wilkins's CONCIL. iii. 670. ii. 4.’

Pag. 429. l. 3. READ ‘"Oxenforde."’

Ibid. l. 6. READ ‘"ſong ſometime a loud."’

Pag. 430. Not. q. l. [...]. After ‘"DISSERRAT. i."’ ADD, ‘"It is not my intention to enter into the controverſy concerning the cultivation of vines, for making wine, in England. I ſhall only bring to light the following remarkable paſſage on that ſubject from an old Engliſh writer on gardening and farming. ‘"We might have a reaſonable good wine growyng in many places of this realme: as undoubtedly wee had immediately after the Conqueſt; tyll partly by ſlouthfulneſſe, not liking any thing long that is painefull, partly by civill diſcord long continuyng, it was left, and ſo with tyme loſt, as appeareth by a number of places in this realme that keepe ſtill the name of Vineyardes: and uppon many cliffes and hilles, are yet to be ſeene the rootes and olde remaynes of Vines. There is beſides Nottingham, an auncient houſe called Chilwell, in which houſe remayneth yet, as an auncient monument, in a Great Wyndowe of Glaſſe, the whole Order of planting, pruyning, [pruning,] ſtamping and preſſing of vines. Beſide, there [at that place] is yet alſo growing an old vine, that yields a grape ſufficient to make a right good wine, as was lately proved.—There hath, moreover, good experience of late yeears been made, by two noble and honorable barons of this realme, the lorde Cobham and the lorde Wylliams of Tame, who had both growyng about their houſes, as good wines as are in many parts of Fraunce, [] &c."’ Barnabie Googe's FOURE BOOKES OF HUSBANDRY, &c. Lond. 1578. 4to. TO THE READER.’

Pag. 431. To Not. k. ADD, ‘"But both Boccacio and Chaucer probably borrowed from an old CONTE, or FABLIAU, by an anonymous French rhymer, De Gombert et des deux Clers. See FABLIAUX et CONTES, Paris, 1756. tom. ii. p. 115.—124. The SHIPMAN'S TALE, as I have hinted, originally came from ſome ſuch French FABLEOUR, through the medium of Boccacio.’

Ibid. To Not. b. ADD, ‘"It is entitled BURNELLUS, ſive Speculum ſtultorum, and was written about the year 1190. See Leyſer. POET. MED. AEVI. p. 752. It is a common manuſcript. Burnell is a nick-name for Balaam's aſs in the Cheſter WHITSUN PLAYS. MSS. HARL. 2013.’

Pag. 432. Not. l. l. 4. After ‘"Cambridge,"’ INSERT, ‘"There is, however, Abington, with a mill-ſtream, ſeven miles from Cambridge.’

Ibid. Not. n. l. 9. READ ‘"881."’

Ibid. l. 14. READ ‘"Salarii."’

Pag. 436. To Not. c. ADD ‘"The Prioreſſe's exact behaviour at table, is copied from ROM. ROSE, 14178.—14199. Et bien ſe garde, &c. To ſpeak French is mentioned above, among her accompliſhments. There is a letter in old French from queen Philppa, and her daughter Iſabell, to the Priour of Saint Swithin's at Wincheſter, to admitt one Agnes Patſhull into an eleemoſynary ſiſterhood belonging to his convent. The Priour is requeſted to grant her, ‘"Une Lyvere en votre Maiſon dieu de Wynceſtere et eſtre un des ſoers,"’ for her life. Written at Windeſor, Apr. 25. The year muſt have been about 1350. REGISTR. Priorat. MS. ſupr. citat. Quartern. xix. fol. 4. I do not ſo much cite this inſtance to prove that the Priour muſt be ſuppoſed to underſtand French, as to ſhew that it was now the court language, and [] even on a matter of buſineſs. There was at leaſt a great propriety, that the queen and princeſs ſhould write in this language, although to an eccleſiaſtic of dignity. In the ſame Regiſter, there is a letter in old French from the queen Dowager Iſabell to the Priour and Convent of Wincheſter; to ſhew, that it was at her requeſt, that king Edward the third her ſon had granted a church in Wincheſter dioceſe, to the monaſtery of Leedes in Yorkſhire, for their better ſupport, ‘"a trouver ſis chagnoignes chantans tous les jours en la chapele du Chaſtel de Ledes, pour laime madame Alianore reyne d'Angleterre, &c."’ A. D. 1341. Quatern vi.’

The Prioreſſe's greateſt oath is by Saint Eloy. I will here throw together ſome of the moſt remarkable oaths in the Canterbury Tales. The HOST, ſwears by my father's ſoule. Urr. p. 7. 783. Sir THOPAS, by ale and breade. p. 146. 3377. ARCITE, by my pan, i. e. head. p. 10. 1167. THESEUS, by mightie Mars the red. p. 14. 1749. Again, as he was a trew knight. p. 9. 961. The CARPENTER'S wife, by ſaint Thomas of Kent. p. 26. 183. The SMITH, by Chriſtes foote. p. 29. 674. The CAMBRIDGE SCHOLAR, by my father's kinn. p. 31. 930. Again, by my croune, ib. 933. Again, for godes benes, or beniſon. p. 32. 965. Again, by ſeint Cuthberde, ib. 1019. Sir JOHAN of BOUNDIS, by ſeint Martyne. p. 37. 107. GAMELYN, by goddis boke. p. 38. 181. GAMELYN'S brother, by ſaint Richere. ibid. 273. Again, by Criſtis ore. ib. 279. A FRANKELEYN, by ſaint Jame that in Galis is, i. e. ſaint James of Galicia. p. 40. 549. 1514. A PORTER, by Goddis berde. ib. 581. GAMELYN, by my hals, or neck. p. 42. 773. The MAISTIR OUTLAWE, by the gode rode. p. 45. 1265. The HOSTE, by the precious corpus Madrian, p. 160. 4. Again, by ſaint Paulis bell. p. 168. 893. The MAN of LAWE, Depardeux. p. 49. 39. The MARCHAUNT, by ſaint Thomas of Inde. p. 66. 745. The SOMPNOUR, by goddis armis two. p. 82. 833. The HOSTE, by cockis bonis. p. 106. 2235. Again, by naylis and by blode, i. e. of Chriſt. p. 130. 1802. Again, by [] ſaint Damian. p. 131. 1824. Again, by ſaint Runion. ib. 1834. Again, by Corpus domini. ib. 1838. The RIOTTOUR, by Goddis digne bones. p. 135. 2211. The HOSTE, to the Monke, by your father kin. p. 160. 43. The MONKE, by his porthoſe, or breviary. p. 139. 2639. Again, by God and ſaint Martin. ib. 2656. The HOSTE, by armis, blode and bonis. p. 24. 17.

Pag. 438. l. 14. READ ‘"man."’

Pag. 440. l. 8. READ ‘"unyd."’

Pag. 441. l. 10. READ ‘"Peripatetic."’

Ibid. Not. n. l. 2. READ ‘"L. ii."’

Pag. 442. l. ult. READ ‘"Pits."’

Pag. 443. Not. col. 1. l. 6. After ‘"249,"’ ADD, ‘"See Freind's HIST. OF PHYSICK, ii. 257.’

Ibid. Not. w. l. 3. READ ‘"quaeſtum."’

Ibid. l. 5. For ‘"foreign writers,"’ READ ‘"Engliſh ſtudents abroad."’ ADD to the end of the Note, ‘"See more of Gilbertus Anglicus, ibid. p. 356.’

Pag. 445. l. 16. READ ‘"Watte."’ And ADD as a Note, ‘"So edit. 1561. See Johnſon's Dictionary, in MAGPIE.’

Pag. 446. l. 5. For ‘"to,"’ READ ‘"the."’

Pag. 447. Notes, col. 2. l. 2. READ ‘"298."’

Pag. 449. To Not. d. ADD, ‘"The gulf and caſtle of Satalia are mentioned by Benedictus Abbas, in the cruſade under the year 1191. ‘"Et cum rex Franciae receſſiſſet ab Antiochet, ſtatim intravit gulfum SATHALIAE.—SATHALIAE Caſtellum eſt optimum, unde gulfus ille nomen accepit; et ſuper gulfum illum ſunt duo Caſtella et Villae, et utrumque dicitur SATALIA. Sed unum illorum eſt deſertum, et dicitur Vetus SATALIA quod piratae deſtruxerunt, et alterum Nova SATALIA dicitur, quod Manuel imperator Conſtantinopolis firmavit."’ VIT. ET GEST. HENR. et RIC. ii. p. 680. Afterwards he mentions Mare Graecum, p. 683. That is, the Mediterranean from Sicily to Cyprus. I am inclined, in the ſecond verſe following, to read ‘"Greke ſea."’ Leyis is the town of Layas in Armenia.’

[] Pag. 450. l. 16. For ‘"in,"’ READ ‘"is."’

Ibid. l. ult. READ ‘"Sheff."’

Ibid. Not. . l. 3. READ ‘"chivauchie."’

Pag. 452. l. 10. DELE ‘"in."’

Ibid. Not. s. READ ‘"447."’

Pag. 453. Note, col. 2. l. 14. READ ‘"full."’

Pag. 454. Not. b. l. 9. READ ‘"Tapiſer."’ And in the next line, ‘"Chanon's."’

Pag. 458. l. 19. ADD this Note to ‘"Provence."’ ‘"The ingenious editor of the CANTERBURY TALES treats the notion, that Chaucer imitated the Provencial poets, as totally void of foundation. He ſays, ‘"I have not obſerved in any of his writings a ſingle phraſe or word, which has the leaſt appearance of having been fetched from the South of the Loire. With reſpect to the manner and matter of his compoſitions, till ſome clear inſtance of imitation be produced, I ſhall be ſlow to believe, that in either he ever copied the poets of Provence; with whoſe works, I apprehend, he had very little, if any acquaintance."’ Vol. i. APPEND. PREF. p. xxxvi. I have advanced the contrary doctrine, at leaſt by implication: and I here beg leave to explain myſelf on a ſubject materially affecting the ſyſtem of criticiſm that has been formed on Chaucer's works. I have never affirmed, that Chaucer imitated the Provencial bards; although it is by no means improbable, that he might have known their tales. But as the peculiar nature of the Provencial poetry entered deeply into the ſubſtance, caſt, and character, of ſome of thoſe French and Italian models, which he is allowed to have followed, he certainly may be ſaid to have copied, although not immediately, the matter and manner of theſe writers. I have called his HOUSE OF FAME originally a Provencial compoſition. I did not mean that it was written by a Provencial troubadour: but that Chaucer's original was compounded of the capricious mode of fabling, and that extravagant ſtyle of fiction, which conſtitute the eſſence of the Provencial poetry. As to the [] FLOURE AND THE LEAFE, which Dryden pronounces to have been compoſed after their manner, it is framed on the old allegoriſing ſpirit of the Provencial writers, refined and disfigured by the fopperies of the French poets in the fourteenth century. The ideas of theſe fablers had been ſo ſtrongly imbibed, that they continued to operate long after Petrarch had introduced a more rational method of compoſition.’

Pag. 462. Not. q. BEGIN this Note with ‘"Compare"’ in the preceding Note.

Pag. 463. Not. col. 1. To the end of l. 8. ADD, ‘"The ground-work of DOLOPATHOS is a Greek ſtory-book called SYNTIPAS, often cited by Du Cange, whoſe copy appears to have been tranſlated from the Syriac. See GLOSS. MED. et INFIM. Graecitat.—IND. Auctor. p. 33. Among the Harleian manuſcripts is another, which is ſaid to be tranſlated from the Perſic. MSS. HARL. 5560. Fabricius ſays, that Syntipas was printed at Venice, lingua vulgari. BIBL. GR. x. 515. On the whole, the plan of SYNTIPAS appears to be exactly the ſame with that of LES SEPT SAGES, the Italian ERASTO, and our own little ſtory book the SEVEN WISE MASTERS: except that, inſtead of Diocleſian of Rome, the king is called CYRUS of PERSIA; and, inſtead of one Tale, each of the Philoſophers tells two. The circumſtance of Perſia is an argument, that SYNTIPAS was originally an oriental compoſition. See what is collected on this curious ſubject, which is intimately concerned with the hiſtory of the invention of the middle ages, by the learned editor of the CATERBURY TALES, vol. iv. p. 329. There is a tranſlation, as I am informed by the ſame writer, of this Romance in octoſyllable verſe, probably not later than the age of Chaucer. MSS. COTTON. GALB. E. ix. It is entitled ‘"The Proces of the ſeven Sages,"’ and agrees entirely with LES SEPT SAGES DE ROME in French proſe. MSS. HARL. 3860. See alſo MSS. C. C. Coll. Oxon. 252. in membran. 4to. The Latin book, called HISTORIA SEPTEM SAPIENTUM ROMAE, is not a very ſcarce manuſcript: it was printed [] before 1500. I think there are two old editions among More's books at Cambridge. Particularly one printed in [...]arto at Paris, in 1493.’

Pag. 466. Notes, col. 2. l. 1. Inſtead of ‘"All this while,"’ READ ‘"Speght ſuppoſes that."’ To the end ADD, ‘"See Le dit de la fleur de lis et de la Marguerite, by Guillaume Machaut, ACAD. INSCRIPT. xx. p. 381. x. 669. infr. citat. On the whole, it may be doubted whether, either Froiſſart, or Chaucer, means Margaret, counteſs of Pembroke. For compare APPEND. PREF. CANTERB. TALES, vol. i. p. xxxiv. I add, that in the year 1547, the poetical pieces of Margaret de Valois, queen of Navarre, were collected and publiſhed under the title of MARGUERITE de la Marguerites des Princeſſes, tres illuſtre Royne de Navarre, by John de la Haye, her valet de chambre. It was common in France, to give the title of MARGUERITES to ſtudied panegyrics, and flowery compoſitions of every kind, both in proſe and verſe.’

Appendix A.2 VOL. II.

PAGE 5. ADD to Not. k. ‘"The nations bordering upon the Jews, attributed the miraculous events of that people, to thoſe external means and material inſtruments, ſuch as ſymbols, ceremonies, and other viſible ſigns or circumſtances, which by God's ſpecial appointment, under their myſterious diſpenſation, they were directed to uſe. Among the obſervations which the oriental Gentiles made on the hiſtory of the Jews, they found that the Divine will was to be known by certain appearances in pretious ſtones. The Magi of the eaſt, believing that the preternatural [] diſcoveries obtained by means of the Urim and Thummim, a contexture of gems in the breaſt-plate of the Moſaic prieſts, were owing to ſome virtue inherent in thoſe ſtones, adopted the knowledge of the occult properties of gems as a branch of their magical ſyſtem. Hence it became the peculiar profeſſion of one claſs of their Sages, to inveſtigate and interpret the various ſhades and coruſcations, and to explain, to a moral purpoſe, the different colours, the dews, clouds, and imageries, which gems, differently expoſed to the ſun, moon, ſtars, fire, or air, at particular ſeaſons, and inſpected by perſons particularly qualified, were ſeen to exhibit. This notion being once eſtabliſhed, a thouſand extravagancies aroſe, of healing diſeaſes, of procuring victory, and of ſeeing future events, by means of pretious ſtones and other lucid ſubſtances. See Plin. NAT. HIST. xxxvii. 9. 10. Theſe ſuperſtitions were ſoon ingrafted into the Arabian philoſophy, from which they were propagated all over Europe, and continued to operate even ſo late as the viſionary experiments of Dee and Kelly a. It is not in the mean time at all improbable, that the Druidical doctrines concerning the virtues of ſtones were derived from theſe leſſons of the Magi: and they are ſtill to be traced among the traditions of the vulgar, in thoſe parts of Britain and Ireland, where Druidiſm retained its lateſt eſtabliſhments. See Martin's WEST. ISLES, p. 167. 225. And Aubrey's MISCELL. p. 128. Lond. 8vo.’

Pag. 31. ADD, ‘"In lord Gower's library, there is a thin oblong manuſcript on vellum, containing ſome of Gower's poems in Latin, French, and Engliſh. By an entry in the firſt leaf, in the hand-writing, and under the ſignature, of Thomas lord Fairfax, Cromwell's general, an antiquarian, and a lover and collector of curious manuſcripts b, it appears, that this book [] was preſented by the poet Gower, about the year 1400, to Henry the fourth; and that it was given by lord Fairfax to his friend and kinſman ſir Thomas Gower knight and baronet, in the year 1656. By another entry, lord Fairfax acknowledges to have received it, in the ſame year, as a preſent, from that learned gentleman Charles Gedde eſquire, of ſaint Andrews in Scotland: and at the end, are five or ſix Latin anagrams on Gedde, written and ſigned by lord Fairfax, with this title, ‘"In NOMEN venerandi et annoſi Amici ſui Caroli Geddei."’ By king Henry the fourth it ſeems to have been placed in the royal library: it appears at leaſt to have been in the hands of king Henry the ſeventh, while earl of Richmond, from the name Rychemond, inſerted in another of the blank leaves at the beginning, and explained by this note, ‘"Liber Henrici ſeptimi tunc Comitis Richmond, propria manu ſcripſit."’ This manuſcript is neatly written, with miniated and illuminated initials: and contains the following pieces. I. A Panegyric in ſtanzas, with a Latin prologue or rubric in ſeven hexameters, on king Henry the fourth. This poem, commonly called Carmen de pacis Commendatione in laudem Henrici quarti, is printed in Chaucer's WORKS, edit. Urr. p. 540.—II. A ſhort Latin poem in elegiacs on the ſame ſubject, beginning, ‘"Rex coeli deus et dominus qui tempora ſolus."’ [MSS. COTTON. OTHO. D. i. 4.] This is followed by ten other very ſhort pieces, both in French and Engliſh, of the ſame tendency.—III. CINKANTE BALADES, or Fifty Sonnets in French. Part of the firſt is illegible. They are cloſed with the following epilogue and colophon.’

[]
O gentile Engleterre a toi ieſcrits,
Pour remembrer ta ioie qeſt nouelle,
Qe te ſurvient du noble Roy Henris,
Par qui dieus ad redreſte ta querele,
A dieu purceo prient et cil et celle,
Qil de ſa grace, au fort Roi corone,
Doignit peas, honour, ioie et proſperite.

Expliciunt carmina Johis Gower que Gallice compoſita BALADES dicuntur.—IV. Two ſhort Latin poems in elegiacs. The Firſt beginning, ‘"Ecce patet tenſus ceci Cupidinis arcus."’ The Second, ‘"O Natura viri potuit quam tollere nemo."’—V. A French poem, imperfect at the beginning, On the Dignity or Excellence of Marriage, in one book. The ſubject is illuſtrated by examples. As no part of this poem was ever printed, I tranſcribe one of the ſtories.

Qualiter Jaſon uxorem ſuam Medeam relinquens, Creuſam Creontis regis filiam ſibi carnaliter copulavit. Verum ipſe cum duobus filiis ſuis poſtea infortunatus periit.

Li prus Jaſon qeu liſle de Colchos
Le toiſon dor, pour laide de Medee
Conquiſt dont il donour portoit grant loos
Par tout le monde encourt la renomee
La joefne dame oue ſoi ad amenee
De ſon pays en Grece et leſpouſa
Ffreinte eſpouſaile dieus le vengera.
Quant Medea meulx qui de etre en repos
Ove ſon mari et qelle avoit porte
Deux fils de luy lors changea le purpos
El quelle Jaſon permer fuiſt oblige
Il ad del tout Medeam refuſe
Si priſt la [...]le au roi Creon Creuſa
Ffrenite eſpouſaile dieux le vengera.
[]
Medea qot le coer de dolour cloos
En ſon corous et ceo fuiſt grant pite
Sas joefnes fils queux et jadis en clos
Veniz ſes coſtees enſi com forſeue
Devant ſes oels Jaſon ele ad tue
Ceo qeu fuiſt fait pecche le fortuna
Ffrenite eſpouſaile dieux le vengera.

Towards the end of the piece, the poet introduces an apology for any inaccuracies, which, as an Engliſhman, he may have committed in the French idiom.

Al univerſite de tout le monde
JOHAN GOWER ceſte Balade evoie;
Et ſi ieo nai de Francois faconde,
Pardonetz moi qe ieo de ceo forſvoie.
Jeo ſuis Englois: ſi quier par tiele voie
Eſtre excuſe mais quoique mills endie
L'amour parfait en dieu ſe juſtifie.

It is finiſhed with a few Latin hexameters, viz. ‘"Quis ſit ve [...] qualis ſacer order connubialis."’ This poem occurs at the end of two valuable folio manuſcripts, illuminated and on vellum, of the CONFESSIO AMANTIS, in the Bodleian library, viz. MSS. FAIRFAX, iii. And NE. F. 8. 9. Alſo in the manuſcript at All Souls college Oxford, MSS. xxvi. deſcribed and cited above. And in MSS. HARL. 3869. In all theſe, and, I believe, in many others, it is properly connected with the CONFESSIO AMANTIS by the following rubric. ‘"Puiſqu' il ad dit CIDEVANT en ENGLOIS, par voie deſſample, la ſotie de cellui qui par amours aimie par eſpecial, dirra ore apres en FRANCOIS a tout le mond en general une traitie ſelonc les auctors, pour eſſemplar les amants mariez, &c."’ It begins,

Le creature du tout creature.

[] But the CINQUANTE BALADES, or fifty French Sonnets abovementioned, are the curious and valuable part of lord Gower's manuſcript. They are not mentioned by thoſe who have written the life of this poet, or have catalogued his works. Nor do they appear in any other manuſcript of Gower which I have examined. But if they ſhould be diſcovered in any other, I will venture to pronounce, that a more authentic, unembarraſſed, and practicable copy than this before us, will not be produced: although it is for the moſt part unpointed, and obſcured with abbreviations, and with thoſe miſpellings which flowed from a ſcribe unacquainted with the French language.

To ſay no more, however, of the value which theſe little pieces may derive from being ſo ſcarce and ſo little known, they have much real and intrinſic merit. They are tender, pathetic, and poetical; and place our old poet Gower in a more advantageous point of view than that in which he has hitherto been uſually ſeen. I know not if any even among the French poets themſelves, of this period, have left a ſet of more finiſhed ſonnets: for they were probably written when Gower was a young man, about the year 1350. Nor had yet any Engliſh poet treated the paſſion of love with equal delic [...]cy of ſentiment, and elegance of compoſition. I will tranſcribe four of theſe balades as correctly and intelligibly as I am able: although I muſt confeſs, there are ſome lines which I do not exactly comprehend.

Appendix A.2.1 BALADE XXXVI.

Pour comparer ce jolif temps de Maij,
Jeo dirrai ſemblable a Paradis;
Car lors chantoit et merle et papegai,
Les champs ſont vert, les herbes ſont floris;
Lors eſt Nature dame du paijs:
Dont Venus poignt l'amant a tiel aſſai,
Qencontre amour neſt qui poet dire Nai.
[]
Quant tout ceo voi, et que ieo penſerai,
Coment Nature ad tout le mond ſuſpris,
Dont pour le temps ſe fait mino [...]e et gai,
Et ieo des autres ſuis ſouleni horſpris,
Com al qui ſanz amie eſt v [...]ais amis,
Neſt pas mervaile lors ſi ieo meſmai,
Qencontre amour neſt qui poet dire Nai.
En lieu de roſe, urtie cuillerai,
Dont mes chapeals ferrai par tiel devis,
Qe tout ioie et confort ieo lerrai,
Si celle ſoule e [...] qui iai mon coer mis,
Selonc le poni [...] qe iai ſovent req [...]i [...],
Ne deigne alegger les griefs mals qe iai,
Qencontre amour neſt qui poet dire Nai.
Pour pite querre et pourchacer i [...]tris,
Va ten balade ou ieo tenvoierai,
Qore en certain ieo lai treſbien apris
Qencontre amour neſt qui poet dire Nai.

Appendix A.2.2 BALADE XXXIV.

Saint Valentin, l'Amour, et la Nature,
Des touts oiſeals ad en gouernement,
Dont chaſcun deaux, ſemblable a ſa meſure [...]
Un compaigne honeſte a ſon talent
Eſliſt, tout dun accord et dun aſſent,
Pour celle ſoul [...] laiſt a covenir;
Toutes les autres car nature aprent
Ou li coers eſt le corps falt obeir.
Ma doulce Dame, enſi ieo vou [...] aſſure,
Qe ieo vous ai eſlieu ſemblablement,
Sur toutes autres eſtes a deſſure
De mon amour ſi treſentierement,
Qe riens y falt pourquoi ioiouſement,
[] De coer et corps ieo vous voldrai ſervir,
Car de reſon ceſt une experiment,
Ou li coers eſt le corps falt obeir.
Pour remembrer iadis celle aventure
De Alceone et ceix enſeinent,
Com dieus muoit en oiſel lour figure,
Ma volente ſerroit tout tielement
Qe ſans envie et danger de la gent,
Nous porroions enſemble pour loiſir
Voler tout francs en votre eſbatement
Ou li coers eſt le corps falt obeir.
Ma belle oiſel, vers qui mon penſement
Seu vole ades ſanz null contretenir
Preu ceſt eſcript car ieo ſai voirement
Ou li coers eſt le corps falt obeir.

Appendix A.2.3 BALADE XLIII.

Pluſtricherous qe Jaſon a Medee,
A Deianire ou q' Ercules eſtoit,
Plus q' Eneas q' avoit Dido laſſee,
Plus qe Theſeus q' Adriagnec amoit,
Ou Demophon qut Phillis oubliot,
Te trieus, helas, qamer iadis ſoloie,
Dont chanterai deſore en mon endroit
Ceſt ma dolour qe fuiſt amicois ma joie.
Unques Ector qama Pantaſilee d,
En tiele haſte a Troie ne ſarmoit,
Qe tu tout mid nes deniz le lit couche
Amis as toutes quelques venir doit,
Ne poet chaloir mais qune femme y ſoit,
Si es comun plus qe la halte voie,
Helas, qe la fortune me deçoit,
Ceſt ma dolour qe fuiſt amicois ma joie.
[]
De Lancelot d ſi fuiſſetz remembre,
Et de Triſtans, com il ſe countenoit,
Generides e, Fflorent f, par Tonope g,
Chaſcun des ceaux ſa loialte gardoit;
Mais tu, helas, qeſt ieo qe te forſvoit
De moi qa toi iamais mill iour falſoie,
Tu es a large et ieo ſui en deſtroit,
Ceſt ma dolour qe fuiſt amicois ma joie.
Des toutz les mals tu qes le plus maloit,
Ceſte compleignte a ton oraille envoie
Sante me laiſt, et langour me recoit,
Ceſt ma dolour qe fuiſt amicois ma joie.

Appendix A.2.4 BALADE XX.

Si com la nief, quant le fort vent tempeſte,
Pur halte mier ſe torna ci et la,
Ma dame, enſi mon coer manit en tempeſte,
Quant le danger de vo parrole orra,
Le nief qe votre bouche ſoufflera,
Me fait ſigler ſur le peril de vie,
Qeſt en danger falt quil mera ſupplie.
Rois Ulyxes, ſicom nos diſt la Geſte,
Vers ſon paiis de Troie qui ſigla,
Not tiel paour du peril et moleſte,
[] Quant les Sereines en la mier paſſa,
Et la danger de Circes eſchapa,
Qe le paour neſt plus de ma partie,
Qeſt en danger falt quil mera ſupplie.
Danger qui tolt damour tout la feſte,
Unques un mot de confort ne ſona,
Ainz plus cruel qe neſt la fiere beſte
Au point quant danger me reſpondera.
La chiere porte et quant le nai dirra,
Pluſque la mort meſtoie celle oie
Qeſt en danger falt quil mera ſupplie.
Vers vous, ma bone dame, horſpris cella,
Qe danger manit en votre compainie,
Ceſt balade en mon meſſage irra
Qeſt en danger falt quil mera ſupplie.
c
Ariadne.
d
Pentheſilea.
d
Sir Lancelot's intrigue with Geneura, king Arthur's queen, and ſir Triſtram with Bel Iſoulde, incidents in Arthur's romance, are made the ſubject of one of the ſtories of the French poem juſt cited, viz.
Commes ſont la cronique et liſtoire
De Lancelot et Triſtrans enſement, &c.
e
This name, of which I know nothing, muſt be corruptly written.
f
Chaucer's WIFE OF BATHES TALE is founded on the ſtory of Florent, a knight of Rome, who delivers the king of Sicily's daughter from the enchantments of her ſtepmother. His ſtory is alſo in our author's CONFESSIO AMANTIS, Lib. iii. fol. 48. a col. 1. ſeq. Lib. viii. fol. 175. a col. 2. ſeq. And in the GESTA ROMANORUM. [See ſupr. p. 31.] Percy [NUM. 2.] recites a Romance called L [...] [...]ONE FLORENCE DE ROME, which begins [...]
A [...] ferre as men ride or gon.
I know not if this be Shakeſpeare's Florentius, or Florentio, TAM. SHR. i. 5.
Be ſhe as foul as was FLORENTIUS' love.
g
That is Partenope, or Parthenopeus, one of Statius's heroes, on whom there is an old F [...]ench romance. [See ſupr. vol. i [...] p. 123.]

For the uſe, and indeed the knowledge, of this manuſcript, I am obliged to the unſolicited kindneſs of Lord Trentham; a favour which his lordſhip was pleaſed to confer with the moſt polite condeſcenſion.

Pag. 31. Notes, col. 2. l. 5. ADD, ‘"A Greco-barbarous tranſlation of the romance of APOLLONIUS OF TYRE was made by one Gabriel Contianus h, a Grecian, about the year 1500, as appears by a manuſcript in the imperial library at Vienna i; and printed at Venice in 1503. [See vol. i. p. 350.] Salviati, in his Avvertimenti, mentions an Italian romance on this ſubject, which he ſuppoſes to have been written about the year 1330. Lib. ii. c. 12. Velſer firſt publiſhed this romance in Latin at [] Auſburgh, in 1595. 4to. The ſtory is here much more elegantly told, than in the GESTA ROMANORUM. In Godfrey of Viterbo's PANTHEON, it is in Leonine verſe. There has been even a German tranſlation of this favorite tale, viz. ‘"Hiſtoria APPOLLONII TYRIAE et Sidoniae regis ex Latino ſermone in Germanicum tranſlata. Auguſt. Vindel. apud Gintherum Zainer, 1471. fol."’ At the end is a German colophon, importing much the ſame.’

Pag. 41. Not. p. DELE ‘"author of the Lives of the Dramatic Poets."’ [The author of the ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH DRAMATIC POETS, was Gerard the ſon of doctor Langbaine, provoſt of Queen's college, Oxford. This book was firſt publiſhed under the title of MOMUS TRIUMPHANS, Lond. 1687. 4to. Five hundred copies were quickly ſold; but the remainder of the impreſſion appeared the next year with a new title, A new Catalogue of Engliſh Plays, containing comedies, &c. Lond. 1688. 4to. The author at length digeſted his work anew with great acceſſions and improvements, which he entitled as above, AN ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH DRAMATICK POETS, &c. Oxon. 1691. 8vo. This book, a good ground-work for a new publication on the ſame ſubject and plan, and which has merit as being the firſt attempt of the kind, was reprinted by Curl, with flimzy additions, under the conduct of Giles Jacob, a hero of the Dunciad, Lond. 1719. 8vo. Our author, after a claſſical education, was firſt placed with a bookſeller in London; but at ſixteen years of age, in 1672, he became a gentleman commoner of Univerſity college in Oxford. His literature chiefly conſiſted in a knowledge of the novels and plays of various languages; and he was a conſtant and critical attendant of the play-houſes for many years. Retiring to Oxford in the year 1690, he died the next year; having amaſſed a collection of more than a thouſand printed plays, maſques, and interludes.]

Pag. 54. Notes, col. 2. l. 19. ADD, ‘"The moſt antient complete French copy of LA DANSE MACABRE was printed in folio at Lyons, in 1499, together with ſome other ſhort ſpiritual [] pieces, under the title La Grand DANSE MACABRE des [...]ommes et des femmes hiſtoriée, avec de beaux dits en Latin et huitains en François, &c. To this work Eraſmus alludes in the third book of his RATIO CONCIONANDI, where he ſays, ‘"Quin et vulgares rhetoriſtae cenſuerunt hoc decus, qui interdum verſibus certo numero comprehenſis, pro clauſula, accinunt bre [...]em et argutam ſententiam, velut in Rhythmis quos Gallus quiſpiam edidit in CHOREAM MORTIS."’ tom. v. Opp. pag. 1007. Naude calls this allegory, ‘"Chorea ab eximio Macabro edita."’ MASCUR. p. 224. I believe the firſt Latin edition, that of Pierre Deſrey which I have mentioned, was printed at Troyes in 1490, not 1460. The French have an old poem, partly on the ſame idea, LA DANSE DES AVEUGLES, under the conduct of Love, Fortune, and Death, written by Pierre Michault, about the year 1466. See MEM. ACAD. INSCRIPT. et BEL. LET. ii. 742. And Goujet, BIBL. FR. ix. 358. In De Bure's BIBLIOGRAPHIE INSTRUCTIVE, an older but leſs perfect edition of Le Danſe Macabre is recited, printed at Paris in 1486, for Guyot Marchant. fol. In this edition the French rhymes are ſaid to be by Michel Marot. tom. i. p. 512. num. 3109. BELL. LETTR. He has catalogued all the antient editions of this piece in French, which are many. Pierre Deſrey abovementioned wrote a French romance called LA GENEALOGIE, on Godfrey of Bouloign. Paris, 1511. fol.’

Pag. 103. To Not. . ADD, ‘"Theſe BRITISH LAIS, of which I have given ſpecimens at the beginning of the FIRST DISSERTATION, and of which ſir LAUNFAL is one, are diſcovered to have been tranſlated into French from the language of Armorican Bretagne, about the thirteenth century, by Marie a French poeteſs, who made the tranſlation of ESOP abovementioned. See CANT. T. vol. iv. p. 165. edit. 1775. But Marie's was not the only Collection of BRITISH LAIS, in French: as appears, not only from the EARL of THOLOUSE, but by the [] romance of EMARE, a tranſlation from the French, which has this ſimilar paſſage, St. ult. Thys ys on of Brytayne layes That was uſed of old dayes. MSS. Cotton. CALIG. A ii. fol. 69. (ſee f. 70.) The SONG of SIR GOWTHER is ſaid by the writer to be taken from one of the Layes of Brytayne: and in another place he calls his ſtory the firſt Laye of Britanye. MSS. REG. 17 B. xliii. Chaucer's FRANKELEIN'S TALE was alſo a Bretagne Lay, Urr. p. 107. In the Prologue he ſays,’

The olde gentill Bretons in their dayes
Of divers aventoures madin their Layes,
Rymeyed firſt in their owne Breton tonge,
Whiche layis with ther inſtruments thei ſonge.

Here he tranſlates from Marie, although this ſtory is not in her manuſcript, viz. fol. 181.

Li auntien Bretun curteis.

But in his DREME, he ſeems to have copied her LAY of ELIDUS. [See Diſſ. i.] To the Britiſh Lais I would alſo refer LA LAI DU CORN, which begins,

De un aventure ci avint
A la court del bon rei Artus.

MSS. DIGB. 86. Bibl. Bodl. membran. 4to. It probably exiſted before the year 1300. The ſtory, which much reſembles the old French metrical romance, called LE COURT MANTEL, is ſlightly touched in MORTE ARTHUR. ii. 33. A magical horn, richly garniſhed, the work of a fairy, is brought by a beautiful boy riding on a fleet courſer, to a ſumptuous feaſt held at Carleon by king Arthur, in order to try the fidelity of the knights [] and ladies, who are in number ſixty thouſand. Thoſe who are falſe, in drinking from this horn, ſpill their wine. The only ſucceſsful knight, or he who accompliſhes the adventure, is Garaduc or Cradok. I will here give the deſcription of the horn.

—Un dauncel k,
Mout avenaunt et bel,
Seur un cheval corant,
En palleis vint eraunt:
En ſa main tont un COR
A quatre bendel de or,
Ci com etoit diveure
Entaillez de ad trifure l,
Peres ici ont aſſiſes,
Qu en le or furent miſes,
Berreles et ſardoines,
Et riches calcedoines;
[] Il fu fuſt de ollifaunt,
Ounques ne ni ſi graunt,
Ne ſi fort, ne ſi bel,
Deſus ont un anel,
Neèle de ad argent,
Eſchelettes il ont cent
Perfectees de or fin,
En le tens Conſtantin,
Les fiſt une Fee,
Qu preuz ert, et ſenee,
E le corn deſtina
Si cum vous orres ja:
Qu ſour le corn ferroit
Un petit de ſoun doit,
Ses eſchelettes cent
Sounent tant doucement,
Qu harpe ne viele
Ne deduit de pucelle,
Ne Sereigne du mer
Neſt tele deſconter.

Theſe lines may be thus interpreted. ‘"A boy, very graceful and beautiful, mounted on a ſwift horſe, came into the palace of king Arthur. He bore in his hand a horn, having four bandages of gold; it was made of ivory, engraved with trifoire: many pretious ſtones were ſet in the gold, beryls, ſardonyces, and rich chalcedonies: it was of elephant [ivory]: nothing was ever ſo grand, ſo ſtrong, or ſo beautiful: at bottom was a ring [or rim] wrought of ſilver; where were hanging an hundred little bells, framed of fine gold, in the days of Conſtantine, by a Fairy, brave and wiſe, for the purpoſe which ye have juſt heard me relate. If any one gently ſtruck the horn with his finger, the hundred bells ſounded ſo ſweetly, that neither harp nor viol, nor the ſports of a virgin, nor the ſyrens of the ſea, could ever give ſuch muſic."’ The author of this Lai is one Robert Bikez, as [] appears by the laſt lines; in which the horn is ſaid ſtill to be ſeen at Cirenceſter. From this tale came Arioſto's ENCHANTED CUP, ORL FURIOS. xlii. 92. And Fontaine's LA COUPE ENCHANTEE. From the COURT MANTEL, a fiction of the ſame tendency, and which was common among the Welſh bards, Spenſer borrowed the wonderful virtues and effects of his FLORIMEL'S GIRDLE, iv. 5. 3. Both ſtories are connected in an antient Ballad publiſhed by Percy. vol. iii. p. 1.

In the Digby manuſcript, which contains La Lai du Corn, are many other curious chanſons, romantic, allegorical, and legendary, both in old French and old Engliſh. I will here exhibit the rubrics, or titles, of the moſt remarkable pieces, and of ſuch as ſeem moſt likely to throw light on the ſubjects or alluſions of our antient Engliſh poetry. Le Romaunz Peres Aunfour [Alfonſe] coment il apriſt et chaſtia ſon fils belement. [See Notes to CANTERB. T. p. 328. vol. iv.] De un demi ami.—De un bon ami enter.—De un ſage homme et de i fol.—De un gopil et de un mul.—De un [...]oi et de un clerc.—De un homme et de une ſerpente et de un gopil.—De un roi et de un verſifiour.—De ii clercs eſcoliers.—De un prodome et de ſa male femme.—Del engin de femme del nelons.—Del eſpee autre engin de femme.—De un roy et de un fableour.—De une veille et de une liſette.—De la gile de la per e el pin.—De un prodfemme bone cointiſe. [Pr. ‘"Un Eſpagnol ceo vy counter.’]—De ii meneſtreus. [i. e. Minſtrels.]—De une roy et de Platoun.—De un vilein de i lou et de un gopil.—De un roy fol large.—De maimound mal eſquier.—De Socrates et de roi Aliſaundre.—De roi Aliſaundre et de i philoſophe.—De un philoſofel et del alme.—Ci commence le romaunz de Enfer, Le Sounge Rauf de Hodenge de la voie denfer. [Ad calc. ‘"Rauf de Hodeng, ſaunz menſounge,—Qu ceſt romaunz fiſt de ſun ſonge."’ See Verdier, BIBL. FR. ii. 394. v. 394. Paris, 1773.]—De un vallet qui ſoutint dames et dammaiſales.—De Romme et de Geruſalem.—La lais du corn.—Le fabel del gelous.—Ci comence la bertournee.—La vie de un vaillet amerous.—De iiii files ... [Pr. ‘"Un rois eſtoit de graunt pouer."’]—How Jheu Criſt herewede helle, &c. [See [] vol. ii. p. 207.]—Le xv ſingnes [ſignes] de domeſday. [Pr. ‘"Fifteene toknen ich tellen may."’ Compare vol. i. p. 219.]—Ci comence la vie ſeint Euſtace ci ont nom Placidas.

[Pr. "Alle þat loveþ godes lore
"Olde and yonge laſſe and more."

See MS. VERNON, fol. 170. ut ſupr.]—Le diz de ſeint B [...]rnard. [Pr. ‘"þe bleſſinge of hevene kinge."’]—Vbi ſont ci ant [...] nos fuerount. [In Engliſh.]—Chaunçon de noſtre dame. [Pr. ‘"Stond wel moder ounder rode."’]—Here beginneth the ſaw [...] of ſeint Bede preeſt. [Pr. ‘"Holi goſt þi migtee.’]—Coment le ſaunter notre dame fu primes cuntrone. [Pr. ‘"Luedi ſwete and milde."’]—Les ... peines de enfen. [Pr. ‘"Oiez Seynours une demande."’]—Le regret de Maximian. [Pr. ‘"Herkeneþ to mi ron."’ MSS. HARL. 2253. f. 82. See vol. i. p. 32.]—Ci comence le cuntent par entre le mavis et la ruſſinole. [Pr. ‘"Somer is cum [...]n wiþ love to tonne."’ See vol. i. p. 30.]—Of th [...] fox and of the wolf. [Pr. ‘"A vox gon out of þe wode go."’]—Hending the hend [...]. [MSS. HARL. 2253. 89. fol. 125.]—Les proverbes del vilain.—Les miracles de ſeint NICHOLAS.—Ragemon le bon.—Chancun del ſecle. [In Engliſh.]—Ci commence le fabl [...] et la courtiſe de dame ſiri ... [Pr. ‘"As I com bi an waie."’]—Le noms de un leure Engleis. [i. e. The names of the Hare in Engliſh.]—Ci comence la vie noſtre dame.—Ci comence le doctrinal de enſeignemens de curteiſie.—Ci comence les Aves nouſtre dame.—De ii chevalers torts ke plenderent aroune.—Bonne prieur a noſtre ſeigneur Jhu Criſt.—Ci comence leſcrit de ii dames.—Hic incipit carmen inter corpus et animam. [A Dialogue in Engliſh verſe between a body laid on a bier and its Soul. Pr. ‘"Hon on .... ſtude I ſtod an lutell eſcrit to here."’]—Ci commence la maner [...] que le amour eſt pur aſſaier. [Pr. ‘"Love is ſoft, love is ſwete, love is goed ſware."’]—Chaunçon de nouſtre ſeigneur. This manuſcript ſeems to have been written about year 1304. Ralph Houdain, whoſe poem called VISION D'ENFER it contains [...] wrote about the year 1230.

[] The word, LAI, I believe, was applied to any ſubject, and ſignified only the verſification. Thus we have in the Bodleian library La LUMERE AS LAIS, par Meſtre Pierre de Feccham.

Verai deu omnipotent
Keſtes fin et commencement.

MSS. BODL 399. It is a ſyſtem of theology in this ſpecies of metre.

Pag. 121. To Not. q. ADD, ‘"In Jean Petit's edition in 1535, and perhaps in that of 1485, of Premierfaict's tranſlation of the DECAMERON, it is ſaid to be tranſlated from Latin into French. But Latin here means Italian. Hence a miſtake aroſe, that Boccacio wrote his DECAMERON in Latin. The Italian, as I have before obſerved, was antiently called Il volgare Latino. Thus the French romance of MELIADUS DE LEONNOIS is ſaid to be tranſlatè du LATIN, by Ruſticien de Piſa, edit. Par. 1532. fol. Thus alſo GYRON LE COURTOIS is called a verſion from the Latin. [Supr. vol. ii. p. 117.] M. de la Monnoye obſerves, ‘"Que quand on trouve que certains VIEUX ROMANS ont été traduits de LATIN en François, par Luces de Saleſberies, Robert de Borron, Ruſticien de Piſa, ou autres, cela ſignifie que ç' a été D'ITALIEN en François."’ REM. au BIBL. FR. du La Croix du Maine, &c. tom. ii. p. 33. edi [...]. 1772. [See ſupr. ADDIT. ad p. 15. i.] Premierfaict's French DECAMERON, which he calls CAMERON, is a moſt wretched caricature of the original.’

Pag. 148. Not. col. 2. l. 4. For ‘"1115,"’ READ ‘"1015."’

Pag. 153. To Not. c. ADD, ‘"I have received ſome notices from the old regiſters of ſaint Ewin's church at Briſtol, antiently called the MINSTER, which import, that the church pavement was waſhed againſt the coming of king Edward. But this does not at all prove or imply that the king ſat at the grete mynſterr windowe to ſee the gallant Lancaſtrian, Baldwin, paſs to the ſcaffold; a circumſtance, and a very improbable one, mentioned in Rowlie's pretended poem on this ſubject. The notice [] at moſt will prove only, that the king aſſiſted at maſs in this church, when he came to Briſtol. Nor is it improbable, that the other churches of Briſtol were cleaned, or adorned, at the coming of a royal gueſt. Wanter, above quoted, is evidently wrong in the date 1463, which ought to be 1461, or 1462.’

Pag. 156. Notes, col. 2. To l. 9. ADD ‘"I have obſerved, but for what reaſon I know not, that ſaint Ewin's church at Briſtol was called the minſter. I, however, ſuſpect, that the poet here means Briſtol cathedral. He calls, with his accuſtomed miſapplication of old words, Worceſter cathedral the minſter of our ladie, infr. p. 160. But I do not think this was a common appellation for that church. In Lydgate's LIFE OF SAINT ALBAN, Minſter is uſed in its firſt ſimple acceptation. MSS. Coll. Trin. Oxon. Num. xxxviii. fol. 19. —Seynt Albone Of that mynſtre leyde the firſt ſtone. That is, of ſaint Alban's monaſtery.’

Pag. 164. To the end of the Section, ADD, ‘"What is here ſaid of Rowlie, was not only written, but printed, almoſt two years before the correct and complete edition of his Poems appeared. Had I been appriſed of that publication, I ſhould have been much more ſparing in my ſpecimens of theſe forgeries, which had been communicated to me in manuſcript, and which I imagined I was imparting to my readers as curioſities. I had as yet ſeen only a few extracts of theſe poems; nor were thoſe tranſcripts which I received, always exact. Circumſtances which I mention here, to ſhew the inconveniencies under which I laboured, both with regard to my citations and my criticiſms. Theſe ſcanty materials, however, contained ſufficient evidence to convince me, that the pieces were not genuine.’

The entire and accurate collection of Rowlie's now laid before the public, has been ſo little inſtrumental in inducing me to change my opinion, that it has ſerved to exemplify and confirm every argument which I have produced in ſupport of my [] ſuſpicions of an impoſition. It has likewiſe afforded ſome new proofs.

Thoſe who have been converſant in the works even of the beſt of our old Engliſh poets, well know, that one of their leading characteriſtics is inequality. In theſe writers, ſplendid deſcriptions, ornamental compariſons, poetical images, and ſtriking thoughts, occur but rarely: for many pages together, they are tedious, proſaic, and unintereſting. On the contrary, the poems before us are every where ſupported: they are throughout, poetical and animated. They have no imbecillities of ſtyle or ſentiment. Our old Engliſh bards abound in unnatural conceptions, ſtrange imaginations, and even the moſt ridiculous abſurdities. But Rowlie's poems preſent us with no incongruous combinations, no mixture of manners, inſtitutions, cuſtoms, and characters. They appear to have been compoſed after ideas of diſcrimination had taken place; and when even common writers had begun to conceive, on moſt ſubjects, with preciſion and propriety. There are indeed, in the BATTLE OF HASTINGS, ſome great anachroniſms; and practices are mentioned which did not exiſt till afterwards. But theſe are ſuch inconſiſtencies, as proceeded from fraud as well as ignorance: they are ſuch as no old poet could have poſſibly fallen into, and which only betray an unſkilful imitation of antient manners. The verſes of Lydgate and his immediate ſucceſſors are often rugged and unmuſical: but Rowlie's poetry ſuſtains one uniform tone of harmony; and, if we bruſh away the aſperities of the antiquated ſpelling, conveys its cultivated imagery in a poliſhed and agreeable ſtrain of verſification. Chatterton ſeems to have thought, that the diſtinction of old from modern poetry conſiſted only in the uſe of old words. In counterfeiting the coins of a rude age, he did not forget the uſual application of an artificial ruſt: but this diſguiſe was not ſufficient to conceal the elegance of the workmanſhip.

The BATTLE OF HASTINGS, juſt mentioned, might be proved to be a palpable forgery for many other reaſons. It is [] ſaid to be tranſlated from the Saxon of Turgot. But Turgot died in 1015, and the battle of Haſtings was fought in 1066. We will, however, allow, that Turgot lived in the reign of the Conqueror. But, on that ſuppoſition, is it not extraordinary, that a cotemporary writer ſhould mention no circumſtances of this action which we did not know before, and which are not to be found in Malmſbury, Ordericus Vitalis, and other antient chroniclers? Eſpecially as Turgot's deſcription of this battle was profeſſedly a detached and ſeparate performance, and at leaſt, on that account, would be minute and circumſtantial. An original and a cotemporary writer, deſcribing this battle, would not only have told us ſomething new, but would otherwiſe have been full of particularities. The poet before us dwells on incidents common to all battles, and ſuch as were eaſily to be had from Pope's HOMER. We may add, that this piece not only detects itſelf, but demonſtrates the ſpuriouſneſs of all the reſt. Chatterton himſelf allowed the firſt part of it to be a forgery of his own. The ſecond part, from what has been ſaid, could not be genuine. And he who could write the ſecond part was able to write every line in the whole collection. But while I am ſpeaking of this poem, I cannot help expoſing the futility of an argument which has been brought as a deciſive evidence of its originality. It is urged, that the names of the chiefs who accompanied the Conqueror, correſpond with the Roll of Battle-Abbey. As if a modern forger could not have ſeen this venerable record. But, unfortunately, it is printed in Hollinſhead's Chronicle.

It is ſaid that Chatterton, on account of his youth and education, could not write theſe poems. This may be true; but it is no proof that they are not forged. Who was their author, on the hypotheſis that Rowlie was not, is a new and another queſtion. I am, however, of opinion that it was Chatterton. For if we attend only to ſome of the pieces now extant in a periodical magazine, which he publiſhed under his own ſignature, and which are confeſſedly of his compoſition, to his [] letters now remaining in manuſcript, and to the teſtimony of thoſe that were acquainted with his converſation, he will appear to have been a ſingular inſtance of a prematurity of abilities; to have acquired a ſtore of general information far exceeding his years, and to have poſſeſſed that comprehenſion of mind, and activity of underſtanding, which predominated over his ſituations in life, and his opportunities of inſtruction. Some of his publications in the magazines diſcover alſo his propenſity to forgery, and more particularly in the walk of antient manners, which ſeem greatly to have ſtruck his imagination. Theſe, among others, are ETHELGAR, a Saxon poem in proſe; KENRICK, tranſlated from the Saxon; CERDICH, tranſlated from the Saxon; GODRED CROVAN, a Poem, compoſed by Dothnel Syrric king of the iſle of Man; The HIRLAS, compoſed by Blythyn, prince of North Wales; GOTHMUND, tranſlated from the Saxon; ANECDOTE of CHAUCER, and of the ANTIQUITY of CHRISTMAS GAMES. The latter piece, in which he quotes a regiſter of Keinſham NUNNERY, which was a priory of Black canons, and advances many imaginary facts, ſtrongly ſhews his track of reading, and his fondneſs for antiquarian imagery. In this monthly collection he inſerted ideal drawings of ſix achievements of Saxon heraldry, of an inedited coin of queen Sexburgeo, wife of king Kinewalch, and of a Saxon amulet; with explanations equally fantaſtic and arbitrary. From Rowlie's pretended parchments he produced ſeveral heraldic delineations. He alſo exhibited a draught by Rowlie of Briſtol caſtle in its perfect ſtate. I very much doubt if this fortreſs was not almoſt totally ruinous in the reign of Edward the fourth. This draught, however, was that of an edifice evidently fictitious. It was exceedingly ingenious; but it was the repreſentation of a building which never exiſted, in a capricious and affected ſtyle of Gothic architecture, reducible to no period or ſyſtem.

To the whole that is here ſuggeſted on this ſubject, let us add Chatterton's inducements and qualifications for forging theſe poems, ariſing from his character, and way of living. He [] was an adventurer, a profeſſed hireling in the trade of literature, full of projects and inventions, artful, enterpriſing, unprincipled, indigent, and compelled to ſubſiſt by expedients.

Pag. 165. To Not. b. ADD, ‘"In the Britiſh Muſeum, there is a poem entitled, ‘"A CRISTEMASSE GAME made by maiſter BENET howe God Almyghty ſeyde to his apoſtelys and echeon of them were baptiſte and none knew of othir."’ The piece conſiſts of twelve ſtanzas, an apoſtle being aſſigned to each ſtanza. Probably maiſter Benet is Benedict Burgh. MSS. HARL. 7333. This is ſaint Paul's ſtanza. Doctour of gentiles, a perfite Paule,By grace convertid from thy grete erroure,And cruelte, changed to Paule from Saule,Of fayth and trouth moſt perfyte prechoure,Slayne at Rome undir thilke emperoureCurſyd Nero, Paule ſyt down in thy placeTo the ordayned by purveaunce of grace.

Pag. 169. To Not. u. ADD, ‘"In Bennet college library, there is a copy of the French CATO by Helis of Wincheſter, MSS. ccccv. 24. fol. 317. It is entitled and begins thus. Les Diſtiches Morales de CATON miſes en vers par Helis de Guynceſtre. Ki vout ſaver la faitementKi Catun a ſun fiz a prent,Si en Latin nel ſet entendre,Jci le pot en rumainzm aprendre,Cum Helis de GuynceſtreKi deu met a ſe deſtreLa tranſlate ſi fatemente. Cod. membran. 4to. The tranſcript is of the fourteenth century. Compare Verdier, BIBL. FRANC. tom. iii. p. 288. edit. [] 1772. In the Latin Chronicle of of Anonymus Salernitanus, written about the year 900, the writer mentions a deſcription in Latin verſe of the palace of the city of Salerno, but laments that it was rendered illegible through length of time: ‘"Nam ſi unam paginam fuiſſemus nacti, comparare illos [verſus] profecto potuiſſemus Maroni in voluminibus, CATONIQUE, [...]ive profecto aliis Sophiſtis."’ cap. xxviii. col. 195. B. tom. ii. P. ii. SCRIPTOR. RER. ITAL. Mediolan. 1726.’

Pag. 173. To Not. g. Add, ‘"But the ſame lines occur in the Prologue to Hampole's Speculum Vitae, or MIRROUR OF LIFE, as it has been called, written about the year 1350. [See MSS. BODL. 48. p. 47. a. Bibl. Bodl. And ibid. MSS. LANGB. 5. p. 64.] From which, that thoſe who have leiſure and opportunity may make a farther compariſon of the two Prologues, I will tranſcribe a few more dull lines. Latyn als, I trowe, canne naneBot thaſe that it of ſcole hane tane,Som canne frankes and latynThat hanes vſed covrte and dwelled theryn,And ſom canne o latyn a partyThat canne frankes bot febely,And ſom vnderſtandes in inglysThat canne nother latyn ne frankys,Bot lered and lewed alde and youngeAll vnderſtandes inglyſche tounge:Thare fore I halde it maſte ſyker thonTo ſchew that langage that ilk a man konne,And for all lewed men namelyThet can no maner of clergy,To kenne thanne what ware maſte nede,Ffor clerkes canne bathe ſe and rede, &c.This poem, conſiſting of many thouſand verſes, begins with the ſpiritual advantages of the Lord's Prayer, of its ſeven petitions, their effects, &c. &c. And ends with the ſeven Beatitudes, [] and their rewards. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 265. Not. .] Theſe are the two concluding lines. To whylk blyſſe he vs bryng That on the croſſe for vs all wolde hyng. This is ſuppoſed to be a tranſlation from a Latin tract, afterwards printed at Cologne, 1536. fol. But it may be doubted, whether Hampole was the tranſlator. It is, however, moſt probably of the fourteenth century.’

Pag. 189. To l. 22. ADD this Note, ‘"The paſſion for verſifying every thing was carried to ſuch a heighth in the middle ages, that before the year 1300, Juſtinian's Inſtitutes, and the code of French juriſprudence, were tranſlated into French rhymes. There is a very antien [...] edition of this work, without date, place, or typographer, ſaid to be corrected, par pluſieurs docteurs and ſouverains legiſtes, in which are theſe lines, J' ay, par pareſſe, demourèTrop longuement á commencerPour Inſtitutes romancer. See Menage, OBS. ſur LE LANG. FR. P. prem. ch. 3. Verdier and La Croix, iii. 428. iv. 160. 554. 560. BIBL. FR. edit. 1773.’

Pag. 191. To Not. o. ADD, ‘"Another proof which aſcertains this reading of the controverted paſſage in HAMLET, occurs in the romance of MORTE ARTHUR. When ſir Lancelo [...] was dying, ‘"whan he was howſeled and eneled, and had all that a cryſten man ought to have, he praid the biſhop, that his felowes might beare his bodie unto Joyous Garde, &c."’ B. xxi. cap. xii.’

Pag. 199. To Not. q. ADD, ‘"Theſe highly painted infernal puniſhments, and joys of Paradiſe, are not the invention of the author of the KALENDRIER. They are taken, both from M. [] Paris, and from Henry of Saltry's Deſcription of ſaint Patrick's PURGATORY, written in 1140, and printed by Meſſingham in his FLORILEGIUM INSULAE SANCTORUM, &c."’ Paris, 1624. fol. cap. vi. &c. p. 101. See Bibl. Bodl. MSS. BODL. 550. [See vol. ii. p. 298.] Meſſingham has connected the two accounts of M. Paris and H. de Saltry, with ſome interpolations of his own. This adventure appears in various manuſcripts. No ſubject could have better ſuited the devotion and the credulity of the dark ages.

Pag. 200. Notes, col. 2. l. 31. ADD, ‘"To the reign of king Henry the ſixth we may alſo refer a poem written by one Richard Sellyng, whoſe name is not in any of our biographers. MSS. HARL. f. 38. a. It is entitled and begins thus, Evidens to be ware and gode covnſayle made now late by that honovrable ſquier Richard Sellyng. Loo this is but a ſymple tragedie,Ne thing lyche un to hem of Lumbardye,Which that Storax wrote unto Pompeie,Sellyng maketh this in his manere,And to John Shirley now ſent it isFfor to amende where it is amiſſe. He calls himſelf an old man. Of this honovrable ſquier I can give no further account. John Shirley, here mentioned, lived about the year 1440. He was a gentleman of good family, and a great traveller. He collected, and tranſcribed in ſeveral volumes, which John Stowe had ſeen, many pieces of Chaucer, Lydgate, and other Engliſh poets. In the Aſhmolean Muſeum, there is, A boke cleped the Abſtracte Brevyare compyled of divers balades, roundels, virilays, tragedyes, envoys, complaints, moralities, ſtoryes, practyſed and eke devyſed and ymagined, as it ſheweth [...]ere followyng, collected by John Shirley. MSS. 89. ii. In Thoreſby's library was a manuſcript, once belonging to the college [] of Selby, A moſt pyteous cronycle of thorribil dethe of James Stewarde, late kynge of Scotys, nought long agone priſoner yn Englande yn the tymes of the kynges Henry the fifte and Henry the ſixte, tranſlated out of Latine into oure mothers Engliſhe tong bi your ſimple ſubject John Shirley. Alſo, The boke clepyd Les bones meures tranſlated out of French by your [...]umble ſerviture John Shirley of London, MCCCCXL, compriſed in v partes. The firſte partie ſpekith of remedie that is agaynſt the ſevyn deadly ſins. 2. The eſtate of holy church. 3. Of prynces and lordes temporall. 4. Of comone people. 5. Of deth and univerſal dome. Alſo, his Tranſlation of the Sanctum Sanctorum, &c. DUCAT. LEOD. p. 530. A preſerver of Chaucer's and Lydgate's works deſerved theſe notices. The late Mr. Ames, the induſtrious author of the HISTORY OF PRINTING, had in his poſſeſſion a folio volume of Engliſh Ballads in manuſcript, compoſed or collected by one John Lucas about the year 1450.

Pag. 204. ADD to the Note, ‘"The moſt ſplendid ſpectacle of this ſort which occurs in hiſtory, at leaſt ſo early as the fourteenth century, is deſcribed by Froiſſart, who was one of the ſpectators. It was one of the ſhews at the magnificent entrance of queen Iſabell into Paris, in the year 1389. The ſtory is from the cruſade againſt Saladin. I will give the paſſage from lord Berners's Tranſlation, printed by Pinſon in 1523. ‘"Than after, under the mynſter of the Trinyte, in the ſtrete, there was a ſtage, and therupon a caſtell. And along on the ſtage there was ordeyned the PASSE OF KYNG SALHADYN, and all their dedes in Perſonages: the criſten men on the one parte, and the Sarazins on the other parte. And there was, in Perſonages, all the lordes of name that of olde tyme hadde ben armed, and had done any feates of armes at the PASSE OF SALHADYNE, and were armed with ſuche armure as they than uſed. And thanne, a lyttel above them, there was in Perſonages the Frenche kynge and the twelve Peeres of Fraunce armed, with the blaſon of their armes. And whan [] the Frenche quenes lytter was come before this ſtage, ſhe reſted there a ſeaſon. Thenne the Perſonages on the ſtage of kynge Rychard departed fro his company, and wente to the Frenche kynge, and demaunded lycence to go and aſſayle the Sarazins; and the kynge gave hym [them] leave. Thanne kynge Rycharde retourned to his twelve companyons. Thanne they all ſette them in order, and incontynente wente and aſſayled Salhadyne and the Sarazins. Then in ſporte there ſeemed a great bataile, and it endured a good ſpace. This pageaunt was well regarded."’ CRON. tom. ii. c. 56. fol. clxxii. col. i. By the two kings, he means Philip of France, and our king Richard the firſt, who were jointly engaged in this expedition. It is obſervable, that the ſuperiority is here given to the king of France.’

Pag. 212. Notes, col. 1. To l. 2. ADD, ‘"In the Bodleian manuſcript (BODL. 638.) this poem, with manifeſt impropriety, is entitled the TEMPLE OF BRAS. It there appears in the midſt of many of Chaucer's poems. But at the end are two poems by Lydgate, THE CHAUNSE OF THE DYSE, and RAGMANY'S ROLL. And, I believe, one or two more of Lydgate's poems are intermixed. It is a miſcellany of old Engliſh poetry, chiefly by Chaucer: but none of the pieces are reſpectively diſtinguiſhed with the author's name. This manuſcript is partly on paper and partly on vellum, and ſeems to have been written not long after the year 1500.’

Pag. 241. l. 2. For ‘"1494,"’ READ ‘"1470."’

Ibid. l. 11. For ‘"1497,"’ READ ‘"1488."’ And ADD this Note, ‘"With this title, ‘"Sebaſtiani Brandt NAVIS STULTIFERA Mortalium, a vernaculo ac vulgari ſermone in Latinum conſcripta, per JACOBUM LOCHER cognomine Philomuſum Suevum cum figuris. Per Jacobum Zachoni de Romano, anno 1488."’ 4to. In the colophon, it is ſaid to have been jampridem traducta from the German original by Locher; and that this Latin tranſlation was reviſed by the inventor Brandt, [] with the addition of many new FOOLS [...] A ſecond edition of Locher's Latin was printed at Paris, in 1498. 4to. There is a French proſe tranſlation by Jehan Drouyn, at Lyons, 1498. fol. In the royal library at Paris, there is a curious copy of Barklay's Engliſh SHIP OF FOLYS, by Pinſon, on vellum, with the woodcuts: a rarity not, I believe, to be found in England.’

Ibid. To Not. k. ADD, ‘"In verſe. From which the French proſe tranſlation was made the next year.’

Pag. 247. To the end of Not. d. ADD, ‘"Biſhop Alcock's CASTEL OF LABOURE was tranſlated into Engliſh from a French poem by Octavien de S. Gelais, a biſhop [...] and an eminent tranſlator of the claſſics into French at the reſtoration of learning. Viz. ‘"Le CHASTEAU DE LABOUR en rime françoiſe, auquel eſt contenu l'adreſſe de riches et chemin de pauvretè, par Octavien de S, Gèlais, &c. Paris, Gallyot du Pré, 1536. 16mo."’ Our higheſt efforts of poetry at this period were tranſlations from the French. This piece of S. Gelais was alſo tranſlated into Engliſh rhymes by one Done, or dominus, James: the ſame perhaps who made the following verſion, ‘"Here begynneth the ORCHARDE OF SYON: in the which is contayned the revelation of ſaynt Catherine of Sene, with ghoſtly fruytes and preſyous plantes for the helthe of mannes ſoule. Tranſlated by Dane James. Prynted at the coſt of maſter Richard Sutton eſquyre, Stewarde of the monaſterie of Syon, 1519."’ For Wynkyn de Worde, in folio, with fine Gothic cuts in wo [...]d. Thi [...] Maſter Richard Sutton, ſteward of the opulent monaſtery of Sion near London, was one of the founders of Braſenoſe college in Oxford.’

Pag. 258. ADD. to Not. a. ‘"The preſents at this marriage aſcertain a doubtful reading in Chaucer, viz. ‘"UN NOUCHE pr. ccc livr.—It. un riche NOUCHE.—UN NOUCHE priz de cynk centz marcz."’—In the CLERKE'S TALE, Griſilde has a crown ‘"full of ouchis grete and ſmale."’ The late editor acquaints us, that the beſt manuſcripts read nouchis.—In the ſame [] Note, For ‘"a golden cup’, READ ‘"a collar of gold,"’ colere d'or.

Pag. 288. ADD to Not. z. ‘"In Chaucer's CUCKOWE [...] AND NIGHTINGALE, the latter is ſaid to GREDE, v. 135. p. 544. Urr. And that for that ſkil ocy ocy I GREDE. That is, I cry. Ital. Gridare. The word is uſed with more propriety, in Adam Davie's GEST OF ALEXANDER, written in 1312. fol. 55. col. 2. [See ſupr. i. 220.]’

Averil is meory, and longith the day,
Ladies loven ſolas and play,
Swaynes juſtis, kny [...]tis turnay,
Syngith the nyȝtyngale, GREDETH the Jay.

Pag. 289. ADD this Note, ‘"In the laſt-mentioned excellent old poem, Autumn is touched with theſe circumſtances. fol. 95. col. 2.’

In tyme of herveſt merry it is ynouȝ,
Peres and apples hongeth on bouȝ,
The hayward bloweth his horne,
In everych felde ripe is corne,
The grapes hongen on the vyne,
Swete is trewe love and fyne;
Kyng Aliſaunder a morowe [...]riſt,
The ſonne dryveth away the miſt,
Fforth he went farre into Ynde
Moo mervayles for to fynde.

Pag. 299. To the firſt Note ADD, ‘"There is a manuſcript, Of a knight, called SIR OWEYN, viſiting ſaint Patrick's Purgatory, Bibl. Bodl. MSS. BODL. 550. MSS. Cott. NERO. A. vii. 4. [See ad p. 199.] This piece was written by Henry, a Ciſtercian monk of Saltry in Huntingtonſhire. See T. Meſſingham, FLORILEG. [] p. 86. ſeq. In the Catalogue of the library of Sion monaſtery, which contained fourteen hundred volumes, in Bennet library, it is falſely attributed to Hugo de Saltereia. MSS. C. C. C. C. XLI. The Fr [...]nch have an antient ſpiritual romance on this favorite expedition, ſo fertile of wonders, entitled, ‘"Le VOYAGE du Puys Saint Patrix, auquel lieu on voit les peines du Purgatoire et auſſi les joyes de Paradis, Lyon, 1506. 4to."’

Pag. 342. Notes, col. 2. l. 13. ADD, ‘"Boccacio borrowed the ſtory of Titus and Geſippus from the GESTA ROMANONUM, or from Alphonſus, FAB. ii. There is another Latin hiſtory of theſe two friends, probably a tranſlation from Boccacio by Fr. M. Bandello, and printed at Milan in 1509. An exceedingly ſcarce book. ‘"Titi Romani et Hegeſippi Athenienſis Hiſtoria in Latinum verſa per Fr. Mattheum Bandellum Caſtronovenſem. MEDIOLANI, Apud Gotard de Ponte, 1509. 4to."’

I take this opportunity of pointing out another ſource of Boccacio's TALES. Friar Philip's ſtory of the GOOSE, or of the Young Man who had never ſeen a Woman, in the Prologue to the fourth day of the DECAMERON, is taken from a ſpiritual romance, called the HISTORY OF BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT. This fabulous narrative, in which Barlaam is a hermit and J [...]ſ [...]phat a king of India, is ſuppoſed to have been originally written in Greek by Johannes Damaſcenus. The Greek is no uncommon manuſ [...]pt. See MSS [...] LAUD. C. 72. It was from the old Latin tranſlation, which is mentioned by Vincent of Beavais, that it became a favorite in the dark ages. The Latin, which is alſo a common manuſcript, was printed ſo early as the year 1470. It has often appeared in French. A modern Latin verſion was publiſhed at Paris in 1577. The legendary hiſtorians, who believed every thing, and even Baronius, have placed Barlaam and Joſaphat in their catalogues of confeſſours. Saint Barlaam and ſaint Joſaphat occur in the METRICAL LIVES OF THE SAINTS. MSS. BODL. 72. fol. 288. b. This [] hiſtory ſeems to have been compoſed by an oriental Chriſtian: and, in ſome manuſcripts, is ſaid to have been brought by a monk of ſaint Saba into the holy city from Ethiopia. Among the Baroccian manuſcripts there is an OFFICE in Greek for theſe two ſuppoſed ſaints. Cod. xxi.

Pag. 357. To Not. c. ADD, ‘"Theſe are the only editions I have ſeen of Cocciae's work. De Bure ſays, the firſt edition was in 1517. See his curious catalogue of Poetes Latins modernes facetieux, vulgairement appelles MACARONIQUES. BIBL. INSTRUCT. Bel. Lett. tom. i. §. 6. p. 445. ſeq.’

Ibid. DELE Not. i. And INSERT, ‘"I believe one of the moſt popular of Arena's Macaronic poems, is his MEIGRA Enterpriſa Catiloqui Imperatoris, printed at Avignon in 1537. It is an ingenious paſquinade on Charles the fifth's expedition into France. The date of the Macaronic Miſcellany, in various languages, entitled, MACHARONEA VARIA, and printed in the Gothic character, without place, is not known. The authors are anonymous; and ſome of the pieces are little comedies intended for repreſentation. There is a Macaronic poem in hexameters, called POLEMO-MIDDINIA by Drummond of Hawthornden, printed with Notes, and a preface on this ſpecies of poetry, by Gibſon at Oxford, 1691. 4to.’

Pag. 358. ADD to the laſt Note, ‘"Friar Tuck is. h [...]wever, mentioned in Skelton's play of MAGNIFICEN [...]. f. 5. b.’

Another b [...]d [...] ſhave halfe my berde,
And boyes to the pylery gan me plucke,
And wolde have made me FREER TUCKE
To preche oute of the pylery hole.

Pag. 363. After the laſt ſentence, INSERT, ‘"The only copy of Skelton's moral comedy of MAGNIFICENCE now remaining, printed by Raſtal, without date in a thin folio, has been moſt obligingly communicated to me by Mr. Garrick; whoſe [] valuable collection of old Plays is alone a complete hiſtory of our ſtage. The firſt leaf and the title are wanting. It contains ſixty folio pages in the black letter, and muſt have taken up a very conſiderable time in the repreſentation. [See p. 336. ſupr.] The ſubſtance of the allegory is briefly this. MAGNIFICENCE becomes a dupe to his ſervants and favorites, Fanſy, Counterfe [...] Countenance, Crafty Conveyance, Clokyd Coluſion, Courtly Abuſion, and Foly. At length he is ſeized and robbed by Adverſyte, by whom he is given up as a priſoner to Poverte. He is next delivered to Deſpare and Miſchefe, who offer him a knife and a halter. He ſnatches the knife, to end his miſeries by ſtabbing himſelf; when Good Hope and Redreſſe appear, and perſuade him to take the rubarbe of repentance with ſome goſtly gummes, and a few drammes of devocyon. He becomes acquainted with Circumſpeccyon, and Perſeverance, follows their directions, and ſeeks for happineſs in a ſtate of penitence and contrition. There is ſome humour here and there in the dialogue, but the alluſions are commonly low. The poet hardly ever aims at allegorical painting, but the the figure of POVERTY is thus drawn, fol. xxiii. a.’

A, my bonys ake, my lymmys be ſore,
A laſſe I haue the cyatyca full euyll in my hyppe,
A laſſe where is youth that was wont for to ſkyppe!
I am lowſy, and vnlykynge, and full of ſcurffe,
My coloure is tawny-coloured as a turffe:
I am POVERTIE that all men doth hate,
I am baytyd with doggys at euery mannys gate:
I am raggyd and rent, as ye may ſe,
Full few but they have envy at me.
Nowe muſt I this carcaſe lyft up,
He dyned with DELYTE, with POVERTE he muſt ſup.

The ſtage-direction then is, ‘"Hic accedat at levandum MAGNIFICENCE."’ It is not impoſſible, that DESPARE offering [] the knife and the halter, might give a diſtant hint to Spenſer. The whole piece is ſtrongly marked with Skelton's manner, and contains every ſpecies of his capricious verſification n. I have been prolix in deſcribing theſe two dramas, becauſe they place Skelton in a claſs in which he never has yet been viewed, that of a Dramatic poet. And although many MORALITIES were now written, yet theſe are the firſt that bear the name of their author. There is often much real comedy in theſe ethic interludes, and their exemplifications of Virtue and Vice in the abſtract, convey ſtrokes of character and pictures of life and manners. I take this opportunity of remarking, that a MORALITY-MAKER was a profeſſed occupation at Paris. Pierre Gringoire is called, according to the ſtyle of his age, Compoſiteur, Hiſtorien et Facteur de Myſteres, ou Comedies, in which he was alſo a performer. His principal piece, written at the command of Louis the twelfth, in conſequence of a quarrel with the pope and the ſtates of Venice, is entitled, Le JEU du Prince de Sots et Mere Sotte, joue aux Halles de Paris. It was printed at Paris in 1511. See Monſ. l'Abbè Goujet, BIBL. FRANC. tom. xi. p. 212.

Pag. 372. To Not. w. ADD, ‘"The author of this Jewiſh tragedy ſeems to have belonged to that claſs of Helleniſtico-Judaic writers of Alexandria, of which was the author of the apocryphal BOOK OF WISDOM: a work originally written in Greek, perhaps in metre, full of alluſions to the Greek poets and cuſtoms, and containing many leſſons of inſtruction and conſolation peculiarly applicable to the diſtreſſes and ſituation of the Jews after their diſperſion.’

Pag. 375. l. 6. ADD, ‘"The tragedy called JULIUS CESAR, and two comedies, of Jaques Grevin, a learned phyſician, and [] an elegant poet, of France, were firſt acted in the college of Beauvais at Paris, in the years 1558 and 1560. BIBL. VERDIER, ut ſupr. tom. ii. p. 284. La Croix du Maine, i. p. 415. ſeq.’

Pag. 376. To Not. k. ADD, ‘"There is alſo a work attributed to Conradus Celtes, containing ſix Latin plays in imitation of Terence, under this title, ‘"HROSVITE, illuſtris virginis et Monialis Germanae, Opera: nempe, COMOEDIAE SEX IN AEMULATIONEM TERENTII, Octo Sacrae Hiſtoriae verſibus compoſitae, necnon Panegyricus, &c. NORINBERGAE, ſub privilegio Sodalitatis Socraticae, anno 1501. fol."’

END OF EMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS IN THE FIRST AND SECOND VOLUME.

Appendix B INDEX TO THE SECOND VOLUME OF WARTON'S Hiſtory of Engliſh Poetry.

[]
  • A. B. C. of Ariſtotille, 200
  • Abbas, Benedictus, 317
  • Abby of the Holy Ghoſt, by Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 249
  • Abelard and Eloiſa, Epiſtles of, 112, 168
  • Abyndon, Thomas, 40
  • Achademios, a Comedy, by Skelton, 336
  • Achilleis, a Tragedy, by Alberti Muſſato, 409
  • Acuparius, Thomas, 241
  • Adam and Eve, their Sufferings and Repentance, Death and Burial, 179
  • Aegidius Romanus, 39, 40, 108
  • After Dionyſius, 49
  • Africanus, Julius, 10
  • Agricola Rodolphus, 450, 455
  • Agynkourte, Battallye of, and Seyge of Har [...]lett, 36
  • Ahaſuerus and Eſther, a Poem, 178
  • Ajax of Sophocles, tranſlated into Latin, 385.
  • Ailward, Simeon, 41
  • Alaſco, Albertus de, 383
  • Alba, a Pa [...]toral Comedy, 384
  • Albertus Magnus, 117, 136
  • Albion's Triumph, a Maſque, 401
  • Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 249, 419
  • Alcuine, 168
  • Aldred, an Engliſh Monk, 112
  • Alexander, Life of, by Calli [...]tines, 8 by Adam Davie 312, 338, 339.
  • Alexander de Villa Dei, 168
  • Alexander, a Schoolmaſter at Piſa, 347
  • Alesandreid, by Philip Gualtier de Chatillon, 168
  • Alfred, King, 32, 208, 311
  • Alfred of Beverly, 177
  • All Fools, a Comedy, by George Chapman, 394
  • Almageſt, by Ptolemy, 23
  • Almenhuſen, Conrade Von, Game of Cheſs, tranſlated into German by, 41
  • Alphabet of Birds, by Stephen Hawes, 211
  • Alphonſus, Peter, 19
  • Alyngton, Sir Giles, 248
  • Ambro [...]ius, 10
  • Amergot Marcell. Account of, 333
  • Amon or Hamon, and Madocheus or Mordecai, Story of, a Poem, 178
  • Andalus the Blake, 69 70
  • Andria of Terence, 380
  • Anglicus Bartholomew, 116
  • Ann Queen of Richard 2nd, 326
  • Antioch, John de, 115
  • Antiochus, Tale of, 15, 16
  • Antoine le Maçon, 121
  • Antio [...]hus Epiphanes, 21
  • Antiochus, a Latin Poem, by Joſeph of Exeter, 96
  • Antonio de Beccaria, 49
  • Antonio de Lebrixa, 416
  • [ii] Antonio and Arena, 357
  • Apolli [...]aris, Biſhop of Laodicea, 368, 371
  • Apollo ſhroving, a Comedy, by John Hawkins, 387
  • Appollonius, 31
  • Appolyne, Kynge of Thyre, 31
  • Aquinas, Thomas, 39, 74, 300
  • Aretine, Leonard, 48
  • Arioſto, 411
  • Ariſtarchus, 24
  • Architrenius, by John Hanville, 168
  • Ariſtophanes, 379. Tranſlated into Latin by Reuchlen, 415
  • Armes et de Chevallerie, Livres de fais d', by Chriſti [...]a of Piſa, 115
  • Arnobius Caius, 420
  • Ariſtotle, 7, 8, 22, 39, 40, 6 [...], 109, 119, 196, 200, 228, 307, 338, 339, 410, 414, 417, 450, 455.
  • Ariſtotle's Poli [...]iques, or Diſcourſe of Government tranſlated by Aretine, 48. Oeconomicks into French, by Laurence, 62
  • Arthuri Aſſertio, by Leland, 19,
  • Arthure, Prince, the Auncient Order Societie, &c. of, in Verſe, 19 Creacion of, by Skelton, 336
  • Arthur, King, 231, 235, 316
  • Art of Verſification, a Latin Poem, by Eberhardus Bethunienſis, 167
  • Arundel, Archbiſhop, 3
  • As you like it, by Shakeſpeare, 349
  • Ascham, Roger, 380, 447, 453, 460
  • Aſhmole's Theatrum Chemicum, 9, 135, 137
  • Aſinus Penitentiarius, 206
  • Aſſaillant, l', a French Romance, 121
  • Aſſembly of Foules, by Chaucer, 212
  • Aſſembly of Ladies, by Chaucer, 212, 218
  • Aſſer, Biſhop of St. Davids, 32
  • Attecliff, William, 426
  • Avianus Flavius, 167
  • Aulularia of Plautus, exhibited before Queen Elizabeth at Cambridge, 383
  • Aurora, or Hiſtory of the Bible allegoriſed, by Petrus de Riga, 168
  • Auſonius, 167
B
  • Bacon, Roger, 5, 7, 115, 136
  • Badby, 192
  • Bade, Joce, Brandts ſhip of Fooles, tranſlated into French, by, 241
  • Badius Jodocus, his Commentary on Mantuan, 256
  • Balatyn, or Ballendyn, John, 321
  • Bale, John, 188, 387, 388
  • Ballades et Rondelles l'art de dictier, 112
  • Balſamon, Patriarch of Antioch, 370
  • Banaſtre, or Baneſter, Gilbert, 138
  • Barbatoria, or Shew of Beards, 362
  • Barbarus Hermolaus, 425
  • Barclay, Alexander, 174, 176, 237, 240 to 256, 347, 426, 427
  • Barlaam, 70, 71
  • Barnes, or Berners, Julyana, 171, 172
  • Baſſet, Mrs. 406
  • Baſton, 132
  • Bate, John, 421
  • Batmanſon, John, 447
  • Battailes pluſiers des Rois d' Iſrael [...] contre les Philiſtines et Aſſyriens, 217
  • Beaumont, 399
  • Beccaria, Antonio de, 49
  • Becket, Thomas of, Legend of, 108, 190, 429, 432
  • —Life of by Herbert Borham, tranſlated into Engliſh Rymes by Laurence Wade, 238. Into French by Langtoft, ibid.
  • Bede, 10, 177, 199
  • Bedford, Jaſper, Duke of, Epitaph on, by Skelton, 336
  • Belleperche, 21
  • Bellovacenſis Vincentius, 68, 299, 353
  • Behn, Mrs. 399
  • Benivieni, Jeronimo, 256
  • Bennet, 222
  • [iii] B [...]noit, Thomas, 99, 111. Metrical Romance of the Dukes of Normandy, by, 235, 238
  • Bercheur, Peter, Livy tranſlated into French, by, 113
  • Bergeretta, or the Song of Shepherds, a Mummery, celebrated in the City of Beſançon, 368
  • Bergman, Johannes, 376
  • Bernard, Andrew, 132
  • Bernardinus, 377
  • Berners or Barnes Julyana, 171, 172
  • Beſtiare, a ſet of Metrical Fables from Eſop, 108
  • Bethunienſis Eberhardus, 352. Latin Poem on the Art of Verſification, by, 167
  • Bibienna, Cardinal, 411
  • Bible, 217, 220, 417. Heroick Poem on the Hiſtory of, by Appolinaris, 371. Tranſlated into Latin by Saint Jerom, 24. M [...]trical Verſio [...] of, 108, 109. Hiſtory of, allegoriſed in Latin Verſe, by Petrus de Riga, 168
  • Blind Harry, 334
  • Blois, Peter of, 75, 119, 352, 362, 428, 430, 431
  • Boarde, or Borde, Andrew, 134, 135
  • Boccaccio, 13, 25, 47, 52, 67, 69, 70, 71, 84, 121, 191, 215, 223, 341, 353, 387
  • Boccus and Sidrake, a Romance, 101, 102,
  • Bo [...]hius, 4, 32, 33, 76, 111, 125, 208, 305, 321, 353, 432
  • Boilea [...], 373
  • Boke [...]ham, Oſbern, 138
  • Borron, Robert, 13, 117
  • Boſham, H [...]rb [...]rt, 239
  • Botoner, William, 119, 426
  • Bottom the Weaver, 358
  • Bouge of Court, by Skelton, 347, 348, 349, 350
  • Boulay, 37 [...]
  • Bo [...]illus, or Bullock, Henry, 438
  • Bouquaſſiere, by Jean de Courci, 118
  • Boxhornius, 166
  • Boy, Biſhop, Ceremony of the, 375, 389 [...] 390, 391
  • Bozmanni, Cardinal, 418
  • Bradſhaw, Henry, 176 to 188
  • Bradwardine, 7
  • Braham, John, 81
  • Brandt, S [...]baſtian, 241, 247
  • Brandon, Charles and Henry, 453
  • Bromele, Abbot of Hyde Monaſtery, 44 [...]
  • Browne, Poet, 358, 401, 402, 403
  • Brunetto, 116
  • Brut, Romance of, 69
  • Bryan Reginald, 344
  • Brytayne lytel, and Ponthus and Galyce, 227
  • Buchannan, 380, 461
  • Bullock, Henry, 438
  • Bulloker, William, 171
  • Bulman, John, 130
  • Buoninſegni Fiorini, 356
  • Burgh, Benedict, 68, 165, 170, 171
  • Burlacus, 450
  • Byngham, William, 419
  • Byrchenſau, Maurice, 12 [...], 130
C
  • Ca [...]ſar's Commentaries, tranſlated into French by Jean D [...] Cheſne, 119
  • Cairels Elias, a Troubadour of Perigord, 236
  • Calander, an I [...]alian Comedy, by Bibie [...]n [...] 411
  • Caliſto, a Maſque, by Crown, 402
  • Callot, 272
  • Calvin, 321, 443
  • Camped [...]n, Hugh, or Caumpeden, Roma [...]c [...] of Boccus and Sidrake, by, 101
  • Camillus Julius, 413
  • Canning, William, 135, 139. See Rowlie or Chatterton
  • [iv] Can [...]erbury Tales, by Chau [...]er,
  • —Knight [...]s Tale, 75, 273
  • —Man of Law [...] Tal [...], 30
  • —Marchaunt [...] Tale, 348
  • —Miller [...]s Tale, 266
  • —Nonnes Prieſt's Tale, 218
  • —Wife of Bathe's Tale, 30
  • Candidus Petrus, 48,
  • Capella Marcianus, 75, 168
  • Capellanus, Joannes, 34
  • Capg [...]ave, John, 45, 46
  • Capuano, Benedict, 380
  • Cards and Card-playing, Account of, 317
  • Carew, Thomas, 399
  • Cario's Chronicle, 311
  • Carliſle, Alexander, Seriant of the Minſtrillis unto King Edward 4th, 134
  • Carmelian, Peter, 248
  • Carnotenſis Bernardus, 168
  • Carr, Earl of Somer [...]et, 399
  • Carols, 211
  • Caſſianus, 110, 111
  • Caſſiodorus, 11
  • Caſtelione, Lapus de, 19, 49
  • Caſulis, Jacobus de, 39, 40, 111
  • Caſtle of Honour, 199
  • Caſtle of Labour, a Poem, by Barclay, 200, 247
  • Catharine, Saint, Play of, acted by the Monks of St. Dennis, 367, 374
  • Cato's Morals, [...]ranſlated, 165, 166, 167, 169
  • [...]axton, 11, 41, 92, 115, 166, 170, 194, 1 [...]5, 211, 228
  • Cedrenus, 369
  • Ce [...]i, Philip, 13
  • Celtes Conradus, an early Dramatic Wri [...]er and Latin Poet, 376, 377, 415, 416, 455
  • Ceriſier, 33
  • Chadworth, Biſhop of Lincoln, 420
  • Chalcondylas Demetrius, 425
  • Chapman, George, Dramatic Poet, 394, 399
  • Charette [...] le Roman, d [...] la, 13
  • Charles the Fifth, 413
  • Chartier, Alain, 52
  • Chat [...]erton, 139 to 164
  • Chaucer, 1, 5, 11, 25, 26, 29, 33, 43, 44, 50, 51, 74, 125, 165, 169, 176, 211, 212, 218, 224, 231, 257, 259, 266, 271, 318, 329, 348, 353, 441
  • Chaundler, Thomas, 34
  • Cheſs, Game of, 40, 41, 96
  • Cheſter, Foundation of the Abbey of, a Poem, by Bradſhaw, 178, 179
  • Cheſter Myſteries, or Whitſun Playes, Account of, 179, 180, 207, 209
  • Chorle and the Bird, a Poem, by Lidgate, 224
  • Chriſt, the Hiſtory of the Childhood of, a Poem, 175, 176. A Poem on the Paſſion of, by Walter Kennedie, 319
  • Chriſt's Dialogues in Hell, 207
  • Chriſt's Paſſion, a Tragedy, by Gregory Nazianzen, 368
  • Chriſti deſcenſus ad Inferos, a Religious Drama, 206, 388
  • Chriſti de Paſſione, 19
  • Chriſti Geſta Salvationis, 208
  • Chriſ [...]'s Kirk on the Green, a Poem, 318
  • Chriſt, Spouſage of a Virgin to, by Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 249
  • Chriſtian and Jew, Metrical Dialogue between, by Sidonius, 168, 231
  • Chriſtopherſon, John, Latin Tragedy of Jeptha, by, 379
  • Chriſtina of Piſa, 67, 85. Morale Proverbes, of, by Widville, Earl of Rivers, 138
  • Chriſtmas, a Latin Poem, on, by John Opicius, 422
  • Chronica Chronicorum, by Theodoric Engelhuſen, 13, 311
  • Chronica Novella, by Herman Korner, 20
  • Chronica d [...]Iſodoro, 11
  • Chronicles of England, by Caxton, 11
  • Chronicles of the Kings of England, 177
  • [v] Chronicon breve, by Caſſiodorus, 11
  • Chryſoloras 48, 438
  • Churche, Daniel, 170
  • Church, the Figure of our Mother holy, oppreſſed by the French King, a Poem by Barclay, 247
  • Cicero, 22, 24, 68, 115, 120, 124, 218, 305, 306, 352, 413, 417, 424, 451, 455. Tranſlated by Lawrence Premierfait, 62, 119. Dialogue on Friendſhip, tranſlated into Engliſh by Tipſtoft, Earl of Worceſter, 426. Familiar Epiſtles, tranſlated by Skelton, 336
  • Circe and Ulyſſes, Maſque on the Story of, by William Brown, 401, 402, 403
  • Citta di Vita, by Matteo P [...]lmeri, 305, 312
  • City Heireſs, by Mrs. Behn, 399
  • Clamund, 449
  • Coccaie Martin, 356, 357 [...]
  • Cockneys, King of the, 405
  • Co [...]lum Britannicum, a Maſ [...]ue, by Thomas Carew, 399
  • Coldwell, or Colvil, George, 35
  • Colet, Dean, 434, 441, 447
  • Colin Clout, by Skelton, 337, 342, 343, 344
  • College of Poetry, founded in the Univerſity of Vienna, by Maximilian the Firſt, 415
  • Cologne, three Kings of, 174
  • Colona or Columna, 116
  • Colvil, or Coldwell, George, 35,
  • Com [...]diae Sacrae, by G [...]win Douglas, 293
  • Comeſtor, Peter, 108, 179
  • Complaynt of the Papyngo, 259, 274, 315, 318, 319
  • Compound of Alchemie, by George Ripley, 137
  • Comus, a Maſque, by Milton, 403
  • Concubranus, MS. Life of, 244
  • Confeſſio Amantis, by Gower, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 228, 248
  • Conſolation of Lovers, 211
  • Conſolation of Philoſophy, by Boethius, tranſlated into various Languages, 32, 33, 34
  • Conſolation of the Monkes, by Eccard, 33
  • Conſolation of Theology, by John Gerſon, 33
  • Converſion of Swerers, by Stephen Hawes, 210
  • Corbian, Pierre, 194, 222
  • Corbichon, John, 116
  • Corderoy, Mathurine, 169
  • Corniſh, Thomas, 240. William, a Poet and Muſician, 363, 364, 365
  • Corvini, Mattheo, King of Hungary, 417
  • Coſmographia Mundi, by John Phrea, 423
  • Coſmographie, le premier livre de la, in Verſe, by John Mallard, 132
  • Coſſa, Jean, 118
  • Coſyn, William, Dean of Wells, 302
  • Covetice, an old Scots Poem, 316
  • Court of Love, by Chaucer, 259
  • Coventry Plays, 53, 201, 207
  • Courci, Jean de, 118
  • Courteauiſſe, Jean de, 118
  • Cox, Dr. Richard, 380
  • Coxe, Leonard, 446
  • Coxeter, Thomas, 401
  • Cranſtoun, David, 294
  • Creſcentiis, Peter de, 116
  • Croke, Richard, 427
  • Crophill, John, 196
  • Crown of Laurell, by Skelton, 336, 350, 351, 352
  • Crowley, Robert, 361
  • Cupid's Whirligig, a Comedy, 398
  • Curſor Mundi, 24
  • Curteis, William, Abbot of Bury, 55
  • Cynthia's Revels, by B. Jonſon, 393, 394
  • Cyriac of Ancona, 411
  • Cyropedia of Xenophon, tranſlated, 115, 415, 423, 451
D
  • D [...]nce of Death, by Lydgate, 53. In German Rymes, by Macaber, 54. Tranſlated into Latin, by Petrus Deſrey, 54
  • Dancing, Account of, 398,
  • Daniel, Prophet, 22
  • Daniel Arnaud, a Troubadour, 60, 223, 235
  • Daniel, Samuel, 401
  • Dante, 22, 23, 52, 66, 118, 216, 219, 235, 300, 305, 357
  • Dares, Phrygius, 68, 90, 109
  • Davenant, Sir William, 401
  • Davie, Adam, 11, 312
  • David's Harp, Part of the Harmony of, 19
  • David and Bathſheba, 25
  • David, King, 307
  • Davies [...] Critical Hiſtory of Pamphlets, 337
  • Dawes Oegidius, ſee Dewes
  • Dead Man's Song, 199
  • Death, Dance of, by Lidgate, 53. Tranſlated, 54
  • Death, Divine Poem on, by Michael Kildare, 200
  • Decameron of Boccaccio, tranſlated into French by Laurence, 62
  • De Cis, or Thri, an old French Poet, 33
  • Decker, Thomas, 393
  • Dee John, 379
  • De Harnes, Michael Turpins Charlemagne, tranſlated by, 109
  • Delight of the Soul, by Hawes, 211
  • De Lyra, Nicholas, 46
  • De Monte, Petrus, 48
  • Demoſthenes, 413. Tranſlated into German and Engliſh, 451, 453
  • Dempſter, 334
  • Dewes Oegidius, Preceptor in French to Henry Eighth, and Prince Authur, &c. 420
  • De Preſles Raoul, 110
  • Deſrey Petrus, 54
  • De Thri, or de Cis, an old Fr [...]nch Poet, 33
  • Diana, Latin Play of, by Conradus Celtes, 376, 377
  • Dictys Cretenſis, 68
  • Dido, Play of, exhibited before Queen Elizabeth at Cambridge, 383, 384. Before Cardinal Wolſey, 434
  • Didymus, 24
  • Diodorus Siculus, tranſlated by John Phrea, 337, 423
  • Dion Caſſius, 10
  • Dionyſius the Areopagite, 300
  • Diſpucation or Complaynt of the Heart thorough pierced with the lokynge of the Eye, Lytel Treatiſe called, 199
  • Diſputation betweene a Cryſten Man and a Jewe, a Poem, 231
  • Dives and Lazarus, a Play, by R. Radcliffe, 387
  • Doctrinale Puerorum, 347
  • Dolce Lodovico, 11
  • Donatus, 24
  • Dorman, Saint, 175
  • Douglas Gawen, or Gawin, 280 to 294, 320
  • Dreme, by Sir David Lyndeſay, 295, 296, 297
  • Dumb Shews, Account of, 203, 204
  • Du Cheſne, Jean, 119
  • Dufour, Antoine, 117
  • Dun, John, firſt Maſter of the Revell [...], 379
  • Dunbar, William, 257 to 279, 358, 359
  • Duncane Laider, or Makgregor's Teſtament, a Poem, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332
  • Du Vignay, 40
E
  • Eaſter, a Play, 207
  • Eccard's Imi [...]ation of Boe [...]hius' Conſolation of Philoſophy, 33
  • Ecerrinis, or the Fate of the Tyrant Ecerrinus of Verona, a Tragedy, by Alberti Muſſato, 409
  • [vii] Eccle [...]ia [...]tes, Latin Tranſlation of, by Robert Shirwoode, 447
  • Edda, 198
  • Edmund, Saint, Hiſtory of, by Lydgate, 55, 56, 57
  • Edward the ſecond, Poem on, 193
  • Edward the fourth, and the Tanner of Tamworth, delectable Hiſtorie of, 138
  • Edwardi de Karnarvon, Lamentatio glorioſi Regis quam edidit tempore suae in [...]arcerationis, tranſlated into Engliſh Verſe by Fabian, 191, 192
  • Edwards, Richard, a Dramatic Writer, 393
  • Edyth, the mery Geſtys of one callyd, the lying Wydow, by Walter Smith, 365
  • Ειρηνη of Ariſtophanes, 379
  • Eginhart, 109
  • Eglogues by Barclay, 248 to 252
  • Elinour Rummyng, the Tunnyng of, by Skelton, 337
  • Elizabeth, Queen, 382, 461
  • Engelh [...]ſen, Theodoric, 13
  • Enniu [...], 353
  • Eparchus Antonius, 413
  • Ephiloquorus, 20
  • Eraſmus, 169, 360, 427, 433, 438, 443, 446, 447, 455, 456
  • Erle of Tholouſe, Romance of, 103, 104, 105
  • Eſdras, 20,
  • Eſop's Fables, 108, 319
  • Eſter and Ahaſuerus, a Poem, 178
  • Eſton, Adam, 421
  • Every Man, an Interlude, 378
  • Euripedes, 319, 368, 371, 451
  • Euſebius, 10, 11, 208
  • Eutropius, 109
  • Exemplar of Virtue, by Hawes, 211
  • Exodus (Play on) in Greek lambicks, by Ezekiel, a Jew, 371, 372
F
  • Fabian, Robert, 191, 192, 193
  • Faithful S [...]epherdeſs, by Fletcher, 402,
  • Falcandus, 217
  • Falconry, Account of, 221, 222
  • Fall of Princes, by Lydgate, 61, 83 [...]
  • Farmor, Mr. 221,
  • Farringdon Hugh, Abbot of Reading, 446
  • Ferrers, George, 381
  • Ferrex and Porrex, a Play, by Sackville, 398
  • Ferron John, Liber Moralis de ludo Scaccorum, of Jacobus de Caſulis, tranſlated into French, by, 40
  • Fete de Foux, 367, 369, 389
  • Fete de Ane, 360, 369
  • Feylde, Thomas, 219
  • Field, Maſter of Fotheringay Caſtle, 167
  • Filo [...]trato di Boccaccio, 25
  • Firmius Julius, 221
  • Fl [...]e from the Preſſe, a Poem, ſaid to be by Skogan, 135
  • Flemmyng, Robert, 421. Abraham, 423
  • Fletcher, John, Dramatic Writer, 401, 402
  • Flies and Ants, War with, or Moſ [...]h [...]a, 356
  • Florinus, 168
  • Floure and Leafe, by Chaucer, 26, 29, 264
  • Flowers, Maſque of, 399
  • Foliot, Hugh de, Biſhop of London. 344, 431
  • Folengio, Theophile, 356
  • Fontius Bartholomew, 416
  • Fontaine, 206
  • Fools, Feaſt of, 367, 369, 389
  • Fox, Biſhop of Wincheſter, 203, 434, 436, 437
  • Francis firſt of France, 413, 414,
  • Francis, Dauphin of France, Epithala [...] um on, by Andrew Bermad, 133
  • [viii] Fredegaire, 109
  • Free, or Phrea, John, 423, 424, 426,
  • Freebairn, Robert, 281
  • French, an Introductorie for to lerne to rede, &c. compyled for the Uſe of the Princeſs Mary, by Oegidus Dewes, 420
  • Frigidilles, 20
  • Froiſſart, 267, 299, 332, 333
  • Frontinus, 119
  • Fryſſell, William, 446,
G
  • Gager, Dr. William, 383
  • Gaguini, Robert, 353
  • Galbraith, 320
  • Galen, tranſlated by Jean Tourtier, 120
  • Galfridus, 168
  • Gallopes, Jean, 120, 121
  • Gammer Gurton's Needle, a Play, 378
  • Gand, Henry de, 39
  • Garlandia, Johannes de, 168
  • Gaſcoigne, George, Poet, 165, 398
  • Gauchi, Henri de, 109
  • Gellius Aulus, 353
  • Geminus Marcus, a Latin Comedy, 382
  • Genealogy of the Gods, by Boccaccio, 228
  • Geneſis, Commentary on, by John Capgrave, 45
  • Gentylneſs and Nobylyte, an Interlude, by Raſtall, 364
  • Geoffry of Monmouth, 69
  • Gerard Antoine, 121
  • Gerſon, John, 33
  • Gervais of Tilbury, 121
  • Geſta, Alexandri, 16
  • Geſta Romanorum, 12, 14, 15, 18, 31
  • Geſta Salvationis noſtri Ieſu Chriſti, 208
  • Geta Hoſidius, 168
  • Giffard, John, 221
  • Gilbert de Stone, 344
  • Glouceſter, Foundation of the Abbey of, a Poem, by William Malverne, 178
  • Glouceſter, Latin Poem on the Abbot of, by Kildare, 200
  • God and the penitent Soul, M [...]trical Dialogue between, by W. Lichfield, 106
  • Godefroy de Leigny, 13
  • Godefroy of Bologne, 116
  • Godfrey of Viterbo, 10
  • Godfrey, a Prieſt of Suſſex, Tale of, 206
  • Godfricus, 10
  • Godrich, a Hermit, 193
  • God's Promiſes, by Bale, 388
  • Golden Legend, 41
  • Golden Terge, by W. Dunbar, 257, 258, 264 to 279
  • Goliah, Pſalm on the Slaughter of, 217
  • Golias, 360
  • Goſcelinus, 189, 190,
  • Goulain, John, 111
  • Gower, John, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, to 26, 34, 50, 125, 224, 228, 248, 271, 318, 353 429, 441
  • Grandiſon, Biſhop of Exeter, 242
  • Graund amoure et la Bell P [...]cell, ſee Paſtime of Pleaſure
  • Gray, 245. William, Biſhop of Ely, 423
  • Grammaticus, 76
  • Gregory, Pope, the Great, 22
  • Gregory of Tours, 21, 76, 109, 176
  • Greville Fulk, Lord Brooke, 402
  • Grimoald, or Grimalde Nicholas, Play on St. John the Baptiſt, by, 380
  • Grindall, Archbiſhop, 461
  • Griſilde, Patient, a Play, by R. Radcliffe, 387
  • Grocyn, William, 425
  • Groſthead, Biſhop of Lincoln, 32, 367, 368, 428
  • Grynaeus, Simon, 448
  • Gualtier de Chatillon, 168, 352
  • Guerre, Jean de, 121
  • Guarini, Baptiſte, 421, 422, 426
  • [] Guiart de Moulins, 108
  • Guido de Colonna, 74, 81, 82, 90, 91, 97, 116
  • Guigemar, Lay of, 215
  • Guillaume, Prior of Chalis, 120, 337
  • Guillaume le Roy, 33
  • Guiſcard and Siſmond, by W. Walter, 238
  • Gunther, 168
  • Gunthorpe, John, 422, 426
  • Guy, Earl of Warwick, 166
  • Gyron le Courtois, a Romance, 117
H
  • Hamlet, Play of, 374, 380, 383, 393
  • Hanville, John, 168
  • Harding, John, 125, 126, 127
  • Harflett, Seige of, and Battayle of Agynkourte, 36
  • Harmony of the four Goſpels, 448
  • Harrowing of Hell, by Chriſt, au Interlude, 207
  • Harvey, Thomas, Mantuan tranſlat [...]d by, 256
  • Hawes, Stephen, 210 to 237
  • Hawking, Account of, 221, and Hunting, Poem on, by Julyana Barnes or Berners, 171, 172
  • Hay, Archibald, 319
  • Heale, William, 384,
  • Heber's Romance of the ſeven Sages of Greece, 109
  • Hector, Life and Death of, 81
  • Hegiſippus, 10
  • Heliodorus, Account of a MS. of, 418
  • Helis and Guinceſter, 169,
  • Henderſon, 319
  • Henry the Fourth, Play of, 403
  • Henry the Fourth, Balade to, by Gower, 34
  • Henry the Fifth, Account of, 35, 36,
  • Henry the Sixth, Legend of, 190
  • Henrici Septimi de progreſſu in Galliam, 420
  • Henry the Sevent [...] [...] of, by Andrew [...]Elegy on, by Skelton, 338. Miſeries of England under, a Poem, by Skelton, 336
  • Henry the Eighth, 254, 436, 439. Panegyric on, by Whittington, 131. Addreſs to, by Andrew Bernard, 133. A joyful Meditation of all England, &c. on the Coronation of, in Engliſh Verſe, by Stephen Hawes, 211
  • Henryſount, Robert, the morall Fabilis of Eſope compylit by, 319
  • Hentzner, 448
  • Herbert, W [...]lliam, 194
  • Hermes Bird, a Poem, 137, 224
  • Herodotus, 21, 451
  • Heſdin, Simon de, 114
  • Heywood, Thomas, 301, 358
  • Hezekiah, Play of, exhibited before Queen Elizabeth at Cambridge, 383
  • Hickſcorner, an Interlude, 208
  • Hierarchie of Angels, by T. Heywood, 301
  • Higden, Ranulph or Ralph, 177, 179
  • Hilcher, Paul Chriſtan, 54
  • Hill of Perfection, by Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 249
  • Hincmarus, Archbiſhop of Rheims, 33
  • Hippocraſs, or ſpiced Wine, Account of, 346
  • Hippocrates, 22. Tranſlated by Jean Tourtier, 120
  • Hiſtoria Aurea, by John of Tinmouth, 189
  • Hodgkins, 210
  • Holcot, Robert, 40
  • Holland, Joſeph, 211
  • Holme, Randal, 179
  • Holophernes, Play of, 392
  • Homiliae Vulgares, by Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 249
  • Homer, 68, 83, 352, 451. Iliad and Part of the Odyſſey tranſlated into Latin [...]roſe by Leontius Pilatus, 84—Into [x] French Verſe by Juques Miles, 84—Into Latin by Francis Philelphus, 411, 415
  • Horace, 352, 431
  • Houſe of Fame, by Chaucer, 83, 212
  • Howard, Duke of Norfolk, 254, 255
  • Hugh de Foliot, 344, 431
  • Hugh de Sancto Victore, 344
  • Hugh of Caumpeden, ſee Campeden
  • Humphrey, Duke of Glouceſter 44 to 49, 453
  • Humphri [...]s, Laurence, 459, 460
  • Hunte, Gualter, 108
  • Hunting, Account of, 221
  • Huſs, John, the Tragedy of, by R. Radcliſſe, 387
  • Huſſey, Maiſtreſs Margare [...], a Poem by Skelton, 355
  • Hymen's Triumph, by Samuel Daniel, 401
I
  • Jack Hare, 228
  • Jack Wat, that could pull the Lining out of a black boll, a Poem, by Lidgate, 228
  • Jacob and his twelve Sons, Hiſtory of, 199
  • Jacobus de Vitriaco, 96
  • Jacobus de Voragine, 41
  • Jaloux Chatie, a Tale by Raimond. Vidal de Baſaudin, a Troubadour, 220
  • James the Firſt, (of Scotland) 125. The Second, (of Scotland) 324. The Fourth, (of Scotland) 357, 294, 316, The Fifth, (of Scotland) 317, 318. The Sixth, (of Scotland) 384, 461
  • Idoyne and Amadas, Romance of, 24
  • Jeptha, the Tragedy of, in Latin and Greek, by John Chriſtopherſon, 379
  • Jeranchie, by John de Pentham, 113
  • Jerom, 11, 24
  • Jew and Chriſtan, Metrical Dialogue between, by Sidonius, 168
  • Image of the World, 298
  • Imperator Ludorum, Account of, 378, 379
  • Inner Temple, Maſque by Middleton, 399. By William Brown, 401, 402
  • Inns of Court Annagrammatiſt, or the Maſquers m [...]ſqued, in Anagram, by Francis Lenton, 399
  • Infortunio, 192
  • Ingliſh, John, 257, 258. Sir James, a Poet, 320
  • Interludes by Sir D. Lyndeſay, 298
  • Joan of Ar [...], 310
  • Job's Suffering, a Tragedy on, by Radcliffe, 387
  • Jocelyne, Biſhop of Saliſbury, 431
  • John De Meun, 4, 67, 111, 112, 236
  • John of Waldenly, 172
  • John of Tinmouth, 55, 189
  • John of Saliſbury, 39, 75, 112, 118, 167, 205, 206
  • John the Chaplain, 34
  • Johnſon, Richard, Author of the ſeven Champions, 230, 253
  • Jonas, a Tragedy, by R. Radcliffe, 387
  • Jones, Inigo, 385, 399
  • Jonſon, Benjamin, 301, 374, 388, 393, 394, 401
  • Joos, Dan, Legend on, by Lydgate, 58
  • Joſeph of Arimathea, Life of, 200
  • Joſeph of Exeter, 96
  • Joſephus, 10, 20, 118, 311
  • Jovius Paulus, 216
  • Iſlip, Abbot, 338
  • Iſocrates, 451, 461
  • Iſodorus, 11, 68, 168
  • Iſrael, pluſieur Batailles des rois d [...], contre les Philiſtines et Aſſyriens, 217
  • Judith, Fortitude of, a Trag [...]dy, by Radcliffe, 387
  • Ives, Simon, 399
  • Julian, Cardinal of St. Angelo, Greek MS. of, 218
  • Julius and the poor Knight, Story of, 16
  • Junius Patrick, 281
  • [xi] Juſtinian, 96
  • Juvenal, 353
K
  • Kalandre in Englyſſhe, by Lydgate, 166
  • Kalender of Shepherds, 195, 196, 197, 198
  • Kay, John, Poet Laureat to Edward the Fourth, 128
  • Kederminſter, Abbot of Winchecombe, 447
  • Kennedie, Walter, 319
  • Kildare, Michael, 200
  • Kinnedy, Andro, Teſtament of, by Dunbar, 326, 358, 359
  • King's Complaint, by James the Firſt of Scotland, 125
  • King's Fool, and Lucius, King of Rome, Story of, 16
  • Kircher, 8
  • Knights Templars, Account of, 345
  • Korner Herman, 20
  • Kymes, Gilbert, 47
  • Kynloich, 320
L
  • Lambwell, Romance of, ſee Launval
  • Lancelot, Romance of, 12, 13, 24, 117, 235
  • Langius Rodolphus, a Latin Poet, 415
  • Langbaine, Gerard, 41
  • Langtoft, Peter, 239
  • Langley, Thomas, Monk of Hulm, 129
  • Langton, Biſhop of Lich [...]ield, 216, 427
  • Lapidaire, a Poem from the Latin of Marbodeus, 108
  • Lapus de Caſtellione, 19, 49
  • Laſcaris, John, 428
  • Latimer, Hugh, 427, 450
  • Latin Plays, Account of, 375, 376, 377
  • Launval. Romance of, 102
  • Laurence or Laurent de Premierfait, 61, 62
  • Laureate, Poet, Account of the firſt, 128, 131, 132, 133
  • Lawes, William, 399
  • Leander's Italia, 70
  • Lear, King, by Shakeſpeare, 250
  • Lebrixa, Anton [...]o de, 416
  • Lee, Archbiſhop of York, 447
  • Le Fevre, Jean, 115
  • Le Feure Rauol, 81
  • Legend of good Women, by Chaucer, 165
  • Legenda Aurea, tranſlated by John du Vignay, 111
  • Leigny, God [...]roy de, 13
  • Leirmouth, Thomas, 298
  • Leland, 38, 218, 446, 448
  • Lelarmoner, or Lelarmor, John, 167
  • Lenton, Francis, 399
  • Leontius Pilatus, 70, 84
  • Letter of Cupid, a Poem by Occleve, 34
  • Leofric, Biſhop of Exeter, 208
  • Leonard of Arezzo, 118
  • Lewis the Eighth, a Romance, 362, the Twelfth, 413
  • Lichfield, William, 106
  • Lidgate, ſee Lydgate
  • Lieſs l'Abbe de, or the Abbot of Jollity, 381
  • Lillie, William, Grammarian, 337, 426, 433
  • Lilly, John, Dramatic Writer, 393
  • Lieu Girardus, 15
  • Life of our Lady, by Lydgate, 57, 58, 59
  • Linac [...]r or Linacre, 424
  • Livy, 49, 113, 114, 118, 122, 311, 353, 430, 455
  • Lollius, 96
  • Lombard, Peter, 450
  • Lomclyn Domingo, 347
  • London Lickpenny, by Lidgate, 266
  • London, Panegyric on the City of, by Fabia [...], 192
  • Longland, Biſhop of Lincoln, 362, 447
  • Lord's Prayer, Latin Elegiac Paraphraſ [...] on. by John Mallard, 132
  • [xii] Love freed from Ignorance and Folly, a Maſque, by B. Jonſon, 401
  • Lover and a Jay, Dialogue between, by Thomas Feylde, 219
  • Love's Labour Loſt, by Shakeſpeare, 236
  • Lucan, 114, 167, 352
  • Lucas or Luce, 117
  • Lucian, a Dialogue of, reduced into Engliſh Verſe by John Raſtall, 364. Icrominippus of, tranſlated by Eraſmus, 438
  • Lucillius, 353
  • Lucius King of Rome, and the King's Fool, Story of, 16
  • Ludenſis Gilbertus, a Monk, 298
  • Ludus Scaccorum, by Jacobus de Caſulis, 40
  • Ludus Paſcalis, 207
  • Lully Raymond, 136, 225
  • Luminalia, or the Feſtival of Light, a Maſque, 401
  • Luſty Juventus, an Interlude, by R. Weever, 378
  • Luther, Martin, 411, 442. Latin Play on the Subject of the Hereſy of, 377
  • Luxembourgh, Jean de, 120
  • Lycurgus, Story of, 75
  • Lydgate, 8, 19, 41, 48, 51 to 180, 166, 170, 171, 193, 200, 201, 210, 211, 219, 224, 228, 237, 257, 266, 271, 318, 352, 353, 441
  • Lyndſay, Sir David, 259, 274, 295 to 324
  • Lyra, Nicholas de, 46
  • Lytel Treatiſe, called the Dyſputacyon, or Complaynt of the Heart thorough perced with the lokynge of the Eye, 199
M
  • Maccabee, Judas, H [...]ſtory of, 21
  • Macaber, Dance of Death, in German R [...]ymes, by, 54
  • Macbeth, Play of, 385
  • Mace, 109
  • Macer, 22, 167
  • Mackenzie, 334
  • Maçon, Antoine le, 121
  • Macrobius, 218, 353
  • Madely, William de, 190
  • Magnus Jacobus, 121
  • Magnificence, a goodly Interlude and a mery, by Mayſter Skelton, 336, 337
  • Magdalene, Marie, Myſtery of, 361, 363
  • Magdalene, Queen, Poem on the Death of, 313
  • Magnamontanus Banatuſius, 426
  • Maier, Michael, 135
  • Maillorie, Sir Thomas, 235
  • Major, John, 334
  • Makgreggor's Teſtament, or Dunean Laider, a Poem, 278, 326 to 332
  • Mallard, John, 132
  • Malverne, William, 178
  • Mamerot, Sebaſtian,
  • Mancini, Dominic, 247
  • Mantuan, 247, 255, 256
  • Mandeville, or Maunderville, 223, 230
  • Mapes, Gualter, or Walter de, 235, 360, 431
  • Marbodeus, 108, 168
  • Marcianus, 75, 76
  • Marcell Amergot, an eminent Robber, Account of, 332, 337
  • Marcellinus Amineanus, 15
  • Marchion of Arezzo, 93
  • Margaret, Queen, Wife of Henry Seventh, 200
  • Marie, a French Poeteſs, 215
  • Marius Antonius, a famous Scribe and Illuminator, 423
  • Martius Galeotus, 426
  • Mary Magdalen, Myſtery of, 361, 363
  • Mary, Queen, 456
  • Maſques, Account of, 398, 399
  • Maſter of the Revells, Account of, 378, 379, 405
  • [xiii] Matthaeus of Vendoſme, 168
  • Maurilianus Pamphilus, 130, 168
  • Maximianus, 167, 353
  • Maximilian the Firſt, 415
  • Maximus Valerius, 16, 19, 45, 311, 353. Tranſlated by Simon de Heſdin, 114
  • May, Tranſlator of Lucan, 400
  • Maymonde, the froward Tale of, by Lydgate, 228
  • Medea and Jaſon, Hiſtory of, 13. Tragedy of, by Geta, 168
  • Medici, Laurenzo de, 428. Coſmo de, 428
  • Meditationes Piae, by Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 249
  • Medula, by Ripley, 138
  • Medwall, Henry, Interlude of Nature, by, 238, 364
  • Megacoſm and Microcoſm, by Sylveſter, 168
  • Melancthon, 311
  • Memoriae Seculorum, or the Pantheon, by Godſrey of Viterbo, 9, 10, 16
  • Melibaeus, a Play, by Radcliffe, 387
  • Meleager, Latin Play, by Dr. William Gager, 383
  • Menander, 20, 371
  • Meneſtrier, 373
  • Merchant of Venice, Shakeſpeare's Play of the, 16, 17, 18, 19, 383
  • Meres, 341
  • Merry Wives of Windſor, by Shakeſpeare, 358
  • Merſer, 319
  • Metaphraſtes, Symeon, 190
  • Metriftench [...]ridion, by John Seguard, 129
  • Meun, John de, 4, 67, 111, 112, 236
  • Microcoſm, by Sylveſter, 168
  • Middleton, Thomas, Dramatic Writer, 399
  • Michael De Harnes, 109
  • Midſummer Night's Dream, Play of, 358
  • Miles Owayne, a Poem, 192, 198
  • Millemete, Walter de, 7
  • Milet, Jaques, 84
  • Miller's Tale, by Chaucer, 169
  • Millot, Mr. 215, 230
  • Millyng, Abbot of Weſtminſter, 421
  • Milton, 13, 286, 299, 300, 301, 403
  • Minſtrells, Account of, 105, 106, 134, 174, 175
  • Mirrour for Magiſtrates, 192
  • Mirrour of Good Manners, by Alexander Barclay, 240, 247
  • Mirrour of Love, by Miles Hoggard, 460
  • Miſeriae Curialunn, by Aeneas Silvius, 248
  • Miſrule, Lord of, 380. Abbot of, 381
  • Mithridates, a Play, by N. Le [...], 402
  • Monte, Petrus de, 48
  • Mopſus and Melibeus, Dialogue between, by John Opicius, 422
  • Moralities, 279, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364
  • More, Sir Thomas, 364, 365, 387, 428, 438, 439, 440, 449. Laure [...]ce, 426
  • Morlier, 40
  • Mor [...]erius, Abraham, 169
  • Morton, John, Archbiſhop of Canterbury, 238. An Auguſtine Friar, 121
  • Moſchea, or the War with Flies and Ants, 356
  • Moſes, 307
  • Mouſkes, Philip, 362
  • Mummeries, Account of, 204
  • Muratori, 10
  • Muſſato Alberti, a Dramatic Writer, 409
  • Myſteries, Account of, 199 to 209, 294, 369, 374, 391
N
  • Nangis, Guillaume de, 114
  • Narrationes Aurea [...], by Gawin Dougla [...], 293
  • Naſſyngton, William of, 172, 173, 176
  • Nature a goodly Interlude, compylyd by Maſter Henry Medwall, 238, 364
  • Nazianzen, Grego [...]y, 368
  • Necham, Alexander, 76
  • [xiv] Necroman [...]ia, by John Raſtall, 364, 365
  • Newton, John, 116, 427
  • Niccols, William, 192
  • Nicholas, Saint, 375. Pope, the Fiſth, 410, 411
  • Nicholas de Lyra, 47
  • Nicodemus, Leg [...]d of, 208
  • Nicolſon, Biſhop, 281
  • Nigramanſ [...]r, a Morall Enterlude, and a Pithie by Maiſter Skelton, 361, 362, 363
  • Nigro, Andalus de, 69, 70
  • Normandy, Metrical Chronicle of the Dukes of, by Maſter Benoit, 225, 238
  • Northern Mother's Bleſſing, a Poem, 238
  • Northumberland, Fifth Earl of, 337, 339, 340
  • Norton, John, 135, 136. Thomas, 398
  • Not Browne Mayde, 138
  • Nugae Curialium, by Walter de Mapes, 431
  • Nuremburgh Chronicle, 300, 311
  • Nykke, Biſhop of Norwich, 337
O
  • Obſopaeus, 418
  • Occleve, 9, 34, 41, 50, 324
  • Octavian, Romance of, 173
  • Odo or Odobonus, 167
  • Odoricus, 111
  • Oedipus and Jocaſta, 76
  • Oeni de Viſ [...]one in purgatorio, 298
  • Offa, King, Life of, 344
  • Olynthiacs of Demoſthenes, tranſlated into Engliſh by Thomas Wilſon, 453
  • Olpe, Bergman de, 376
  • Opicius, a Latin Poet, 422
  • Oreſme, Nicholas de, 115, 116
  • Oroſius, 10, 311
  • Oſma, Don Bernardo Obiſpo de, 40
  • Othea a Hector, L'Epitre d', by Chriſtina of Piſa, 85
  • Overthrow of Stage Playes, by Dr. Rainolds, 383, 384
  • Ovid, 2, 12, 24, 96, 167, 212, 213, 352, 360. Elegiacs of, copied by Gower, 2. Metamorphoſes of, 12, 45, tranſlated by Guillaum de Nangis, 114, 119. Art of Love, tranſlated by Gawin Douglas, 281. Eneid, by G. Douglas, 281
  • Owayne, Miles, a Poem, 192, 298
P
  • P. S. [...] Child of Queen Elizabeth's Chapel, Epitaph on, by Ben Jonſon, 395
  • Pace, Richard, 427, 439
  • Pageants, Account of, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 365
  • Palladis Tamia, or Wit's Treaſury, 342
  • Palemon and Arcite, Comedy of, 382
  • Palice of Honour, by Gawin Douglas, 294
  • P [...]lingenius, 461
  • Palmerius, Mattheus, 118, 305, 312
  • Pa [...]ſgrave, John, 247
  • Pammachius, a Latin Comedy, acted at C. C. C. 1544,—337
  • Pandas, 20
  • Pandulph, 20
  • Pantalcone, or a Chronicle compiled by the Monks of Pantaleon, 10
  • Pantheon, or Memoriae Seculorum, by Godfrey of Viterbo, 9, 10, 16
  • Paris, Mathew, 198
  • Parker, Archbiſhop, 379, 461
  • Parlyament of Devylles, 199
  • Parnel's Hermit, 208
  • Parr, Queen Catherine, 456
  • Paſtime of Pleaſure, by Hawes, 212, 219, to 227, to 233
  • Pathway to the Toure of Perfection, by Miles Hoggard, 460
  • Patrick's Cave, Legend of, 199
  • Pedegrees of Britiſh Kings, 177
  • Peeris, William, 126
  • [xv] Pelerin, L'Ame de, 120
  • Pennant, 326
  • Pennel, Maiſtreſſe Iſabel, Poem on, by Skelton, 355, 356
  • Penny, Sir, a Poem, 361
  • Pentham, Jean de, 113
  • P [...]rcy, Henry Algernoon, Fifth Earl of Northumberland, Account of, 338, 339, 340
  • Pergamo, Philip de, 169
  • Peruſinus Paulus, 75
  • Perſius, 353
  • Petavius, a Jeſuit, 377
  • Peter of Blois, 75, 119, 352, 362, 428, 430, 431
  • Peter of Poitou, 218
  • Petra [...]ch, 84, 113, 114, 116, 132, 235, 253, 255, 409, 413. A new Epitaph, in Latin Elegiacs, compoſed by John Phrea for the Tomb of, 424
  • Petronylla, Life of, a Poem, 200
  • Petrus de Monte, 48
  • Phalaris' Epiſtles, tranſlated into Tuſcan, by Bartholomew Fontius, 418
  • Phantaſiae Macaronicae, by Theophilo Folergio, 356
  • Philargyria, the great Gigant of Great Britain, Fable of, by Robert Crowley, 316
  • Philip Sparrow, by Skelton, 243, 259
  • Philelphus, Francis, and Hiſtorian, 44
  • Phonurgia, 8
  • Phrea, or Free, John, Biſhop of Bath and Wells, 423, 424, 426
  • Pierce Plowman, 179, 279, 282, 361
  • Pindar, 371
  • Piſander, 353
  • Piſcatory Eclogue by Fiorino Buoninſegni, 256
  • Planudes Maximus, Boethius tranſlated into Greek by, 33, 169, 218
  • Platina Baptiſta, 422
  • Plato, 22, 48, 76, 307, 371, 410, 415, 449, 455, 461
  • Plautus, 353, 411, 439, 451
  • Players, a Company of, under the Direction of John Ingliſh, at the Marriage of James Fourth of Scotland with Margaret Tudor, 257, 258
  • Plays, French, Account of, 110. Engliſh Origin of, 366. Overthrow of Stage Plays, 381, 384
  • Pliny, 302
  • Plowman, Pierce, 179, 279, 282, 361
  • Plutarch, 353
  • Poenulus of Plautus, 411
  • Poetaſter, a Play, by B. Jonſon, 393, 394
  • Poetical Inſcriptions on the Walls of Wreſſell and Lekingfield Caſtle, 339
  • Poines Maximilian, one of the Children of Pauls, 392
  • Poggio, 115, 169, 337, 353
  • Poli [...]iano Angelo, 424, 425, 455
  • Poli [...]rati [...]on of John of Saliſbury, 167
  • Ponthus and Sidonia, an old French Romance, 226
  • Ponthus and Galyce, and Lytel Brytayne, Hiſtory of, 227
  • Popi [...]jay, a Poem, by Skelton, 337
  • P [...]rphyrogenitus, Conſtantine, 191
  • Premierfait, Lawrence, 119, 121, 426
  • Preſles Raoul de, 110
  • Prick of Divine Love, 117
  • Pride and waſt Clothing of Lordis Men, a Poem, by Occleve, 324
  • Proclus, 449
  • Prodicus, 245
  • Progne, Latin Tragedy of, 382
  • Progymnaſmata Scenica, ſeu Ludicra Praeexercitamenta varii Generis. per Johann [...]m Bergman de Olpe, 376
  • Propertius, 353,
  • Proſper, 11
  • Proteſtants diſplaying of their ſundry Practices, by Miles Hoggard, 459
  • Prudentius, 461
  • [xvi] P [...]lms, tranſlation of the firſt, 2 [...], 19. Seven Penitential, Fragment of a Comment on, ſuppoſed to be written by Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 249
  • Ptolemy, 302
  • Pulci Bernardo, 256
  • Puttenham, 341
Q
  • Quadripartitum of Ptolemy, tranſlated by Nicholas D'Oreſme, 116
  • Queens, Moſque of, by Ben Jonſon, 401
  • Quin, the Comedian, Anecdote of, 253
  • Quintilian, 352, 417, 453
  • Quintus Curtius, tranſlated into Fre [...]ch, 119, 353, 430, 431
  • Quintyn, 319
R
  • Rabelais, 357
  • Radcliffe, Ralph, 387
  • Rainold's, Dr. John, 383
  • Raguſinus Felix, 417
  • Raphael, 413
  • Raſtall, John, 353, Accou [...]t of, 364, 365
  • Raoul Le Feure, 92
  • Reſon and Senſualitie, by Lidgate, 225
  • Reuchlin, an early Dramatic Writer, 375, 376
  • Rhetoricke, Arte or Crafte of, by Leonard Co [...]e, 446
  • Rhodes, Latin Hiſtory of the Seige of, by John Kay, 128
  • Richard the Firſt, 317
  • Richard the Second, 258, 325
  • Richard Lewis, Maſter of Muſic, 401
  • Riga, Petrus de, [...]68
  • Rightwiſe, John, Maſter of St. Paul's School, 434
  • Ripley, George, 135, 136, 137
  • Rippe Gui [...]laume, 119
  • Rivales, a Latin Play, by Dr. W. Gager, 383
  • Robert de Brunne, 316
  • Robert of Glouceſter, 127
  • Robert Earl of Huntingdon, Downfall of, a Play, 358
  • Robin Hood and Little John, 237, 381
  • Robin and Marian, Play of, 386
  • Robinſon N. Biſhop of Bangor, 382
  • Rolewinch Wernerus, 311
  • Romain Henri, 118
  • Roman de la Roſe, by John de Meun, 4
  • Romanus Egidius, 96
  • Romaunt of the Roſe, by Chaucer, 218, 264
  • Romeo and Juliet, Tragedy of, 394
  • Romuleon, 114, 119
  • Roos, or Roo, John, 397
  • Roſiar, by Skelton, 336
  • Roſſe, J. 344, 421
  • Rotherham, Archbiſhop, 389
  • Rouroy, Jean de, 119
  • Rowls' Curſing, a Poem, 319
  • Rowlie's Poems, 139 to 164, 219
  • Rufinus, 21
S
  • Sackville Thomas, Lord Buckhurſt, 398
  • Saint Alboon and Saint Amphiballus, by Lidgate, 352
  • Saint Auſtin, 110, 111
  • Saint Bernard, Lamentations of, 117
  • Saint Catherine, Life of, by Bar [...]lay, 247
  • Saint Edmund, Hiſtory of, by Lidgate, 55, 56, 57
  • Saint Etheldred, Life of, by Barclay, 247, 177, 189
  • Saint Frideſwide, 110
  • Saint Graal, Romance of, by G [...]alter de M [...]pes, 235
  • Saint George, Life [...]f, 247
  • Saint Gregories Homilies, tranſlated,
  • Saint Hugh, Martyrdom of, in Frenc [...] 110
  • Verſe, 108
  • [xvii] Saint Jerom, 11, 24, 117, 307
  • Saint John's Deſcent into H [...]ll, a Greek Homily on, by Euſebius Alexandrinus, 208
  • Saint John, Eraſmus' Paraphraſe on, tranſlated by Queen Mary, 456
  • Saint Julian, 198
  • Saint Margaret, 247
  • Saint Thomas of Becket, 138, 238
  • Saint Radegunda, [...]fe, 200
  • S [...]int Sexburgh, 177, 189
  • Saint Wolfade, Life of, by Gilbert de Stone, 190
  • Saint Werburgh, Life of, in Verſe, by Bradſhaw, 176, 180 to 188, 189
  • Saints, Lives of the, 189. Poem on, 200
  • Salmacida Spolia, a Maſque, 401
  • Salpicius Claudius, 20
  • Saluſt, 114, tranſlated by Barclay, 247, 352
  • Samſon and Dalil [...], 25
  • Sardanapulus, Story of, 16
  • Satiromaſtix, a Play by Decker, 393
  • Schedelius Hartmanuus, 311
  • Scholaſtica Hiſtoria, by Peter Comeſtor, 108
  • Scogan, John, 134
  • Scogin's Jeſts, 135
  • Scot Ales, and other Ludi on Holidays forbade, by Biſhop Groſthead, 368
  • Scotland, Latin Hiſtory of, by Gawin Douglas, 294
  • Scotus Duns, 449
  • Secretum ſecretorum Ariſtotelis, 7, 8. Tranſl [...]ted into Engliſh, 9
  • Seculorum Memoriae, or the Pantheon, by Godfrey of Vi [...]erbo, 9, 10, 16
  • Sedulius, 461
  • S [...]guard John, Latin Poet, 129
  • Sellyng William, 424, 425
  • Seneca, 74, 118, 167, 353
  • Sergius, ſeu capitis ca [...]ut Comaedia, by Reuchli [...], 375
  • Seven Champion [...], Hiſtory of, by R. Johnſon, 230
  • Seven Deadly Sins, Poem on the Daunce of, by Dunbar, 273
  • Seven Sages of Greece, Romance of, by Hebers, 109
  • Seven Sleepers, Martyrdom of the, 175. Life of the, tranſlated by Syrus, 176
  • Shakeſpeare, 5, 16, 22, 221, 236, 250, 256, 349, 358, 365, 374, 383, 385, 387, 393, 402, 403
  • Shepherd's Kalender, 195, 196, 197, 198
  • Shew of Beards, 362
  • Shirly James, 399
  • Shirwoode Robert, 446
  • Ship of Fooles, by Alexander Barclay, 237, 240 to 247, 347, 426
  • Siculus Diodorus, 423
  • Sidonia and Ponthus, an old French R [...] mance, 226
  • Sidonius, 168
  • Sidrac, Romance of, 101, 132
  • Siege of Thebes, by Lidgate, 61
  • Sigiſmunda and Guiſeard, verſified, by W. Walter, 238
  • Silen [...]iarius Paulu [...], 223
  • Silkeſtede, Prior, 217
  • Simle [...]us, 375
  • Simony, Trial of, by Skelton, 388
  • Sincerus, Theophilus, 40
  • Sinclair, Lord, 293
  • Sir Bevis, Romance of, 250
  • Sir Iſembras, Romance of, 173, 174
  • Sir Lancelot du La [...], Romance of, 12, 13, 24, 235
  • Sir Penny, a Poem, by Stewart of Lorne, 361
  • Sir Triſtram and Bel Iſolde, 14
  • Siſmund [...]nd Guiſ [...]ard, by Wal [...]er, 238
  • Skelton, John, 130, 132, 176, 243, 247, 253, 259. Life of, 336 to 362, 388
  • Skogan, 135
  • [xviii] Smyth, Walter, 365
  • Socr [...]tes, 25
  • Sodom, the Burning of, a Tragedy, by Radcliffe, 387
  • Solinus, 10, 20
  • Solomon, 25
  • Somnium Scipionis of Tully [...]ranſlated, 218
  • Somerſet, John, 444
  • Sophocles, 368, 451
  • Soulechart, Denis, 112
  • Spectacle of Lovers, by W. Walter, 238
  • Speculum Chriſtiani, 193
  • Speculum Eccl [...]ſiae, 111, 168
  • Speculum Hiſtoriale, 299
  • Speculum Meditantis, by Gower, 2
  • Speculum Mundi, 109
  • Speculum Parvulorum, 408
  • Speculum Regiminis, by Philip de Pergamo, 170
  • Speculum Regum, 10
  • Speculum Stultorum, 206
  • Spenſer, Edmund, 192, 238, 273, 301, 365
  • Spouſage of a Virgin to Chriſt, by Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 249
  • Standiſh Henry, Biſhop of St. Aſaph, 437
  • Stanley Family, Poem on the Antiquity of, 200
  • Staple of Newes, by Ben Jonſon, 388
  • Statius, 74, 96, 352
  • Stephonius, 357, 377
  • Stewart of Lorne, 258, 320, 361
  • Stone, Gilbert de, 190
  • Strabo, 10
  • Suetonius, 10
  • Suron, Henri de, 112
  • Sulpicius, Johannes, 433
  • Suppoſes, by Gaſ [...]oigne, 398
  • Suſannah, Delivery of, a Play, by Radcliffe, 387
  • Sylveſter or Bernardus Carnotenſis, 168
  • Symeon Metaphraſtes, 190
  • Symeon, a Friar Minor, 216
  • Syneſius, 423
T
  • Tacitus, 411, 430
  • Tarquin and his Son Arrous, Story of, 16
  • Taſſo, 300
  • Tedbaldus, 170
  • Tempe reſtored, a Maſque, 401
  • Temple of Glaſs, by Stephen Hawes, 210 to 215
  • Temple of Love, a Moſque by Davenant 401
  • Templum Chryſtallinum, by Stephen Hawes, 212
  • Terence, 119, 353, 380, 417, 420, 431
  • Termegis, 20, 21
  • Teſtament of Love, by Chaucer, 29, 33
  • Tethy's Feſtival, a Maſque, by S. Daniel, 401
  • Theatrum Chemicum, by Aſhmole, 9, 135 [...] 137
  • Thebes, Story of, by Lidgate, 71
  • Theocritus, 352
  • Theodoſius, 208
  • Theodulus, 167
  • Theophylact, 369, 370
  • Theſied of Boccaccio, 215, 223
  • Thibaud de Vernon, 108
  • Thig [...]onville, William de, 20
  • Thiſtle and the Roſe, by W. Dunbar, 257 to 264, 279
  • Tholouſe Er [...]e of, Romance, 103, 104, 105
  • Three Kings of Cologne, 174
  • Thucidides, 451
  • Thurkhill, 198
  • Tibu [...]tinae Lucubratione [...], a Latin Poem in Heroic Verſe, by Robert Flemmyng, 422
  • Tignonville, Guillaume d [...], 120
  • Tilliot, M. du, 367
  • Timon of Athens, by Shakeſpeare, 349
  • [...]inmouth, John of, 55, [...]89
  • Tiptof [...], Earl of Worceſter, 119, 423, 425, 426
  • Titus and Geſippus, by W. Walter, 238 341
  • [xix] Titus and Geſippus, a Play, by R. Radcliffe, 387
  • Tobiad, or Book of Tobit paraphraſed by Mattheus of Vendoſme, 168
  • Tonellus and Zanina, Amours of, 356
  • Torkyngton Syr Richard, his Pylgrymage to Jeruſalem, 427
  • Toure of Vertue and Honour, by Barclay, 248, 254
  • Tourtier Jean, Hippocrates and Galen tranſlated by, 120
  • Townſend Aurelian, 401
  • Traheron Bartholomew, 448
  • Tragedy of Princes that were letcherous, by Lydgate, 62
  • [...]eſor, by Pierre Corbian, 222, 225
  • Trevet, Nicholas, his Commentary on Sen [...]ca's Tragedies, 74
  • Treviſa, John, 39, 67, 115
  • Trinity and Unity, Treatiſe on the, and tranſlated by William of Naſſyngton, 172
  • Triſmegiſtus, 23
  • Triſtram, Romance of, 14.
  • Triumph of Peace, by James Shirley, 399
  • Troilus and Creſſida, by Chaucer, 25, 226
  • Trou [...]he and Information, a Treatiſe between, by William Corniſh, 365
  • Troy, Romance of, by Guido de C [...]lonna, 12. Tranſlated into Italian by Philipp Ceffi, 13. Tranſlated by Lidgate, 61, 81, 92, 93, to 99. By Caxton, 228
  • Tundal or Tungal, the Viſions of, 299
  • Tunſtall, Cuthbert, Biſhop of Durham, 427
  • Turpyn, 208
  • Twety, William, 221
  • Twici Guillaume, grand Huntſman to King Edward Second, 221
  • Typhernas Gregory, 413, 437
V
  • Valla Laurentius, 48, 84
  • V [...]is, Margaret de, [...]
  • Vanity of Riches, a Poem, by Michael Kildare, 200
  • Vaſque de Lucerie, 115
  • Udall, 386, 456
  • Vegius Mapheus, 281
  • Vegetius, 113, 115. Tranſlated by John Newton, 427, 431
  • Venerie L'Art de, par Guillaume Twici, 221
  • Ventadour Bernard, a Troubadour, 215
  • Vergerius Angelus, Secretary to Francis Firſt, 413
  • Vertumnus, a Latin Play, 384
  • Vetula De, tranſlated by Jean Le Fevre, 115, 130
  • Victor Aurelius, 11
  • Vidal Raimond, a Troubadour, 220
  • Vignay, Jean de, 111
  • Vincent de Beauvais, 112, 113
  • Vincent Magiſter, 426
  • Vir [...]li Le, a Sport celebrated on the Feaſt of St. Nicholas, 375
  • Virgil, Aeneid of, 15, 25. Tranſlated by Gawin Douglas, 212, 213. By Guillaumele Roy, 33, 121, 122, 167, 307, 353. Bucolics, tranſlated into Italian by Bernardo Pulci, Foſſa de Cremona Benivi [...]ni, and Fiorni Buoninſegni, 356. Commentary on, by Antonio de Lebrixa, 417
  • Virgil, the Necromancer, Life of, 229
  • Virgil, Polydore, 281, 425
  • Virgin Mary, Epithalamium on, by Johannes de Garlandria, 168. Hymns to, 193, 194. Seven Joys of the bleſſed Virgin, in Engliſh Rhyme, 192
  • Virtue, an Interlude, by Skelton, 336
  • Viſions of the four G [...]ddeſſes, a Maſque, by Samuel Daniel, 401
  • Vitellus Cornelius, 425
  • Viterbo, Godfrey o [...], 10
  • Vitri, Philip de, 115
  • Vitriaco, Jacobus de, 41, 111
  • [xx] Vives Ludovicus, 410
  • Ulyſſes and Circe, Maſque of, by W. Brown, 401, 402
  • Voinuſkius, 425
  • Voltaire, 368
  • Voluſenus Florentius, 294
  • Voragine, Jacobus de, 41, 111
  • Vox Clamantis, by Gower, 2, 429
  • Upton, Nicholas, 172
W
  • Wade, Lawrence, a Benedictine Monk, 238
  • Wakefield Robert, 124, 436 446
  • Waldenby John of, 172
  • Wallace Sir William, 334,
  • Walter de Millemete, 7
  • Walter William, Boccaccio's Story of Guiſcard and Sigiſmunda verſified by, 238
  • Walton John, 34
  • Walton Bertram, Satyrical Poem on the Nuns, by, 165
  • Watſon John, Author of Speculum Chriſtiani, 129, 193
  • Waynflete Biſhop, 426
  • Way to thriſt, 238
  • Webbe John, 447
  • We [...]ver R. 378
  • Wentworth, Maiſtreſs Margary, Poem on, by Skelton, 354, 355
  • We [...]burgh, Saint, Life of, 180
  • Wey William, 427
  • Whetehamſtede John, Abbot of St. Albans, 46, 47, 53
  • White Friars of Drogheda, Poem on, by Michael Kildare, 200
  • Whitgift, 446
  • Whiting Richard, 445—or Whyting, 200
  • Whitſun Playes, Account of, 179, 180, 207, 209
  • Whittington, Poet Laureate, 130, 131
  • Why come y [...] not to court? a Poem, by Skelton, 345, 346, 347
  • Wiccliffe, 173, 330, 331, 361, 430
  • Widville, or Wydville, Earl of River [...], 20, 138
  • William de Thig [...]onville, [...]0
  • William of Malmſbury, 191
  • William of Naſſyngton, 172, 173, 176
  • Williams, Speaker of the Houſe of Commons, Time of Elizabeth, 444
  • Wilſon Florence, or Florentinus Voluſenus, 294
  • Wilſon Thomas, Preceptor to Charle [...] and Henry Brandon, Dukes of Su [...] folk, 386, 453
  • Wi [...]chcomb Abbey, Hiſtory of, by Kederminſter, 447
  • Winter Night's Viſion, by Niccols, 19 [...]
  • Wircker, 206
  • Wit's Treaſury, or Palladis Tamia, 342
  • Wolſey, Cardinal, 131, 330, 337, 345, 374, 397, 398, 428, 433, 434
  • Wood, An [...]h [...]ny, 219
  • Worke of Sapience, by Caxton, 194
  • Wreſſel Caſtle adorned with Poe [...]ical I [...] ſcrip [...]ions, 338
  • Wykeham, William of, 445,
X
  • Xenophon's Cyropedia, tranſlated into French by Vaſque de Lucerie, 115. Tranſlated into Latin, by R [...]uchlin, 415. By John Phrea, 423, 451
  • Ximenes, Cardinal, 416
Z
  • Zamoren [...]is Rodericus, 54
  • Zanitonella, or the Amours of Tonellus and Zania, a Poem, 356
  • Zeno Apoſtolo, an Italian Dramatic Writer and Poet 132
  • Zoroa [...]ter, 22
Notes
a
See ſupr. vol. i. pag. 342.
b
It is certain that they both lived and wrote together. But I have conſidered Chaucer firſt, among other reaſo [...]s h [...]re [...]fter given, as Gower ſurvived him. Chaucer died October 25, 1400, aged 72 years. Gower died, 1402.
c
Troil. Creſſ. ad calc. pag. 333. edit. Urr. ut ſupr.
d
CONFESS. AMANT. Prol. fol. 1. a. col. 1. Imprinted at London, in Flete [...]rete, by Thomas Berthelette, the xii. daie of March, ann. 1554. folio. This edition is here always cited.
e
Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Bodl. NE. F. 8. 9. And MSS. Fairf. 3.
f
MSS. Num. 26. It occurs more than once in the Bodleian library; and, I believe [...] often in private hands. There is a fine manuſcript of it in the Britiſh Muſeum. It was written in the year 1397, as appears by the following line, MSS. Bodl. 294.
Hos ego BIS DENO Ricardi regis in anno.
g
TO THE REDER, in Berthlette's edition. From the PROLOGUE. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 539. Notes.
h
Lib. iv. f. 62. a. col. 1. Lib. v. f. 94. a. col. 1. Lib. iv. f. 68. a. col. 1. Lib. v. f. 119. a col. 2.
i
Lib. iv. f. 76. b. col. 2.
k
Fal [...]taffe mentions a philoſopher's or chemiſt's two ſtones. See P. Henr. iv. Act iii. Sc. 2. Our author abundantly confirms doctor Warburton's explication of this paſſage, which the reſt of the commentators do not ſeem to have underſtood. See Aſhm. Theatr. Chemic. p. 484. edit. Lond. 1652. 4to.
l
Ibid. f. 77. a. col. 1.
m
Lib. v. f. 101. a. ſeq.
n
See ſupr. vol. 1. p. 425.
o
Gliſtering.
p
Chariot.
q
Before.
r
Above all.
s
Beautiful.
t
Still farther.
u
The philoſopher.
w
More.
x
Them.
y
Much better.
z
Swift.
a
Named.
b
Fourth.
c
Lib. vii. f. 145. b. col. 1. 2.
d
Lib. vii. f. 151. a.
e
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 132. Notes, x.
f
See Wood, Hiſt. Antiquit. Univ. Oxon. lib. i. p. 15. col. 1.
g
Tanner Bibl. p. 527. It is cited by Bradwardine, a famous Engliſh theologiſt, in his grand work de CAUSA DEI. He died 1349.
h

There is an Epiſtle under the name of Alexander the Great, De Lapide Philoſophorum, among the SCRIPTORES CHEMICI artis aurif [...]rae, Baſil. 1593. tom. i. And edit. 1610. See below, Note k.

I have mentioned a Latin romance of Alexander's life, as printed by Frederick Corſellis, about 1468. ſupr. vol. i. p. 131. On examination, that impreſſion is ſaid to be finiſhed Decemb. 17, 1468. Unluckily, the ſeventeenth day of December was a Sunday that year. A manifeſt proof that the name of Corſellis was forged.

i
Lib. vii. f. 148. a. ſeq.
k
h Or from fictitious books attributed to Alexander the Great, De ſ [...]ptem H [...]rbis ſ [...]ptem Plan [...]tarum, &c. See Fabric. Bibl. Gr. tom. ii. p. 206. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 129. And p. 223. Notes, f. Calli [...]henes is mentioned twice in this poem, Lib. vii. f. 139. b. col. 2. And vi. f. 139. b. col. 2. See a chapter of Calliſthenes and Alexander, in Lydgate's FALL OF PRINCES, B. iv. ch. 1. ſeq. fol. 99. edit. ut infr.
l
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 132.
m
Pag. 140. See SEC [...]ETUM SECRETORUM, Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Bodl. D. i. 5. Cap. penult. lib. 5.
n
Peace.
o
According to.
p
MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Laud. B. 24. K. 53. Part of this manuſcript is printed by Aſhmol [...], THEATR. CHEMIC. [...]t ſupr. p. 397. See Julius Bartolocc. tom. i. Bibl. [...]abbinic. p. 475. And Joann. a Lent, Theol. Judaic. p. 6.
q
Mem. de Litt. tom. xvii. p. 737. 4-to.
r
Octavo. A work called Ariſtotle's POLITIQUES, or DISCOURSES O [...] GOVERNMENT, from the French of Louis le Roy, printed by Adam Iſlip, in folio, in the year 1527, and dedicated to ſir Robert Sid [...]ey, i [...] Ariſtotle's genuine work. In Greſham college library there is ‘"Alexandri M. Epiſtolae ad preceptorem Ariſtotelem, Ang [...]ic [...] fa [...]." MSS. 52. But I believ it Occleve's or Lydgate's poem on the ſubject, hereafter mentioned.
s
Hotting. Bibl. Orient. p. 255. See Pic. Mirandulan. contra Aſtrolog. lib. i. p. 284.
t
See ſup. vol. i. p. 351. Notes, h. And Jacob. Quetif. i. p. 740.
u
In folio. Again, among Scriptor [...] de Reb. Germanicis, by Piſtorius. Francof. fol. 1584. And Hanov. 1613. Laſtly in a new edit. of Piſtorius's collection by Struvius, Ratiſbon. 1726. fol. There is a chronicle, I believe ſometimes confounded with Godfrey's PANTHEON, called the PANTALEONE, from the creation to the year 1162, about which time it was compiled by the Benedictine monks of Saint Pantaleon at Cologn, printed by Eccard, with a German tranſlation, in the firſt volume of SCRIPTORES MEDII AEVI, p. 683. 945. It was continued to the year 1237, by Godfridus, a Pantaleoniſt monk. This continuation, which has conſide [...]able merit as a hiſtory, is extant in Freherus, Rer. Germanicar. tom. i. edit. Struvian. p. 335.
w
P. 346.
x
In proem.
y
See ſupr. vol. 1. p. 217.
z
See Lambecc. ii. p. 274.
a
Bale, apud Lewis's CAXTON, p. xvii. poſt pref. And in the prologue to the FRUCTUS TEMPORUM, printed at St. Alban's in 1483, one of the authors is ‘"Caſſiodorus of the actys of emperours and biſshoppys."’
b
See CONFE [...]. AMANT. lib. vii. f. 156. b. col. 1. And our author to king Henry, Urry's Ch. p. 542. v. 330.
c
It has often been printed. See OPERA Caſſiodori, duobus tomis, Rothomag. 1679. fol.
d
Compendio di Seſto Ruffo, con la C [...]ONICA DI CA [...]SIODORO, de Fatti de Romani, &c. In Venezia, per il Giolto, 1561. 4-to.
e
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 230, Notes, u.
f

Stampata nel Friuli. It is ſometimes called Chronica DE SEX MUNDI AETATIBUS, IMAGO MUNDI, and ABBREVIATIO TEMPORUM. It was continued by Iſidorus Pacenſis from 610 to 754. This continuation was printed in 1634, fol. Pampelon. Under the title ‘"Epitome Imperatorum vel Arabum Ephemeridos una cum Hiſpaniae Chronico."’

Iſidore has likewiſe left a hiſtory or chronicle of the Goths, copied alſo by our author, from the year 176, to the death of king Siſebut in the year 628. It was early printed. See it in Grotius's COLLECTIO RERUM GOTHICARUM, pag. 707. Amſt. 1655. 8-vo.

g
Of Palamedes and Nauplius, ‘"The boke of Troie whoſo rede." Lib. ii. fol. 52. b. col. 2. The ſtory of Jaſon and Medea, ‘"whereof the tale in ſpeciall is in the boke of Troie writte."’ Lib. v. fol. 101. [...]. col. 2. Of the Syrens ſeen by Ulyſſes, ‘"which in the tale of Troie I finde."’ Lib. i. f. 10. b. col. 1. Of the eloquence of Ulyſſes, ‘"As in the boke of Troie is funde."’ Lib. vii. f. 150. a. col. 1. &c. &c. See ſupr. vol. 1. p. 127.
h
In the ſtory of the Theban chief Capaneus, ‘"This knight as the CRONIKE ſeine."’ Lib. 1. f. 18. b. col. 2. Of Achilles and Teucer, ‘"In a CRONIQUE I fynde thus."’ Lib. iii. fol. 62. a. col. 1. Of Peleus and Phocus, ‘"As the CRONIQUE ſeithe."’ Lib. iii. f. 61. b. col. 1. Of Ulyſſes and Penelope, ‘"In a CRONIQUE I finde writte."’ Lib. iv. f. 63. b. col. 2. He mentions alſo the CRONIQUE for tales of other nations. ‘"In the CRONIQUE as I finde, Cham was he which firſt the letters fonde, and wrote in Hebrew with his honde, of naturall philoſophie."’ Lib. iv. fol. 76. a col. 1. For Darius's four queſtions, Lib. vii. fol. 151. b. col. 1. For Perillus's brazen bull. f. &c. &c. See below.
i
In quarto. HISTORIA TROJANA, a Guidone de Columpna Meſſanenſi Judice edita 1287. Impreſſa per Arnoldum Therburnem Coloniae commorantem, 1477. Die penult. Nov. I am miſtaken in what I have ſaid, ſupr. vol. i. p. 126. There is another edition at Oxford by Rood, 1480, 4-to. Two at Straſburgh 1486, and 1489. fol. Ames calls him Columella. Hiſt. Print. p. 204.
k
See Haym's Bibl. Italian. p. 35. edit. Venez. 1741. 4-to. I am not ſure whether Haym's Italian tranſlation in the year 1477 is not the Latin of that year. They are both in quarto, and by Arnoldo Terbone. A Florence edition of the tranſlation in 1610, quarto, is ſaid to be moſt ſcarce.
l
Sandius and Hallerwood, in their Supplement to Voſſius's Latin Hiſtorians, ſuppoſe Colonna's Trojan and Britiſh chronicle the ſame. In Theodoric Engelhuſen's CHRONICA CHRONICORUM, compiled about the year 1420, where the author ſpeaks of Troy, he cites Colonna de Bello Trojano. In the Preface he mentions Colonna's CHRONICA BRITANNORUM. See Engelhuſen's firſt edition, Helmſt. 1671, 4-to. Or rather, Scriptor. Brunſvic. Leibnitii, tom. p. 977. See alſo Fabyan and other hiſtorians.
m
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 138. Notes. It will occur again under Lydgate.
n
Tragedies of Bochas, B. i. ch. xvi. How the tranſlatoure wrote a booke of the ſiege of Troy, called TROYE BOKE. And ib. St. 7. 17. 20. edit. Wayland. fol. xxx. b. xxxi. a. And in Lydg. DESTR. of Troy.
o
Lib. iv. f. 74. a. col. 2.
p
Lib. vi. f. 130. b. col. 2.
q
Geneura, Arthur's queen.
r
Lib. viii. f. 188. a. col. 1.
s
Princip. ‘"Pompeius regnavit dives, &c. Fin."’ ‘"Quidam vero princeps nomine Cleonicus, &c. Kariſſimi, iſ [...]e princeps eſt xps, &c. Oſcula blandientis, &c."’ It is in folio, in double columns, without initials, page [...], ſignatures, or catchwords. ANGLIE i [...] mentioned in chapters, 155. 161.
t
Princip. ‘"De DILECTIONE, cap. i. Pompeius regnavit dives valde, &c.—MORALIZATIO. De MISERICORDIA, cap. ii."’ De ADULTERIO, in cap. clxxxi. It is in quarto, with ſignatures to K k. The initials are written in red ink. Mr. Farmer of Cambridge has this edition.
u
In quarto.
w
But I think there is another Goudae, 1489. fol.
x
In quarto. Again, Pariſ. 1499, quarto. Hagen. 1508. fol. Pariſ. 1521. octav. And undoubtedly others. It appeared in Dutch ſo early as the year 1484. fol.
y
Ad Aeneid. vi. 752.
z
‘"Imperatori de more recitatum,"’ Hiſt. xxix. i. In the title of the SAINT ALBANS CHRONICLE, printed 1483, Titus Livyus de GESTIS ROMANORUM is recited.
a
Lib. viii. f. 153. a. col. 1. And in other rubrics. In the rubric there is alſo GESTA ALEXANDRI, lib. iii. f. 61. a. col. 1. And in the ſtory of Sardanapalus, ‘"Theſe olde GESTES tellen us,"’ lib. iii. 167. a. col. 1.
b
Lib. v. f. 118. a. col. 2.
c
Lib. vii. f. 169. a. col. 1.
d
See ſupr. vol i. p. 150. Notes, h.
e
He refers to a CRONIKE for other ſtories, as the ſtory of Lucius king of Rome, and the king's fool. ‘"In a CRONIKE it telleth us."’ Lib. vii. f. 165. a. col. 2. Of the tranſlation of the Roman empire to the Lombards. ‘"This made an emperour anon, whoſe name, the CHRONICLE telleth was Othes."’ Prol. fol. 5. b. col. 2. Of Conſtantine's leproſy. ‘"For in CRONIKE thus I rede."’ Lib. iii. f. 46. b. col. 2. For which he alſo cites ‘"the bokes of Latine," ib. f. 45. a. col. 1. In the ſtory of Caius Fabricius, ‘"In a CRONIQUE I fynde thus."’ Lib. vii. f. 157. a. col. 2. Of the ſoothſayer and the emperor of Rome. ‘"As in CRONIKE it is witholde."’‘"Which the CHRONIKE hath autorized."’ Lib. vii. f. 154. b. col. 1. f. 155. b. col. 2. Of the emperour's ſon who ſerves the Soldan of Perſia. ‘"There was as the CRONIQUE ſeith, an emperour, &c."’ Lib. ii. f. 41. b. col. 1. For the ſtory of Carmidotoirus conſul of Rome, he refers to theſe olde bokes [...] Lib. vii. f. 157. b. col. 2. &c. &c.
f
Coffers. Cheſts.
g
Like.
h
Saw.
i
Privily.
k
Cheſt.
l
Gems.
m
Rubbiſh.
n
Place.
o
Therefore.
p
Lib. v. f. 86. a. col. 1. ſeq. The [...]ory which follows is ſomewhat ſimilar, in which the emperor Frederick places before two beggars two paſties, one filled with capons, the other with florins. ibid. b. col. 2.
q
In twelves. See among the Royal Manuſcripts, Brit. Muſ. ‘"Richard Robinſon's Eupolemia, Archippus and Panoplia: being an account of his Patrons and Benefactions, &c. 1603."’ See fol. 5. MSS. Reg. 18 A. lxvi. This R. Robinſon, I believe, publiſhed Part of the harmony of king David's harp. A tranſlation of the firſt twenty one pſalms, for J. Wolfe, 1582. 4-to. A tranſlation of Leland's ASSERTIO ARTHURI, for the ſame, 1582. 4to. The auncient order ſocietie, &c. of prince Arthure, and his knightly armory of the round table, in verſe, for the ſame, 1583, 4to.
r
There is an edition, in black letter, ſo late as 1689.
s
MSS. Harl. 2270. 1. See ibid. cap. xcix. for this ſtory. Tit. ‘"Liber Aſceticus cui titulus Geſta Romanorum, cum Reductionibus [...]ive Moralitatibus eorundem."’ There is an Engliſh tranſlation, ibid. MSS. Harl. 7333. This has the Je [...]'s bond and the Caſketts. In the ſame library there is a large collection of legendary tales in different hands, written on parchment, 8-vo. MSS. Harl. 2316. One of theſe is, ‘"De vera amicitia, et de Paſſione Chriſti: Narratio a Petro Alphonſo."’ 18. fol. 8. b. The hiſtory of the two friends here related, is told more at large in the GESTA ROMANORUM, where the friends are two knights. Peter Alphonſus lived about 1110. This tale, I think, is Lydgate's fabula duorum mercatorum, MSS. Harl. 2251. 33. fol. 56. ‘"In Egipt whilom, &c."’ See alſo 2255. 17. fol. 72. Manuſcripts of theſe GESTA occur thrice in the Bodleian library. MSS. Bodl. B. 3. 10. Ibid. ſuper O. 1. Art. 17. And Hyper. Bodl. (Cod. Grav.) B. 55. 3. viz. Narrationes breves e GESTIS ROMANORUM et aliorum. But this laſt ſeems rather a defloration. In Hereford cathedral, 73. In Worceſter cathedral, 80. In (late) Burſcough's (rector of Totneſs) MSS. Cod. 82. 1. In (late) Sir Symonds D'Ewes's MSS. Cod. 150. 2. In Trinity college Dublin, G. 326. At Oxford, Saint John's college twice, C. 31. 2. G. 41. Magdalen college, twice, Cod. Lat. 13. 60. Lincoln college Libr. Theol. 60. See what is ſaid of Geſts, ſupr. vol. i. p. 74. Among the manuſcript books written by Lapus de Caſtellione, a Florentine civilian, and a great tranſlator from Greek into Latin, about the year 1350, Baluſius mentions De Origine Urbis Romae, et de G [...]ſtis Romanorum. What this piece is I cannot aſcertain. Apud Fabric. Bibl. Med. Inf. Latinitat. iv. 722. Compare de Geſtis Imperatorum Liber, MSS. Harl. 5259. i.
t
Ch. xlviii.
t
See Eccard's Corp. Hiſtor. tom. ii. p. 432.—1343. Lipſ. 1723. fol.
u
See Mem. de Litt. xvii. 754. 4to.
w

Among theſe other ‘"tales wiſe of philoſophers in this wiſe I rede, &c."’ Lib. vii. f. 143. a. col. 1. f. 142. b. col. 2. &c. See Walpole's Cat. royal and noble authors.

There is another tranſlation, done in 1450, dedicated to ſir John Faſtolfe, knight, by his ſon in law Stevyn Scrope Squyer. MSS. Harl. 2265. William de Thignonville is here ſaid to have tranſlated this book into French for the uſe of king Charles the ſixth.

x
Our author has a ſtory from Solinus concerning a monſtrous bird, lib. iii. f. 62. b. col. 2. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 102. Notes, 0.
y
See ſupr. vol. 1. p. 217. 311. There is JOSEPHUS de la BATTAILLE JUDAIQUE tranſlaté de Latin en François, printed by Verard at Paris, 1480. fol. I think it is a poem. All Joſephus's works were printed in the old Latin tranſlation, at Verona 1480. fol. And frequently ſoon afterwards. They were tranſlated into French, German, Spaniſh, and Italian, and printed, between the years 1492 and 1554. See the COLLANA GRECA, in Haym's Bibliothec. p. 6. 7. A French tranſlation was made in 1460, or 1463. Cod. Reg. Pariſ. 7015.
z
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 417. In the Britiſh Muſeum there is ‘"Maccabeorum et Joſephi Hiſtoriarum Epitome, metrice."’ 10 A. viii. 5. MSS. Reg. See MSS. Harl. 5713.
a
See the ſtory, in our author, of pope Boni [...]ace ſuppl [...]nting Celeſtine. ‘"In a CRONYKE of tyme ago."’ Lib. ii. f. 42. a. col. 2.
b
See Ruinart. Diſſertat. de Fredegario ejuſque Operibus. tom ii Hiſt. Franc. p. 443. There is alſo Fridegodus, a [...]onk of Dover, who wrote the lives of ſome ſainted biſhops about the year 960. And a Frigeridus, [...]nown only by a reference which Gregory of Tours makes to the [...]wel [...]th book of his H [...]ſtor [...], concerning the times preceding Valentinian the third, and the capture of Rome by Totila. Gregor. Turonenſ. Hiſt [...] Francor. lib. ii. cap. [...]. 9. If this laſt be the writer in the text, a manuſcript of Frigeridus's Hiſtory might have exiſted in Gower's age, which is now loſt.
c
Lib. vi. f. 76. b. col. 1.
d
Lib. vi. f. 135. a. col. 1.
e
Lib. vii. f. 156. b. col. 2.
f
Lib. vii. f. 154. b. col. 1.
g
Prolog. f. 2. b. col. 1. Lib. v. f. 93. a. col. 1. 2. f. 94. a. col. 1.
h
Lib. vii. f. 134. b. col. 1. vii. f. 149. b. col. 1.
i
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 425. p. 393. Notes, h. And Morhof. Polyhiſt. tom. ii. p. 455. ſeq. edit. 1747.
k
Mabillon mentions, in a manuſcript of the ALMAGEST written before the year 1240, a drawing of Ptolomy, holding a mirrour, not an optical tube, in his hand, and contemplating the ſtars. Itin. Germanic. p. 49.
l
She chuſes.
m
Phyſician.
n
Ear.
o
Born.
p
Their.
q
Lib. vi. f. 133. a. col. 2.
r
See ſupr. vol. 1. p. [...]23. Notes, t.
s
Lib. iv. f. 77. b. col. 2.
t
Lib. viii. f. 158. a. col. 2.
u
Chaucer's Tr. Creſſ [...] Urr. edit. p. 333.
v
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 385.
w
Claſp.
x
Gaiety, or way.
y
Lib. iv. [...]. 78 [...] b. col. 1.
z
Aroſe.
a
‘"But a few of her women knew of this."’
b
There where.
c
Saw.
d
Diſpute [...]
e
Ambling.
f
A mark of high rank.
g
Alike [...]
h
Liſts. Colours.
i
Their.
k
Follow.
l
Their groom.
m
A ſhadow, [...], umbra.
n
Lib. iv. f. 70. ſeq.
o
Boeme. Bohemia.
p
Lib. viii. f. 188. a. col. 1. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 466.
q
Lib. viii. f. 190. b. col. 1.
r
Lib. i. f. 8. b. col. 1.
s
Lib. iii. f. 51. a. col. 1.
t
Lib. iii. f. 52. a. col. 1. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 460. In the [...] ſame ſtrain, we have Cupid's parlement. Lib. viii. f. 187. b. col. 2.
u
Conf. Amant. Lib. ii f. 30. b. col. 2. See particularly, ibid. f. 35. b. col. 2. a. col. 1. And compare Ch. MAN OF L. T. v. 5505. ‘"Some men wold ſayn, &c."’ That is, GOWER.
w
See Chaucer, ibid. v. 4500. And Conf. Amant. Lib. iii. f. 48. a. col. 1. ſeq. Lib. viii. f. 175. a. col. 2. ſeq. I have juſt diſcovered, that the favourite ſtory of Apollonius, having appeared in antient Greek, Latin, Saxon, barbarous Greek, and old French, was at length tranſlated from French into Engliſh, and printed in the black letter, by Wynkyn de Worde, A. D. 1510. 4to. ‘"Kynge Appolyn of Thyre."’ [See ſupr. vol i. p. 350.] A copy is in my poſſeſſion.
x
Lib. i. f. 15. b. col. 2.
a
It is obſervable, that this SPIRIT OF PERSONIFICATION tinctures the writings of ſome of the chriſtian fathers, about, or rather before, this period. Moſt of the agents in the SHEPHERD of HERMAS are ideal beings. An ancient lady converſes with Hermas, and tells him that ſhe is the CHURCH OF GOD. Afterwards ſeveral virgins appear and diſcourſe with him; and when he deſires to be informed who they are, he is told by the SHEPHERD-ANGEL, that they are FAITH, ABSTINENCE, PATIENCE, CHASTITY, CONCORD, &c. Saint Cyprian relates, that the church appeared in a viſion, in viſione per noctem, to Colerinus; and commanded him to aſſume the office of Reader, which he in humility had declined. Cyprian. Epiſt. xxxix. edit. Oxon. The church appearing as a woman they perhaps had from the ſcripture, REV. xii. 1. ESDRAS, &c.
b
Mabillon. Itin. Ital. p. 221.
c
He is much commended as a catholic and philoſopher by Hincmarus archbiſhop of Rheims, about the year 880. De Pra [...] deſtinat. contr. Godeſchalch. tom. i. 211. ii. 62. edit. Sirmond. And by John of Saliſbury, for his eloquence and argument. Policrat. vii. 15. And by many other writers of the ſame claſs.
d
See Trithem. cap. 387. de S. E. And Illuſtr. Benedictin. ii. 107.
e
Opp. tom. i. p. 130. edit. Dupin. I think there is a French CONSOLATIO THEOLOGIAE by one Ceriſier.
f
See Haym, p. 199.
g
Beſide John of Meun's French verſion of Boethius, printed at Lyons 1483, with a tranſlation of Virgil by Guillaume le Roy, there is one by De Cis, or Thri, an old French poet. Matt. Annal. Typogr. i. p. 171. Franciſc. a Cruce, Bibl. Gallic. p. 216. 247. It was printed in Dutch at Ghent, apud Arend de Keyſer, 1485. fol. In Spaniſh at Valladolid, 1598, fol. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 458. Polycarpus Leyſ [...]rus, in that very ſ [...]arce book DE POESI MEDII AEVI, [printed HALAE, 1721, 8vo.] [...]numerates many curious old editions of Boethius, p. 95. 105.
h
See PURGAT. Cant. xxx.
i
Montfauc. Bibl. Coiſlin. p. 140. Of a Hebrew verſion, ſee Wolf. Bibl. Hebr. tom. i. p. 229. 1092. 243. 354. 369.
k
I am aware that Occleve's poem, call [...]d the Letter of Cupid, was written in this king's reign in the year 1402. ‘"In the year of grace joyfull and joconde, a thouſand fower hundred and ſeconde."’ Urry's Chaucer, p. 537. v. 475. But there are reaſons for making Occleve, as I have done, ſomething later. Nor is Gower's Balade to Henry the fourth a ſu fficient reaſon for placing him in that reign. Ibid. p. 540. The ſame may be ſaid of Chaucer.
l
Wood, Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. ii. p. 134. Leland, Script. Brit. CHAUNDLERUS.
m
MSS. Harl. 43. 1. And MSS. Coll. Trin. Oxon. 75.
n
MSS. Harl. 44. chart. et pergam.
o
MSS. i. 53.
p
MSS. B. 5. He bequeathed his Biblia [...] and other books, to this library.
p
This is among Rawlinſon's Codd. impreſſ. Bibl. Bodl. There is an Engliſh tranſlation of Boethius by one George Colvil, or Coldewell, bred at Oxford, with the Latin, ‘"according to the boke of the tranſlatour, which was a very old printe."’ Dedicated to queen Mary, and printed by John Cawood, 1556. 4to. Reprinted 1566. 4to.
q
Thomae de Elmham Vit. et Geſt. Henr. V. edit. Hearne, Oxon. 1727. cap. xii. p. 23. Compare Lel. Coll. APPEND. iii. 226. edit. 1770.
r
Elmham, ubi ſupr. p. 23.
s
Elmham, ubi ſupr. cap. xxxi. p. 72.
s
‘"CANTUS de ſuo triumpho fieri, ſeu per CITHARI ST AS, vel alios quoſcunque, CANTARI, penitus prohibebat."’ Ibid. p. 72. And Hearnii Praefat. p. xxix. ſeq. §. viii. See alſo Hollingſh. Chron. iii. p. 556. col. 1. 40.
t
‘"The French ſaw the ſtandard of Saint George before our king."’
u
This is Milton's "Together ruſh'd both battles main."
w
Archers.
x
Breaſt-plates, habergeons and helmets.
y
Row.
z
Fight.
a
"They ſtruck upon their bright helmets."
b
Flying.
c
Much diſtreſs.
d
Buckled.
e
I believe it is ‘"The earls he had ſlain were all thrown together on a heap or in a row."’
f
Shewed.
g
Laus.
h
Worthily.
i
Oxford.
k
Alſo.
l
"They broke the bright helmets in two."
m
Sound.
n
France.
o
Grieſly.
p
"They did not rightly."
q
Strait.
r
Printed [from MSS. Cotton. VITELL. D. XII. 11. fol. 214.] by Hearne, Elmham, ut ſupr. APPEND. p. 359. Num. vi. See p. 371. ſeq. There is The BATTAYLE of EGYNCOURTE, Libr. impreſ [...]. Bibl. Bodl. C. 39. 4to. Art. Selden. See OBSERVAT. on Spenſ. ii. 41. Doctor Percy has printed an ancient ballad on this ſubject. ANC. BALL. vol. ii. p. 24. edit. 1767. See Hearne's PRAEFAT. ut ſupr. p. xxx.
s
He ſtudied in Cheſtres-inn where Som [...]rſet-houſe now ſtands. See Buck, De t [...]r [...]a A [...]gliae Accademia, cap. xxv.
t
Ubi. infr. Bibl. Bodl. MSS. From th [...] GESTA ROMANORUM.
u
Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Seld. ſupr. 53. Digb. 185. Laud. K. 78. MSS. Reg. Brit. Muſ. 17 D. vi. 2. This ſtory ſeems to be alſo taken from the GESTA ROMANORUM. Pr. ‘"In the ROMAN ACTYS writyn."’
w
Ubi ſupr. Bibl. Bodl. MSS.
x
Know.
y
MSS. Bodl. ut ſupr. And MSS. Reg. Brit. Muſ. 17 D. vi. 3. 4. The beſt manuſcript of Occleve.
z
MSS. Digb. 185. More [Cant.] 427.
a
MSS. Seld. ut ſupr.
b
MSS. Harl. 4826. 6.
c
MSS. Digb. 181. MSS. Arch. Bodl. Seld. B. 24. It is printed in Chaucer's Works, Urr. p. 534. Bale [MS. Glynne] mentions one or two more pieces, particularly De Theſeo Athenienſi, lib. i. Pr. ‘"Tum eſſet, ut veteres hiſtoriae tradunt."’ This is the beginning of Chaucer's KNIGHT'S TALE. And there are other pieces in the libraries.
d
This, and the Pentaſtichon ad Regem, are in MSS. Fairf. xvi. Bibl. Bodl. And in the editions of Chaucer. But the former appears to be Chaucer's, from the twenty additional ſtanzas not printed in Urry's Chaucer, pag. 549. MSS. Harl. 2251. 133. fol. 298.
e
Wolf. Biblioth. Hebr. tom. iii. p. 1206. It was tranſlated into French by Henry de Gand, at the command of Philip king of France. Mem. de Lit. tom. xvii. p. 733. 4to.
f
Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Digb. 233. Princip. ‘"To his ſpecial, [etc.] politik ſentence that is."’ In this manuſcript there is an elegant picture of a monk, or eccleſiaſtic, preſenting a book to a king. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 343. Notes, g.
h
All in folio. Thoſe of 1482, and 1598, are in the Bodleian library. In AllSouls college library at Oxford, there is a manuſcript TABULA IN AEGIDIUM DE REGIMINE PRINCIPUM, by one Thomas Abyndon. MSS. G. i. 5.
i
In the firſt tome of Collectio Monumentorum veter. et recent. ine [...]itorum. E. Cod. MS. in Biblioth. Obrecktina. The curious reader may ſee a full account of Aegidius de REGIMINE PRINCIPUM in Morlier, Eſſais de Litterature, tom. i. p. 198. ſeq. And of the Venetian edition in 1498, in Theophilus Sincerus De Libris Rariorib. tom. i. p. 82. ſeq.
k
Cave, p. 755. edit. 1688.
l
MSS. Harl. 1275. 1. 4to. membran.
m
Who alſo tranſlated the GOLDEN LEGEND of James de Voragine, and the SPECULUM HISTORIALE of Vincent of Beauvais. Vie de Petr. tom. iii. p. 548. And Mem. Lit. xvii. 742. 746. 747. edit. 4to.
n
See Jacob. Quetif. tom. i. p. 471. ii. p. 818. Lambecc. tom. ii. Bibl. Vindob. p. 848. One Simeon Ailward, an Engliſhman, about the year 1456, wrote a Latin poem De L [...]do Scaccorum. Pitſ. APPEND. p. 909. Princip. ‘"Ludus ſcaccorum datur hic correctio morum."’
o
Bale in OCCLEVE.
p
The learned doctor Gerard Langbaine, author of the Lives of the Dramatick Poets, ſpeaking of the REGIMINE PRINCIPUM by Occleve, ſays that it is ‘"collected out of Ariſtotle, Alexander, and Aegidius on the ſame, and Jacobus de Caſſolis (a fryar preacher) his book of cheſs, viz. that part where he ſpeaks of the king's draught, &c."’ Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Langb. Cod. xv. pag. 102.
q
See ſupr. p. 9.
r
Ariſtotle's SECRETUM SECRETORUM.
s
Aegidius de REGIMINE PRINCIPUM.
t
Aquitt. Save.
u
Dull.
x
Cruelty.
y
There.
z
Followedſt.
a
He calls death the encumbrance of the world. The expreſſion ſeems to be taken from Chaucer, where Troilus ſays of himſelf, ‘"I combre-world, that maie of nothing ſerve."’ Tr. Creſſ. p. 307. v. 279. Urr. edit.
b
Slew.
c
Ailed.
d
Ha [...]t thou.
e
MSS. Rawlinſ. 647. fol. This poem has at the end ‘"Explicit Aegidius de Regimine Principum"’ in MSS. Laud. K. 78. Bibl. Bodl. See alſo ibid. MSS. Selden. Supr. 53. Digb. 185. MSS. Aſhmol. 40. MSS. Reg. 17 D. vi. 1. 17 D. xviii. MSS. Harl. 4826. 7. and 4866. In ſome of theſe a ſort of dialogue is prefixed between a father and a ſon. Occleve, in the Prologue cited in the text, mentions Jacobus [...]e Caſſolis [Caſulis] as one of his authors.
f
MSS. Reg. 17 D. vi. 1.
g
He was of Caverſham in Oxfordſhire. Educated at Hart-Hall in Oxford, and ſtudied the law. He died at Weſtminſter, 1559.
h
In Urry's edit. 1721. fol.
i
MSS. Harl. 4866. The drawing is at fol. 91.
k
MSS. Cotton. OTH. A. 18.
l
I think a FLOREIN, antiently common in England. Chaucer, PARDON. TALE, v. 2290. p. 135. col. 2. ‘"For that the FLORAINS ben ſo faire and bright."’ Edward the third, in 1344, altered it from a lower value to 6s. and 8d. The particular piece I have mentioned ſeems about that value.
m
As he does John of Gaunt.
n
Reg. F. fol. 52. 53. b. Epiſt. 142.
o
Ibid. fol. 57. b. 60. a. Epiſt. 148.
p
Leland. coll. iii. p. 58. edit. 1770.
q
Some however had been before ſtolen or mutilated. Leland, coll. iii. p. 58. edit. 1770.
r
Cod. MSS. 32.
s
He gave alſo Capgrave SUPER EXODUM ET REGUM LIBROS. Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. F. [...]ol. 67. b.
t
Supr. vol. i. See DISSERTAT. i. Signat. F. 2. We are told in this abbot's GESTA, that ſoon after his inſtallment he built a library for his abbey, a deſign which had long employed his contemplation. He covered it with lead; and expended on the bare walls, beſides deſks, glaſing, and embattelling, or, to uſe the expreſſions of my chronologer, educta vitriacione, creſtacione, poſitione deſcorum, upwards of one hundred and twenty pounds. Apud Hearne's OTTERBOURNE, vol. i. Praefat. Append. p. cxxiii. ed. Oxon. 1732. He founded alſo a library for all the ſtudents of his monaſtery at Oxford. Ibid. p. cxiii. And to each of theſe ſtudents he allowed an annual penſion, at his own expence, of thirteen ſhillings and four-pence. Ibid. p. cxviii. See alſo p. cxxix. A grand tranſcript of the Poſtilla of Nicholas de Lyra on the bible was begun during his abbacy, and at his command, with the moſt ſplendid ornaments and hand-writing. The monk who records this important anecdote, lived ſoon after him, and ſpeaks of this great undertaking, then unfiniſhed, as if it was ſome magnificent public edifice. ‘"God grant, ſays he, that this work in our days may receive a happy conſummation!"’ Ibid. p. cxvi.
u
Among other things, he expended forty pounds in adorning the roof and walls of the virgin Mary's chapel with pictures. GEST. ut ſupr. p. cx. He gave to the choir of the church an organ; than which, ſays my chronicler, there was not one to be found in any monaſtery in England, more beautiful in appearance, more pleaſing for its harmony, or more curious in its conſtruction. It coſt upwards of fifty pounds. Ibid. p. cxxviii. His new buildings were innumerable: and the MASTER OF THE WORKS was of his inſtitution, with an ample ſalary. Ibid. p. cxiii.
x
Leland, Script. Brit. p. 437.
y
Leland, ibid. 442. 432. See alſo Hollinſh. Chron. f. 488. b. And f. 1234. 1235. 1080. 868. 662. Weever FUN. MON. p. 562. 574. Whethamſtede erected in his life-time the beautiful tabernacle or ſhrine of ſtone, now remaining, over the tomb of duke Humphrey in ſaint Alban's abbey church. Hearne's OTTERB. ut ſupr. p. cxxi. ſeq. See alſo ibid. p. cxix. cxvi.
z
See Whethamſtede, De viris illuſtribus, Brit. Muſ. MSS. Cotton. TIBER. D. vi. i. OTH. B. iv. And Hearne, Pref. Pet. Langtoft. p. xix. ſeq.
a
Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. F f. 68.
b
Leland, ubi modo infr.
c
MSS. Bodl. NE. vii. ii.
d
‘"Multos codices, pulcherrime pi [...]t [...]s, ab abbatibus dono accepit."’ The Du [...]e wrote in the frontiſpieces of his books, MOUN BIEN MONDAIN. Leland. Coll. iii. p. 58. edit. ut ſupr.
e
By the recommendatory letters of duke Humphrey. Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. F. fol. 75. Epiſt. 180.
f
See Hearne's Append. ad Libr. Nigr. Scaccar. p. 550. And Praefat. p. 34.
g
PROL. Sign. A. ii. A. iii. edit. Wayland, ut ſupr. He adds,
And hath joye with clarkes to commune,
And no man is more expert in langage,
Stable in ſtudy.—
His courage never dothe appall
To ſtudy in bokes of antiquitie.—
He ſtudieth ever to have intelligence,
Readyng of bokes.—
And with ſupport of his magnificence,
Under the wings of his protection,—
I ſhall proce [...]d in this tranſlation.—
Lowly ſubmittyng, every houre and ſpace,
My rude langage to my lordes grace.
See alſo fol. xxxviii. b. col. 2. Lydgate has an epitaph on the duke, MSS. Aſhmol. 59. 2. MSS. Harl. 2251. 6. fol. 7. There [...]s a curious letter of Lydgate, in which he ſends for a ſupply of money to the duke, while he was tranſlating BOCHAS. ‘"Litterra dom. Joh. Lydgate miſſa ad ducem Gloceſtrie in tempore tranſlationis Bochaſii, pro oportunitate pecunie."’ MSS. ibid. 5. fol. 6. See alſo ibid. 131. fol. 279. b. of the duke's marriage.
h
Leland, Script. p. 442.
i
See MSS. Bodl. D. i. 8. 10. And Leland, Script. p. 443.
k
Leland, Script. p. 442. And Muſ. Aſhmol. 789. f. 54. 56. Where are alſo two of the duke's epiſtles to Petrus Candidus.
l
P. Candidi Decembris, Duci Mediolani a ſecretis, Tranſlatio POLITIAE Platonis,—ad Hum [...]redum Glouceſtrie Ducem, &c. Cui praefiguntur duae Epiſtolae Ducis Gloceſtriae ad P. Candidum. Moſt elegantly written. Membran. ad fin. ‘"Ceſt livre eſt a moy Humfrey Duc de Gloceſtre du don P. Candidus ſecretarie du duc de Mylan."’ Catal. MSS. Angl. tom. ii. pag. 212. Num. 6858. [See MSS. Harl. 1705. fol.]
m
MSS. Nowic. MORE. 257. Bibl. publ. Cantabrig.
n
Author of the Vita Henrici quinti, printed by Hearne, Oxon. 1716. And of other pieces. See Hollinſh. iii. 585.
o
Printed at Venice 1477. Ibid. 1498. Pari [...]. 1501. Baſil. 1534. 4to.
p
MSS. Reg. 5 F. 4to. ii. In the ſame library is a fine folio manuſcript of ‘"Chronique des Roys de France juſques a la mort de S. Loys, l'an. 1270."’ At the end is written with the duke of Glouceſter's hand, ‘"C eſt livre eſt a moy Homfrey duc de Glouceſtre du don des executeurs le Sr de Faunhore."’ 16 G. vi.
q
See Hollingſh. Chron. ſub. ann. 1461. f. 662. col. 2.
r
MSS. More, 820.
s
MSS. Greſh. 66. See MSS. Aſhmol. 856.
t
In a copy of Lydgate's Chronicle of Engliſh Kings, there is a ſtanza of Edward the fourth. MSS. Harl. 2251. 3. In his poem Ab inimicis noſtris, &c. Edward the fourth, his Quene and Modir are remembered. MSS. Harl. ibid. 9. fol. 10. But theſe pieces could not well be written by Lydgate. For he was ordained a ſubdeacon, 1389. Deacon, 1393. And prieſt, 1397. Regiſtr. Gul. Cratfield, abbatis de Bury, MSS. Cott. TIBER. B. ix. fol. 1. 35. 52. Edward came to the crown, 1461. Pitts ſays, that our author died, 1482. Lydgate, in his PHILOMELA, mentions the death of Henry lord Warwick, who died in 1446. MSS. Harl. ibid. 120. fol. 255.
u
See one of his DITTIES, MSS. Harl. 2255. 41. fol. 148.
I have been offte in dyvers londys, &c.
x
See a variety of his pieces of this kind, MSS. Aſhmol. 59. ii. Stowe ſays, that at the reception of Margaret queen of Henry ſixth, ſeveral pageaunts, the verſes by Lydgate, were ſhewn at Paul's gate, in 1445. Hiſt. p. 385. See alſo MSS. Harl. 2251. 118. fol. 250. b. The COVENTRY PLAY for Corpus Chriſti day, in the Cotton library, was very probably written by our author. VESPAS. D. viii. fol.
y
GEST. Joh. Whethamſt. ut ſupr. p. cxvi. cxxvii. cxxiv. It is added, that Whethamſtede expended on the binding, and other exterior ornaments of the manuſcript, upwards of three pounds. Bal [...] and Pitts ſay, that Whethamſtede himſelf made the tranſlation. p. 584. 630. It is in Trinity college at Oxford, MSS. 10. And in Lincoln cathedral, MSS. I. 57. Among Lydgate's works is recited, Vita S. Albani Martyris ad JOH. FRUMENTARIUM [Whethamſtede] abbatem.
z

See ſupr. vol. i. p. 210. Notes, h.

A DANCE OF DEATH ſeems to be alluded to ſo early as in Pierce Plowman's VISIONS, written about 1350.

DEATH came driving after and al to duſt paſhed
K [...]NGS, and KAISA [...]S, KNIGHTS, and POPES.
b
In 4to.
c
See the DAUNCE OF MACABRE, MSS. Harl. 116. 9. fol. 129. And OBSERVATIONS on the FAIRY QUEEN, vol. ii. p. 116. [...]eq. The DANCE OF DEATH, falſly ſuppoſed to have been invented by Holbein, is different from this, though founded in the ſame idea. It was painted by Holbein in the Auguſtine monaſtery at Baſil, 1543. But it appeared much earlier. In the chronicle of Hartmannus Schedelius, Norimb. 1493. fol. In the Quotidian Offices of the church, Paris, 1515. 8vo. And, in public buildings, at Minden, in Weſtphalia, ſo early as 1383. At Lubec, in the portico of ſaint Mary's church, 1463. At Dreſden, in the caſtle or palace, 1534. At Annaberg [...] 1525. At Leipſic, &c. Paul Chriſtian Hilſcher has written a very learned and entertaining German book on this ſubject, printed at Dreſden, 1705. 8vo. Engravings of Holbein's pictures at Baſil were publiſhed, curante Matthaeo Meriano, at Francfort 1649, and 1725, 4to. The German verſes there aſcribed, appeared in Latin elegiacs, in Caſpar Laudiſman's DECENNALIA HUMANAE PEREGRINATIONIS, A. D. 1584. I have not mentioned in my Obſervations on Spenſer, that Georgius Aemylius publiſhed this DANCE at Lyons, 1542. One year befor [...] Holbein's painting at Baſil appeared. Next, at the ſame place, 1547. 8vo.
d
MSS. Harl. 2278. 4to.
e
There is an antient drawing, probably coeval, of Lydgate preſenting his poem called the PILGRIM to the earl of Saliſbury, MSS Harl. 4826. 1. It was written 1426. Another of theſe drawings will be mentioned below.
f
Fol. 6.
g
Cu [...]t [...]is was abbot of Bury between the years 1429, and 1445. It appears that Lydgate was alſo commanded, ‘"Late charchyd in myn oold days,"’ to make an Engliſh me [...]rical tranſlation of De Profundis, &c. To be hung againſt the walls of the abbey church. MSS. Harl. 2255. 11. fol. 40. See the laſt ſtanza.
h
The poet's Prayer to ſaint Edmund for his aſſiſtance in compilin [...] his LIF [...], fol. 9. The hiſtory begins thus, fol. 10. b.
In Saxonie whilom ther was a kyng
Callid Alkmond of excellent nobleſſe.
It ſeems to be taken from John of Tinmouth's SANCTILOGIUM, who flouriſhed about the year 1360. At the end, connected with ſaint Edmund's legend, and a part of the work, is the life of ſaint Fremund. fol. 69. b. But Lydgate has made many additions. It begins thus,
Who han remembre the myracles merueilous
Which Criſt Jheſu liſt for his ſeyntes ſhewe.
Compare MSS. Harl. 372. 1. 2. fol. 1. 25. 43. b.
i
Fol. 2. 4.
k
Fol. 2.
l
Blue.
m
See fol. 103. b. f. 104.
n
Sing.
o
Fol. 118. b.
p
‘"This book was compyled by Dan John Lydgate monke of Burye, at the excitation and ſtyrrynge of the noble and victorious prynce, Harry the fyfthe, in the honowre, glory and reverance of the byrthe of our moſt bleſſed lady, &c."’ Without date. fol. Afterwards by Robert Redman, 1531. 4to [...] See MSS. Harl. 629. fol. membran.
q
Cap. xxxiii. xxxiv.
r
Hemiſphere.
s
Sphere.
t
Affright. Remove.
u
Float. Drop.
w
Burniſhed with gold. So in Lydgate's Legend on Dan Joos a monk, taken from Vincentius Bellovacenſis's Speculum HISTORIALE, the name Maria is ful fayre igraven on a red roſe, in lettris of BOURNID gold. MSS. Harl. 2251. 39. fol. 71. b.
x
Prologue.
y
Of the ſun.
z
Mars.
a
Nature.
b
True.
c
Cap. xx.
d
Cap. xix.
e
Cap. ix.
f
Cap. iv. In a LIFE of the Virgin in the Britiſh muſeum, I find theſe [...]ſy lyrics introduced, MSS. Harl. 2382. 2. 3. fol. 75. fol. 86. b. Though I am not certain that they properly belong to this work.
A mery tale I telle yow may
Of ſeynt Marie that ſwete may:
Alle the tale of this leſſon [...]
Is of her Aſſumptione.—
Mary moder, welle thee be!
Mary mayden, thenk on me!
Mayden and moder was never none,
Togader, lady, ſave thee allone.
But theſe lines will be conſidered again [...]
g
MSS. Fairfax, xvi. Bibl. Bodl.
a
Printed at Auſbourg. And at Paris, 1544. fol. It is amazing, that Voſſius ſhould not know the number of books of which this work conſiſted, and that it was ever printed. De Hiſt. Lat. lib. iii. cap. ii. It was tranſlated into Italian by Betuſſi, in Firenza, 1566. 8vo. 2 volum.
b
In Lydgate's PROLOGUE, B. i. fol. i. a col. 1. edit. ut infr.
He that ſumtime did his diligence
The boke of Bochas in French to tranſlate
Out of Latin, he called was LAURENCE.
He ſays that Laurence (in his Prologue) declares, that he avails himſelf of the privilege of ſkillful artificers; who may chaunge and turne, by good diſ [...]e [...]ion, ſhapes and forms, and newly them deviſe, make and unma [...], &c. And that old authors may be rendered more agreeable, by b [...]ing cloathed in new ornaments of language, and improved with new inventions. Ibid. a. col. 1. He adds, that it was Laurence's deſign, in his tranſlation into French, to amende, co [...] rect, and declare, and not to ſpare thinges touched ſhortly. Ibid. col. 2. Afterwards he calls him this noble tranſlatour. Ibid. b. col. 1. In another place, where a panegyric on France is introduced, he ſays that this paſſage is not Boccacio's, but added.
By one LAURENCE, which was tranſlatour
Of this proceſſe, to commende France;
To prayſe that lande was all his pleaſaunce.
B. ix. ch. 28. fol. 31. a. col. 1. edit ut in [...]r. Our author, in the Prologue above-cited [...] ſeems to ſpeak as if there had been a previous tranſlation of Boccacio's book into French. Ut ſupr. a. col. 1.
Thus LAURENCE from him envy excluded
Though toforne him tranſlated was this book.
But I ſuſpect he only means, that Boccacio's original work wa [...] nothing more than a collection or compilation from more ancient authors.
c
MSS. Harl. See alſo ibid. MSS. Reg. 18 D. vii. And 16 G. v. And MSS. Bodl. F [...] 10. 2. [2465.] He is ſaid to have tranſlated this work in 1409. MSS. Reg. ut ſupr. 20 C. iv.
d
In folio. Bayle ſays, that a French tranſlation appeared at Paris, by Claudius Vitart, in 1578. 8vo. Diction. BOCCACE. Note g.
e
He died in 1418. See Martene, Ampl. Collect. tom. ii. p. 1405. And Mem. de Litt. xvii. 7 [...]9. 4to. Compare du Verdier, Biblioth. Fr. p 72. And Bibl. Rom. ii. 291. It is extraordinary that the piece before us ſhould not be mentioned by the French antiquaries as one of Laurence's tranſlations. Lydgate, in the Prologue above-cited, obſerves, that Laurence, who in [...]unyng did excel, undertook this tranſlation at the requeſt of ſome eminent perſonages in France, who had the intereſt of rhetorike at heart. Ut ſupr. a. col. 2.
f
Imprinted at London by John Wayland, without date, fol. H [...] printed in the reign of H [...]nry the eighth. There is a ſmall piece by L [...]dgate, not connected with this, entitled The Trag [...]d [...] of princes that were LECHEROUS. MSS. Aſhmol. 59. ii.
g
MSS. Harl. 1766. fol 5.
h
Lib. vii. f. xxi. a. col. 1.
i
B. i. ſol. i. a. col. 2. In the ſame ſtyle he calls Ixion Juno's ſecr [...]tary. B. i. ch. xii. fol. xxi. b. col. 2.
k
On either [...]ide.
l
Diſtribute.
m
Mingled.
n
Mad.
o
Ibid. f. cxxxviii. b. col. 2.
p
Ibid. fol. cxxxix. a. col. 2.
q
B. ix. fol. xxxiv. b. col. 1. 2. In another place Dante's three books on heaven, purgatory, and hell, are particularly commended. B. iv. Prol. fol. xciii. a. col. 1.
r
B. viii. fol. 1. Prol. a. b. He mentions all Petrarch's works, Prol. B. iv. fol. 93. a. col. 1.
s
B. vi. fol. 147. a. col. 1.
t
B. vii. fol. 161. b. col. 1.
u
B. iv. ch. 22. fol. cxiii. a. col. 1,
w
Tower. Caſtle. B. 1. ch. 3. fol. vi. a. col. 1.
x
B. i. ch. 9. fol. xviii. a. col. 1.
y
B. i. ch. 11. fol. xxi. b. col. 2. B. ii. ch. 6. fol. xlv. a. col. 1. B. iii. ch. 14. fol. lxxxi. b col. 1. Ibid. ch. 25. fol. Ixxxix. a. col. 2. B. iv. ch. 11. fol. iii. b. col. 1. See PROL. B. i.
z
B. ii. ch. 15. fol. li. a. col. 1. col. 2. Ibid. ch. 16. fol. 52. a. col. 2. Ibid. ch [...] 2. fol. xlii. a. col. 1. Ibid. ch. 30. fol. lxii. [...]. col. 1. B. viii. ch. 24. fol. xiiii. a. col. 2.
a
B. iii. ch. 5. fol. lxxi. a. col. 1.
b
B. ix. ch. 1. fol. xx. a. col. 1. From whom Boccacio largely tranſcribes in his GENEALOGIAE DEORUM, hereafter mentioned.
c
MSS. Digb. Bibl. Bodl. 233. Princip. ‘"In olde tyme it was the manere."’ Finiſhed at the command of his patron Thomas lord Berkeley. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 343.
d
Prol. B. iv. fol. 92. a. col. 2. 93. a. col. 1.
e
B. ii. ch. 22. fol. 54. b. col. 2.
f
See ſupr. vol. i. p.
g
B. vi. ch. 15. fol. 151. b. col. 1.
h
B. iv. ch. 9. fol. xcix. ſeq. This is from Ariſtotle's SECRETUM SECRETORUM, which Lydgate, as I have mentioned above, tranſlated. But he did not [...]ini [...]h the tranſlation: for about the middle of it we have this note. ‘"Here dyed this tranſlator and notable poet John Lydgate, monk of Bury, and FOWLER bygan his prolog in this wyſe. Where floure of knighthood the bataile doth re [...]uſe."’ fol. 336. MSS. Laud. K. 53. The Prologue conſiſts of ten ſtanzas: in which he compares himſelf to a dwarf entering the liſts when the knight is foiled. But it is the yong FOWLER, in MSS. Laud. B. xxiv. In the Harleian copy of this piece I find the following note, at fol. 236. ‘"Here deyde the tranſlatour a noble poete Dan Johne Lydgate, and his folowere began his prologe in this wiſe. Per Benedictum Burghe. Where floure of, &c."’ MSS. Harl. 2251. 117. Where Folowere may be a corruption of Folwer, or Fowler. But it muſt be obſerved, that there was a Benedict Burghe, coeval with Lydgate, and preferred to many dignities in the church, who tranſlated into Engliſh verſe, for the uſe of lord Bourchier ſon of the earl of Eſſex, CATONIS moralia carmina, altered and printed by Caxton, 1483. fol. More will be ſaid of Burgh's work in its proper place.
i
B. ii. ch. 15. fol. 51. a. col. 2.
k
See Geſner. Bibl. p. 468. And Matt. Annal. Typ. i. p. 100.
l
B. iv. Prol. fol. 93. a. col. 1.
m
B. ii. cap. 15. fol. 51. b. col. 1.
n
B. viii. ch. 25. fol. xv. a. col. 1. See ſupr. col. 1. p. 331. ſeq.
o
B. viii. ch. 13. fol. 7. a. col. 2. fol. 14. b. col. 1. fol. 16. a. col. 2. See ſupr. vol. 1. p. 62.
p
B. viii. ch. 13. fol. viii. b. col. 2. Boccacio wrote the original Latin of this work long before the Turks took and ſacked Conſtantinople, in 1453.
q
B. viii. ch. 1. fol. xx. a. col. 1.
r
B. i. c. 12. fol. xxii. a. col. 2.
s
Boccacio.
t
B. iii. ch. 1. fol. lxv. a. col. 1. ‘"He rede in ſcholes the moving of the heavens, &c."’ Boccacio mentions with much regard ANDALUS DE NIGRO as one of his maſters, in his GENEAL. DEOR. lib. xv. cap. vi. And ſays, that Andalus has extant many Opuſcula aſtrorum caelique motus oſtendentia. I think Leander, in his ITALIA, calls this Andalus, Andalotius niger, curioſus aſtrologus. See Papyrius Maſs. Elog. tom. ii. p. 195.
u
B. vii. Prol. fol. i. b. col. 2. ad calc. He calls himſelf older than ſixty years.
w
Prol. B. i. f. ii. a. col. 2. ſeq.
x
In fifteen books. Firſt printed in 1481. fol. And in Italian by Betuſſi, Venet. 1553. In French at Paris, 1531. fol. In the interpretation of the fables he is very prolix and jejune.
y
GENEAL. DEOR. lib. xv. cap. vi.
z
‘"Quicquid apud Graecos inveniri poteſt, ADJUTORIO BARLAAE arbitror collegiſſe."’ GENEAL. DEOR. lib. xv. cap. vi.
a
GENEAL. DEOR. lib. xv. cap. vi.
b
Edit. 1687. fol. ad CALC. CHAUCER'S WORKS. pag. 623. col. 1. Prol.
c
Portmanteau.
d
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 164. notes, h.
e
Ibid.
f
God's.
g
Dawn.
h
Chuſe.
i
Can, or Know.
k
Continue.
l
Pag. 622. col. 2. ſeq.
m
Ibid.
n
Or Thorpe. Properly a lodge in a foreſt. A hamlet. It occurs again pag. 651. col. 1.
Bren townes, thropes, and villages.
And in the TROY-BOKE, he mentions ‘"provinces, borowes, vyllages, and thropes."’ B. ii. c. x.
o
Pag. 630. col. 2.
p
See. pag. 630. col. 1.
q
MSS. Bodl. NE. F. 8. 6. Leland ſaw this Commentary in the library of the Ciſtercian abbey of Buckfaſt-Lees in Devonſhire. Coll. iii. p. 257.
r
Some ſay, Thomas Anglicus.
s
Pag. 623. col. 2. 630. col. 1. 632. col. 2. 635. col. 2. 647. col. 2. 654. col. 1. 659. col. 1. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 126.
t
Firſt printed, Ulm. 1473. fol.
u
Lydgate ſays, that this was the ſame Lycurgus who came as an ally with Palamon to Athens againſt his brother Arcite, drawn by four white bulls, and crowned with a wreath of gold. Pag. 650. col. 2. See KN. TALE, Urry's Ch. p. 17. v. 2 [...]31. ſeq. col. 1. Our author expreſ [...]ly refers to Chaucer's KNIGHT'S TALE about Theſeus, and with ſome addreſs, ‘"As ye have before heard it related in paſſing through Dept [...]ord, &c."’ pag. 568. col. 1.
w
Pag. 623. col. 2. 624. col. 1. 651. col. 1.
x
Pag. 634. col. 2.
y
Pag. 648. col. 1. ſeq.
z
Pag. 651. col. 1.
a
See ſu [...]r. vol. 1. p. 391.
b
De Diviſ. Natur. lib. iii. p. 147. 14 [...].
c
Ep [...]ſt. 101.
d
See Alcuin. De Sept. Artib. p. 1256. Ho [...]orius Auguſtodunus, de Philoſophia Mundi, lib. ii. cap. 5. And the book of Thomas Cantipratanus attributed to Boethius, De Diſciplina Scholarium. Compare Barth. ad Claudian. p. 32.
e
Barth. ad Bri [...]on. p. 110. ‘"M [...]di [...] aevi ſcholas tenuit, adol [...]ſcentibus praelectus, &c."’ See Wilibaldus, Epiſt. 147. tom. ii. Vet. Monum. Marten. p. 334.
f
Leland ſays he ſaw this work in the library of Worceſter ab [...]ey. Coll. iii. p. 268.
g
MSS. Reg. 15 A. xxxiii. Liber olim S. Remig. Studio Gi [...]ardi ſcriptus. Labb. Bibl. Nov. Manuſ [...]r. p. 66. In imitation of the firſt part of this work, a Frenchman, Jo. Bor [...]us, wrote NUPTIAE JURISCONSULTI ET PHILOLOGIAE, Pariſ. 1651. 4to.
h
Stephan. in Prolegomen. c. xix. And in the Notes, paſſim. He is adduced by [...]lgentius.
i
Hi [...]t. Fr. lib. x. ad calc. A manuſcript of Marcianus, more than ſeven hundred years old, is mentioned by Bernard a Pez. Theſaur. Anecdot. tom. iii. p. 620. But by ſome writers of the early ages he is cenſured as obſcure. Galfredus Canonicus, who flouriſhed about 1170, declares, ‘"Non petimus nos, aut la [...]civir [...] cum Sidonio, aut v [...]rnare cum Hortenſio, aut inv [...]lvere cum Marciano."’ Apud Marten. ubi ſupr. to [...]. i. p. 506. He will occur again.
k
Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Digb. 221. And in other places. As did Scotus Erigena, Labb. Bibl. Nov. Manuſcr. p. 45. And others of that period.
m
See Mabillon. Itin. Ital. p. 221.
n
PHILOLOGIA.
o
NIGHT.
p
Garment.
q
The attendants on Mars.
r
Burning.
s
"Death was the only refuge, or remedy."
t
"Oaths which proved falſe in the end."
u
Pag. 629. col. 1.
w
Pag. 627. col. 2.
x
Pag. 640. col. 2. ſeq.
y
Pag. 633. col. 1. ſeq. Concerning the dreſſes, perhaps in the maſques, we have this line. pag. 635. col. 2.
And the DEVISE of many a SOLEIN WEDE.
z
Pag 637. col. 2.
a
Pag. 644. col. 2.
b
Pag. 635. col. 1.
c
Afraid. Fatigued.
d
P. 631. col. 2.
e
Pag. 626. col. 2.
f
Pag. 62 [...] col. 1.
g
Pag. 644. col. 2. Great and ſmall, and ſome as large as tonnes.
h
As in Chaucer.
i
Pag. 645. col. 1.
k
Pag. 636. col. 1.
l
Pag. 660. col. 1.
m
Lydgate was near fifty when this poem was written. pag. 622. col. 2.
n
Among other curious decorations in the title page, there are ſoldiers firing great guns at the city of Troy. Caxton, in his RECUYLE OF THE HYSTORYES OF TROYE, did not tranſlate the account of the final deſtruction of the city from his French author Rauol le Feure, ‘"for as muche as that worſhipfull and religious man Dan John Lydgate monke of Burye did tranſlate it but late, after whoſe worke I feare to take upon me, &c."’ At the end of B. ii.
o
With this title. ‘"The auncient hiſtorie, and only true and ſyncere cronicle, of the warres betwixte the Grecians and the Troyans, and ſubſequently of the fyrſt evercyon of the auncient and famouſe cyte of Troye under Laomedon the king, and of the laſt and fynall deſtructyon of the ſame under Pryam: wrytten by Daretus a Troyan and Dictus a Grecian, both ſouldiours and preſent at and in all the ſayd warres, and digeſted in Latyn by the learned Guydo de Columpnis, and ſythes tranſlated into Englyſhe verſe by John Lydgate moncke of Burye and newly imprinted."’ The colophon, ‘"Imprinted at London in Fleteſtrete at the ſygne of the Princes Armes by Thomas Marſhe. Anno. do. M. D. L. V."’ This book was moderniſed, and printed in five [...]lined ſtanzas, under the title, ‘"The LIFE AND DEATH OF HECTOR, &c. written by John Lydgate monk of Berry, &c. At London, printed by Thomas Purfoot. Anno Dom. 1614."’ fol. But I ſuſpect this to be a ſecond edition. Princip. ‘"In Theſſalie king Pel [...]us once did raigne."’ See Farmer's ESSAY, p. 39. 40. edit. 1767. This ſpurious TROYEBOKE is cited by Fuller, Winſtanley, and others, as Lydgate's genuine work.
p
MSS. Digb. 232.
q
Princip. ‘"Licet cotidie vetera recentioribus obruantur."’
r
Of a Spaniſh verſion, by Petro Nunez Degaldo, ſee Nic. Anton. Bibl. Hiſpan. tom. ii. p. 179.
s
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 127. Notes. Yet he ſays, having finiſhed his verſion, B. v. Signat. EE. i.
I have no more of Latin to tranſlate,
After Dytes, Dares, and Guydo.
Again, he deſpairs of tranſlating Guido's Latin elegantly. B. ii. c. x. See alſo B. iii. Sign. R. iii. There was a French tranſlation of Dares printed, Cadom. 1573. See WORKS OF THE LEARNED. A. 1703. p. 222.
t
Ibid. p. 126.
u
As Colonna's book is extremely ſcarce, and the ſubject intereſting, I will tranſlate a few lines f [...]om Colonna's Prologue and Poſtſcript. From the Prologue. ‘"Theſe things, originally written by the Grecian D [...]ctys and the Phrygian Dares, (who were preſent in the Trojan war, and faithful, relators of what they ſaw,) are transferred into this book by Guido, of Colonna, a judge.—And although a certain Roman, Cornelius by name, the nephew of the great Salluſtius, tranſlated Dares and Dictys into Latin, yet, attempting to be conciſe, he has very improperly omitted thoſe particulars of the hiſtory, which would have proved moſt agreeable to the reader. In my own book therefore every article belonging to the Trojan ſtory will be comprehended."’—And in his Poſtſcript. ‘"And I Guido de Colonna have followed the ſaid Dictys in every particular; for this reaſon, becauſe Dictys made his work perfect and complete in every thing.—And I ſhould have decorated this hiſtory with more m [...]taphors and ornaments of ſtyle, and by incidental digreſſions, which are the pictures of compoſition. But deterred by the difficulty of the work, &c."’ Guido has indeed ma [...]e Dictys nothing more than the ground-work of his ſtory. All this is tranſlated in Lydgate's Prologue.
w
From Dict. Cretenſ. lib. i. c. xvii. p. 17. ſeq. edit. Dacer. Amſtel. 1702. 4to. And Dar. Phryg. cap. xiv. p. 158. ibid. There is a very ancient edition of Dares in quarto, without name or place. Of Dictys at Milan, 1477 [...] 4to. Dares is in German, with cuts, by Marcus Tatius, Auguſt. Vindel. 1536. fol. Dictys, by John Herold, at Baſil, 1554. Both in Ruſſian, at Moſcow, 1712. 8vo.
x
B. ii. c. xvi.
y
B. iv. c. xxxi. And in the PROLOGUE, Virgil is cenſured for following the traces of HOMERIS ſtyle, in othe [...] reſpects a tru [...] writer. We have the ſame complaint in our author's FALL OF PRINCIS. See ſupr. And in Chaucer's HOUSE OF FAME, Colonna is introduced, among other authors of the Trojan ſtory, making this objection to Homer's veracity. B. iii. p. 468. col. 1. v. 389. Urr. edit.
One [...]aied that OMERE made lies,
And feinyng in his poetries;
And was to the Grekès favorable,
And therefore held he it but fable.
z
B. iv. c. xxxi. Signat. X. ii.
a
It is a ſlight error in Vigneul Marville, that this tranſlation was procured by Petrarch. Mel. Litt. tom. i. p. 21. The very ingenious and accurate author of MEMOIRES POUR LA VIE DE PETRARQUE, is miſtaken in ſaying that Hody ſuppoſes this verſion to have been made by Petrarch himſelf. liv. vi. tom. iii. p. 633. On the contrary, Hody has adjuſted this matter with great perſpicuity, and from the beſt authorities. DE GRAEC. ILLUSTR. lib. i. c. 1. p. 2. ſeq.
b
SENIL. lib. iii. Cap. 5.
c
Hody, ubi ſupr. p. 5. 6. 7. 9. The Latin Iliad in proſe was publiſhed under the name of Laurentius Valla, with ſome ſlight alterations, in 1497.
d
Mem. de Litt. xvii. p. 761. ed. 4to.
e
See Boccat. GENEAL. DEOR. xv. 6. 7. Theodorus archbiſhop of Canterbury in the ſeventh century brought from Rome into England a manuſcript of Homer; which is now ſaid to be in Bennet library at Cambridge. See the SECOND DISSERTATION. In it is written with a modern hand, Hic liber quondam THEODORI archiepiſcopi Cant. But probably this Theodore is THEODORE Gaza, whoſe book, or whoſe tranſcript, it might have been. Hody, [...]bi ſupr. Lib. i. c. 3. p. 59. 60.
f
In the royal manuſcripts of the Britiſh Muſeum, this piece is entitled LA CHEVALERIE SPIRITUELLE de ce monde. 17 E. iv. 2.
g
Monſ. L'Abbè Sallier, Mem. Litt. xvii. p. 518.
h
Streaks of light. A very common word in Lydgate. Chaucer, Kn. T. v. 597. col. 2. Urr. p. 455.
And while the twilight and the rowis red
Of Phebus light.—
h

Streaks of light. A very common word in Lydgate. Chaucer, Kn. T. v. 597. col. 2. Urr. p. 455.

And while the twilight and the rowis red Of Phebus light.—

i
Salute.
k
Chaſe.
l
Open.
m
B. i. c. vi.
n
Change.
o
B. iii. c. xxiiii.
p
Colours.
q
B. ii. cap. xii.
r
[...]. Idyll. xxii. v. 37.
s
Mingled.
t
B. iii. c. xxv. So again of Polyxena, B. iv. c. xxx.
And aye ſhe rentè with her fingers ſmale
Her golden heyre upon her blackè wede.
u
B. iii. c. xxii.
w
B. ii. c. xviii.
x
Greece. Degree. Step. Stair. Gradus.
y
Painted. Or r. Englaſed. Skelton's CROWNE OF LAWRELL, p. 24. edit. 1736.
Wher the poſtis wer enbulioned with ſaphir's indy blewe
Englaſed glitteringe, &c.
z
B. i. c. v. See Colonna, Signat. b.
a
B. ii. c. xviii. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 157. In Caxton's TROY-BOOK, Hercules is ſaid to make the fire artificiall as well as Cacus, &c. ii. 24.
b
Ibid.
c
B. ii. c. xi.
d
B. ii. c. xi.
f
Cap. xxvi.
g
B. ii. c. xviii.
h
So deſcribed by Colonna, Signat. n 4. ſeq.
i
Ibid. And B. iii. c. xxiv. The Sagittary is not in Dictys or Dares. In whom alſo, theſe warriors are but barely named, and are much fewer in number. See Dar. cap. xviii. p. 161. Dict. lib. ii. cap. xxxv. p. 51. The deſcription of the perſons of Helen, and of the Trojan and Gre [...]ian heroes [B. ii. c. xv.] is from Dares through Colonna, Daret. Hiſt. c. xii. p. 156. ſeq.
k
In Dictys ‘"tabulatis extruitur ligneis."’ lib. v. c. x. p. 113. In Gower he is alſo a hors of braſſe. Conf. Amant. lib. i. fol. xiiii. a. col. 1. From Colonna, Signat. t 4. Here alſo are Shakeſpeare's [...]abulous names of the gates of Troy. Signat. d 4. ſeq.
l
Better.
l
As for inſtance, Hercules having killed the eleven giants of Cremona, builds over them a vaſt tower, on which he placed eleven images of metal, of the ſize and figure of the giants. B. ii. c. 24. Something like this, I think, is in Amadis de Gaul. Robert Braham, in the EPISTLE TO THE READER, prefixed to the edition of Lydgate's TROY-BOOK of 1555, is of opinion, that the fables in the French RECUYEL ought to be ranked with the trifeling tales and bar [...]ay [...]e lu [...]rdries of ROBYN HODE and BEVYS OF HAMPTON, and are not to be compared with the faythful and trewe reports of this hiſtory given by Dares Phrigius and Dictys Cretenſis.
m
It is three days journey in length and breadth. The walls are two hundred cubits high, of marble and alabaſter, and machiocolated. At every angle was a crown of gold, ſet with the riche [...]t gems. There were great guns in the towers. On each turret were figures of ſavage and monſtrous beaſts in braſs. The gates were of braſs, and each has a portcullis. The houſes were all uniform, and of marble, ſixty cubits high.
n
Intaglia.
o
Arching.
p
Vignettes.
q
Allies, or covert-ways. Lat. Alura. viz. ‘"ALURA quae ducit a coquina conventus, uſque ad cameram prioris."’ Hearne's OTTERB. Praef. Append. p. cxi. Where Hearne derives it from ALA, a wing, or ſide. Rather from All [...]r, whence Allée, Fr. Al [...]ey. Robert of Glouceſter mentions the ladies ſtanding ‘"upe [upon] the alurs of the caſtle,"’ to ſee a tournament. See ſupr. vol. 1. p. 50. The word Alura in not in Du Cange.
r
Like the latticed ſtone-work, or cancelli, of a Gothic ſhrine.
454
s Said to have been invented by Marchion of Arezzo. Walpole, ANECD. PAINT. i [...] p. 111.
t
Har [...]iſon's DESCRIPT. BRIT. Cap. xii. p. 188. The occupations of the citizens of Troy are mention [...]d. Ther [...] were goldſmiths, jewellers, embroiderers, weavers of woollen and linen, of cloth, of gold, damaſk, ſattin, velvet, ſendel, or a think ſilk like cypreſs, and double ſamyte, or ſatin. Smiths, who forged poll-axes, ſpears, and quarrel-heads, or croſs-bow darts ſhaped ſquare. Armourers, Bowyers, Fletchers, makers of trappings, banners, ſtandards, penons, and for the field [...] freſhe and gaye G [...]TOURS. I do not preciſely underſtand the laſt word. Perhaps it is a ſort of ornamented armour for the legs.
s
All that follows on this ſubject, is not in Colonna.
u
‘"That which the poet ſung, ſtanding in the pulpit."’
w
The actors.
x
Themſelves.
y
Lib. ii. cap. x. See alſo, B. iii. c. xxviii.
461
y Colonna calls him, ille FABULARIUS Sulmonenſis,—fabuloſe commentans, &c. Signat. b 2.
z
In three books.
a
DREME, p. 408. col. 2. edit. Urr.
b
With.
c
B. iii. [...]. xxviii. Joſeph of Exeter in his Latin poem entitled ANTIOCHEIS, or the CRUSADE, has borrowed from this tomb of Hector, in his brilliant deſcription of the mauſoleum of Teuthras. lib. iv. 451. I have quoted the paſſage in the SECOND DISSERTATION. Signat. i.
d
MSS. Laud. K. 76. fol.
e
Supr. vol. i. p. 119. 120.
f

It may, however, be thought, that this poem is rather a tranſlation or imitation of ſome French original, as the writer often refers to The Romance. If this be the caſe, it is not immediately formed from the TROYE-BOKE of Lydgate, as I have ſuggeſted in the text. I believe it to be about Lydgate's age; but there is no other authority for ſuppoſing it to be written by Lydgate, than that, in the beginning of the Bodleian manuſcript now before us, a hand-writing, of about the reign of James the firſt, aſſigns it to that poet. I will give a few lines from the poem itſelf: which begins with Jaſon's expedition to Cholcos, the conſtant prelude to the Trojan ſtory in all the writers of this ſchool.

In Colkos ile a cite was,
That men called hanne Jaconitas;
F [...]air, and mekel *, large, and long,
With walles huge and wondir ſtrong,
Fful of toures, and heye paleis,
Off rich knyȝtes, and burgeis:
A kyng that tyme hete Eetes
Gouerned than that lond in pes ,
With his baronage, and his meynè,
Dwelleden thanne in that citè:
Ffor al aboute that riche toun
Stode wodes, and parkis, enviroun,
That were replenyſched wonderful
Of herte, and hynd, bore, and bul,
And othir many ſavage beſtis,
Betwixt that wode and that foreſtis.
Ther was large contray and playn,
Ffaire wodes, and champayn
Fful of ſemely-rennyng welles,
As the ROMAUNCE the ſothe| telles,
Withoute the cite that ther ſprong.
Ther was of briddes michel ſong,
Thorow al the ȝer§ and michel cry,
Of al joyes gret melody.
To that citè [of] Eetes
Ȝode* Jaſon and Hercules,
And al the ffelawes that he hadde
In clothe of golde as kynges he cladde, &c.

Afterwards, the ſorcereſs Medea, the king's daughter, is thus characteriſed.

Sche couthe the ſcience of clergy,
And mochel of nigramauncy.—
Sche coude with conjuriſouns,
With here ſchleyght , and oreſouns,
The day, that was moſt fair and lyght,
Make as darke as any nyght:
Sche couthe alſo, in ſelcouthe wiſe,
Make the wynde both blowe and riſe,
And make him ſo loude blowe,
As it ſchold howſes overthrowe.
Sche couth turne, verament,
All weders , and the firmament, &c.

The reader, in ſome of theſe lines, obſerves the appeal to The romance for authority. This is common throughout the poem, as I have hinted. But at [...]he cloſe, the poet wiſhes eternal ſalvation to the ſoul of the author of the Romaunce.

And he that this romaunce wroght and made,
Lord in heven thow him glade.

If this piece is tranſlated from a French romance, it is not from the antient metrical one of Benoit, to whom, I believe, Colonna is much indebted; but perhaps from ſome later French romance, which copied, or tranſlated, Colonna's book. This, among other circumſtances, we may collect from theſe lines.

Dares the heraud of Troye ſays,
And Dites that was of the Gregeis, &c.
And after him cometh maiſter GY,
That was of Rome a notary.

This maiſter Gy, or Guy, that is Guido of Colonna, he adds, wrote this hiſtory,

In the manere I ſchall telle.

That is ‘"my author, or romance, follows Colonna."’ [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 127.] Dares the heraud is Dares Phrygius, and Dites Dictys Cretenſis.

This poem, in the Bodleian manuſcript aforeſaid, is finiſhed, as I have partly obſerved, with an invocation to god, to ſave the author, and the readers, or hearers; and ends with this line,

Seythe alle Amen for charite.

But this rubric immediately follows, at the beginning of a page. ‘"Hic bellum de Troy [...] ffinit et Greci tranſierunt verſus p [...]triam ſuam."’ Then follow ſeveral lineated pages of vellum, without writing. I have never ſeen any other manuſcript of this piece.

*
Great.
Hig [...]t, named.
Peace.
|
Tr [...]th.
§
Year.
*
Came.
Slight, art.
Wethers.
g
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 143.
h
With a wooden cut of Bocchus, and Sidracke. There is a fine manuſcript of this tranſlation, Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Laud. G. 57. pergam.
i
MS. Laud. G. 57. Princip.
Men may fynde in olde bookes
Who ſoo yat in them lookes
That men may mooche here
And yerefore yff yat yee wolle le [...]e
I ſhall teche yoowe a lytill jeſte
That befell oonys in the eſte
There was a kynge that Boctus hyght
And was a man of mooche myght
His londe lay de grete Inde
Bectorye hight hit as we fynde
After the tyme of Noee even
VIIJ•• hundred yere fourty and ſeven
The kynge Boc [...]us hym be thought
That he would have a citee wrought
The rede Jewes fro hym ſpere
And for to mayntene his were
A yenſt a kyng that was hys foo
And hath moſte of Inde longyng hym to [...]
His name was Garaab the kyng
Bocchus tho proved all this thing
And ſmartly a towre begenne he
There he wolde make his citee
And it was right at the incomyng
Of Garabys londe the kyng
The maſons with grete laboure
Beganne to worke uppon the toure
And all that they wroghten on day
On night was hit done away
On morn when Bochus hit herde
Hee was wroth that hit ſo ferde
And dyd hyt all new begynne
At even whan they ſhuld blynne
Off worke when they went to reſte
In the night was all downe heſte
Well vii monthes this thei wrought
And in the night avaylid yt nought
Boccus was wroth wonderly
And callid his folke that was hym by
Councellith me lordinges ſeyde hee
Howe I may beſte make this citee
They ſayde ſir ſendith a noon
Aftir your philoſophers everychon
And the aſtronomers of your londe
Of hem ſhall yee counſeill fonde.

Afterwards king Tractabare is requeſted to ſend

—the booke of aſtronomye
That whilom Noe had in baylye,

together with his aſtronomer Sidracke.

At the end.
And that Hugh of Campedene
That this boke hath thorogh ſoght
And untoo Englyſsh ryme hit brought.

Sidrake, who is a chriſtian, at length builds the tower in Nomine S. Trinitatis, and he teaches Bocchus, who is an idolater, many articles of true religion. The only manuſcript I have ſeen of this tranſlation is [...]mong MSS. Laud. G. 57. fol. ut. ſupr.

k

It begins thus.

LAUNFAL M [...]LES.
Le douȝty Artours dawes
That held Engelond in good lawe,
Ther fell a wondyr cas,
Of a ley* that was yſette,
That hyȝt LAUNFAL and hatte ȝette.
Now herkeneth how hyt was;
Douȝty Artour ſome whyle
Sojournede yn Kerdenyle ,
With joye and gr [...]et ſolas,
And knyȝts that wer profitable,
With Artour of the rounde table,
Never noon better th [...]r was.
Sere Perſevall, and ſyr Gawyn [...]
Syr Gyherther, and ſyr Agrayn,
And Lancelot du Lake,
Syr Kay, and ſyr Ewayn,
That well couthe fyȝt yn playn,
Bateles for to take.
Kyng Ban Boort, and kyng Bos,
Of ham ther was a greet los,
Men ſawe tho no wher her make.
Syr Galafre, and ſyr LAUNFALE,
Whereof a noble tale
Among us ſhall a wake.
With A [...]tour ther was a bachelor
And hadde y be well many a ȝer,
LAUNFAL for ſoot§ he hyȝt,
He gaf gyftes largelyche
Gold and ſylver and clothes ryche,
To ſquyer and to knyȝt.
For hys largeſſe and hys bounte
The kinges ſteward made was he
Ten yer I you plyȝt,
Of alle the knyȝtes of the table rounde
So large there was noon y [...]ounde,
Be days ne be nyȝt.
So hyt befyll yn the tenth ȝere
Marlyn was Artours counſalare,
He radde him for to wende
To kyng Ryon of Irlond ryȝt,
And fette hym ther a lady bryȝt
Gwenere hys doughter hende, &c.

In the concluſion.

THOMAS CHESTER made thys tale
Of the noble knyȝt ſyr Launfale
Good of chyvalrye:
Jeſus that ys hevene kyng
Ȝeve us all hys bleſſyng
And hys moder Marye.
EXPLICIT LAUNFALE.

Never printed. MSS. Cotton. CALIG. A. 2. f. 33. I am obliged to doctor Percy for this tranſcript. It was afterwards altered into the romance of ſir LAMBWELL.

*
Liege.
Or, K [...]rdevyle. f. Ca [...]rli [...]e.
Th [...]r.
Match.
§
Soth.
l

MSS. Harl. 978. 112. fol. i. 154.

"En Bretains l'apelent LAUNVAL."

See a note at the beginning of DISS. [...].

m
Never printed. MSS. Aſhmol. Oxon. 45. 4to. [6926.] And MSS. More. Camb. 27. Princip.
Jeſu Criſt in trinite,
Only god in perſons thre, &c.
Lefe frendys I ſhall you telle
Of a tale that ſometyme befell
Far in unkouthe lade,
Howe a lady had grete myſcheſe, &c.
n
Perhaps ley in the fourth line of ſir LAUNFAL may mean Lay in this ſenſe. See note at the beginning of the FIRST DISSERTATION.
o
The emperour's diſappointment is thus deſcribed.
Anon to the chamber went he,
He longyd ſore his wyf to ſe,
That was ſo ſwete a wyght:
He callyd theym that ſhulde her kepe,
Where is my wif is ſhe on ſlepe?
How farys that byrd ſo bryght?
The traytors anſweryd anon,
And ye wi [...]t how ſhe had done, &c.—
The yonge knyght ſir Artour,
That was her hervour, &c.
For bale his armys abrode he ſprede,
And ſell in ſwoone on his bed.
p
Hearne's Lib. Nig. Scacc. APPEND. p. 598.
q
Ex Computis Prioris Priorat. de Max [...]ock. penes me. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 90.] ‘"Dat. ſex Mimis domini Clynton cantantibus, cithariſantibus, et ludentibus, in aula in dicta Pietantia, iiii. s."’
r
‘"Mimis cenantibus in camera picta cum ſuppriore eodem tempore,"’ [the ſum [...]bliterated.]
s
Ex comp. Camerarii, ut ſupr.
t
Ex comp. praedict.
u
Worth about five ſhillings of our pre [...]ent money.
w
I know not whether it is worth mentioning, that a metrical Dialogue between God and the penitent Soul, belonging to the preceding reign, is preſerved at Caius college, Cambridge. Pr. ‘"Our gracious lord prince of pite."’ MSS. E. 147. 6. With other pieces of the kind. The writer, William Lichfield, a doctor in theology, ſhone moſt in proſe; and is ſaid to have written, with his own hand, 3083 Engliſh ſermons. See T. Gaſcoign, (MS.) Diction. V. PRAEDICATOR. He died 1447. See Stowe, Lond. 251. 386. Newcourt, i. 819.
x
As ‘"Pluſieurs Battailes des Roys d'Iſrael en contre les Philiſtien [...] et Aſſyrien [...], &c."’ Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 19 D. 1. 7.
y
I muſt however except their LAPIDAIRE, a poem on precious ſtones, from the Latin of Marbodeus; and the BESTIAIRE, a ſet of metrical fables, from the Latin Eſop. Theſe however ought to be looked upon as efforts of their early poetry, rather than tranſlations.
z
Or Le Mangeur, becauſe he devoured the ſcriptures.
a
The French was firſt publiſhed, without date or place, in two tomes. With old wood-cuts. Voſſius ſays that the original was abridged by Gualter Hunte, an Engliſh Carmelite, about the year 1460. Hiſt. Lat. lib. iii. c. 9. p. 197. edit. Amſt. 1689. fol. It was tranſlated into German rhymes about 1271. Sander. Bibl. Belg. pag. 285. There are numerous and very ſumptuous manuſcripts of this work in the Britiſh Muſeum. One of them, with exquiſite paintings, was ordered to be written by Edward the fourth at Bruges, 1470. MSS. Reg. 15 D. i. Another is written in 1382. Ibid. 19. B. xvii.
b
See Chaucer, PRIORES. T. p. 144. col. 2. v. 3193.
c
It is rather beſide my purpoſe to ſpeak particularly of ſome of the divine Offices now made French, and of the churchhymns.
d
See modo ſupr. p. 39. And MSS. Reg. 15 E. vi. 11. And ibid. 19 B. i. And ibid. 19 A. xx. ‘"Stephanus Fortis clericus ſcripſit, An. 1395."’
e
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 462.
f
He was early tranſlated into Greek at Conſtantinople.
g
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 20 B. iv. 3.
h
See a French JUSTINIAN, &c. Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 20 D. ix. 2. 3. A manuſcript before 1300.
i
Caxton printed a life of CHARLES THE GREAT, 1485.
k

One of the moſt eminent aſtronomers in this work is the poet Virgil.

I know not when the LE LIVRE ROYALL, a ſort of manual, was made French. The Latin original was compiled at the command of Philip le Bell, king of France, in 1279. Pref. to Caxton's Engl. Tranſlat. 1484. fol.

l
See Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 19 A. ix. This verſion was tranſlated into Engliſh, and printed, by Caxton, 1480.
m
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 19 C. ii.
n
See Brit. M [...]ſ. MSS. Reg. 15 D. v. 1. 2.
o
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 15 D. v. 1. 20 D. v.
p
It is ſuppoſed that they were rendered by an Engliſhman, or one living in England, as the tranſlator's name is marked by an A. And as there is a prayer in the manuſcript to ſaint Frideſwide, an Oxford ſaint. Mem. Litt. xvii. p 735. 4to. It is very rare that we find the French tran [...]ting from us. Yet Fauchett mentions a French poeteſs, named Marie de France, who tranſlated the Fables of Eſop MORALISED, from Engliſh into French, about the yea [...] 1310. But this was to gratify a com [...]e Guillaume, with whom ſhe was in love, and who did not perhaps underſtand Engliſh. See Fauchett, RECUEIL, lxxxiv. p. 163. edit. 1581. I know nothing of the fables.
q
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 17 F. iii. With pictures. And 14 D. i.
r
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 235.
s
Ch. viii. liv. ii.
t
In the year 1555, the learned Claud. Eſpence was obliged to make a public recantation for calling it LEGENDA FERREA. Thuan. ſub. ann. Laun. Hiſt. Gymnaſ. Navarr. p. 704. 297.
u
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 19 B. xvii. The copy was written 1382. This verſion ſeems to be the ſame which Caxton tranſlated, and printed, 1483. While it was printing, William lord Arundel gave Caxton annually a buck in ſummer and a doe in winter.
w
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 19 C. xi. 1. This verſion was tranſlated in Engliſh, and printed, by Caxton, 1474.
x
Ibid. 19 D. i. 4. 5.
y
It is mentioned in the cata [...]ogue of his traductions, at the beginning of his C [...]nſ [...] lation philoſophique. I am not acquainted with the Engliſh monk.
z
Engliſhed, and printed by Caxton, very early.
a
There is a copy written in 1284, [1384,] Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 20 B. xv. Often, ibid. John of Meun is alſo ſaid to have tranſlated MIRABILIA HIBERNIAE.
b
‘"Cette JERARCHIE tranſlata frere J [...]han de Pentham de Latin en Françoys, à la requeſte la r [...]ine d'Engleterre Alienore femme le roy Edward."’ There is alſo this note in the manuſcript. ‘"Ceſt livre reſigna frere Jordan de Kyngeſtone à la commune des freres Menurs de Southampton, par la volunte du graunt frere Willame Notington [f. Northington in Hampſhire,] miniſtre d'Engleterre ... l'an. de grace M. CCC. XVII."’
c
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 1 [...] E. i.
d
A curious picture of the diſ [...]racted ſtate of France is recorded by Petrarch. The king, with the Dauphin, returning from his captivity in England, in paſſing through Picardy, was obliged to make a pecuniary bargain with the numerous robbers that infeſted that country, to travel unmoleſted [...] VIE PETR. iii. 543.
e
See Henault, NOUVEL. ABR [...]G. HIST. FR. p. 229. edit. 1752. 4to. And VIE DE PERTRARQUE, iii. p. 547.
f
This was the tranſlation of Livy, which, with other books, the duke of Bedford, regent of France, about 1425, ſent into England to Humphrey duke of Glouceſter. The copy had been a preſent to the king of France. Mem. Litt. ii. 747. 4to. See the SECOND DISSERTATION. In the Sorbonne library at Paris, there is a moſt valuable manuſcript of this verſion in two folio volumes. In the front of each book are various miniatures and pictures, moſt beautifully finiſhed. Dan. Maichel de Bibliothec. Pariſ. p. 79. There is a copy, tranſcribed about the time the tranſlation was finiſhed. Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 15 D. vi. DES FAIS DE ROMAINS. With pictures.
g
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 18 E. iii. iv. With elegant delineations, and often in the ſame library.
h
Perhaps written in Latin by Joannes Grammaticus, about 1070. See the SECOND DISSERTATION.
i
There was a French Ovid in duke Humphrey's library at Oxford. See ſupr. p. 45. And Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 17 E. iv. 1. This verſion, as I apprehend, is the ſame that Caxton tranſlated into Engliſh proſe, and printed, 1480. A manuſcript is in Bibl. Pepyſ Magd. Coll. Cant. Cat. MSS. Angl. &c. tom. ii. N. 6791.
k
Polycarpus Leyſerus ſuppoſes this piece to be the forgery of one Leo Protonotarius, an officer in the court at Conſtantinople, who writes the preface. Hiſt. Poeſ. Med. Aev. p. 2089. He proves the work ſuppoſititious, from its ſeveral Arabiciſms and ſcrip [...]ural expreſſions, &c. Brawardine cites many lines from it, Adverſ. Pelag. p. 33. As does Bacon, in his aſtrological tracts. It is condemned by Bede as heretical. In Boeth. de Trinit. Selden intended a DISSERTATION on this forgery [...] De Synedr. iii. 16. It is in hexameters, in three books.
l
Chriſtin. VIE CHARLES V.
m
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 17 E. v. 1. And 16 G. ix. Wi [...]h pictures.
n
MSS. Reg. 19 B. xviii. &c. Vegetius was early tranſlated into all the modern languages. There is an Engliſh one, probably by John Treviſa, as it is addreſſed to his patron lord Berkeley, A. D. 1408. MSS. Digb. 233. Prin [...]. ‘"In olde tyme it was the manere."’ There is a tranſlation of Vegetius, written at Rhodes, ‘"die 25 Octobris, 1459, per Johannem Newton."’ ad cal [...]. Bibl. Bodl. K. 53. Laud. MSS. Chriſtina's verſion was tranſlated, and printed, by Caxton, 1489. See ſupr. p. 67.
o
See Niceron, tom. 28. p. 384.
p

Monſ. l'Ab. Lebeuf ſays Seneca inſtead of P [...]trarch. Mem. Litt. xvii. p. 752.

I muſt not forget to obſerve, that ſeveral whole books in Brunetto's TRESOR conſiſt of tranſlations from Ariſtotle, Tully, and Pliny, into French. Brunetto was a Florentine, and the maſter of Dante. He died in 1295. The TRESOR was a ſort of Encyclopede, exhibiting a courſe of practical and theoretic philoſophy, of divi [...]ity, coſmography, geography, hiſtory ſacred and profane, phyſics, ethics, rhetoric, and politics. It was written in French by Brunetto du [...]ing his reſidence in France: but he afterwards tranſlated it into Italian, and it has been tranſlated by others into Latin. It was the model and foundation of Bartholomeus of the PROPERTIES OF THINGS, of Berch [...]ur's REPERTORIUM, and of many other works of th [...] ſame ſpecies, which ſoon followed. See Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 17 E. i. It will occur again.

q
DES PROUFFITZ CHAMPESTRES ET RURAUX. Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 14 E.
r
In twelve books. See Jacob. Quetif. tom. i. p. 666.
s
Leland ſays, that this tranſlation is elegant; and that he ſaw it in duke Humfrey's library at Oxford. Script. Brit. cap. ccclxviii. See Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 17 E. iii. With pictures. Ibid. 15 E. ii. Where the tranſlation is aſſigned to the year 1362. The writing of the manuſcript, to 1482. With pictures.
t
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 16 F. ix. A new tranſlation ſeems to have been made by Rauol le Feure, in 1464. Engliſhed by Caxton, and printed, 1471. Caxton's GODEFROY OF BOLOGNE, tranſlated from the French, and printed 1481, had a Latin original. The French, a fine copy, is in Brit. Muſ. 17 F. v. MSS. Reg. Saepiu [...] ibid. [See ſ [...]pr. p. 99.]
u
I take this opportunity of obſerving, that one of theſe was the romance of ſir LANCELOT DU LAC, tranſlated from the Latin by Robert de Borron, at the command of our Henry the ſecond or third. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 114. This new LANCELOT, I believe, is the ſame which was printed at Paris by Antony Verard, 1494. In three vaſt folio volumes. Another, is the romance of GYRON LE COURTOIS, tranſlated alſo from Latin, at the command of the ſame monarch, by Lucas, or Luce, chevalier du Chateau du Gaſt, or Gat, or Gal, and printed by Verard as above. See Lenglet, Bibl. Rom. ii. p. 117. The old GUIRON LE COURTOIS is ſaid to be tranſlated by ‘"LUCE chevalier ſeigneur du chaſteau du Gal, [perhaps Sal. an abreviation for Saliſbury,] voiſin prochain du [...]ire du Sablieres, par le commendement de tres noble et tres puiſſant prince M. le roy Henry jadis roy d'Angleterre."’ Bibl. Reg. Pariſ. Cod. 7586. See ſu [...]r. vol. i. p. 115. Notes.
w
Written in 1098.
x
Supr. vol. i. p. 77.
y
He flouriſhed in Italy, about the year 1270. The enormous magni [...]icence of his funeral deſerves notice, more than any anecdote of his life; as it paints the high devotion of the times, and the attention formerly paid to theological literature. There were preſent pope Gregory the tenth, the emperour of Greece by ſeveral Greek noblemen his proxies, Baldwin the ſecond the Latin eaſtern emperour, James king of Arragon, the patriarchs of Conſtantinople and Antioch, all the cardinals, five hundred biſhops and archbiſhops, ſixty abbots, more than a thouſand prelates and prieſts of lower rank, the ambaſſadors of many kings and potentates, the deputies of the Tartars and other nations, and an innumerable concourſe of people of all orders and degrees. The ſepulchral ceremonies were celebrated with the moſt conſummate pomp, and the funeral oration was pronounced by a future pope. Miraei Auctar. Script. Eccleſ. pag. 72. edit. Fabric. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 77.]
z
It is ſuppoſititious. It was forged, about the year 560, by Martianus an archbiſhop of Portugal, whom Gregory of Tours calls the moſt eminent writer of his time. Hiſt. Franc. v. 38. It was a great favourite of the theological ages.
a
Epiſt. 94.
b
I am not ſure whether this is not much the ſame as LE GRANDE HISTOIRE CESAR, &c. Taken from Lucan, Su [...]tonius, Oroſius, &c. Written at Bruges at the command of our Edward the fourth, in 1479. That is, ordered to be written by him. A manuſcript with pictures. MSS. Reg. 17 F. ii. 1. Brit. Muſ. But ſee ibid. ROMELEON, ou des Faits des Romains, in ten b [...]oks. With pictures. MSS. Reg. 19 E. v. See alſo 20 C. i.
c
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 17 F. i. With beautiful pictures.
d
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 16 G. viii. With pictures. Another appeared by Robert Gaguen in 1485.
e
Perhaps this might be Caxton's copy. See above, p. 115.
f
The two latter verſions were tranſlated into Engliſh by William Botoner, and John Tiptoft earl of Worceſter, and printed by Caxton, 1481. Botoner preſented his manuſcript copy to William of Waynflete biſhop of Wincheſter in 1473. See ſupr. p. 62. Caxton's Engliſh CATO, printed 1483, was from the French. As were his FABLES OF AESOP, printed 1483.
g
Crucimanius mentions a verſion of Seneca by Premi [...]rfait, as printed at Paris, in 1500. Bibl. Gall. p. 287. A tranſlation of Seneca's DE QUATUOR VIRTUTIBUS CARDINALIBUS, but ſuppoſititious, is given to Premierfait, Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 20 A. xii. Sanders recites the EPISTLES of Seneca, tranſlated into French by ſome anonymous writer, at the command of Meſſire Barthelemi Siginulfe a nobleman of Naples. Bibl. Cathedr. Tornacenſ. p. 209. Pieces of Seneca have been frequently tranſlated into French, and very early.
h
Oxonford. Oxford.
i
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 19 A. viii. Saepius. ibid. This verſion was tranſlated into Engliſh by lord Rivers, and printed by Caxton, 1477,
k
See Labb. Bibl. MSS. p. 317. Bibl. Roman. ii. 236. And Oudin. iii. 976. Guillaum lived about 1352. Some of the French literary antiquaries ſuppoſe this to be a Latin piece. It is [...] however, in French verſe, which was reduced into proſe by Gallopes.
l
I am not certain, whether this is Caxton's PILGRIMAGE OF THE SOWLE, an Engliſh tranſlation from the French, printed in 1483. fol. Ames ſays, that Antonine Gerard is the author of the French, which was printed at Paris, 1480. Hiſt. Print. p. 34.
m
See ARCHAEOL. vol. ii. p. 194. And Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 16 G. iii. 20 B. iv. Engliſhed about 1410, and printed by Caxton very early. The Engliſh tranſlator, I believe, is John Morton, an Auguſtine frier.
n
He flouriſhed about the year 1218.
o
See ſupr. p. 61. There is a verſion of Boccacio's DE CLARIS MULIERIBUS, perhaps by Premierfait, Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 20 C. v.
p
This verſion was Engliſhed, and printed, by Caxton, 1487.
q
See Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 19 E. i. Where it is ſaid that the Decameron wa [...] firſt tranſlated into Latin. It is not very literal. It was printed at Paris 1485. fol. Again, ibid. 1534. 8vo. It was again tranſlated by Antoine le Macon, fol. Paris 1543. And often afterwards.
r
It was tranſlated, and printed, by Caxton, 1490.
s

It is, however, remarkable, that from the year 1471, in which Caxton began to print, down to the year 1540, during which period the Engliſh preſs flouriſhed greatly under the conduct of many induſtrious, ingenious, and even learned artiſts, only the very few following claſſics, ſome of which hardly deſerve that name, were printed in England. Theſe were, BOETHIUS de Conſolatione; both Latin and Engliſh, for Caxton, without date. The Latin ESOPIAN Fables, in verſe, for Wynkyn de Worde, 1503. 4to. [And once or twice afterwards.] TERENCE, with the Comment of Badi [...]s Aſcenſius, for the ſame, 1504. 4to. VIRGIL'S BUCOLICS, for the ſame, 1512. 4to. [Again, 1533. 4to.] TULLY'S OFFICES, Latin and Engliſh, the tranſlation by Whittington, 1533. 4to. The univerſity of Oxford, during this period, produced only the firſt Book of TULLY'S EPISTLES, at the charge of cardinal Wolſey, without date, or printer's name. Cambridge not a ſingle claſſic.

No Greek book, of any [...]kind, had yet appeared from an Engliſh preſs. I believe the firſt Greek characters uſed in any work printed in England, are in Linacer's tranſlation of Galen de Temperamentis, printed at Cambridge in 1521, 4to. A few Greek words, and abbreviatures, are here and there introduced. The printer was John Siberch, a German, a friend of Eraſmus, who ſtyles himſelf primus UTRIUSQUE linguae in Anglia impreſſor. There are Greek characters in ſome of his other books of this date. But he printed no entire Greek book. In Linacer's treatiſe De emendata Structura Latini ſermonis, printed by Pinſon in 1524, many Greek characters are intermixed. In the ſixth book are ſeven Greek lines together. But the printer apologiſes for his imperfections and unſkillfulneſs in the Greek types; which, he ſays, were but recently caſt, and not in a ſufficient quantity for ſuch a work. The paſſage is curious. ‘"Aequo animo feras ſiquae literae, in exemplis Helleniſmi, vel tonis vel ſpiritibus careant. His enim non ſatts inſtructus erat typographus, videlicet recens ab eo fuſis ch [...] racteribus Graecis, nec parata ei copia qua ad hoc agendum opus eſt."’ About the ſame period of the Engliſh preſs, the ſame embarraſſments appear to have happened with regard to Hebrew types; which yet were more likely, as that language was ſo much leſs known. In the year 1524, doctor Robert Wakefield, chaplain to Henry the eighth, publiſhed his Oratio de laudibus et utilitate trium linguarum Arabicae, Chald [...]ic [...], et Hebraicae, &c. 4to. The printer was Wynkyn de Worde; and the author complains, that he was obliged to omit his whole third part, becauſe the printer had no Hebrew types. Some few Hebrew and Arabic characters, however, are introduced; but extremely rude, and evidently cut in wood. They are the firſt of the ſort uſed in England. This learned orientaliſt was inſtrumental in preſerving, at the diſſolution of monaſteries, the Hebrew manuſcripts of Ramſey abbey, collected by Holbech one of the monks, together with Holbech's Hebrew Dictionary [...] Wood, Hiſt. Ant. Univ. Oxon. ii. 251. Leland. Scriptor. v. HOLBECCUS.

It was a circumſtance favourable at leaſt to Engliſh literature, owing indeed to the general illiteracy of the times, that our firſt printers were ſo little employed on books written in the learned languages. Almoſt all Caxton's books are Engliſh. The multiplication of Engliſh copi [...]s multiplied Engliſh readers, and theſe again produced new vernacular writers. The exiſtence of a preſs induced many perſons to turn authors, who were only qualified to write in their native tongue.

t

To the preceding reign of Henry the ſixth, belongs a poem written by James the firſt, king of Scotland, who was atrociouſly murthered at Perth in the year 1436. It it entitled the KING'S COMPLAINT, is allegorical, and in the ſeven-lined ſtanza. The ſubject was ſuggeſted to the poet by his own misfortunes, and the mode of compoſition by reading Boethius. At the cloſe, he mentions Gower and Chaucer as ſeated on the ſteppys of rhetoryke. Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Selden. Archiv. B. 24. chart. fol. [With many pieces of Chaucer.] This unfortunate monarch was educated while a priſoner in England, at the command of our Henry the fourth, and the poem was written during his captivity there. The Scotch hiſtorians repreſent him as a prodigy of erudition. He civiliſed the Scotch nation. Among other accompliſhments, he was an admirable muſician, and particularly ſkilled in playing on the harp. See Leſley, DE REB. GEST. SCOT. lib. vii. p. 257. 266. 267. edit. 1675. 4to. The ſame hiſtorian ſays, ‘"ita orator erat, ut ejus dictione nihil fuerit artificioſius: ita POETA, ut carmina non tam arte ſtrinxiſſe, quam natura ſponte fudiſſe vider [...] tur. Cui rei [...]idem faciunt carmina diverſi generis, quae in rhythmum Scotice illigavit, [...]o artificio, &c."’ Ibid. p. 267. See alſo Buchanan, RER. Scot. lib. x. p. 186.—196. Opp. tom. i. Edingb. 1715. Among other pieces, which I have never ſeen, Bale mentions his CANTILENAE SCOTICAE, and RHYT [...]MI LATINI. Bale, paral. poſt. Cent. xiv. 56. pag. 217. It is not the plan of this work to comprehend and examine in form pieces of Scotch poetry, except ſuch only as are of ſingular merit. Otherwiſe, our royal bard would have been conſidered at large, and at his proper period, in the text. I will, however, add here, two ſtanzas of the poem contained in the Seld [...]n manuſcript, which ſeems to be the moſt diſtinguiſhed of his compoſitions, and was never printed.

In ver that full of vertue is and gude,
When nature firſt begynneth her empryſe,
That quilham was be cruell froſt and flude,
And ſhoures ſcharp, oppreſt in many wyſe;
And Cynthius gynneth to aryſe
Heigh in the eſt a morow ſoft and ſwete
Upwards his courſe to drive in Ari [...]t [...]:
Paſſit bot mydday [...]oure grees evyn
Off lenth and brede, his angel wingis bright
He ſpred uppon the ground down fro the hevyn;
That for gladneſs and confort of the ſight,
And with the tiklyng of his hete and light
The tender ſloures opinyt thanne and ſprad
And in thar nature thankit him for glad.

This piece is not ſpecified by Bale, Dempſter, or Mackenzie. See Bale, ubi ſupr. Dempſter, SCOT. SCRIPTOR. ix. 714. pag. 380. edit. 1622. Mackenzie, vol. i. p. 318. Edingb. 1708. fol.

John Major mentions the beginning of ſome of his other poems, viz. ‘"Yas ſen, &c."’ And ‘"At Beltayn, &c."’ Both theſe poems ſeem to be written on his wife, Joan daughter of the dutcheſs of Clarence, with whom he fell in love while [...] priſoner in England. Major mentions beſides, a libellus artificioſus, whether verſe or proſe I know not, which he wrote on this lady in England, before his marriage; and which Bale entitles, Super Uxore futura. This hiſtorian, who flouriſhed about the year 1520, adds, that our monarch's CANTILENAE were commonly ſung by the Scotch as the moſt [...]avorite compoſitions: and that he played better on the harp, than the moſt ſkillful Iriſh or highland harper. Major does not enumerate the poem I have h [...]r [...] cited. Major, GEST. SCOT. lib. vi. cap. xiv. fol. 135. edit. 1521. 4to. Doctor Percy has one of James's CANTILENAE, in which there is much merit.

u
One William Peeris, a prieſt, and ſecretary to the fifth [...]a [...]l of Northumberland, wrote in verſe, William P [...]ri [...]'s diſcente of the Lord P [...]rcis. Pr. Prol. ‘"Cronykills and annuel books of kyngs."’ Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 18 D. 9. Then immediately follows ( [...]0) in the ſame manuſcript, perhaps written by the ſame author, a collection of metrical proverbs painted in ſeveral chambers of Lekingfield and Wreſille, antient ſeats of the Percy family.
w
Henry the ſixth granted immunities to Harding in ſeveral patents for procuring the Scottiſh evidences. The earlieſt is dated [...]n. reg. xviii. [1440.] There is a memorandum in the exchequer, that, in 1458, John Harding of Kyme delivered to John Talbot, treaſurer of England, and chancellor of the exchequer, five Scottiſh letters patent, acknowledging various homages of the kings and nobility of Scotland. They are encloſed in a wooden box in the exchequ [...]r, kept in a large cheſt, under th [...] mark, SCOTIA. HARDING. So ſays Aſhmole [MSS. Aſhmol. 860. p. 186.] from a regiſter in the exchequer called the YELLOW-BOOK.
x
Printed, at London, 1543. 4to. by Grafton, who has prefixed a dedication of three leaves in verſe to Thoma [...] duke of Norfolk. A continuation in proſe from Edward the fourth to Henry the eighth is add [...]d, probably by Grafton. But ſ [...] Grafton's Preface to his ABRID [...]EMENT OF THE CHRONICLE OF ENGLAND, edit [...] 1570.
y
MSS. Archiv. Seld. B. 26. It is richly bound and ſtudded. At the end is a curious map of Scotland; together with many proſe pieces by Harding of the hiſtorical kind. The Aſhmolean manuſcript is entitled, The CHRONICLE OF JOHN HARDING in metre from the beginning of England unto the reign of Edward the fourth. MSS. Aſhmol. Oxon. 34. membran.
z
Ch. lxxxiv. fol. lxxvii. edit. Graft. 1543.
a

MSS. Cotton. Brit. Muſ. VITELL. D. xii. 10. It was printed at London, 1506. This impreſ [...]ion was in Henry Worſley's library, Cat. MSS. Angl. etc. tom. ii. p. 212. N. 6873. 25. I know nothing of the Latin; except that Gulielmus Caorſinus, vice-chancellor for forty years of the knights of Malta, wrote an ORSIDIO RHODIAE URBIS, when it was in vain attempted to be taken by the Turks in 1480. Separately printed without date or place in quarto. It was alſo printed in German, Argentorat. 1513. The works of this Gulielmus, which are numerous, were printed together, at Ulm, 1496. fol. with rude wooden prints. See an exact account of this writer, Diar. Eruditor. Ital. tom. xxi. p. 412.

One John Caius a poet of Cambridge is mentioned in ſir T. More's WORKS, p. 204. And in Parker's De [...]. of Pr. Marr [...] againſt Martin, p. 99.

b
In the antient ſtatutes of the univerſity of Oxford, every Regent Maſter in Grammar is prohibited from reading in his faculty, unleſs [...]e firſt paſs an examination DE MODO VERSIFICANDI et dictandi, &c. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. fol. membran. Arch. A. 91. [nunc 2874.] f. 55. b. This ſcholaſtic cultivation of the art of PROSODY gave riſe to many Latin ſyſtems of METRE about this period. Among others, Thomas Langley, a monk of Hulm in Norfolk, in the year 1430, wrote, in two books, DE VARIETATE CARMINUM. Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Digb. 100. One John Seguard, a Latin poet and rhetorician of Norwich, about the year 1414, wrote a piece of this kind called METRISTENCHIRIDION, addreſſed to Courtney biſhop of Norwich, treating of the nature of metre in general, and eſpecially of the common metres of the Hymns of Boecius and Oracius [Horace.] Oxon. MSS. Coll. Merton. Q. iii. 1.
c
When any of theſe graduated grammarians were licenced to teach boys, they were publicly preſented in the Convocationhouſe with a rod and ferrel. Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. G. fol. 72. a.
d
Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. G. fol. 143. I take this opportunity of acknowledging my obligations to the learned Mr. Swinton, keeper of the Archives at Oxford, for giving me frequent and free acceſs to the Regiſters of that univerſity.
e
Ibid [...] fol. 162.
f
Ovid's ſuppoſititious pieces, and other verſes of the lower age, were printed together by Goldaſtus, Francof. 1610. 8vo. Among theſe is, ‘"Pamphili Mauriliani PAMPHILUS, [...]ive de Arte Amandi, Elegiae lxiii."’ This is from the ſame ſchool with Ovid DE VETULA, and by ſome thought to be forged by the ſame author.
g
Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. G. fol. 134. a.
h
Regiſtr. ut ſupr. G. fol. 124. b.
i
Caxton, in the preface to his Engliſh ENEYDOS, Mentions ‘"mayſter John Skelton, late created poete laureate in the univerſite of Oxenford, &c."’ This work was printed in 1490. Churchyard mentions Skelton's accademical laureation, in his poem prefixed to Skelton's works, Lond [...] 1568. 8vo.
Nay Skelton wore the laurel wreath,
And paſt in ſcholes ye knoe.
And again,
That war the garland wreath.
Of laurel leaves ſo late.
k
Regiſtr. Univ. Cantabrig. ſub anno. ‘"Conceditur Johanni Skelton poetae in partibus tranſmarinis atque Oxonii laurea ornato, ut apud nos eadem decoraretur."’ And afterwards, Ann. 1504, 5. ‘"Conceditur Johanni Skelton poete laureato quod poſſit conſtare eodem gradu hic quo ſtetit Oxonii, et quod poſſit uti habitu ſibi conceſſo a principe."’ The latter clauſe, I believe, relates to ſome diſtinction of habit, perhaps of [...]ur or velvet, granted him by the king. Skelton is ſaid to have been poet laureate to Henry the eighth. He alſo ſtyles himſelf Orator regius, p. 1. 6. 109. 107. 284. 285. 287. Works, 1736.
i
Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. ut ſupr. G. 173. b. 187. b.
m
Lond. 1513. See the next note.
n
In his ‘"Opuſculum Roberti Whittintoni in florentiſſima Oxonienſi achademia laureati."’ Signat. A. iii. Bl. Let. 4to. Colophon, ‘"Expliciunt Roberti Whittintoni Oxonii protovatis epigrammata, una cum quibuſdam panegyricis, impreſſa Londini per me Wynandum de Worde. Anno poſt virgineum partum M. CCCCC. xix. decimo vero Kal. Maii."’ The Panegyrics are, on Henry the eighth, and cardinal Wolſ [...]y. The Epigrams, which are long copies of verſe, are addreſſed to Charles Brandon duke of Suffolk, ſir Thomas More, and to Skelton, under the title Ad lepidiſſimum poetam SCHELTONEM carmen, &c. Some of the lines are in a very claſſical ſtyle, and much in the manner of the earlier Latin Italian poets. At the end of theſe Latin poems i [...] a defence of the author, called ANTILYCON, &c. This book is extremely ſcarce, and not mentioned by Wood, Ames, and ſome other collectors. Theſe pieces are in manuſcript, Oxon. MSS. Bodl. D. 3. 22.
o
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 47.
p
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 232. By the way, Baſton is called by Bale ‘"laureatus apud Oxonienſes."’ Cent. iv. cap. 92.
q
See an inſtrument PRO POETA LAUREATO. dat. 1486. Rymer's FO [...]D. tom. xii. p. 317. But, by the way, in this inſtrument there is no ſpecification of any thing to be done officially by Bernard. The king only grants to Andrew Bernard, Poetae [...]au [...]ato, which we may conſtrue either THE laureated poet, or A poet laureate, a ſalary of ten marcs, till he can obtain ſome equivalent appointment. This, however, is only a precept to the treaſurer and chamberlains to diſburſe the ſalary, and refers to letters patent, not printed by Rymer. It is certain that Gower and Chaucer were never appointed to this office, notwithſtanding this is commonly ſuppoſed. Skelton, in his CROWNE OF LAWRELL, ſees Gower, Chaucer, and Lydgate approach: he deſcribes their whole apparel as glittering with the richeſt precious ſtones, and then immediately adds,
They wanted nothing but the LAURELL.
Afterwards, however, there is the rubric Maiſter Chaucer LAUREATE poete to Skelton. Works, p. 21. 22. edit. 1736.
r
Apoſtolo Zeno was both poet and hiſtoriographer to his imperial majeſty. So was Dryden to James the ſecond. It is obſervable that Petrarch was laureated as poet and hiſtorian.
s
One of theſe, the maſterſhip of ſaint Leonard's hoſpital at Bedford, was given him by biſhop Smith, one of the founders of Braſe-noſe college, Oxford, in the year 1498. Regiſtr. SMITH, epiſ [...]. Lincoln. ſub. ann.
t
Some of Skelton's Latin poems ſeem to be written in the character of the Royal laureate, particularly one, entitled ‘"Haec Laureatus Skeltonus, orator reginae, ſuper triumphali, &c.’ It is ſubſcribed ‘"Per Skeltonida Laureatum, oratorem regium."’ Work [...], p. 110. edit. ut ſupr. Hardly any of his Engliſh pieces, which are numerous, appear to belong to that character. With regard to the ORATOR REGIUS, I find one John Mallard in that office to Henry the eighth, and his epiſtolary ſecretary. He has left a Latin elegiac paraphraſe on the lord's prayer, MSS. Bibl. Reg. 7 D. xiii. Dedicated to that king. Le premier livre de la coſmographie, in verſe, ibid. 20 B. xii. And a P [...]alter, beautifully written by himſelf, for the uſe of the king. In the margin, are ſhort notes in the handwriting, and two exquiſite miniatures, of Henry the eighth. Ibid. 2 A. xvi.
u
MS. olim penes Thom. Martin de Palgrave.
w
MSS. Coll. Nov. Oxon. 287.
x
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 12 A. x. The copy preſented. In paper. There is a wretched falſe quantity in the firſt line,
Indue, honor, cult [...]s, et adole munera flammis.
y
And a Latin life of ſaint Andrew. MSS. Cotton. DOMITIAN. A. xviii. 15.
z
A chronicle of the life and atchievements of Henry the ſeventh to the taking of Perkin Warbeck, MSS. Cotton. DOMITIAN. A. xviii. 15. Other hiſtorical commentaries on the reign of that king. Ibid. JUL. A. 4. JUL. A. 3.
a
The reader who requires a full and particular information concerning the firſt origin of the laureation of poets, and the ſolemnities with which this ceremony was performed in Italy and Germany, is referred to Selden's TIT. HON. Op. tom. p. 457. ſeq. VIE DE PETRARQUE, tom. iii. Notes, &c. p. 1. Not. quat. And to a memoir of M. l'Abbè du Reſnel, MEM. LIT. x. 507. 4to. I will only add, the form of the creation of three poets laureate by the chancellor of the univerſity of Straſburgh, in the year 1621. ‘"I create you, being placed in a chair of ſtate, crowned with laurel and ivy, and wearing a ring of gold, and the ſame do pronounce and conſtitute, POETS LAUREATE, in the name of the holy Trinity, the father, ſon, and holy ghoſt. Amen."’
b
See Hollinſh. Chron. iii. f. 710. It is uncertain whether the poem addreſſed by Chaucer to Scogan, was really written by the former, MSS. Fairfax. xvi.
c
Script. xi. 70. By the way, the SERJEANT of the King's Minſtrels occurs under this reign: and in a manner, which ſhews the confidential character of this officer, and his facility of acceſs to the king at all hours and on all occaſions. ‘"And as he [k. Edw. iv.] was in the north contray in the moneth of Septembre, as he laye in his bedde, one namid Alexander Carliſle, that was ſariaunt of the mynſtrallis, cam to him in grete h [...]ſte, and bade hym aryſe, for he hadde enemys cummyng, &c."’ A REMARKABLE FRAGMENT, etc. [an. ix. [...] Edw. iv.] ad calc. SPORTTI CHRON. edit. Hearne. Oxon. 1729. 8vo. Compare Percy's E [...]. MINSTR. p. 56. Anſtis, ORD. GART. ii. 303.
d
It is from theſe pieces we learn that he was of Oriel college: for he ſpeaks of retiring, with that ſociety, to the hoſpital of ſaint Bartholomew, while the plague was at Oxford. Theſe JESTS are ſixty in number. Pr. Pref. ‘"There is nothing beſides."’ Pr. ‘"On a time in Lent."’ They were reprinted about the reſtoration. 4to.
e
It may yet be doubted whether it belongs to Scogan; as it muſt have been written before the year 1447, and the writer complains of the approach of old age. col. i. v. 10. It was firſt printed, under Scogan's name, by Caxton, in the COLLECTION OF CHAUCER'S and LYDGATE'S POEMS. The little piece, printed as Chaucer's, [Urr. ed. p. 548.] called FLEE FROM THE PRESSE, is expreſ [...]ly given to Scogan, and called PROVERBIUM JOANNIS SKOGAN, MSS. C. C. C. Oxon. 203.
f
xi. 70.
g
He ſpeaks of the wife of William Canning, who will occur again below, five times mayor of Briſtol, and the founder of ſaint Mary of Radcliffe church there. ORDINAL, p. 34.
h
Printed by Aſhmole, in his THEATRUM CHEMICUM Lond. 1652. 8vo. p. 6. It was finiſhed A. D. 1477. ORDIN. p. 106. It was tranſlated into Latin by Michael Maier, M. D. Francof. 1618. 4to. Norton wrote other chemical pieces.
i
See ORDIN. p. 9. 10. Norton declares, that he learned his art in forty days, at twenty-eight years of age. Ibid. p. 33. 88.
k
Aſhmole, ubi ſupr. p. 455. Notes.
l
Pag. 106.
m
Pag. 26.
n
Pag. 26.
o
Aſhmol. ubi ſupr. p. 443. 467. And Camden's REM. p. 242. edit. 1674. By the way, Raymond Lu [...]ly is ſaid to have died at eighty years of age, in the year 1315. Whart. APP. Cave, cap. p. 6.
p
Aſhmole ſays, that Ripley, during his long ſtay at Rhodes, gave the knights of Malta 100,000 l. annually, towards maintaining the war againſt the Turks. Ubi ſupr. p. 458. Aſhmole could not have made this incredible aſſertion, without ſuppoſing a circumſtance equally incredible, that Ripley was in actual poſſeſſion of the Philoſopher's Stone.
q
Aſhmol. p. 455. ſeq. Bale, viii. 49. Pitſ. p. 677.
r
Aſhmol. THEATR. CHEM. p. 193. It was firſt printed in 1591. 4to. Reprinted by Aſhmole, THEATR. CHEM. ut ſupr. p. 107. It has been thrice tranſlated into Latin, Aſhm. ut ſupr. p. 465. See Ibid. p. 108. 110. 122. Moſt of Ripley's Latin works were printe [...] by Lud. Combachius, Caſſel. 16 [...]9. 12mo.
s
He mentions the abbey church at Weſtminſter as unfiniſhed. Pag. 154. ſt. 27. P. 156. and ſt. 34.
t
Aſhmole conjectures, that an Engliſh chemical piece in the octave ſtanza, which he has printed, called HERMES'S BIRD, no unpoetical fiction, was tranſlated from Raymond Lully, by Cremer, abbot of Weſtminſter, a great chemiſt: and adds, that Cremer brought Lully into England, and introduced him to the notice of Edward the third, about the year 1334. Aſhmol. ubi ſupr. p. 213. 467. The writer of HERMES'S BIRD, however, appears by the verſification and language, to have lived at leaſt an hundred years after that period. He informs us, that he made the tranſlation ‘"owte of the Frenſche."’ Ibid. p. 214. Aſhmole mentions a curious picture of the GRAND MYST [...]RIES OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, which abbot Cremer ordered to [...]e painted in Weſtminſter abbey, upon an arch where the waxen kings and queens are placed: but that it was obliterated with a plaiſterer's bruſh by the puritans in Oliver's time. He al [...]o mentions a large and beautiful window [...] behind the pulpit in the neighbouring church of ſaint Margaret, painted with the ſame ſubject, and deſtroyed by the ſame ignoran [...] zealots, who miſtook theſe innocent hi [...]roglyphics for ſome ſtory in a popiſh legend. Aſhmol. ibid. 211. 466. 467. Compar [...] Widmore's Hiſt. WESTMINSTER-ABBEY. p. 174. ſeq. edit. 1751. 4to.
u
Aſhm. p. 389. See alſo p. 374. ſeq.
w
It will be ſufficient to throw ſome of the obſcurer rhymers of this period into the Notes. Oſbern Bokenham wrote or tranſlated metrical lives of the ſaints, about 1445. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 14. Notes. Gilbert Baneſter wrote in Engliſh verſe the Miracle of ſaint Thomas, in the year 1467. CCCC. MSS. Q. viii. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 75. Notes. And Lel. COLLECTAN. tom. i. (p. ii.) pag. 510. edit. 1770. Wydville earl of Rivers, already mentioned, tranſlated into Engliſh diſ [...]ichs, The morale Proverbes of Cryſtyne of Pyſe, printed by Caxton, 1477. They conſiſt of two ſheets in folio. This is a couplet;
Little vailleth good example to ſee
For him that wole not the contrarie flee.
This nobleman's only original piece is a Balet of four ſtanzas, preſerved by Rouſe, a cotemporary hiſtorian, Roſs. Hiſt. p. 213. edit. Hearn. apud Leland. Itin. tom. x. edit. Oxon. 1745. I refer alſo the NOTBROWNE MAYDE to this period. See Capel's PROLUSION [...], p. 23. ſeq. edit. 1760. And Percy's ANC. BALL. vol. ii. p. 26. ſeq. edit. 1767. Of the ſame date is perhaps the DELECTABLE HISTORIE of king Edward the fourth and the Tanner of Tamworth, &c. &c. See Percy, ubi ſupr. p. 81. Hearne affirms, that in this piece there are ſome ‘"romantic aſſertions:—otherwiſe 'tis a book of value, and more authority is to be given to it than is given to poetical books of LATE YEARS."’ Hearne's Leland, ut ſupr. vol. ii. p. 103.
a
I acknowledge myſelf greatly indebted to the ingenious doctor Harrington of Bath, for facilitating my enquiries on this ſubject.
b
He is ſaid to have rebuilt Weſtbury college. Dugd. WARWICKSH. p. 634. edit. 1730. And Atkyns, GLOCESTERSH. p. 802. On his monument in Radcliffechurch, he is twice repreſented, both in an alderman's and a prieſt's habit. He was five times mayor of Briſtol. See Godwin's BISH. p. 446. [But ſee edit. fol. p. 467.]
c
It is ſaid there were four cheſts: but this is a circumſtance of no conſequence.
d
Theſe will be mentioned below.
e
See an inventory of ornaments given to this church by the founder, Jul. 4, 1470 [...] [...]ormerly kept in this cheſt, and printed by Mr. Walpole, AN [...]CD. PAINT. i. p. 45.
f

The old bridge was built about the year 1248. HISTORY of BRISTOL, MS. Archiv. Bodl. C. iii. By Abel Wantner.

Archdeacon Furney, in the year 1755, left by will to the Bodleian library, large collections, by va [...]ious hands, relating to the hiſtory and antiquities of the city, church, and county of Glouceſter, which are now preſerved there, Archiv. C. ut ſupr. At the end of N. iii. is the manuſcript HISTORY juſt mentioned, ſuppoſed to have been compiled by Abel Wantner, of Minchin-Hampton in Gloceſterſhire, who publiſhed propoſals and ſpecimens for a hiſtory of that county, in 1683.

g
Mr. Barrett, to whom I am greatly o [...]iged [...]or his unreſerved and liberal information on this ſubject, is now engaged in writing the ANTIQUITIES of BRISTOL.
h
Pencil.
i
Soul.
k
That.
l
Glimmers.
m
Seemlineſs. Beauty.
n
Perhaps we ſhould read, O [...] ſcarlette vailed with a linnen clothe.
o
Soul.
p
Never.
q
Another.
r
At once.
s
The meadows are ſprinkled, &c.
t
Tender.
u
Stretching. Stretched.
w
i. e. Are.
x
A ſign-poſt before an alchouſe. In Chaucer, the HOSTE ſays,
—Here at this ale [...]ouſe-ſta [...]e,
I wol both drinke, and etin of a cake.
WORDES HOST. v. 1835. Urr. p. 131. And in the SHIP OF FOOLES, fol. 9. a. edit. 1570.
By the ale-ſta [...]e knowe we the alehouſe,
And everie inne is knowen by the ſigne.
y
Glimmering.
z
Drops.
a
There is a deſcription of morning in another part of the tragedy.
The mornynge gynes alonge the eaſt to ſheene,
Darkling the lyghte does on the waters plaie;
The feynte rodde beam ſlowe creepethe over the leene,
To chaſe the morkyneſſe of nyghte awaie.
Swift fleis the hower that will brynge oute the daie,
The ſofte dewe falleth onne the greeynge graſſe;
The ſhepſter mayden dyghtynge her arraie,
Scante ſees her vyſage ynne the wavie glaſſe:
By the fulle daylight wee ſcalle ELLA ſee,
Or BRISTOWE'S walled towne. Damoyſelle followe mee.
b
Hair.
c
Neck.
d
Bright.
e
Indent. Bend into the ground.
f
Grow.
g
Ouphan. Elphin.
h
R [...]eds [...]
i
Holy.
k
With this addreſs to Lydgate prefixed.
Well thenne, good John, ſythe ytt muſte needes ſo be,
That thou, and I a bowtynge matche muſte have;
Lett ytt ne breakynge of oulde friendſhipp [...] bee,
Thys ys the on [...]lie allaboone I crave.
Remember Stowe, the Bryghtſtowe Carmalyte,
Who, when John Clackynge, one of myckle lore,
Dydd throwe hys gauntlette penne wyth [...] hym to wryte,
He ſhewde ſmalle wytte, and ſhewde his weakneſſe more.
Thys ys mie 'formance, whiche I now have wrytte,
The beſt performance of mie lyttel wytte.
S [...]owe ſhould be Stone, a Carmelite friar of Briſtol, educated at Cambridge, and a famous preacher. Lydgate's anſwer on receiving the ode, which certainly cannot be genuine, is beneath tranſcription. The writer, freely owning his inferiority, declares, that Rowlie rivals Chaucer and Turgotus, who both lived in Norman tymes. The latter, indeed, may in ſome meaſure be ſaid to have flouriſhed in that era, for he died biſhop of Saint Andrews in 1115. But he is oddly coupled with Chaucer in another reſpect, for he wrote only ſome Latin chronicles. Beſides, Lydgate muſt have been ſufficiently acquainted with Chaucer's age; for he was living, and a young man, when Chaucer died. The writer alſo m [...]ntions Stone, the Carmelite, as living with Chaucer and Turgotus: whereas he was Lydgate's cotemporary. Theſe circumſtances, added to that of the extreme and affected meanneſs of the compoſition, evidently prove this little piece a forgery.
n
BELLACCOYLE. A perſonage in Chaucer's Rom. R. v. 2984. &c. i. e. KIND WELCOME. From the Fr. Bel ac [...]ueil.
o
Snuff up.
p
The mi [...]ſtrels ceaſe.
q
Dine.
r
If.
s
So.
t
Fierce.
u
Poliſhed. Bright.
w
Waters.
x
Oak. Ship.
y
Contend with.
z
Noiſy.
a
Reach.
b
Seated.
c
It contains 98 ſtanzas, and was printed at London, in the year 1772. 4to. I am told, that in the abovementioned cheſt, belonging to Radcliffe-church, an antient Record was diſcovered, containing the expences for Edward the fourth to ſee the execution of ſir Charles Baldwin; with a deſcription of a canopy under which the king [...]ate at thi [...] execution. This Record ſeems to have given riſe to the poem. A bond which ſir Charles Baldwin gave to king Henry the ſixth, I ſuppoſe about ſeizing the earl of Warwick, is ſaid to have be [...]n mentioned in one of Rowlie's manuſcripts, called the YELLOW ROLL, perhaps the ſame, found in Cannynge's cheſt, but now loſt. See Stowe's CHRON. by Howes, edit. fol. 1615. p. 406. col. 2. And Speed's, p. 669. col. 2. edit. 1611. Stowe ſays, that king Edward [...] the fourth was [...]at Briſtol, on a progreſs through England, in the harveſt ſ [...]aſon of the year 1462. And that he was moſ [...] royally received. Ibid. p. 416. col. 2. Cannynge was then mayor of Briſtol. Sir Charles Baldwin is ſaid to have been executed at Briſtol, in the preſence of Edward the fourth, in the year 1463. MS. Wantn. Bibl. Bodl. ut ſupr. The ſame king was at Briſtol, and lodged in ſaint Augu [...]tine's abbey, in 1472, when he received a large gratuity from the citizens for carrying on the war againſt France. Wantner, ibid.
d
At the ſame time, another manuſcript on parchment, written, as pretended, by Rowlie, was ſhewn to this gentleman: which, tallying in every reſpect with the ODE to ELLA, plainly appeared to be forged, in the ſame manner, and by the ſame modern hand. It was in proſe; and contained an account of Saxon coins, and the riſe of coining in England, with a liſt of coins, poems, antient inſcriptions, monuments, and other curioſities, in the cabinet of Cannynge abovementioned. This parchment is alſo loſt; and, I believe, no copy remain [...].
e

It would be tedious and trifling to deſcend to minute particulars. But I will mention one or two. In the ODE TO ELLA, the poet ſuppoſes, that the ſpectre of Ella ſometimes appears in the mynſter, that is Briſtol-cathedral. But when Rowlie is ſuppoſed to have lived, the preſent cathedral of Briſtol was nothing more than an Auguſtine monaſtery, in which Henry the eighth eſtabliſhed long afterwards a biſhop, and a dean and chapter, in the year 1542. Minſter is a word almoſt appropriated to Cathedrals: and I will venture to ſay, that the church of this monaſtery, before the preſent foundation took place, never was called Briſtol-minſter, or The minſter. The inattention to this circumſtance, has produced another unfortunate anachroniſm in ſome of Rowlie's papers. Where, in his panegyric on Cannynge he ſays, ‘"The favouryte of godde, the [...]ryende of the chyrche, the companyonne of kynges, and the fadre of hys natyve CITIE, the grete and good Wyllyamme Canynge."’ Briſtol was never ſtyled a CITY till the erection of its biſhoprick in 1542. See Willis's NOTIT. PARLIAMENT. p. 43. Lond. 1750. See alſo king Henry's Patent for creating the biſhoprick of Briſtol, in Rymer, dat. Jun. 4. A. D. 1542. An. reg. 34. Where the king orders, ‘"Ac quod tota Villa noſtra Briſtolliae exnunc et d [...]inceps imperpetuum ſit Civitas, ipſamque CIVITATEM BRISTOLLIAE appellari et nominari, volumus et decernimus, &c."’ FOED. tom. xv. p. 749. Briſtol was proclaimed a CITY, an. 35 Henr. viii. MS. Wantner, ut ſupr. In which manuſcript, to that period it is conſtantly called a town.

The deſcription of Cannynge's feaſt, is called an ACCOUNTE of CANNYNGE'S FEAST. I do not think, that ſo early as the year 1470, the word Accounte had loſt its literal and original ſenſe of a computus, or computation, and was uſed in a looſer acceptation for narrative or detail. Nor had it even then loſt its true ſpelling accompt, in which its proper and primary ſignification is preſerved and implied.

f
He is alſo ſaid to have been an eminent mechanic and mathematician. I am informed, that one of Rowlie's manuſcripts diſcovered in Cannynge's iron cheſt, was a plan for ſupporting the tower of the Temple-church in B [...]iſtol, which had greatly declined from its perpendicular. In a late reparation of that church, ſome ſubterraneous works were found, minutely correſponding with this manuſcript.
g
Compare Willis, MITR. ABB. ii. 88.
h

This will is in Latin, dated Nov. 12. 1474. Proved Nov. 29. It was made in Weſtbury college. Cur. Praerog. Cant. Regiſtr. WATTIS, quatern. xvii. fol. 125. Beſide the bequeſts mentioned in the text, he leaves legacies to all the canons, the chaplains and deacons, and the twelve choriſters, of Weſtbury college. To the ſix prieſts, ſix almſmen and ſix almſwomen, founded in the new chapel at Weſtbury by Carpenter, biſhop of Worceſter. To many of the ſervants of the ſaid college. To the fabric of the church of that college, xls. To rebuilding the tower of the church of Compton Graynefield, xls. He alſo makes bequeſts to his almſhouſes at Briſtol, and to the corporation of that town. He remembers ſome of the religious foundations, chiefly the mendicants, at Briſtol. He ſtyles himſelf, nuper mercator villae Briſtoll, [...]t nunc decanus collegii S. Trin. de Weſtbury. The ſubdean of Weſtbury college is one of the executors. In this will the name of ROWLIE is not mentioned. Compare Tanner, NOTIT. MONAST. p. 484. And Atkyns's GLOUCESTERSH. p. 802.

Biſhop Carpenter, about the year 1460, was a conſiderable benefactor to Weſtbury college. He pulled down the old college, ‘"and in the new building, enlarged it very much, compaſſing it about with a ſtrong wall embattled, adding a faire gate with divers towers, more like unto a caſtle than a colledge: and laſtly, beſtowed much good land for augmenting the revenew of the ſame."’ Godwin, SUCCESS. BISHO [...]S, pag. 446. edit. 1. ut ſupr. And Leland ſpeaks much to the ſame purpoſe. ‘"Hic [Carpenter] ex veteri collegio, quod erat Weſtberiae, novum fecit, et praediis auxit, addito pinnato muro, porta, et turribus, inſtar caſtelli."’ ITIN. vol. viii. fol. 112. a. And hence it appears to be a miſtake, that Cannynge, who was indeed dean while theſe benefactions took place, rebuilt the college. As Dugd. WARWICKSH. p. 634. edit. 1730. Atkyns, GLOUCESTERSH. p. 802. ſupr. citat. p. 140.

i
I much doubt, if this word now exiſted, in the modern, or any, ſenſe. Indeed, the phraſe to draw a picture might have been now known: but to draw, in its preſent uncombined uſe, had not yet acquired this meaning. So late as the reign of James the firſt, a Painter was often called a picture-drawer. In antient inventories of furniture, a drawing never occurs as any ſpecies of production of the art of deſigning: it became a technical and diſtinguiſhing term when that art began to attain ſome degree of maturity. Pictures, although this word is now confined to a preciſe ſignification, would not have been improper here. Yet the word Picture was not antiently uſed in its preſent ſenſe and manner: but, a picture with a cloth, a table with a picture, &c.
k
I ſuppoſe, Worceſter cathedral.
l
Or Malmeſbury.
m
This was not an Engliſh word at this early period: it was not uſed, and for obvious reaſons, till after the invention of printing. So again we have below, ‘"the Saxon manuſcript [...]."’ Theſe, at this time, would have been called books.
n
This ſhould have been Prior. An abbot was never the title of the ſuperiour in cathedral-convents. The PRIOR OF COVENTRY muſt have been a dignitary wellknown by that name, as he ſate in parliament.
o
Moſt probably Worceſter cathedral.
p
See above, p. 153.
q
That is, the poem called the EXECUTION OF SIR CHARLES BAWDWIN, mentioned above, p. 153. What is there ſaid concerning this poem, greatly invalidates the authenticity of theſe MEMOIRS. Rowlie might indeed write a poem on this ſubject; but not the poem circulated as his.
r
A Norman family.
s
I know nothing of this piece.
t
I very much queſtion, whether this technical law-term, or even this mode of contract, exiſted in the year 1460.
a
Diſadvantageous ſuſpicions againſt the chaſtity of the female religious were pretended in earlier times. About the year 1250, a biſhop of Lincoln viſited the nunneries of his dioceſe: on which occaſion, ſays the continuator of Matthew Paris, ‘"ad domos religioſarum veniens, fecit EXPRIMI MAMILLAS earundem, ut ſic phyſice, ſi eſſet inter eas corruptela, experiretur."’ Matt. Pariſ. Hiſt. p. 789. HENRICUS iii. edit. Tig. 1589. fol. An anecdote, which the hiſtorian relates with indignation; not on account of the nuns, but of the biſhop.
b
See Newcourt, Repertor. i. 90. ii. 517. The univerſity ſealed his letters teſtimonial, jul. 3. A. D. 1433. Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. ſupr. citat. T. f. 27. b. He died A. D. 1483.
c

Gaſcoigne ſays that ‘"rithme royal is a verſe of ten ſyllables, and ten ſuch verſes make a ſtaffe, &c."’ Inſtructions for verſe, &c. Sign. D. i. ad calc. WORKES, 1587. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 464. Notes, a.] Burgh's ſtanza is here called balade royall: by which, I believe, is commonly ſignified the octave ſtanza. All thoſe pieces in Chaucer, called Certaine Ballads, are in this meaſure. In Chaucer's LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN, written in long verſe, a ſong of three octave ſtanzas is introduced; beginning, Hide Abſolon thy gilte treſſis clere. v. 249. p. 340. Urr. Afterwards, Cupid ſays, v. 537. p. 342.

—a ful grete negligence
Was it to thee, that ilke time thou made,
Hide Abſolon thy treſſis, IN BALADE.

In the Britiſh Muſeum there is a Kalandre in Englyſshe, made in BALADE by Dann John Lydgate monke of Bury. That is, in this ſtanza. MSS. Harl. 1706. 2. fol. 10. b. The reader will obſerve, that whether there are eight or ſeven lines, I have called it the octave ſtanza. Lydgate has, moſt commonly, only ſeven lines. As in his poem on Guy earl of Warwick, MSS. Laud. D. 31. fol. 64. Here ginneth the lyff of Guy of Warwyk. [Pr. From Criſte's birth compleat nine 100 yere.] He is ſpeaking of Guy's combat with the Daniſh giant Colbrand, at Wincheſter.

Without the gate remembered as I rede,
The place callyd of antiquytye
In Inglyſh tonge named hyde mede,
Or ellis denmarch nat far from the cyte:
Meeting to gedre, there men myght ſee
Terryble ſtrokys, lyk the dent of thond [...]r;
Sparklys owt of thar harnyſs, &c.
d
See Vignol. Marville. Miſcell. tom. i. p. 56.
e
Noct. Att. xi. 2.
f
It was printed under the name of Auſonius, Roſtoch. 1572. 8vo.
g
Ex Epiſtol. Vindiciani Medici, ad Valent. They are mentioned by Notkerus, who flouriſhed in the tenth century, among the M [...]trorum, Hymnorum, Epigrammatumque conditor [...]s. Cap. vi. DE ILLUSTRIB. VIR. etc. printed by Fabric. M. Lat. v. p. 904.
h
The poem DE VIRTUTIBUS HERBARUM, under the name of Macer, now extant, was written by Odo, or Odobonus, a phyſician of the dark ages. It was tranſlated into Engliſh, by John Lelarmoner, or Lelamar, maſter of Hereford ſchool, about the year 1373. MSS. Sloane. 29. Princ. ‘"Apium, Ache is hote and drie."’ There is Macer's Herbal, ibid. 43. This ſeems to have been printed, ſee Ames, p. 158.
i
Cod. 12. [8615.]
l
Polycrat. vii. 9. p. 373. edit. Lugd. Bat. 1595. It is cited, ibid. p. 116. 321. 512. In the ART OF VERSIFICATION, a Latin poem, written by Eberhardus Bethunienſis, about the year 1212, there is a curious paſſage, in which all the claſſics of that age are recited; or the beſt authors, then in vogue, and whom he recommends to be taught to youth. [Leyſer. Poet. Med. aev. p. 8 [...]5.] They are, CATO the moraliſt. THEODULUS, the author of a l [...]onine Eclogue, a dialogue between Truth and Falſhood, written in the tenth century, printed among the OCTO MORALES, and by Goldaſtus, Man. Bibl. 1620. 8vo. MSS. Harl. 3093. 4. Wynkyn de Worde printed this piece under the titl [...] of Theodoli liber, cum comm [...]nto ſatis prolixo autoris cujuſdam Anglici qui multa Anglicana ubique miſcuit. 1515. 4to. It was from one of Theodulus's ECLOGUES, beginning Aethiopum terras, that Field, maſter of Fotheringay college, about the year 1480, ſette the v [...]rſis of the book caullid Aethiopum terras, in the glaſſe windowe, with figures very neatly. Leland. ITIN. i. fol. 5. [p. 7. edit. 1745.] This ſeems to have been in a window of the new and beautiful cloiſter, built about that time. FLAVIUS AVIANUS, a writer of Latin ſables, or apologues, Lugd. Bat. 1731. 8vo. AESOP, or the Latin fabuliſt, printed among the OCTO MORALES, Lugd. Bat. 1505. 4to. MAXIMIANUS, whoſe ſix elegies, written about the ſeventh century, paſs under the name of Gallus. Chaucer cites this writer; and in a manner, which ſhews his elegies had not then acquired the name of Gallus. COURT OF L. v. 798. ‘"MAXIMINIAN truely thus doeth he write."’ PAMPHILUS MAURILIANUS, author of the hexametrical poem de Vetula, and the elegies de Arte amandi, entitled PAMPHILUS, publiſhed by Goldaſtus, Catalect. Ovid. Francof. 1610. 8vo. [See ſupr. p. 130.] GETA, or Hoſidius Geta, who has left a tragedy on Medea, printed in part by Pet. S [...]riverius, Fragm. Vett. Tragic. Lat. p. 187. [But ſee ſupr. vol. i. p. 234.] DARES PHRYGIUS, on the deſtruction of Troy. MACER. [See ſupr. p. 159.] MARBODEUS, a Latin poet on Gems. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 378.] PETRUS DE RIGA, canon of Rheims, whoſe AURORA, or the Hiſtory of the Bible allegoriſed, in Latin verſes, ſome of which are in rhyme, was never printed entire. He has left alſo Speculum Eccleſi [...], with other pieces, in Latin poetry. He flouriſhed about the year 1130. SEDULIUS. PROSPER. ARATOR. PRUDENTIUS. BOETHIUS. ALANUS, author of the Anticlaudian, a poem in nine books, occaſioned by the ſcepticiſm of Claudian. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 391.] VIRGIL, HORACE, OVID, LUCAN, STATIUS, JUVENAL, and PERSIUS. JOHN HANVILLE, an Engliſhman, who wrote the A [...]CHITRENIUS, in the twelfth century, a Latin hexameter poem in nine books. PHILIP GUALTIER, of Chatillon, who wrote, about the ſame period, the ALEXANDREID, an heroic poem on Alexander the great. SOLYMARIUS, or GUNTHER, a German Latin poet, author of the SOLYMARIUM, or Cruſade. GALFRIDUS, our countryman, whoſe NOVA POETRIA was in higher celebrity than Horace's Art of Poetry. [See vol. i. Diſſertat. ii.] MATTHAEUS, of Vendoſme, who in the year 1170, paraphraſed the Book of T [...]bit into Latin elegiacs, from the Latin bible of ſaint Jerom, under the title of the TOBIAD, ſometimes called the THEBAID, and firſt printed among the OCTO MORALES. ALEXANDER DE VILLA DEI, whoſe DOCT [...]INALE, or Grammar in Leonine verſe, ſuperſeded Priſcian about the year 1200. [...]t was firſt printed at Venice, fol. 1473. And by Wynkyn de Worde, 1503. He was a French frier minor, and alſo wrote the ARGUMENTS of the chapters of all the books of either Teſtament, in two hundred and twelve hexameters. With ſome other forgotten pieces. MARCIANUS CAPELLA, whoſe poem on the MARRIAGE OF MERCURY WITH PHILOLOGY rivalled Boethius. [See ſupr. p. 75.] JOANNES DE GARLANDIA, an Engliſhman, a poet and grammarian, who ſtudied at Paris about the year 1200. The moſt eminent of his numerous Latin poems, which croud our libraries, ſeem to be his EPITHALAMIUM on the Virgin Mary in ten books of elegiacs. MSS. Cotton. CLAUD. A. x. And DE TRIUMPHIS ECCLESIAE, in eight books, which contains much Engliſh hiſtory. MS. ibid. Some of his pieces, both in proſe and verſe, have been printed. BERNARDUS CARNOTENSIS, or Sylveſter, much applauded by John of Saliſbury, who ſtyles him the moſt perfect Platonic of that age. Metallog. iv. c. 35. His MEGACOSM and MICROCOSM, a work conſiſting both of verſe and proſe, is frequently cited by the barbarous writers. He is imitated by Chaucer, Man of L. Tale, v. 4617. ‘"In ſterres many a winter, &c."’ PHYSIOLOGUS, or THEOBALDUS EPISCOPUS, who wrote in Latin verſe De Naturis xii. animalium, MSS. Harl. 3093. 5. He is there called Italicus. There is alſo a Magiſter FLORINUS, ſtyled alſo PHYSIOLOGUS, on the ſame ſubject. Chaucer quotes PHYSIOLOGUS, whom I by miſtake have ſuppoſed to be Pliny, ‘"For PHISIOLOGUS ſays ſikerly."’ NONNES PR. TALE. v. 15277. [See ſupr. vol. i. p [...] 420.] SIDONIUS, who wrote a metrical dialogue between a Jew and a Chriſtian on both the Teſtaments. And a SIDONIUS, perhaps the ſame, r [...]gis qui [...]ingit praelia. To theſe our author adds his own GRECISMUS, or a poem in hexameters on rhetoric and grammar; which, as Du Cange [Praef. Lat. Gloſſ. § XLV.] obſerves, was antiently a common manual in the ſeminaries of France, and, I ſuppoſe, of England.
m
Etymol. V. OFFICIPERDA.
n
Contra Elipand. lib. ii. p. 949.
o
Lib. i. Theol. Chriſt. p. 1183.
p
V. 3227.
q
V. 9261.
r
It occurs often among the Baroccian manuſcripts, Bibl. Bodl. viz. 64. 71, bis. 95. 111. 194. The firſt edition of Cato, ſoon followed by many others, I believe, is Auguſt. A D. 1485. The moſt complete edition is that of Chriſt. Daumius, Cygn. 1672. 8vo. Containing the Greek metaphraſes of Maximus Planudes, Joſeph Scaliger, Matthew Zuber, and John Mylius, a Ger [...]a [...] verſion by Martinus Apicius, with annotations and other acceſſions. It was before tranſlated into German rhymes by Abraham Morterius, of Weiſſenburgh, Francof. 1590. 8vo.
s
Colloqu. Menſal. c. 37.
t
One by Peter Groſnet, L [...]s mots dorces du ſage Caton. Pariſ. 1543.
u
MSS. H [...]rl. 4388. This manuſcript is older than 1400. Du Cange quotes a CATO in French rhymes. Gl. Lat. V. LECATOR. See MSS. Aſhmol. 789. 2. [6995.]
w
Many of the gloſſed manuſcripts, ſo common in the libraries, were the copies with which pupils in the univerſity attended their readers, or lecturers; from whoſe mouths paraphraſtic notes were interlined or written in the margin, by the more diligent hearers. In a Latin tranſlation of ſome of Ariſtotle's philoſophical works, once belonging to Rocheſter priory, and tranſcribed about the year 1350, one Henry de Rewham is ſaid to be the writer; and to have gloſſed the book, during the time he heard it explained by a public reader in the ſchools of Oxford. ‘"Et audivit in ſcholis Oxonie, et emendavit et GLOSAVIT audiendo."’ MSS. Reg. 12 G. ii. 4to. In the mean time, I am of opinion, that the word reader originally took its riſe from a paucity of books: when there was only ONE book to be had, which a profeſſor or lecturer recited to a large audience.
x
Printed, Auguſt. 1475. In Exeter college library, there is CATO MORALISATUS, MSS. 37. [837.] And again at All Souls, MSS. 9. [1410.] Compare MSS. More, 35. [9221.] And Bibl. Coll. Trin. Dublin. 651. 14. And MSS. Harl. 6294.
y
MSS. Coll. Trin. Dublin. 275. And Bibl. Eccleſ. Vigorn ſub. Tit. URBANUS, MSS. 147. One Tedbaldus, of the ſame age, is called the author, from a manuſcript cited, Giornal. Lett. d'Ital. iv. p. 181. In Lewis's CAXTON, in a collection of Chaucer's and Lydgate's poems by Caxton, without date, are recited 3. PARVUS CATHO. 4. MAGNUS CATO. p. 104. What theſe tranſlations are I know not. Beſide Caxton's CATO, mentioned above, there is a ſeparate work by Caxton, ‘"Hic incipit PARVUS CATON,"’ in Engliſh and Latin. No date. Containing thirtyſeven leaves in quarto. I find PARVUS CATO in Engliſh rhyme, MSS. Vernon. Bibl. Bodl. fol. cccx. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 14.] The Latin of the leſſer CATO is printed among AUCTORES OCTO MORALES, Lugd. 1538. Compare MSS. Harl. 2251. iii. fol. 174. 112. fol. 175. A tranſlation into Engliſh verſes of both CATOS, perhaps by Lydgate. See alſo MSS. Coll. Trin. Dublin. V. 651. The PROVERBIA CATONIS are a different work from either of theſe, written in hexameters by Marbodeus, Opp. Hildebert. p. 1634. Paris 1708. fol.
z
MSS. Harl. 116. 2. See alſo, 271. 2.
a
See ſupr. LYDGATE. There is a tranſlation of the Wyz Cato, and Aeſop's Fables, into Engliſh dogrell, by one William Bulloker, for Edm. Bollifant. 1585. This W. Bulloker wrote a Pamphlet for grammar, for the ſame, 1586. 12mo.
b
There was a ſtrong connection between the two monaſteries. In that of ſaint Alban's a monk was annually appointed, with the title of Cuſtos monialium de Sopewelle. Regiſtr. Abbat. Wallingford, [Sub an. 1480.] MSS. Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Tanner.
c

In the year 1486. fol. Again, at Weſtminſter, by W. de Worde. 1496. 4to. The barbariſm of the times ſtrongly appears in the indelicate expreſſions which ſhe often uſes; and which are equally incompatible with her ſex and profeſſion. The poem begins thus. [I tranſcribe from a good manuſcript, MSS. Rawlinſ. Bibl. Bodl. papyr. fol.]

Mi dere ſones, where ye fare, by frith, or by fell *,
Take good hede in his tyme how Triſtrem wol tell;
How many maner beſtes of venery there were,
Liſtenes now to our Dame, and ye ſhullen here.
Ffowre maner beſtes of venery there are,
The firſt of hem is a hart, the ſecond is an hare;
The boor is one of tho,
The wolff, and no mo.
And whereſo ye comen in play or in place,
Now ſhal I tel you which ben beſtes of chace:
One of the a buck, another a doo,
The ffox, and the marteryn, and the wild [...] roo:
And ye ſhall, my dere ſones, other beſtes all,
Where ſo ye hem finde, raſcall hem call,
In frith or in fell,
Or in fforreſt, y yow tell.
And to ſpeke of the hert, if ye wil hit lere,
Ye ſhall call him a calfe at the firſt yere;
The ſecond yere a broket, ſo ſhall he be,
The third yere a ſpayard, lerneth this at me;
The iiii yere calles hem a ſtagge be any way
The firſt yere a grete ſtagge, my dame bade you ſay.

Among Crynes's books [911. 4to. Bibl. Bodl.] there is a bl. lett. copy of this piece, ‘"Imprynted at London in Paul's churchyarde by me Hary Tab."’ Again by William Copland without date, ‘"Th [...] boke of hawkyng, hunting, and fiſhing, with all the properties and medecynes that are neceſſary to be kept."’ With wooden cuts. Here the tract on armory is omitted, which ſeems to have been firſt inſerted that the work might contain a complete courſe of education for a gentleman. The ſame title is in W. Powel's edit. 1550. The laſt edition is ‘"The GENTLEMAN'S ACADEMY, or the book of ſaint Albans, concerning hawking, hunting, and armory."’ Lond. 1595. 4to.

*
Wood or [...]ld.
Sir Triſtr [...]m. See OBSERVAT. SPENS. i. p. 21.
Plain.
d
At the magnificent marriage of the princeſs Margaret with James the fourth, king of Scotland, in 1503, his majeſty ſends the new queen, ‘"a grett tame hart, for to have a corſe."’ Leland. Coll. APPEND. iii. 280. edit. 1770.
e

This is the latter part of the colophon at the end of the ſaint Alban's edition. ‘"And here now endith the boke of blaſyng of armys, tranſlatyt and [...]ompylyt togedyr [...]t ſaynt Albons the yere from thyncarnacyon of oure lorde Jheſu Criſt MCCCCLXXXVI."’ [This very ſcarce book, printed in various inks, was in the late Mr. Weſt's library.] This part is tranſlated or abſtracted from Upton's book De re milita [...]i, et factis illuſtribus, written about the year 1441. See the fourth book De inſignibus Anglorum nobilium. Edit. Biſſ. Lond. 1654. 4to. It begins with the following curious piece of ſacred heraldry. ‘"Of the offspring of the gentilman Jafeth, come Habraham, Moyſes, Aron, and the profettys, and alſo the kyng of the right Iyne of Mary, of whom that gentilman Jheſus was borne, very god and man: after his manhode kynge of the land of Jude and of Jues, gentilman by is moder Mary, prynce of Co [...]e armure, &c."’

Nicholas Upton, above mentioned, was a fellow of New college Oxford, about the year 1430. He had many dignities in the church. He was patroniſed by Humphrey duke of Gloceſter, to whom he dedicates his book. This I ought to have remarked before.

f
Wood [...] Ant. Univ. Oxon. i. 117.
g
See alſo MSS. Reg. 17 C. viii. p. 2.
h
V. 6. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 123. Notes.
i
MSS. Caius Coll. Claſs. A. 9. (2.)
k
CALIG. A. 12. f. 128.
l
See Percy's BALL. i. 306.
m

Regiſtr. Priorat. S. Swithini Winton. ut ſupr. [vol. i. p. 89.] ‘"In feſto Alwyni epiſcopi..... Et durante pietancia in aulâ conventûs, ſex MINISTRALLI, cum quatuor CITHARISATORIBUS, faciebant miniſtralcias ſuas. Et poſt cenam, in magna camera arcuatâ dom. Prioris, cantabant idem GESTUM, in quâ camerâ ſuſpendebatur, ut moris eſt, magnum dorſale Prioris, habens picturas trium regum Colein. Veniebant autem dicti joculatores a caſtello domini regis, et ex familiâ epiſcopi...."’ The reſt is much obliterated, and the date is hardly diſcernible. Among the Harleian manuſcripts, there is an antient ſong on the three kings of Cologne, in which the whole ſtory of that favorite romance is reſolved into alchemy. MSS. 2407. 13. fol. Wynkyn de Worde printed this romance in quarto, 1526. It is in MSS. Harl. 1704. 11. fol. 49. b. Imperf. Coll. Trin. Dublin. V. 651. 14. [C. 16.] MSS. More, 37. And frequently in other places. Barclay, in his EGLOGES, mentions this ſubject, a part of the nativity, painted on the walls of a churche cathedrall. EGL. v. Signat. D. ii. ad calc. Ship of fooles, edit. 1570.

And the thre kinges, with all their company,
Their crownes gliſtening bright and oriently,
With their preſentes and giftes miſticall,
All this behelde I in picture on the wall.

In an Inventory of ornaments belonging to the church of Holbech in Lincolnſhire, and ſold in the year 1548, we find this article. ‘"Item, for the COATS of the iii. kyngs of Coloyne, v s. iiii d."’ I ſuppoſe theſe coats were for dreſſing perſons who repreſented the three kings in ſome proceſſion on the NATIVITY. Or perhaps for a MYSTERY on the ſubject, plaid by the pariſh. But in the ſame Inventory we have, Item, for the apoſtylls [the apoſtles] coats, and for HAROD'S [Herod's] coate, &c. Stukeley's ITIN. CURIOS. pag. 19. In old accompts of church-wardens for ſaint Helen's at Abingdon, Berks, for the year 1566, there is an entry For ſetting up ROBIN HOODES BOWER. I ſuppoſe for a pariſh interlude. ARCHAEOL. vol. i. p. 16.

n
He is buried in the north wall of the preſbytery, with an inſcription.
o
In Theſauriaro Coll. Trin. Oxon. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 90.]
p
In the fourth century, being incloſed in a cave at Epheſus by the emperour Decius 372 years, they were afterwards found ſleeping, and alive.
q
MSS. Cott. CALIG. A. ix. iii. fol. 213. b. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 18.] ‘"Jci commence la vie de Semt dormanz."’
La uertu deu iur tut iuſ & dure
[...] tvt iurz eſt certeine epure.
r
MSS. Lambecc. viii. p. 375. Photius, without naming the author, gives the ſubſtance of this Greek legend, Bibl. COD. CCLIII. pag. 1399. edit. 1591. fol. This ſtory was common among the Arabians. The muſſulmans borrowed many wonderful narratives from the chriſtians, which they embelliſhed with new fictions. They pretend that a dog, which was accidentally ſhut up in the cavern with the ſeven ſleepers, become rational. See Herbelot, DICT. ORIENT. P [...] 139. a. V. ASHAB. p. 17. In the Britiſh Muſeum there is a poem, partly in Saxon characters, De pueritia domini noſtri Jheſu Criſti. Or, the childhood of Chriſt. MSS. Harl. 2399. 10. fol. 47. It begins thus.
Alle myȝhty god yn Trynyte,
That bowth [bought] man on rode dere;
He gefe ows waſhe to the
A lytyl wyle that ye wylle me here.

Who would ſuſpect that this abſurd legend had alſo a Greek original? It was taken, I do not ſuppoſe immediately, from an apocryphal narrative aſcribed to ſaint Thomas the apoſtle, but really compiled by Thomas Iſraelites, and entitled, [...], Liber de pueritia et miraculis domini, &c. It is printed in part by Cotelerius, Not. ad Patr [...] Apoſtol. p. 274. Who there mentions a book of Saint Matthew the Evangeliſt, De Inf [...]ntia Salvatoris, in which our Lord is introduced learning to read, &c. See Iren. lib. i. c. xvii. p. 104. Among other figments of this kind, in the Pſeudo-Gelaſian Decree are recited, The [...]iſtory and nat [...]vity of our Saviour, and of Mary and the midwife. And [...] The hiſtory of the inf [...]ncy of [...]r Saviour. Jur. Can. DISTINCT. can. 3. The latter piece is mentioned by Ana [...]tafius, where he cenſures as ſuppoſititious, the puerile miracles of Chriſt. [...] c. xiii. p. 26.

On the ſ [...]me ſubject there is an Arabic book, probably compiled ſoon after the ri [...]e of Mahometani [...]m, tranſlated into Latin by Sikius, called EVANGELIUM IN [...]ANTIAE, Arab. et Latin. Traject. ad Rhen. 169 [...]. 8vo. In this piece, Chriſt is e [...]amined by the Jewiſh doctors, in aſtronomy, medicine, phyſics, and metaphyſics. Sikius ſays, that the PUERILE MIRACLES of Chriſt were common among the Perſians. Ibid. in Not. p [...] 55. Fabricius cites a German poem, more than four hundred years old, founded on theſe legends. Cod. Apocryph. NOV. TEST. tom. i. pa [...]. 212. Hamburg. 1703.

At the end of the Engliſh poem on this ſubject above cited, is the following rub [...]ic. ‘"Qöd dnus Johannes Arcitenens canonicus Bodminie et natus in illa."’ Whether this canon of Bodmin in Cornwall, whoſe name was perhaps Archer, or Bowyer, is the poet, or only the tranſcriber, I cannot ſay. See fol. 48. In the ſame manuſcript volume, [8.] there is an old Engliſh poem to our Sa [...]iour, with this note. ‘"Explicit Contemplati [...]nem b [...]nam. Qu [...]d dnus Johannes Arcuarius Canonicus Bodminie."’ See what is ſaid, below, of the PSEUDO-EVANGELIUM attributed to Nichodemus.

s
Apud Surium, ad 2 [...] Jul.
t
Hiſt [...]ria Sept [...]m Dormientium. Pariſ. 1511. 4to. Ibid. 1640. And apud Ruinart. p. 1270. See Praef. Ruinart. §. 79. And Gregory himſelf De gl [...]ria martyrum, cap. 95. pag. 826. This piece is noticed and much commended by the old chronicler Albericus, ad ann. 319.
u
Athen. Oxon. i. p. 9. Pitſ. 690.
w
He declares, that he does not mean to rival Chaucer, Lydgate ſententious, pregnaunt Barklay, and i [...]ventive Skelton. The two laſt were his cotemporaries. L. ii. c. [...]4.
x
Lib. i. c. ii.
y
Lib. i. cap. xviii. xix.
z
Lib. i. cap. iii.
a

Lib. ii. cap. xv. The faſhion of writing metrical Chronicles of the kings of England grew very faſhionable in this century. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 92. Many of theſe are evidently compoſed for the harp: but they are moſtly mere genealogical deductions. Hearne has printed, from the Heralds office, a PETEGREE of our kings, from William the conqueror to Henry the ſixth, written in 1448. [APPENDIX to Rob. Glouceſtr. vol. ii. p. 585. ſee p. 588.] This is a ſpecimen.

Then regnyd Harry nought full wyſe,
The ſon of Mold [Maud] the emperyſe.
In hys tyme then ſeynt Thomas
At Caunterbury marteryd was.
He held Roſomund the ſheen,
Gret ſorwe hit was for the queen:
At Wodeſtoke for hure he made a toure,
That is called ROSEMOUNDES [...]OURE.—
And ſithen regnyd his ſone Richerd,
A man that was never aferd:
He werred ofte tyme and wyſe
Worthily upon goddis enemyſe.
And ſithen he was ſhoten, alas!
Atte caſtle Gailard there he was.
A [...]te Fonte Everarde he lithe there:
He regnyd almoſt two yere.—
In Johne is tyme, as y underſtonde,
Was entredyted alle Engelonde:
He was fulle wrothe and grym,
For preſtus would nought ſynge before hym, &c.

Lydgate has left the beſt chronicle of the kind, and moſt approaching to poetry. The regnynge of kyngys after the conqueſt by the monk of Bury. MSS [...] Fairf. Bibl. Bodl. 16. [And MSS. Aſhmol. 59. ii. MSS. Harl. 2251. 3. And a beautiful copy, with pictures of the kings, MSS. Cotton. JULIUS. E. 5.] Never printed. [Unleſs printed by Wynkyn de Worde, 1530. 4to. ‘"This myghty Wyllyam duke of Normandy."’] This is one of the ſtanzas. [See MSS. Bodl. B. 3. 1999. 6.]

RICARD [...]S PRIMUS.
Rychard the next by ſucceſſyon,
Ffirſt of that name, ſtrong, har [...]y, and notable,
Was crouned kynge, called Cur de lyon,
With Saryzonys hedys ſerved atte table:
Sleyn at Galard by death full lamentable:
The ſpace regned fully ix yere;
His hert buryed in Roon, atte highe autere.

Compare MSS. Harl. 372. 5. There was partly a political view in theſe deductions: to aſcertain the right of our kings to the crowns of France, Caſtile, Leon, and the dutchy of Normandy. See MSS. Harl. 326. 2.—116. 11. fol. 142. I know not whether it be worth obſerving, that about this time a practice prevailed of conſtructing long parchment-rolls in Latin, of the Pedigree of our kings. Of this kind is the Pedigree of Britiſh kings from Adam to Henry the ſixth, written about the year 1450, by Roger Alban, a Carmelite friar of London. It begins, ‘"Conſiderans chronicorum prolixitatem."’ The original copy, preſented to Henry the ſixth by the compiler, is now in Queen's college library at Oxford. MSS. [22.] B. 5. 3. There are two copies in Wincheſter college library, and another in the Bodleian. Among biſhop More's manuſcripts, there is a parchment-roll of the Pedigree [...] of our king [...] from Ethelred to Henry the fourth, in French, with pictures of the ſeveral monarchs. MSS. 495. And, in the ſame collection, a Pedigree from Harold to Henry the fourth, with elegant illuminations. MSS. 479. In the ſame rage of genealogiſing, Alban abovementioned framed the Deſcent of Jeſus Chriſt, from Adam through the Levitical and regal tribes, the Jewiſh patriarchs, judges, kings, prophets, and prieſts. The original roll, as it ſeems, on vellum, beautifully illuminated, is in MSS. More, ut ſupr. 495. But this was partly copied from Peter of Poictou, a diſciple of Lombard about the year 1170, who, for the benefit of the poorer clergy, was the firſt that found out the method of forming, and reducing into parchment-rolls, HISTORICAL TREES of the old teſtament. Alberic. in Chron. p. 441. See MSS. Denb. 1627. 1. Rot. membr.

As to Bradſhaw's hiſtory of the foundation of Cheſter, it may be claſſed with the FOUNDATION OF THE ABBEY OF GLOUCESTER, a poem of twenty-two ſtanzas, written in the year 1534, by the laſt abbot William Malverne, printed by Hearne, Ubi ſupr. p. 378. This piece is mentioned by Harpsfield, HIST. ECCLES. ANGL. p. 264. Princip. ‘"In ſundrie [...]ayer volumes of antiquitie."’ MSS. Harl. 539. 14. fol. 111.

b
For as declareth the true PASSIONARY,
A boke where her holie lyfe wrytten is,
Which boke remayneth in Cheſter monaſtery.

Lib. i. c. vii. Signat. C ii. And again, ibid.

I folow the legend and true hyſtory
After an humble ſtile and from it lytell vary.

And in the Prologue, lib. i. Signat. A iiii.

Untoo this rude worke myne auctors theſe,
Fyrſt the true Legends, and the venerable Bede,
Mayſter Alfrydus, and Wyllyam Malmuſbury,
Gyrard, Polychronicon, and other mo indeed.
c

Even ſcripture-hiſtory was turned into romance. The ſtory of Eſther and Ahaſuerus, or of AMON or Hamon, and MARDOCHEUS or Mordecai, was formed into a fabulous poem. MS. Vernon, ut ſupr. fol. 213.

Of AMON and MARDOCHEUS.
Mony wynter witerly
Or Criſt weore boren of vre ladi,
A rich kynge, hiȝte AHASWERE,
That ſtif was on ſtede and ſtere;
Mighti kynge he was, i wis,
He livede muchel in weolye ant blis,
His bliſſe may i nat telle ȝou,
How lange hit weore to ſchewe hit nou;
But thing that tovcheth to vre matere
I wol ȝou telle, gif ȝe wol here.
The kyng lovede a knight ſo wele,
That he commaunded men ſhould knel [...]
Bifore him, in vche a ſtreete,
Over all ther men mihte him meete;
AMON was the knihtes nome,
On him fell muchel worldus ſchome,
Ffor in this ilke kynges lande
Was moche folke of Jewes wonande,
Of heore kynd the kyng hym tok
A qwene to wyve, as telleth the bok, &c.

In the Britiſh Muſeum, there is a long commentitious narrative of the Creation of Adam and Eve, their Sufferings and Repentance, Death and Burial. MSS. Harl. 1704. 5. fol. 18. This is from a Latin piece on the ſame ſubject, ibid. 495. 12. fol. 43. imperf. In the Engliſh, Peter Comeſtor, the maiſter of ſtories, author of the hiſtoria ſcholaſtica, who flouriſhed about the year 1170, is quoted. fol. 26. But he is not mentioned in the Latin, at fol. 49.

In Chaucer's MILLER'S TALE, we have this paſſage, v. 3538.

Haſt thou not herd, quod Nicholas alſo,
The ſorwe of Noe with his felawſhip,
Or that he might get his wif to ſhip?

I know not whether this anecdote about Noah is in any ſimilar ſuppoſititious book of Geneſis. It occurs, however, in the Cheſter Whitſun Playes, where the authors, according to the eſtabliſhed indulgence allowed to dramatic poets, perhaps thought themſelves at liberty to enlarge on the ſacred ſtory. MSS. Harl. 2013. This altercation between Noah and his wife, takes up almoſt the whole third pageaunt of theſe interludes. Noah, having reproached his wife for her uſual frowardneſs of temper, at laſt conjures her to come on board the ark, for fear of drowning. His wife inſiſts on his ſailing without her; and ſwears by Chriſt and ſaint John, that ſhe will not embark, till ſome of her old female comp [...]nions are ready to go with her. She adds, that if he is in ſuch a hurry, he may ſail alone, and fetch himſelf a new wife. At length Shem, with the help of his brothers, forces her into the veſſel; and while Noah very cordially welcomes her on board, ſhe gives him a box on the ear.

There is an apocryphal book, of the expulſion of Adam from Paradiſe, and of Seth's pilgrimage to Paradiſe, &c. &c. MSS. Eccleſ. Cathedr. Winton. 4.

d

There is the greateſt probability, that RALPH HIGDEN, hitherto known as a grave hiſtorian and theologiſt, was the compiler of the Cheſter-plays, mentioned above, vol. i. p. 243. In one of the Harleian copies [2013. 1.] under the Proclamation for performing theſe plays in the year 1522, this note occurs, in the hand of the third Randal Holme, one of the Cheſter antiquaries. ‘"Sir John Arnway was mayor, A. D. 1327, and 1328. At which tyme theſe playes were written by RANDALL HIGGENET, a monke of Cheſter abbey, &c."’ In a Prologue to theſe plays, when they were preſented in the year 1600, are theſe lines, ibid. 2.

That ſome tymes ther was mayor of this citie
Sir John Arnway knight: who moſt worthilie
Contented hymſelfe to ſett out in playe,
The Deviſe of one Done RONDALL, Moonke of Cheſter abbaye.

Done Rondall is Dan [dominus] Randal. In another of the Harleian copies of theſe plays, written in the year 1607, this note appears, ſeemingly written in the year 1628. [MSS. Harl. 2124.] ‘"The Whitſun playes fir [...]t made by one Don Rondle Heggenet, a monke of Cheſter abbey: who was thriſe at Rome before he could obtaine leave of the pope to have them in the Engliſh tongue."’ Our chronicler's name in the text, ſometimes written Hikeden, and Higgeden, was eaſily corrupted into Higgenet [...] or Heggenet: and Randa [...] is Ranulph or Randolph, Ralph. He died, having been a monk of Cheſter abbey ſixty-four years, in the year 1363. In PIERS PLOWMAN, a frier ſays, that he is well acquainted with the ‘"rimes of RANDALL OF CHESTER"’ fol. 26. edit. 1550. I take this paſſ [...]ge to allude to this very perſon, and to his compoſitions of this kind, for which he was probably ſoon famous. In an anonymous CHRONICON, he is ſtyled Ranulphus Ceſtrenſis, which is nothing more than RANDALL OF CHESTER, MS. Ric. James, xi. 8. Bibl. Bodl. And again we have, RANULPHI CESTRENSIS ‘"ars componendi ſermone [...]."’ MSS. Bodl. ſup. N. 2. Art. 10. And in many other places.

By the way, if it be true that theſe MYSTERIES were compoſed in the year 1328, and there was ſo much difficulty in obtaining the pope's permiſſion that they might be preſented in Engliſh, a preſumptive proof ariſes, that all our MYSTERIES before that period were in Latin. Theſe plays will therefore have the merit of being the firſt Engliſh interludes.

e
Lib. ii. c. iii.
f
In octavo. With a wooden cut of the Saint. Princip. ‘"When Phebus had ronne his cours in Sagittari."’ At the beginning is an Engliſh copy of verſes, by J. T. And at the end two others.
g
A deſcryp [...]yon of the geanalogy of SAYNT WERBURGE, &c.
This noble prynces, the doughter of Syon,
The floure of vertu, and vyrgyn gloryous,
Bleſſed ſaynt Werburge, full of devocyon,
Deſcended by auncetry, and tytle famous,
Of foure myghty kynges, noble and vyctoryous,
Reynynge in his lande, by true ſucceſſyon,
As her ly [...]e hiſtoryall *, maketh declaracyon.
The year of our lorde, from the natyuyte
Fvue h [...]ndreth xiiii. and iiii. ſcore,
Whan Auſt [...]n was ſende, from ſaynt Gregorye,
To conue [...]t this regyon, unto our ſauyoure
The noble kyng Cryda than reygned with honoure
Upon the Mercyens, whiche kynge was father
Unto kynge Wybba, and Quadriburge his ſyſter.
This Wybba gate Penda, kynge of Mercyens,
Which Penda ſubdued, [...]yue kynges of this regyon
Reygnynge thyrty yere, in worſhyp and reuerens
Was grauntfather to Werburge, by lynyall ſucceſſyon
By his quene Kyneſwith, had a noble generacyon
Fyue valeant prynces, Penda and kynge Wulfer,
Kynge Ethelred, ſaynt Marceyl, ſaynt Marwalde in [...]ere .
*
That is, her Legend.
Edit. Pinſ. 1521.
h
‘"Of the great ſolempnyte kynge Wulfer made at the ghoſtly maryage of Saynt Werburge his doughter, to all his lovers, coſyns, and frendes."’ Ca. xvi. L. i.
i
Together.
k
Nun. i. e. The Lady Werburg.
l
Twig. Branch.
m
Burnt.
n
All this tapeſtry, belonging to king Wulfer, was brought to Ely monaſtery on this occaſion.
o
Seat.
p
Tapeſtry.
q
Following.
r
Feats. Facts.
s
Embroidered.
t
Diſhes of curious cookery, ſo called.
u
Kings.
w
Tunes.
x
Tuned.
y
This puts one in mind of the Sheriffs, in our Tranſlation of the Bible, among the officers of the kingdom of Babylon, DAN. iii. 2.
z
Not mentioned here.
a
Monaſtery.
b
Ath. Oxon. i. 9.
c
Cent. ix. Numb. 17.
d
Prol. lib. i. Signat. A. iii.
e
W. Malmeſbur. lib. iv. ubi infr.—Goſcelin. in Praefatt. ad Vit. S. Auguſtini. See Mabillon, ACT. BEN. Saec. i. p. 499.
f
Printed, ACT. SANCTOR. Bolland. tom. i. februar. p. 386. A part in Leland, Coll. ii. 154. Compare MSS. C. C. C. Cant. J. xiii.
g
In Regiſtr. Elienſ. ut infr.
h
See Leland. Coll. iii. p. 152. Compare the Lives of S. Etheldred, S. Werburgh, and S. Sexburgh, at the end of the HISTORIA AUREA of John of Tinmouth, MS. Lambeth. 12. I know not whether they make a part of his famous SANCTILOGIUM. He flouriſhed about the year 1380.
i
Antiquit. Brit. c. ii. p. 15. See Leland's Coll. iii. 86. ſeq. And Hickeſ. Theſaur. vol. ult. p. 86. 146. 208.
k
Cap. x. Vit. Ethel.
l
Which is extant in this Ely regiſter, and contains 54 heads.
m

And theſe improved proſe-narratives were often turned back again into verſe, even ſo late as in the age before us: to which, among others I could mention, we may refer the legend of Saint Euſtathius, MSS. Cotton. CALIG. A. 2.

Seynt Euſtace, a nobull knyȝte,
Of hethen law he was;
And ere than he cryſtened was
Mene callyd him Placidas.
He was with Trajan themperor, &c.

A Latin legend on this ſaint is in MSS. Harl. 2316. 42.

Concerning legend-makers, there is a curious ſtory in MSS. James, xxxi. p. 6. [ad ITER LANCASTR. num. 39. vol. 40.] Bibl. Bodl. Gilbert de Stone, a learned eccleſiaſtic, who flouriſhed about the year 1380, was ſoli [...]ed by the monks of Holywell in Flintſhire, to write the life of their patron ſaint. Stone applying to theſe monks for materials, was anſwe [...]ed, that they had none in their monaſtery [...] Upon which he declared, that he could [...]ute the work juſt as eaſily without any [...]terials at all: and that he would write them a moſt excellent legend, after the manner of the legend of Thomas a Becket. He has the character of an elegant Latin writer; and ſeems to have done the ſame piece of ſervice, perhaps in the ſame way, to other religious houſes. From his EPISTLES, it appears that he wrote the life of ſaint Wolfade, patron of the priory of canons regular of his native town of Stone in Staffordſhire, which he dedicated to the prior, William de Madely. Epiſt. iii. dat. 1399. [MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Sup. D i. Art. 123.] He was Latin ſecretary to ſeveral biſhops, and could poſſibly write a legend or a letter with equal facility. His epiſtles are 123 in number. The firſt of them, in which he is ſtiled chancellour to the biſhop of Wincheſter, is to the archbiſhop of Canterbury. That is, ſecretary. [MSS. Cotton. VITELL. E. x. 17.] This biſhop of Wincheſter muſt have been William of Wykeham.

The moſt extraordinary compoſition of this kind, if we conſider, among other circumſtances, that it was compiled at a time when knowledge and literature had made ſome progreſs, and when mankind were ſo much leſs diſpoſed to believe or to invent miracles, more eſpecially when the ſubject was quite recent, is the LEGEND of KING HENRY the SIXTH. It is entitled, De MIRACULIS beatiſſimi illius Militis Chriſti, Henrici ſexti, etc. That it might properly rank with other legends, it was tranſlated from an Engliſh copy into Latin, by one Johannes, ſtyled Pauperculus, a monk, about the year 1503, at the command of John Morgan, dean of Windſor, afterwards biſhop of ſaint David's. It is divided into two books: to both of which, prefaces are prefixed, containing proofs of the miracles wrought by this pious monarch. At the beginning, there is a hymn, with a prayer, addreſſed to the royal ſaint. fol. 72.

Salve, miles precioſe,
Rex Henrice generoſe, &c.

Henry could not have been a complete ſaint without his legend. MSS. Harl. 423. 7. And MSS. Reg. 13 C. 8. What ſhall we think of the judgment and abilities of the dignified eccleſiaſtic, who could ſeriouſly patroniſe ſo ridiculous a narrative?

n
Hiſt. Angl. lib. iv. p. 130.
o
Fol. 171. tom. ii. edit. 1533. See Hearne's Lib. Nig. Scacc. p. 425. And Praefat. p. xxxviii. Fabyan ſays, ‘"they are reported to be his own makynge, in the tyme of his empryſonment."’ ibid. By the way, there is a paſſage in this chronicler which points out the true reading of a controverted paſſage in Shakeſpeare, ‘"Alſo children were chriſtened thorough all the land, and menne houſeled and anealed, excepte ſuche, &c."’ tom. ii. p. 30. col. 2.
p
Edit. [...]ond. 1516. fol.
q
Fol. 2. tom. ii. ut ſupr.
r
In the Britiſh Muſeum there is a poem on this ſubject, and in the ſame ſtanza. MSS. Harl. 2393. 4to. 1. The ghoſt of Edward the ſecond, as here, is introduced ſpeaking. It is addreſſed to queen Elizabeth, as appears, among other paſſages, from ſt. 92. 242. 243. 305. It begins thus.
Whi [...] ſhould a waſted ſpirit ſpent in woe
Diſcloſe the wounds receyved within his breſt?
It is imperfect, having only 352 ſtanzas. Then follows the ſame poem; with many alterations, additions, and omiſſions. This i [...] addreſſed to James the firſt, as appears from ſt. 6. 259. 260. 326, &c. It contains 581 ſtanzas. There is another copy in the ſame library, Num. 558. At the end the poet calls himſelf INFORTUNIO. This is an appellation which, I think, Spenſer ſometimes aſſumed. But Spenſer was dead before the reign of James: nor has this piece any of Spenſer's characteriſtic merit. It begins thus.
I ſing thy ſ [...]d diſaſter, fatal king,
Carnarvon Edward, ſecond of that name.
The poem on this ſubject in the addition to the MIRROUR OF MAGISTRATES, by William Niccols, is a different compoſition. A WINTER NIGHT'S VISION. Lond. 1610. p. 702. Theſe two manuſcript poems deſerve no further mention: nor would they have been mentioned at all, but from their reference to the text, and on account of their ſubject. Compare, MSS. Harl. 2251. 119. fol. 254. An unfiniſhed poem on Edward the ſecond, perhaps by Lydgate. Princ. ‘"Beholde this greate prince Edward the ſecunde."’
r
MSS. C. C. C. Oxon. 155. MSS. Laud. G. 12. MSS. Thoreſb. 530. There is an abridgement of this work, [MSS. Harl. 2250. 20.] with the date 1477. This is rather beyond the period with which we are at preſent engaged.
s

Compare a hymn to the holy virgin, ſupr. vol. i. p. 314. Mathew Paris relates, that Godrich, a hermit, about the year 1150, who lived in a ſolitary wild on the banks of the river Ware near Durham, had a viſion, in his oratory, of the virgin Mary, who taught him this ſong.

Seint Marie clane virgine,
Moder Jeſu Chriſte Nazarine,
On ſo ſcild thir Godrich
On [...]ang bringe haeli widh the in godes rich.
Seinte Marie, Chriſtes bur,
Maidenes clenhad, moderes flur,
Delle mine ſennen, rixe in mine mod,
Bringe me to winne widh ſelf god.

Matt. Pariſ. Hiſt. Angl. [HENRIC. ii.] p. 115. edit. Tig. 1589.

In one of the Harl [...]ian manuſcripts, many very antient hymns to the holy virgin occur. MS. 2253. Theſe are ſpecimens. 66. fol. 80. b.

Bleſſed be þou [thou] levedy, ful of heovene bliſſe,
Swete flur of parays, moder of mildeneſſe,
Praye ȝe Jheſu þy [thy] ſone þat [that] he me rede and wyſſe
So my wey for to gon, þat he me nevere myſſe.

Ibid. 67. [...]ol. 81. b.

As y me rod þis ender day,
By grene wode to ſeche play,
Mid harte y þohte al on a May [Maid], Sweteſt of al þinge!
Lyþe, and ich ou telle may al of þat ſwete þinge.

Ibid. 69. fol. 83. In French and Engliſh.

Mayden moder mild, oyez cel oreyſoun,
From ſhom þou me ſhilde, e di la mal feloun,
For love of thine childe, me muez de treſoun,
Ich wes wod and wilde, ore ſu [...]n priſoun.

See alſo ibid. 49. fol. 75.—57. fol. 78. And 372. 7. fol. 55.

In the library of Mr. Farmer, of Tuſmore in Oxfordſhire, are, or were lately, a collection of hymns and antiphones, paraphraſed into Engliſh, by William Herbert, a Franciſcan frier, and a famous preacher, about the year 1330. Theſe, with ſome other of his pieces contained in the ſame library, are unmentioned by Bale, v. 31. And Pitts, p. 428. [Autogr. in pergamen.] Pierre de Corbian, a troubadour, has left a hymn, or prayer, to the holy virgin: which, he ſays, he choſe to compoſe in the romance [...]language, becauſe he could write it more intelligibly than Latin. Another troubadour, a mendicant frier of the thirteenth century, had worked himſelf up into ſuch a pitch of enthuſiaſm concerning the holy virgin, that he became deeply in love with her. It is partly owing, as I have already hinted, to the gallantry of the dark ages, in which the female ſex was treated with ſo romantic a reſpect, that the virgin Mary received ſuch exaggerated honours, and was ſo diſtinguiſhed an object of adoration in the devotion of thoſe times.

t
Theſe four lines are in the exordium of a prayer to the virgin, MSS. Harl. 2382. (4to.) 3. fol. 86. b. [Se [...] ſupr. p. 60.]
u
Printed by William Maclyn or Machlinia. Without date.
w
Printed by him, without date. fol. in thirty-ſeven leaves.
x
I have ſeen an edition of the French, of 1500.
y
I have an edition printed by John Wally, at London, without date. 4to. In the prolog [...]e it is ſaid, ‘"This book was firſt corruptly printed in France, and after that at the coſt and charges of Richard Pinſon newly tranſlated and [...]eprinted although not ſo faithfully as the original copy required, &c."’ It was certainly firſt printed by de Worde, 1497. Again, ch. ii. ‘"From the yeare this kalender was made M. CCCC. XCVII. unto the yeare M. CCCCC. XVI."’ From whence I conclude, that Worde's edition was in 1497, Wally's in 1516. Again, ‘"This yeare of the preſent kalender whiche began to have courſe the firſt daye of January M. CCCC. XCVII."’
z

Pieces of this ſort were not uncommon. In the Britiſh muſeum there is an ASTROLOGICAL poem, teaching when to buy and ſell, to let blood, to build, to go to ſea, the fortune of children, the interpretation of dreams, with other like important particulars, from the day of the moon's age. MSS. Harl. 2320. 3. fol. 31. In the principal letter the author is repreſented in a ſtudious poſture. The manuſcript, having many Saxon letters intermixed, begins thus.

He þat wol herkyn of wit
þat ys witneſt in holy wryt,
Lyſtenyth to me a ſtonde,
Of a ſtory y ſchal ȝow telle,
What tyme ys good to byen and to fylle,
In boke as hyt ys y fownde.

The reader who is curious to know the ſtate of quackery, aſtrology, fortune-telling, midwi [...]ery, and other occult ſciences, about the year 1420, may conſult the works of one John Crophill, who practiſed in Suffolk. MSS. Harl. 1735. 4to. 3. ſeq. [See fol. 29. 36.] This cunning-man was likewiſe a poet; and has left, in the ſame manuſcript, ſome poetry ſpoken at an entertainment of Frere Thomas, and five ladies of quality, whoſe names are mentioned: at which, two great bowls, or goblets, called MERCY and CHARITY, were briſkly circulated. fol. 48.

a
Epilogue.
b
Cap. 42.
c
Cap. 2.
d
Cap. xix.
d
That is, HELL.
e
Compare the torments of Dante's hell. INFERN. Cant. v. vi. ſeq.
f
Matt. Pariſ. Hiſt. pag. 206. ſeq. E [...]it. Tig. Much the ſame ſort of fable is related, ibid. p. 178. ſeq. There is an old poem on this ſubject, called OWAYNE MILES, MSS. COTT. CALIG. A. 12. f. 90.
g

See DISSERTATION ii. Signat. E. The DEAD MAN'S SONG there mentioned, ſeems to be more immediately taken from this fiction as it ſtands in our SHEPHERD'S KALENDER. It is entitled, The DEAD MAN'S SONG, whoſ [...] Dwelling was near Baſing [...]all in London. Wood's BALLADS, Muſ. Aſhmol. Oxon. It is worthy of doctor Percy's excellent collection, and begins thus.

Sore ſicke, dear frienns, long tyme I was,
And weakly laid in bed, &c.

See alſo the legend of ſaint Patrick's cave, Matt. Pariſ. p. 84. And MSS. Harl. 2385. 82. De quo [...]am ducto videre pe [...]as Inferni. fol. 56. b.

h

I chuſe to throw together in the Notes many other anonymous pieces belonging to this period, moſt of which are too minute to be formally conſidered in the ſeries of our poetry. The CASTELL OF HONOUR, printed in quarto by Wynkyn de Worde, 1506. The PARLYAMENT OF DEVYLLES. Princip. ‘"As Mary was great with Gabriel, &c."’ For the ſame, in quarto, 1509. The HISTORIE OF JACOB AND HIS TWELVE SONS. In ſtanzas. For the ſame, without date. I believe about 1500. Princ. ‘"Al yo [...]ge and old that lyſt to here."’ A LYTEL TREATYSE called the Dyſputacyon or Complaynt of the Heart thorugh [...] [...]erced with the lokynge of the eye. For the ſame, in quarto, perhaps before 1500. The firſt ſtanza is elegant, and deſerves to be tranſcribed.

[...]n the fyrſt weke of the ſeaſon of Maye,
Whan that the wodes be covered in grene,
In which the nyghtyngale lyſt for to playe
To ſhewe his voys among the thornès kene,
Them to rejoyce which lovès ſervaunts bene,
Which fro all comforte thynke them faſt behynd;
My pleaſyr was as it was after ſene
For my dyſport to chaſe the harte and hynde.

The LYFE OF SAINT JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. For Pinſon, in quarto. 1520. The LYFE OF PETRONYLLA. In ſtanzas, for the ſame, without date, in quarto. THE CASTLE OF LABOURE. In ſtanzas. For the ſame, in quarto, without date, with neat wooden cuts. THE LYFE OF SAINT RADEGUNDA. In quarto, for the ſame. THE A. B. C. E. OF ARISTOTILLE, MSS. Harl. 1304. 4. Proverbial verſes in the alliterative manner, viz.

Woſo wil be wiſe and worſhip deſireth,
Lett him lerne one letter, and loke on another, &c.

Again, ibid. 541. 19. fol. 213. [Compare, ibid [...] 913. 10. fol. 15. b. 11. fol. 15. b.] See alſo ſome ſatyrical Ballads written by Frere Micha [...]l Kildare, chie [...]ly on the Religious o [...]de [...]s, S [...]ints, the White Friars of D [...]ogheda, the vanity of riches, &c. &c. A divine poem on death, &c. MSS. Harl. 913. 3. fol. 7. 4. fol. 9. 5. fol. 10. 13. fol. 16. [He has le [...]t a Latin poem in rhyme on the abbot and prior of Glouceſter, ibid. 5. fol. 10. And burleſque pieces on ſome of the divine offices, ibid. 6. fol. 12. 7. fol. 13. b.] Hither we may alſo refer a few pieces written by one Whyting, not mentioned in Tanner, MSS. Harl. 541. 14. fol. 207. ſeq. Undoubtedly many other poems of this period [...] both printed and manuſcript, have eſcaped my enquiries, but which, if diſcovered, would not have repaid the reſearch.

Among Rawlinſon's manuſcripts there is a poem, of conſiderable length, on the antiquity of the Stanley family, beginning thus.

I entende with true reporte to praiſe
The valiaunte actes of the ſtoute Standelais,
Ffrom whence they came, &c.

It comes down no lower than Thomas earl of Derby, who was executed in the reign of Henry the ſeventh. This induced me to [...]hink at firſt, that the piece was written about that time. But the writer mentions king Henry the eighth, and the ſuppreſſion of Mona [...]teri [...]s. I will only add part o [...] a Will in verſe, dated 1477. MSS. Lang [...]. Bibl. Bodl. [...]i. fol. 176. [M. 13. Th.]

Fleſhly luſtes and feſtes,
And furures of divers beſtes,
(A fend was hem fonde;)
Hole clothe caſt on ſhredys,
And wymen with thare hye hedys [...]
Have almoſt loſt thys londe!
i
[...]abyan, ubi ſupr. fol. 382. ſeq.
k
LEET-BOOK of the city of Coventry. MS. fol. 168. Stowe ſays, that at the reception of this queen in London, in the year 1445, ſeveral pageaunts were exhibited at Paul's-gat [...], with verſes written by Lydgate, on the following lemmata. Ingr [...]dimini et replete terram. Non amplius iraſcar ſuper terram. Madam Grace chancellor de di [...]u. Five wiſe and five fooliſh virgins. Of ſaint Margaret, &c. HIST. ENGL. pag. 385. edit. Howes. I know not whether theſe poems were ſpoken, or only affixed to the pageaunts. Fabyan ſays, that in thoſe pageaunts there was reſemblance of dyvirſe olde hyſtoryes. I ſuppoſe tapeſtry. CRON. tom. ii. fol. 398. edit. 1533. See the ceremonies at the coronation of Henry the ſixth, in 1430. Fab. ibid. fol. 378.
l
Ibid. fol. 221.
m
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 293. The friers themſelves were the actors. But this practice being productive of ſome enormities, and the laity growing as wiſe as the clergy, at leaſt as well qualified to act plays; there was an injunction in the MEXICAN COUNCIL, ratified at Rome in the year 1589, to prohibit all clerks from playing in the Myſteries, even on CORPUS CHRISTIDAY. ‘"Neque in Comoediis perſonam agat, etiam in FESTO CORPORIS CHRISTI."’ SACROSANCT. CONCIL. fol. per Labb. tom. xv. p. 1268. edit. Pariſ. 1672.
n
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 91.
o
Profane allegory, however, had been applied in pageants, ſomewhat earlier. In the pageants, abovementioned, preſented to Henry the ſixth, the ſeven liberal ſciences perſoni [...]ed are introduced, in a tabernacle of curious worke, from which their queen dame Sapience ſpeaks verſes. At entering the city he is met, and faluted in metre by three ladies, richly cladde in golde and ſilkes with coronets, who ſuddenly iſſue from a ſtately tower hung with the moſt ſplendid arras. Theſe are the Dames, NATURE, GRACE, and FORTUNE. Fabyan, ut ſupr. fol. 382. ſeq. But this is a rare inſtance ſo early.
p
See Obſ. FAIRY QUEEN. ii. 90.
q
Chron. MS.
r
Bacon's HENRY THE SEVENTH. COMPL. Hiſt. Engl. vol. i. p. 628.
s
From a manuſcript in the Cotton library, printed in Leland. COLLECTAN. ad calc. vol. iii. p. 185.
t
Stowe's SURV. LOND. pag. 71. edit. 1599. 4to. It will perhaps be ſaid, that this ſhew was not properly a PAGEANT but a MUMMERY. But theſe are frivolous diſtinctions: and, taken in a general view, this account preſerves a curious ſpecimen of early PERSONATION, and proves at leaſt that the practice was not then in its infancy.
u

I will cite the paſſage more at large, and in the words of the original. ‘"Convenerunt autem vocata ad convivium nuptiale tanta nobilium multitudo utriuſque ſexus, tanta religioſorum numeroſitas, tanta plebium populoſitas, tanta HISTRIONUM Varietas, quod vix eos civitas Londoniarum ſinu ſuo capaci comprehenderet. Ornata eſt igitur civitas tota oloſericis, et vexillis, coronis, et palliis, cereis et lampadibus, et quibuſdam prodigioſis ingeniis et portentis, &c."’ HIST. p. 406. edit. Tig. 1589. ſub HENRICO iii. Here, by the way, the expreſſion Varietas hiſtrionum plainly implies the comprehenſive and general meaning of the word HISTRIO; and the multi [...]arious performances of that order of men. Yet in the Injunctions given by the Barons to the religious houſes, in the year 1258, there is an article which ſeems to ſhew, that the Hiſtriones were ſometimes a particular ſpecies of public entertainers. ‘"HISTRIONUM LUDI non videantur vel audiantur, vel permittantur fieri, coram abbate vel monaſticis."’ Annal. Burton. p. 437. Oxon. 1684. Whereas minſtrels, harpers, and juglers, were notoriouſly permitted in the monaſteries. We cannot aſcertain whether LUDI here means plays, then only religious: LUDI theatrales in churches and church-yards, on vigils and feſtivals, are forbidden in the Synod of Exeter, dat. 1287. cap. xiii. CONCIL. MAGN. BRIT. per Wilkins. tom. ii. p. 140. col. 2. edit. 1737. fol.

I cannot omit the opportunity of adding a ſtriking inſtance of the extraordinary freedom of ſpeech, permitted to theſe people, at the moſt ſolemn celebrities. About the year 1250, king Henry the third, paſſing ſome time in France, held a moſt magnificent feaſt in the great hall of the knights-templars at Paris; at which, beſide his own ſuite, were preſent the kings of France and Navarre, and all the nobility of France. The walls of the hall were hung all over with ſhields, among which was that of our king Richard the firſt. Juſt before the feaſt began, a JOCULATOR, or minſtrel, accoſted king Henry thus. ‘"My lord, why did you invite ſo many Frenchmen to feaſt with you in this hall? Behold, there is the ſhield of Richard, the magnanimous king of England!—All the Frenchmen preſent will eat their dinner in f [...]r and trembling!"’ Matt. Paris. p. 871. ſub. HENR. iii. edit. Tigur. 1589. fol. Whether this was a preconcerted compliment, previouſly ſuggeſted by the king of France, or not, it is equally a proof of the familiarity with which the minſtrels were allowed to addreſs the moſt eminent perſonages.

w

There is a paſſage in John of Saliſbury much to our purpoſe, which I am obliged to give in Latin, ‘"At eam [deſidiam] noſtris prorogant HISTRIONES. Admiſſa ſunt ergo SPECTACULA, et infinita lenocinia vanitatis.—Hinc mimi, ſalii vel ſaliares, balatroues, aemil [...]ani, gladiatores, palaeſtritae, gignadii, praeſtigiatores, malefici quoque multi, et tota JOCULATORUM SCENA procedit. Quorum adeo error invaluit, ut a praeclaris domibus non arceantur etiam illi, qui obſcaenis partibus corporis, oculis omnium eam ingerunt turpitudinem, quam erubeſcet videre vel cynicus. Quodque magis mirere, nec tun [...] ejiciuntur, quando TUMULTUANTES INFERIUS crebro ſonitu aerem [...]aedant, et turpiter incluſum turpius produnt. Veruntamen quid in ſingulis poſſit aut deceat, animus ſapientis advertit, nec APOLOGOS refugit, aut NARRATIONES, aut quaecunque SPECTACULA, dum virtutis, &c."’ POLYCRAT. lib. i. cap. viii. p. 28. edit. Lugd. Bat. 1595. Here, GIGNADII, a word unexplained by Du Cange, ſignifies wreſtlers, or the performers of athletic exerciſes: for gignaſium was uſed for gymnaſium in the barbarous Latinity. By apologos, we are perhaps to underſtand an allegorical ſtory or fable, ſuch as were common in the Provencial poetry; and by narrationes, tales of chivalry: both which were recited at feſtivals by theſe HISTRIONES. Spectacula I need not explain: but here ſeems to be pointed out the whole ſyſtem of antient exhibition or entertainment. I muſt add another pertinent paſſage from this writer, whom the reader will recollect to have flouriſhed about the year 1140. ‘"Non facile tamen crediderim ad hoc quemquam impelli poſſe litteratorem, ut HISTRIONEM profiteatur.—GESTUS ſiquidem EXPRIMUNT, rerum utilitate deducta."’ Ibid. lib. viii. cap. xii. p. 514. [Compa [...]e Bloun [...]'s ANT. TENURES, p. 11. HEMINGSTON.]

With regard to APOLOGI, mentioned above, I have farther to obſerve, that the Latin metrical apologues of the dark ages, are probably tranſlations from the Provencial poetry. Of this kind is Wircker's SPECULUM STULTORUM, or BURNELL'S ASS. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 419. And the ASINUS PAENITENTIARIUS, in which an aſs, wol [...], and fox, are introduced, confeſſing their [...]ins, &c. See Matt. Flacius, Catal. Teſt. Verit. pag. 903. edit. 1556. In the Britiſh muſeum there is an antient thin folio volume on vellum, containing upwards of two hundred ſhort moral tales in Latin proſe, which I alſo claſs under the APOLOGI here mentioned by John of Saliſbury. Some are legendary, others romantic, and others allegorical. Many of them I believe to be tranſlations from the Provencial poetry. Several of the Eſopian fables are intermixed. In this collection is Parnell's HERMIT, De ANGELO et Heremita Peregrinum occiſum ſepelientibus, Rubr. 32. fol. 7. And a tale, I think in Fontaine, of the king's ſon who never ſaw a woman. Rubr. 8. fol. 2. The ſtories ſeem to have been collected by an Engliſhman, at leaſt in England: for there is, the tale of one Godfrey, a prieſt of Suſſex. Rubr. 40. fol. 8. MSS. Harl. 463. The ſtory of Parnell's HERMIT is in Geſta Roman [...]rum, MSS. Harl. 2270. ch. lxxxx.

x
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 236. ſeq.
y
Regiſtr. Priorat. S. Swithin. Winton. MS. ut ſupr.
z
Except, that on the firſt Sunday of the magnificent marriage of king James of Scotland with the princeſs Margaret of England, daughter of Henry the ſeventh, celebrated at Edinburgh with high ſplendour, ‘"after dynnar a MORALITE was played by the ſaid maſter Inglyſhe and hys companyons in the preſence of the kyng and qwene."’ On one of the preceding days, ‘"After ſoupper the kynge and qwene beyng togader in hyr grett chamber, John Inglyſh and his companyons plaid."’ This was in the year 1503. Apud Leland. coll. iii. p. 3co. 299. APPEND. edit. 1770.
a
The Italians pretend that they have a LUDUS PASCHALIS as old as the twelfth century. TEATRO ITALIANO, tom. i. See Un Iſtoria del Teatro, &c. prefixed, p. ii. Veron. 1723. 12mo.
b
[See ſupr. vol. i.] ‘"Nunc dormiunt milites, et veniet anima Chriſti de inferno cum Adam et Eva, Abraham, Joh. Baptiſte, et aliis."’
c
MSS. Harl. 2013. PAGEAUNT xvii. fol. 138.
d
MSS. Harl. 2253. 21. fol. 55. b. There is a poem on this ſubject, MS. Bodl. 1687.
How Jeſu Criſt harowed helle
Of hardi geſtes ich wille telle.
[See ſupr. vol. i. p. 18.]
e
In Latin. A Saxon tranſlation, from a manuſcript at Cambridge, coeval with th [...] conqueſt, was printed at Oxford, by T [...]vaites, 1699. In an Engliſh tranſlation by Wynkyn de Worde, the prologue ſays, ‘"Nichodemus, which was a worthy prynce, dydde wryte thys bleſſyd ſtorye in Hebrewe. And Theodoſius, the emperour, dyde it tranſlate out of Hebrew into Latin, and byſshoppe Turpyn dyde tranſlate it out of Latyn into Frenſshe."’ With wooden cuts, 1511. 4to. There was another edition by Wynkyn de Worde, 1518. 4to. and 1532. See a very old French verſion, MSS. Harl. 2253. 3. fol. 33. b. There is a tranſlation into Engliſh verſe, about the fourteenth century. MSS. Harl. 4196. 1. fol. 206. See alſo, 149. 5. fol. 254. b. And MSS. coll. Sion. 17. The title of the original is, NICODEMI DISCIPULI de Jeſu Chriſti paſſione et reſurrectione EVANGELIUM. Sometimes it is entitled GESTA SALVATORIS noſtri Jeſu Chriſti. Our lord's Deſcent into hell is by far the beſt invented part of the work. Edit. apud ORTHODOX. PATR. Jac. Greyn. [Baſil. 1569. 4to.] pag. 653. ſeq. The old Latin title to the pageaunt of this ſtory in the Cheſter plays is, ‘"DE DESCENSU AD INFERNA, et de his que ibidem fiebant [...]ecundum EVANGELIUM NICODEMI,"’ fol. 138. ut ſupr. Hence the firſt line in the old interlude, called HICKSCORNER, is illuſtrated.
Now Jeſu the gentyll that brought Adam from hell.
There is a Greek homily on Saint John's Deſcent into Hell, by Euſebius Alexandrinus. They had a notion that ſaint John was our Saviour's precurſor, not only in this world, but in hades. See Allat. de libr. eccleſ. Graecor. p. 303. ſeq. Compare the Legend of Nicodemus, Chriſt's deſcent into hell, Pilate's exile, &c. MSS. Bodl. B. 5. 2021. 4. ſeq.
f
In the manuſcript regiſter of ſaint Swithin's priory at Wincheſter, it is recorded, that Leofric, biſhop of Exeter, about the year 1150, gave to the convent, a book called GESTA Beatiſſimi Apoſtoli Petri cum Gloſa. This is probably one of theſe commentitious hiſtories. By the way, the ſame Leofric was a great benefactor in books to his church at Exeter. Among others, he gave Boetii Liber ANGLICUS, and, Magnus liber ANGLICUS omnino METRICE deſcriptus. What was this tranſlation of Boethius, I know not; unleſs it is Alfred's. It is ſtill more difficult to determine, what was the other piece, the GREAT BOOK OF ENGLISH VERSE, at ſo early a period. The grant is in Saxon, and, if not genuine, muſt be of high antiquity. Dugdal. MONAST. tom. i. p. 222. I have given Dugdale's Latin tranſlation. The Saxon words are, ‘"Boetieſ boc on engliſc.—And 1. mycel engliſc boc be gehƿilcum þingum on leodþiſan geƿoƿht."’
f
MSS. Harl. 2124. 2013.
a
LIFE of HENRY vii. p. 628. edit. ut ſupr. One Hodgkins, a fellow of King's college in Cambridge, and vicar of Ringwood in Hants, was eminently ſkilled in the mathematics; and on that account, Henry the ſeventh frequently condeſcended to viſit him at his houſe at Ringwood. Hatcher, MS. Catal. Pr [...]poſ. et Soc. Coll. Regal. Cant.
b
Wood, Ath. Oxon. i. 5.
c
Bale ſays, that he was called by the king ‘"ab inter [...]ori camera ad privatum cubiculum."’ Cent. viii.
d
Bacon, ut ſupr. p. 637.
e
‘"The CONVERSYON OF SWERERS, made and compyled by Stephen Hawes, groome of the chamber of our ſovereigne lord kynge Henry vii."’
f
It contains only one ſheet in quarto.
g
A BALLAD preſented to Henry the ſixth the day of his coro [...]ation. Princ. ‘"Moſt noble prince of cryſten princes all."’ MSS. Aſhmol. 59. ii.
h

By miſtake, as it ſeems, I have hither quoted Hawes's TEMPLE of GLASS, under the name of Lydgate. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 410. 417. It was firſt printed by Wynken de Worde, in 1500. ‘"Here bygenneth the TEMPLE of GLASS. By Stephen Hawes, grome of the chamber to king Henry vii."’ [Ames, Hiſt. Print. pag. 86.] 8vo. in twenty-ſeven leaves. Afterwards by Berthelette, without date, or name of the author, with this colophon. ‘"Thus endeth the temple of glaſſe. Emprinted at London, in Fleteſtrete, in the houſe of Thomas Berthelette, near to the cundite, at the ſygne of the Lucrece. Cum privilegio."’ I will give the beginning, with the title.

This boke called the Temple of glaſſe, is in many places amended, and late diligently imprynted.

Through conſtreynt and greuous heuyneſs,
For great thought and for highe penſyueneſſe,
To bedde I went nowe this other night,
Whan that Lucina with her pale [...]yght,
Was ioyned laſt with Phebus in Aquary,
Amydde Decembre, whan of January
There be kalendes of the newe yere;
And derke Dyana, horned and nothyng clere,
Hydde her beames under a myſty cloude,
Within my bedde for colde gan me ſhroude;
All deſolate for conſtraynt of my wo,
The long night walowyng to and fro,
Tyll at laſt, or I gan take kep [...], &c.

This edition, unmentioned by Ames, is in Bibl. Bodl. Oxon. C. 39. Art. Seld. 4to. In the ſame library are two manuſcript copies of this poem. MSS. Fairfax, xvi. membran. without a name. And MSS. Bodl. 638. In the firſt leaf of the Fairfax manuſcript is this entry. ‘"I bought this at Glouceſter, 8 Sept. 1650, intending to exchange it for a better boke. F [...]air [...]ax."’ And at the end, in the ſame hand. ‘"Here lacketh ſeven leaves that are in Joſeph Holland's boke."’ This manuſcript, however, contains as much as Berthelett's edition. Lewis mentions the Temple of Glaſs by John Lydgat [...], in Caxton's ſ [...]cond edition of CHAUCER. [LIFE CH. p. 104. See alſo Middleton's DISSERT. p. 263.] But no ſuch poem appears in that edition in ſaint John's college library at Oxford.

The ſtrongeſt argument which induces me to give this poem to Hawes, and not to Lydgate, is, that it was printed in Hawes's life-time, with his name, by Wynkyn de Worde. Bale alſo mentions, among Hawes's poems, Templum Cryſtallinum in one book. There is, however, a no leſs ſtrong argument for giving it to Lydgate, and that is from Hawes himſelf; who, reciting Lydgate's Works, in the PASTIME OF PLEASURE, ſays thus, [ch. xiv. edit. 1555. Signat. G. iiii. ut infr.]

—And the tyme to paſſe
Of love he made the bryght temple of glaſſe.

And I muſt add, that this piece is expreſsly recited in the large catalogue of Lydgate's works, belonging to W. Thinne, in Speght's edition of Chaucer, printed 1602. fol. 376. Yet on the whole, I think this point ſtill doubtful: and I leave it to be determined by the reader, before whom the evidence on both ſides is laid at large.

i
V. 290.
k
V. 451.
l
V. 72.
m
The wonderful chambers of this temple.
n
Dun. Dark.
o
i. e. Collected.
p
Blinded, darkened the ſun.
q
This text is given from Berthelett's edition, collated with MSS. Fairfax. xvi.
r
From Pr. Cop. and MSS. Fairf. xvi. as before.
f
Bills of complaint.
s
Language.
t
See Chaucer's SQUIER'S TALE.
u
Fol. 141. MSS. Harl. 978. See ſupr. DISSERTAT. i.
v
A paſſage in Ovid's REMEDIUM AMORIS concerning Achilles's ſpear, is ſuppoſed to be alluded to by a troubadour, Bernard Ventadour, who lived about the year 1150. HIST. TROUB [...]D. p. 27. This Monſ. Millot calls, ‘"Un trait d'erudition ſingulier dans un troubadour."’ It is not, however, impoſſible, that he might get this fiction from ſome of the early romances about Troy.
w
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 303. To the paſſages adduced from Chaucer theſe may be added, CHAUCER'S DREME, v. 1320.
—In a chamber paint
Full of ſtories old and divers.
Again, ibid. v. 2167.
For there n' as no lady ne creture,
Save on the wals old portraiture
Of horſemen, hawkis, and houndes, &c.
Compare Dante's PURGATORIO, c. x. pag. 105. ſeq. edit. Ald.
x
Vit. Vicecomit. Mediolan. OTHO. p. 56. edit. Paris, 1549. 4to.
y
Erdſwicke's Staffordſhire, p. 101.
z
"Itinerarium Symeonis et fratris Hugonis Illuminatoris ex Hibernia in terram ſanctam, A. D. MCCCXXII." MSS. C. C. C. Cantabr. G. 6. Princip. ‘"Culmine honoris ſpreto."’ It comprehends a journey through England, and deſcribes many curioſitie [...] now loſt. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 114.
a

This palace was conſumed by fire in 1299, but immediately rebuilt, I ſuppoſe, by Edward the firſt. Stowe's LONDON, p. 379. 387. edit. 1599. So that theſe paintings muſt have been done between the years 1299, and 1322. It was again deſtroyed by fire in 1512, and never afterwards re-edified. Stowe, ibid. p. 389. About the year 1500, the walls of the Virgin Mary's chapel, built by prior Silkeſtede, in the cathedral of Wincheſter, were elegantly painted with the miracles, and other [...]ories, of the New Teſtament, in ſmall [...]igures; many delicate traces of which now remain.

Falcandus, the old hiſtorian of Sicily, who wrote about the year 1200, ſays, that the chapel in the royal palace at Palermo, had its walls decorated ‘"de lapillulis quadris, partim aureis, partim diverſicoloribus veteris ac novi Teſtamenti depictam hiſtoriam continentibus."’ Sicil. Hiſtor. p. 10. edit. Paris. 1550. 4to. But this was moſaic work, which, chiefly by means of the Cruſades, was communicated to all parts of Europe from the Byzantine Greeks; and with which all the churches, and other public edifices at Conſtantinople, were adorned. EPIST. de COMPARAT. Vet. et Nov. Romae. p. 122. Man. Chryſolor. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 354. Leo Oſtienſis ſays, that one of the abbots of Caſſino in Italy, in the eleventh century, ſent meſſengers to Conſtantinople, to bring over artificers in MOSAIC, to ornament the church of the monaſtery, after Rome or Italy had loſt that art for five hundred years. He calls Rome magiſtra Latinitas. Chron. Caſſin. lib. iii. c. 27. Compare Muratori, ANTICH. ITALIAN. Tom. i. Diſſ. xxiv. p. 279. Nap. 1752. 4to.

b
MSS. Reg. [Brit. Muſ.] 19 D. 7. [...]ol. Among the Harleian manuſcripts, there is an Arabic book, containing the Pſalms of David, with an additional pſalm, on the ſlaughter of the giant Goliah. MSS. Harl. 5476. See above.
c
But they were extant about the year 1000, for they are cited by Gerbert. Epiſt. 83. And by Peter of Poitou, who died in 1197. See Barth. Adverſ. xxxii. 5. 58. Leland ſays, that Tully de REPUBLICA was conſumed by fire, among other books, in the library of William Selling, a learned abbot of ſaint Auſtin's at Canterbury, who died in 1494. SCRIPT. CELLINGUS.
d
Venet. 1472. fol. Apud. Vindel. Spiram.
e
Lambeccius mentions a Greek manuſcript of Julian, a cardinal of S. Angelo, [...]. 5. p. 153. The DISPUTATIO of Favonius Elogius, a Carthaginian rhetorician, and a diſciple of ſaint Auſtin, on the SOMNIUM SCIPIONIS, was printed by G. S [...]hottus, Antw. 1613. 4to.
f
ROM. ROSE. lib. i. v. 7. [&c.]
An author that hight MACROBE,
That halte not dremis [...]alſe ne lefe;
But undoth us the AVISION
That whilom met KING CIPIOUN.
NONNES PR. TALE, v. 1238. Urr.
MACROBIUS that writith th' AVISION
In A [...]ricke, of the worthy SCIPION.
DREME CH. v. 284 He mentions thi [...] as the moſt wonderful of dreams. HOUSE F. v. 407. lib. i. He deſcribes a proſpect more extenſive and various than that which Scipio ſaw in his dream.
That ſawe in dreme, at point deviſe,
Heven, and erth, hell, and paradiſe.
And in other places.
g
He makes Scipio ſay to him, v. 110.
—Thou haſt the ſo wel borne
In looking of mine olde book al to torne,
Of which MACROBIE raught not a lite, &c.
h
Ibid. v. 32.
i
By Wynkyn de Worde, in 1517. 4to. with wooden cuts. A ſecond edition followed in 1554. By John Wayland, in 4to. A third, in 4to. by John Waley, in 1555. See a poem called a Dialogue between a Lover and a Jay, by one Thomas Feylde, printed by Wynkyn de Worde, in 4to. Princ. Prol. ‘"Thoug [...]e laureate poetes in old antiquite."’ This obſcure rhymer is here only mentioned, as he has an [...]lluſion to his cotemporary Hawes.
k
There is ſomething dramatic in this circumſtance. Raimond Vidal de Beſaudin, a troubadour of Provence, who flouriſhed about the year 1200, has given the following dramatic form to one of his contes or tales. One day, ſays the troubadour, Alphonſus, king of Caſtille, whoſe court was famous for good cheer, magnificence, loyalty, valour, the practice of arms and the management of horſes, held a ſolemn aſſembly of minſtrels and knights. When the hall was quite full, came his queen Eleanor, covered with a veil, and diſguiſed in a cloſe robe bordered with ſilver, adorned with the blaſon of a golden lion; who making obeyſance, ſeated herſelf at ſome diſtance from the king. At this inſtant, a minſtrel advancing to the king, addreſſed him thus. ‘"O king, emperour of valour, I come to ſupplicate you to give me audience."’ The king, under pain of diſgrace, ordered that no perſ [...] ſhould interrupt the minſtrel in what he ſhould ſay. The minſtrel had travelled from his own country to recite an adventur [...] which had happened to a ba [...]on of Arragon, [...]ot unknown to king Alphonſus: and he now proceeds to tell no unaffecting ſtory concerning a jealous huſband. At the cloſe, the minſtrel humbly requeſts the king and queen, to baniſh all jealous huſbands from their dominions. The king replied, ‘"MINSTREL, your tale is pleaſant and gentle, and you ſhall be rewarded. But to ſhew you ſtill further how much you have entertained me, I command that henceforth your tale ſhall be called Le JALOUX CHATIE."’ Our troubadour's tale is greatly enlivened by theſe accompaniments, and by being thrown into the mouth of a minſtrel.
l
In Shakeſpeare, RUMOUR is painted full of tongues. This was from the PAGEANTS.
m

See ſupr. vol. i. p. 363. Greyhounds were antiently almoſt as great favourites as hawks. Our forefathers reduced hunting to a ſcience; and have left large treatiſes on this ſpecies of diverſion, which was ſo connected with their ſtate of life and manners. The moſt curious one I know, is, or was lately, among the manuſcripts of Mr. Farmor, of Tuſmore in Oxfordſhire. It is entitled, ‘"LE ART DE VENERIE, le quel maiſtre Guillame Twici venour le roy d'Angleterre ſiſt [...]n ſon temps per aprandre autres."’ This maſter William Twici was grand huntſman to Edward the ſecond. In the Cotton library, this book occurs in Engliſh under the names of William Twety and John Giffard, moſt probably a tranſlation from the French copy, with the title of a book of Venerie dialogue wiſe. Princ. ‘"TWETY now will we beginnen."’ MSS. Cotton. VESPAS. B. xii. The leſs antient tract on this ſubject, called the Maiſtre of the Game, written for the inſtruction of prince Henry, a [...]terwards Henry the fi [...]th, is much more common. MSS. Digb. 182. Bibl. Bodl. I believe the maiſtre veneur has been long aboliſhed in England: but the [...]oyal falcon [...]r ſtill remains. The latter was an officer of high dignity in the Grecian court of Conſtantinople, at an early period, under the ſtyle of [...]. Pachym. lib. i. c. 8. x. 15. Codin. cap. ii. Phrenzes ſays, that the emperor Andronicus Palaeologus the younger kept more than one thouſand and four hundred hawks, with almoſt as many men to take care of them. lib. i. c. 10.

About the year 750, Winifrid, or Boniface, a native of England, and archbiſhop of Mons, acquaints Ethelbald, a king of Kent, that he has ſent him, one hawk, two falcons, and two ſhields. And Hedilbert, a king of the Mercians, requeſts the ſame archbiſhop Winifrid, to ſend him two falcons which have been trained to kill cranes. See EPISTOL. Winifrid. [Bonifac.] Mogunt. 1605. 1629. And in Bibl. Patr. tom. vi. and tom. xiii. p. 70. Falconry, or a right to ſport with falcons, is mentioned ſo early as the year 986. Chart. Ottonis iii. Imperator. ann. 986. apud Ughell. de Epiſcop. Januenſ. A charter of Kenulf, king of the Mercians, granted to the abbey of Abingdon, and dated 821, prohibits all perſons carrying hawks or falcons, to treſpaſs on the lands of the monks. Dugd. Monaſt. i. p. 100. Julius Firmicus, who wrote about the year 355, is the firſt Latin author who mentions hawking, or has even uſed the word. FALCO. Math [...]ſ. lib. v. c. 7. vii. c. 4. Hawking is often mentioned in the capitularies of the eighth and ninth centuries. The grand fauconnier of France was an officer of great eminence. His ſalary was four thouſand florins; he was attended by a retinue of fifty gentlemen and fifty aſſiſtant falconers, and allowed to keep three hundred hawks. He licenſ [...]d every vender of falcons in France; and received a tribute for every bird that was ſold in that kingdom, even within the verge of the court. The king of France never rode out, on any occaſion, without this officer. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 166.]

An ingenious French writer inſinuates, that the paſſion for hunting, which at this day ſubſiſts as a favourite and [...]aſhionable ſpecies of diverſion in the moſt civiliſed countries of Europe, is a ſtrong indication of our gothic origin, and is one of the ſavage habits, yet unreformed, of our northern anceſtors. Perhaps there is too much refinement in this remark. The pleaſures of the chace ſeem to have been implanted by nature; and, under due regulation, if purſued as a matter of mere relaxation and not of employment, are by no means incompatible with the modes of poliſhed life.

n
The author of the TRESOR, a troubadour, gives the following account of his own ſyſtem of erudition, which may not be inapplicable here. He means to ſhew himſelf a profound and univerſal ſcholar; and profeſſes to underſtand the ſeven liberal arts, grammar, the Latin language, logic, the Decreta [...]s of Gratian, muſic according to Boethius and Guy Aretin, arithmetic, geography, aſtronomy, the eccleſiaſtic computation, medicine, pharmacy, ſurgery, necromancy, geomancy, magic, divination, and mythology, better than Ovi and Thal [...]s le Menteur: the hiſtories of Thebes, Troy, Rome, Romulus, Ceſar, Pompey, Auguſtus, Nero, Veſpaſian, Titus, who took Jeruſalem, the Twelve Ceſars down to Conſtantine; the hiſtory of Greece, and that of Alexander, who dying diſtributed his acquiſitions among his twelve peers; the hiſtory of France, containing the tranſactions of Clovis, converted by ſaint Remi; Charles Ma [...]tel, who eſtabliſhed tenths; king Pepin, Charlemagne and Roland, and the good king Louis. To theſe he adds, the HISTORY of ENGLAND, which comprehends the arrival of Brutus in England, and his conqueſt of the giant Corineus, the propheſies of Merlin, the redoubted death of Arthur, the adventures of Gawaine, and the amours of Triſtram and Bel Iſould. Amidſt this profuſion of fabulous hiſtory, which our author ſeems to think real, the hiſtory of the Bible is introduced; which he traces from the patriarchs down to the day of judgment. At the cloſe of the whole, he gives us ſome more of his faſhionable accompliſhments; and ſays, that he is ſkilled in the plain chant, in ſinging to the lute, in making canzonetts, paſtorals, amorous and pleaſant poeſies, and in dancing: that he is beloved by eccleſiaſtics, knights, ladies, citizens, minſtrels, ſquires, &c. The author of this TREASURE, or cyclopede of ſcience, mentioned above, is Pierre de Corbian, who lived about the year 1200. Creſcimbeni ſays, that this TRESOR furniſhed materials of a ſimilar compilation in Italian verſe to Bennet, Dante's maſter; and of another in French proſe. But ſee Jul. Niger, Script. Flor. p. 112.
o
He ſays, that the little turr [...]ts had, for weathercocks or fans, images of gold, which, moving with the wind, played a tune. So Chaucer, CH. DREAME, v. 75.
For everie yate [tower] of fine gold
A thouſand fanis, aie turning,
[...]tunid had, and briddes ſinging
Div [...]rs, and on eche fane a paire,
With opin mouth againe the aire:
And of a ſute were all the toures:—
And many a ſmall turret hie.
Again, in the caſtle of PLEASAUNT REGARD, the fans on the high towers are mentioned as a circumſtance of pleaſure and beauty. ASSEMBL. LAD. v. 160.
The towris hie [...]ull pleaſant ſhall ye finde,
With phanis freſhe, turning with everie winde.
And our author again, ch. xxxviii.
Aloſt the towres the golden fanes goode
Dyde with the wynde make [...]ull ſweete armony
Them for to heare it was great melody.
Our author here paints from the life. An exceſſive agglomeration of turrets, with their fans, is one of the characteriſtic marks of the florid mode of architecture, which was now almoſt at its heighth. See views of the palaces of Noneſuch and Richmond.
p
The Cruſades made the eaſtern rivers more [...]amous among the Europeans than any of their own. Arnaud Daniel, a troubadour of the thirteenth century, declares, he had rather pleaſe his miſtreſs than poſſeſs all the dominions which are waſhed by Hebrus, Meander, and Tigris. Hiſt. Troub. ii. p. 485. The compliment would have been equally exaggerated, if he had alluded to ſome of the rivers of his own country.
q
From ſir John Maundeville's TRAVELS. ‘"In the hall, is a vine made of gold, that goeth all aboute the hall: and it hath many branches of grapes, ſome are white, &c. All the red are of rubies, &c."’ ch. lxvii. Paulus Silentiarius, in his deſcription of the church of S. Sophia at Conſtantinople, mentions ſuch an ornament. ii. 235.
[...], &c.
Pa'mitibus auricomis circumcurrens vitis ſerpit.
r
In the eleventh book of Boccacio's THESEID, after Arcite is dead, Palamon builds a ſuperb temple in honour of him, in which his whole hiſtory is painted. The deſcription of this painting is a recapitulatory abridgement of the preceding part of the poem. Hawes's tapeſtry is leſs judiciouſly placed in the beginning of the piece, becauſe it precludes expectation by foreſtalling all the future incidents.
s

He recites ſome of the pieces of the two latter. Chaucer, he ſays, wrote the BOOK OF FAME on hys own invencion. The TRAGEDIES of the xix ladies, a t [...]anſlacyon. The CANTERBURY TALES, upon hys ymaginacyon, ſome of which are vertuous, others glad and merry. The pytous dolour of TROYLUS AND CRESSIDA, and many other bokes.

Amo [...]g Lydgate's works, he recites the LIFE of OUR LADY. SAINT EDMUND'S LIFE. The FALL OF PRINCES. The THREE REASONS. The CHORLE AND THE BIRD. The TROYBOOK. VIRTUE AND VICE, [MSS. Harl. 2251. 63. fol. 95.] The TEMPLE OF GLASS. The BOOK OF GODS AND GODDESSES. This laſt, I ſuppoſe, is The BANKET OF GODS AND GODDESSES.

The poem of the CHORLE AND THE BIRD our author calls a pamfl [...]te. Lydgate himſelf ſays, that he tranſlated this tale from a pamflete in Frenſche, ſt 5. It was firſt printed by Caxton in his CHAUCER. Afterwards by Wynkyn de Worde, before 1500, in quarto. And, I think, by Copland. Aſhmole has printed it under the title of HERMES'S BIRD, and ſuppoſes it to have been written originally by Raymund Lully; or at leaſt made Engliſh by Cremer, abbot of Weſtminſter, Lully's ſcholar. THEATR. CHEM. p. 213. 467 465. Lydgate, in the laſt ſtanza, again ſpeaks of this piece as a ‘"tranſ [...]acyon owte of the Frenſhe."’ But the fable on which it is founded, is told by Petrus Alphonſus, a writer of the twelfth century, in his tract de Clericali Diſciplina, never printed. See ſupr. p. 137.

Our author, in his recital of Chaucer's pieces, calls the LEGENDE OF GOOD WOMEN tragidyes. Antiently a ſerious narrative in verſe was called a tragedy. And it is obſervable, that he mentions xix ladyes belonging to this legend. Only nine appear at preſent. Nineteen was the number intended [...] as we may collect from Lydgate's FALL PR. Prol. and ibid. l. i. c. 6. Compare MAN of L. T. Prol. v. 60. Urr. Where eight more ladies than are in the preſent legende are mentioned. This piece is called the l [...]gendis of ix good women, MSS. Fairf. xvi. Chaucer himſelf ſays, ‘"I ſawe cominge of ladyes Nineteen in royall [...]abit."’ v. 383. Urr. Compare Parſ. T. Urr. p. 214. col. 1.

t
The walls of her chamber are painted in gold with the three fundamental rules of arithmetic.
u
In the TRESOR of Pierre de Corbian, cited at large above, Muſic, according to Boethius and Guy Aretin, is one of the ſeven liberal ſciences. At Oxford, the graduates in muſic, which ſtill remains there as an academical ſcience, are at this day required to ſhew their proficiency in Boethius DE MUSICA. In a pageant, at the coronation of king Edward the ſixth, MUSIC perſonified appears among the ſeven ſciences. Leland. Coll. APPEND. iii. 317. edit. 1770.
w
In the deſcription of her perſon, which is very elegant, and conſiſts of three ſtanzas, there is this circumſtance, ‘"She gartered wel her hoſe."’ ch. xxx. Chaucer has this circumſtance in deſcribing the Wife of Bath. Prol. v. 458.
Hire hoſen weren of fine ſcarlet rede
Ful ſtraite yteyed.—
x
That is, tabours, trumpets, pipes, ſackbuts, organs, recorders, harps, lutes, croudds, tymphans, [l. ſymphans] dulcimers, [...]laricimbales, rebeckes, clarychordes. ch. xvi. At the marriage of James of Scotland with the princeſs Margaret, in the year 1503, ‘"the king began before hyr to play of the clarychord [...]s and after of the lut [...] And uppon the ſaid clarychorde ſir Edward Stanley played a ballade and ſange therewith."’ Again, the king and queen being together, ‘"after ſhe played upon the clarychorde and after of the lute, he beinge uppon his knee allwaies bareheaded."’ Leland. Coll. APPEND. iii. p. 284. 285. edit. 1770. In Lydgate's poem, entitled RESON AND SENSUALLITE, compyl [...]d by John Lydgate, various inſtruments and ſorts of muſic are recited. MSS. Fairfax. xvi. Bibl. Bodl. [Pr. ‘"To all folkys virtuous."’] ‘"H [...]re reherſyth the auctor the MYNSTRALCYS that were in the gardyn."’
Of al maner mynſtralcye
That any man kan ſpecifye:
F [...]or there were rotys of Almayne.
And eke of Arragon and Spayne:
Songes, ſtampes, and eke daunces,
Divers plente of pleſaunces;
And many unkouth notys newe
Of ſwiche folke as lovid trewe;
And inſtrumentys that dyd excelle,
Many moo than I kan telle:
Harpys, fythales, and eke rotys,
Well according with her notys,
Lutys, ribibles, and geternes,
More for eſtatys than tavernes;
Orguys, cytolis, monacordys.—
There were trumpes, and trumpettes,
Lowde ſhallys, and doucettes.
Here get [...]rn [...], is a guittar, which, with cytolis, has its origin in cit [...]ara. Fythales is fiddles. Shallys, I believe, ſhould be ſhalmies, or ſhawms. Orguys is organs. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 429. and 61. By eſtatys he means ſtates, or ſolemn aſſemblies.
y
Muſic commands her mynſtrelles to play the dance, which was called Mamours the ſwete. So at the royal marriage juſt mentioned, ‘"The mynſtrelles begonne to play a baſſe dance, &c. After this done, they plaid a rownde, the which was daunced by the lorde Grey ledyinge the ſaid queene.—After the dinner incontynent the mynſtrelles of the chammer [chamber] began to play and then daunced the quene, &c."’ Leland, APPEND. ubi ſupr. p. 284. ſeq.
z
COUNSELL mentions the examples of Troilus and Creſſida, and of Ponthus and Sidonia. Of the latter faithful pair, there is an old French romance, ‘"Le Roman du noble roy Pontus fils du roy de Gallice et de la belle Sidoine fille du roy de Bretagne."’ Without date, in bl. letter. 4to. It is in the royal library at Paris, MS. fol. See Lengl. Bibl. Rom. ii. 250. And among the king's manuſcripts in the Britiſh muſeum there is, ‘"Le Livre du roy Ponthus."’ 15 E. vi. 6. I think there are ſome elegant miniatures in this manuſcript. Our author calls him ‘"the famous knyght yclypped Ponthus, whych loved Sydonye."’ ch. xvi. KING PONTHUS is among the copies of James Roberts, a printer in the reign of queen Eliſabeth, Ames, p. 342. I believe it was firſt printed by Wynkyn de Worde, ‘"The hyſtory of Ponthus and Galyce, and of lytel Brytayne."’ With wooden cuts. 1511. 4to.
a
In a wooden cut Ptolomy the aſtronomer is here introduced, with a quadrant: and Plato, the conynge and famous clerke, is cited.
b
This was a common ſubject of tapeſtry, as I have before obſerved: but as it was the moſt favourite martial ſubject of the dark ages, is here introduced with peculiar propriety. Chaucer, from the general popularity of the ſtory, has made it a ſubject for painted glaſs. DREME CHAUC. v. 322. p. 406. Urr. col. 1.
—and with glas
Were al the windowes wel yglaſed
Ful clere, and nat an hole ycraſed,
That to beholde it was grete joy;
For wholly all the ſtory of Troy
Was in the glai [...]inge ywrought thus,
Of Hector, and king Priamus,
Achilles, &c.
[...]n our author's deſcription of the palace of Pucell, ‘"there was enameled with figures curious the ſyege of Troy."’ cap. xxxviii. Sign. A. iii. edit. 1555. The arras was the ſyege of Thebes. ibid. In the temple of Mars was alſo ‘"the ſege of Thebes depaynted [...]ayre and clere"’ on the walls. cap. xxvii. Sign. Q. iii. [See ſupr. p. 216.]
c
Through the ſumptuous hall of the caſtle, which is painted with the Siege of Theb [...]s, and where many knights are playing at cheſs.
d
A fabulous king of Thrace, who, I think, is mentioned in Caxton's RECUYAL OF THE HYSTORYES OF TROY, now juſt printed; that is, in the year 1471. Our author appeals to this romance, which he calls the Recule of Troye, as an authentic voucher for the truth of the labours of Hercules. ch. i. By the way, Boccacio's GENEALOGY OF THE GODS is quoted in this romance of Troy, B. ii. ch. xix.
e
His father is Davy Drunken nole,
Who never dranke but in a fayre blacke boule.
Here he ſeems to allude to Lydgate's poem, called Of Jack Wat that could pull the lining [...] out of a black boll. MS. Aſhmol. Oxon. 59. ii. MSS. Harl. 2251. 12. fol. 14. One Jack Hare is the ſame ſort of ludicrou [...] character, who is thus deſcribed in Lydgate's Tale of froward Maymonde. MSS. Laud. D. 31. Bibl. Bodl.
A froward knave pleynly to deſcryve,
And a ſloggard ſhortely to declare,
A precious knave that caſtith hym never to thryve,
His mouth weel weet, his ſlevis riht thredbare;
A turnebroche, [turn-ſpit] a boy for hogge of ware,
With louring face noddyng and ſlumb [...]ryng [...]
Of new cryſtened, and called Jakke Hare,
Whiche of a boll can [...]lukke out the lynyng.
Theſe two pieces of Lydgate appear to be the ſame.
f
He relates, how Ariſtotle, for all his clergy, was ſo infatuated with love, that he ſuffered the lady, who only laughed at his paſſion, to bridle and ride him about his chamber. This ſtory is in Gower, CONF. AMANT. lib. viii. fol. clxxxix. b. edit. ut ſupr. [See ſupr. p. 25.]
I ſaw there Ariſtote alſo
Whom that the quene of Grece alſo
Hath brideled, &c.
Then follows a long and ridiculous ſtory about Virgil, not the poet, but a necromancer framed in the dark ages, who is deceived by the tricks of a lady at the court of Rome; on whom, however, her paramour takes ample revenge by means of his ſkill in muſic. ch. xxix. I have mentioned this Virgil, ſupr. vol. i. p. 407. See alſo, ſupr. p. 2 [...]. Where I have falſely ſuppoſed him to be the poet. This [...]iction is alſo alluded to by Gower, and added to that of Ariſtotle's, among his ex [...]ples of the power of love over the wiſeſt men. ubi ſupr.
And eke Virgile of acqueintance
I ſigh [ſaw] where he the maiden praid
Which was the daughter, as men ſaid,
Of themperour whilom of Rome.
There is an old book, printed in 1510, entitled, ‘"VIRGILIUS. This boke treateth of the lyfe of Virgilius, and of his deth, and many marvayles that he did in his lyfetyme by whitchcraft and nigramanſy, thorouhg the help of the devylls of hell."’ Coloph. ‘"Thus endeth the lyfe of Virgilius with many dyvers conſaytes that he dyd. Emprynted in the cytie of Andewarpe by me John D [...]eſborche, dw [...]llyng at the Camer Porte."’ With cuts, octavo. It was in Mr. Weſt's library. Virgil's Li [...]e is mentioned by Lan [...]ham among other romantic pieces, Killinw. Caſtle. p. 34. edit. 1575. 120. This fictitious perſonage, however, ſeems to be formed on the genuine Virgil, becauſe, from the ſubject of his eighth Eclogue, he was ſuppoſed to be an adept in the myſteries of magic and incantation.
g
In another place he is called FOLLY, and ſaid to ride on a mare. When chivalry was at its heighth in France, it was a diſgrace to any perſon, not below the degree of a gentleman, to ride a mar [...].
h
From Chaucer, ROM. ROSE, v. 1120. Urr. p. 223. a. RICHESSE is crowned with the coſtlieſt gems,
But all before full ſubtilty
A [...]ine carboncle ſel ſawe I,
The ſtone ſo cleare was and bright,
That al ſo ſon [...] as it was night,
Men mightin ſene to go for nede
A mile or two in length and [...]rede.
Such light yſprange out of that ſtone.
But this is not uncommon in romance, and is an Arabian idea. See ſupr. vol. i. p. 378. In the Hiſtory of the SEVEN CHAMPIONS, a book compiled in the reign of James the firſt by one Richard Johnſon, and containing ſome of the moſt capital [...]ictions of the old Arabian romance, in the adventure of the ENCHANTED FOUNTAIN, the knights entering a dark hall, ‘"tooke off their gauntletts from their left hands whereon they wore marvellous great and [...]ine diamonds, that gave ſo much light, that they might plainly ſee all things that were in the hall, the which was very great and wide, and upon the walls were painted the figures of many furious fiends, &c."’ SEC. P. ch. ix. And in Maundeville's TRAVELLS, ‘"The emperour hath in his chamber a pillar of gold, in which is a ruby and carbuncle a foot long, which lighteth all his chamber by night, &c."’ ch. lxxii.
i
MERCY is no uncommon divinity in the love-ſyſtem of the troub [...]dours. See M. Millot's HIST. LITT. DES TROUBAD. tom. i. p. 181. Par. 1774.
k
There is a deſcription of a magnificent ma [...]or-place, curious [...]or its antiquity, in an old poem, written before the year 1300, entitled a Diſputation bytwene a Cryſte [...] man and a J [...]we, perhaps tranſlated from the French, MS. Vernon. fol. 301. ut ſupr. [See Carpentier's Suppl. du Cange, Lat. Gloſſ. V. RADIMERE.]
Forth heoa wenten on the [...]eld
To an hulb thei bi held,
The eorthe clevetc as a ſcheld d,
On the grownde grene:
Some fonde thei one ſtîh,
Thei went theronf radly;
The criſten mon heddeg farly
What hit mihte mene.
Aftir that ſtiȝ lay a ſtrete,
Clere i pavet withh gete,
Thei fond a Maner that was mete
With murthes ful ſchene;
W [...]l corven and wroht
With halles heiȝe upponi loft,
To a place weore thei brouht
As paradys thek clene.
Ther was foulenl ſong,
Much murthes among,
Hoſe lenge wolde longe
Fful luitell hym thouht:
On vche a ſyde of the halle,
Pourpell, p [...]lure, andm palle;
Wyndowes in the walle
Was wonderlin i wrouht:
There waso doſers on thep dees,
Hoſe the cheefe woldeq ches
That never richere was,
In no ſaler ſouht:
Both the mot and the mold
Schone al on red golde
The criſtene mon hadde ferli of thats folde,
That hider was brouȝt.
Ther was erbes* growen grene,
Spices ſpringynge bi twene,
Such hadde I not ſene,
Ffor ſothe as I ſay:
The thruſtellt ſonge full ſrhille,
He newed notes at his wille;
Ffaire fflowers to [...]ille,
Ffine in that ffay:
And al the rounde table good,
Hou Arthur in eortheu ȝod,
Sum ſate and ſum ſtod,
O the grounde grey:
Hit was a wonder ſiht
As thei wer quik menw diht
To ſeo hou theyx play.
Together with ſome of his expreſſions, I do not always underſtand this writer's context and tranſitions, which have great abruptneſs. In what he ſays of king Arthur, I ſuppoſe he means, that king Arthur's round table, and his knights turneying, were painted on the walls of the hall.
a
They.
b
Hill.
c
Cleaved.
d
Shield.
e
Road. Way. Cavern aſc [...]nt.
f
Readily. Eaſily.
g
Was very attentive. H [...]ded.
h
Paved with gritt, i. e. ſand, or gravel.
i
With halls built high.
k
Bright, or pl [...]aſant, as Paradiſe.
l
Fo [...]ls, birds.
m
The gueſts ſate on each ſide of the hall, cloathed in purple, furs, or ermine, and rich robes.
n
Wonderfully wrought.
o
D [...]ſſ [...]r [...]s a baſket carried on the back. Lat. Dorſarium. Chaucer's H. F. iii. [...]50. "Or elſe hutchis or Doſſers.' We muſt here underſtand Proviſions.
p
Dees is here the table.
q
Whoever would chuſe the beſt.
r
Hall. Lat. Sala.
s
Houſe.
*
An Herbary, for furniſhing domeſtic medicines, always made a part of our antient gardens. In Hawes s poem, now before us, in the delicious garden of the caſtle of Muſic, ‘"Amid [...] the garden there was an herber fayre and quadrante."’ ch. xviii. In the Gloſſary to Chaucer, Erbe is abſurdly interpreted Arbours. NON. PR. T. v. 1081. "Or [...]r [...]e ive growing in our [...]rberis." Chaucer is here enumerating various medical herbs, uſually planted in [...]rberis, or herbaries.
t
Thruſh.
u
[...] went. Walked on earth.
w
As if they were living men.
x
To ſee their ſports, tournaments, &c.
l
See ſupr. p. 217. and vol. i. p. 114. 303. I know not from what romantic hiſtory of the cruſades, Richard Johnſon took the deſcription of the ſtately houſe of the courteous Jew at Damaſcus, built for entertaining chriſtian pilgrims, in which ‘"the walls were painted with as many ſtories as there were years ſince the creation of the world."’ SEC. P. ch. iv. The word enameled, in the text, is probably uſed in the ſame ſenſe as in Stowe, SURVEY LOND. p. 359. edit. 1599. ‘"The great bell-tower, [of the priory of S. John in Cle [...]kenwell,] a moſt curious piece of workmanſhippe, graven, guilt, and inamel [...]d, to the great beautifying of the citie, and paſſinge all other that I have ſeene, &c."’ So again our author, Hawes, ch. ii.
—The toure doth ſtande
Made all of golde, enameled aboute
With noble ſtoryes.—
m
For this cuſtom, ſee ſupr. vol. i. p. 437. And the romance of APPOLYNE, ch. xxxiii.
n
Which is deſcribed thus, ch. xxix.
Why ſhould I tary by long continuance
Of the feaſt, &c.
In the ſame manner Chaucer paſſes over the particularities of Cambuſcan's feaſt, SQU. T. v. 83. Urr. And of Theſeus's feaſt, KN. T. v. 2199. See alſo MAN OF L. T. v. 704. And Spenſer's FAIRY QU. v. iii. 3. [See ſupr [...] vol. i. p. 333.] And Matthew Paris, in deſcribing the magnificent marriage and coronation of queen Eleanor in 1236, uſes exactly the ſame formulary, and on a ſimilar ſubject, ‘"Quid in eccleſia ſeriem enarrem deo, ut decuit, reverenter miniſtrantium? Quid in menſa dapium et diverſorum libaminum deſcribam fertilitatem redundantem? Venationis [veniſon] abundantiam? Piſcium varietatem? Joculatorum voluptatem? Miniſtrantium venuſtatem? etc."’ HIST. ANGL. ſub. HEN. iii. p. 406. edit. Tig. ut ſupr. Compare another feaſt deſcribed in the ſame chronicle, much after the ſame manner; and which, the writer adds, was more ſplendid than any feaſt celebrated in the time of Ahaſuerus, king Arthur, or Charlemagne. ibid. p. 871.
o
The chief reaſon for ranking king David among the knights of romance was, as I have already hinted, becauſe he killed the giant Goliah: an achievement here mentioned by Hawes. See ſupr. p. 217. and vol. i. p. 418.
p

Of Arthur and his knights he ſays, that their exploits are recorded ‘"in royall bokes and jeſtes hyſtoryall."’ ch. xliii. Sir Thomas Maillorie had now juſt publiſhed his MORTE ARTHUR, a narrative digeſted from various French romances on Arthur's ſtory. Caxton's printed copy of this favourite volume muſt have been known to our poet Hawes, which appeared in 1485. fol. By the way, in panegyriſing Chaucer, Hawes mentions it, as a circumſtance of diſtinction, that his works were printed. ch. xiiii.

—Whoſe name
In PRINTED bokès doth remayne in fame.

This was natural at the beginning of the typographic art. Many of Chaucer's poems were now recently printed by Caxton.

With regard to Millorie's book, much, if not moſt, of it, I believe, is taken from the great French romance of LANCELOT, tranſlated from Latin into French at the command of one of our Henrys, a metrical Engliſh verſion of which is now in Benet library at Cambridge. [See a ſpecimen in Mr. Naaſmith's curious catalogue, p. 54.] I have left it doubtful whether it was the third Henry who ordered this romance to be tranſlated into Latin, vol. i. p. 115. But, beſide the proofs there ſuggeſted, in favour of that hypotheſis, it appears, that Henry the third paid great attention to theſe compoſitions, from the following curious anecdote juſt publiſhed, which throws new light on that monarch's character.

Arnaud Daniel, a troubadour, highly celebrated by Dante and Petrarch, about the year 1240 made a voyage into England, where, in the court of king Henry the third, he met a minſt [...], who challenged him at difficult rhymes. The challenge was accep [...]ed, a conſiderable wager was laid, and the rival bards were ſhut up in ſeparate chambers of the palace. The king, who appears to have much intereſted himſelf in the diſpute, allowed them ten days for compoſing, and five more for learning to ſing, their reſpective pieces: after which, each was to exhibit his performance in the preſence of his majeſty. The third day, the Engliſh minſtrel announced that he was ready. The troubadour declared he had not wrote a line; but that he had tried, and could not as yet put two words together. The following evening he overheard the minſtrel practiſing his chanſon to himſelf. The next day he had the good fortune to hear the ſame again, and learned the air and words. At the day appointed they both appeared before the king. Arnaud deſired to ſing firſt. The minſtrel, in a fit of the greateſt ſurpriſe and aſtoniſhment, ſuddenly cried out, C'eſt ma chanſon, This is MY SONG. The king ſaid it was impoſſible. The minſtrel ſtill inſiſted upon it; and Arnaud, being cloſely preſſed, ingenuouſly told the whole affair. The king was much entertained with this adventure; and ordering the wager to be withdrawn, loaded them with rich preſents. But he afterwards obliged Arnaud to give a chanſon of his own compoſition. Millot, ut ſupr. tom. ii. p. 491.

In the mean time I would not be underſtood to deny, that Henry the ſecond encouraged theſe pieces; for it partly appears, that Gualter Mapes, archdeacon of Oxford, tranſlated, from Latin into French, the popular romance of SAINT GRAAL, at the inſtance of Henry the ſecond, to whom he was chaplain, about the year 1190. See MSS. Reg. 20 D. iii. a manuſcript perhaps coeval with the tranſlator; and, if ſo, the original copy preſented to the king. Maiſter Benoit, or Benedict, a rhymer in French, was alſo patroniſed by this monarch: at whoſe command he compiled a metrical Chronicle of the DUKES OF NORMANDY: in which are cited Iſidore Hiſpalenſis, Pliny, and ſaint Auſtin. MSS. Harl. 1717. 1. on vellum. See fol. 85. 192. 163. 2 [...]6. This old French poem is full of fabulous and romantic matter; and ſeems to be partly tranſlated from a Latin Chronicle, DE MORIBUS ET ACTIS PRIMORUM NORMANNIAE DUCUM, written about the year 1000, by Dudo, dean of S. Quintin [...]s, and printed among Du Cheſne's SCRIPTOR. NORMAN. p. 49. edit. 1619. Maiſter Benoit ends with our Henry the firſt. Dudo with the year 996.

q
With his d [...]uſ [...]p [...]res, or twelve peers, among which he mentions Rowland and Oliver.
r
Theſe are the NINE WORTHIES: to whom Shakeſpeare alludes in LOVE'S LAB. LOST. ‘"Here is like to be a good preſence of WORTHI [...]S. He preſents Hector of Troy: The ſwain, Pompey the Great: The pari [...]h-curate, Alexander: Armado's page, Hercules: The pedant, Judas Macchabeus, &c."’ ACT. v. SC. i. Elias Cairels, a troubadour of Perigord, about the year 1240, wiſhes for the wiſdom of Solomon, the courteſy of Roland, the puiſſance of Alexander, the ſtrength of Samſon, the friendly attachment of ſir Triſtram, the c [...]evalerie of ſir Gawaine, and the learning of Merlin. Though not immediately connected with the preſent purpoſe, I cannot reſiſt the temptation of tranſcribing the remainder of our troubadour's idea of complete happineſs in this world. His ambition can be gratified by nothing leſs than by poſſeſſing, ‘"Une ſi parfaite loyauté, que nul chevalier et nul jongleur n' aient rien à reprendre en lui; une maitreſſe jeune, jolie, et decente; mille cavaliers bien en ordre pour le ſuivre par tout, &c."’ Millot, HIST. LITT. des TROUBAD. tom. i. p. 388. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 417.
s
Ch. xxxv.
t
Invent.
u
Ch. xiv. So Barklay, in the SHIP OF FOOLES, finiſhed in 1508, fol. 18. a. edit. 1570. He is ſpeaking of the profane and improper converſation of prieſts in the choir.
And all of fables and jeſtes of Robin Hood,
Or other tri [...]les.
x
Viz. ‘"Certaine worthye manuſcript poems of great antiquitie, reſerved long in the ſtudie of a Northfolke gentleman, now firſt publiſhed by J. S. Lond. R. D. 1597."’ 12mo. In this edition, beſide the ſtory of SIGISMUNDA, mentioned in the text, there is ‘"The Northern Mother's Bleſſing, written nine yeares before the death of G. Chaucer. And The Way to Thrift."’ This collection is dedicated to the worthieſt Poet MAISTER EDMOND SPENSER.
y
Begins the PROLOGUE, ‘"Foraſmuche as ydelneſs is rote of all vices"’ This and the following piece are alſo printed in quarto, by Wynkin de Worde.
z
Profeſſed in the year 1467. CATAL. Mon. [...]ant. inter MSS. C. C. C. C. N. 7.
a
VITA ET RES [...]ESTAE THOMAE EPISCOPI CANTUARIENSIS, publiſhed in the QUADRILOGUS, Pariſ. 1495. 4to.
b
See ſupr. vol. i. 61.
c
MSS. Coll. C. C. Cant. CCCXCVII. 1. Beginn. Prol. ‘"O ye vertuous ſoverayns ſpirituall and temporall."’
d
Pitſ. p. 890. APPEND.
d
He ſeems to have ſpent ſome time at Cambridge, EGLOG. i. Signat. A. iii.
And once in Cambridge I heard a ſcoller ſay,
One of the ſame that go in copès gay.
e
The chief patron of his ſtudies appears to have been Thomas Corniſh, provoſt of Oriel college, and Suffragan biſhop of Tyne, in the dioceſe of Bath and Wells; to whom he dedicates, in a handſome Latin epiſtle, his SHIP OF FOOLS. But in the poem, he mentions My Maiſter Kyrkham, calling himſelf ‘"his true ſervitour, his chaplayne, and bede-man."’ fol. 152. b. edit. 1570. Some biographers ſuppoſe Barklay to have been a native of Scotland. It is certain that he has a long and laboured encomium on James the fourth, king of Scotland; whom he compliments for his bravery, prudence, and other eminent virtues. One of the ſtanz [...]s of this panegyric is an acroſtic on JACOBUS. fol. 206. a. He moſt probably was of Devonſhire or Glouceſterſhire.
f
In the title to his tran [...]ation from Mancinus, called the MIRROUR OF GOOD MANNERS.
g
MS. Bale, Sl [...]an. f. 68.
h
He was inſtituted to Much Badew in Eſſex, in 1546. Newcourt, REP. i. 254. And to Wokey in Somerſetſhire, the ſame year. Regiſtr. Wellenſ. He had alſo the church of All Saints, in Lombard-ſtreet, London, on the preſentation of the dean and chapter of Canterbury, which was vacant by his death, Aug. 24, 1552. Newcourt, ut ſupr.
i
He frequently mentions Croydon in his EGLOGES. He was buried in Croydon church. EGL. i. Signat. A. iii.
And as in CROIDON I heard the Collier preache.
Again, ibid.
While I in youth in CROIDON towne did dwell.
Again, ibid.
He hath no [...]elowe betwene this and CROIDON
Save the proude plowman Gnatho of Chorlington.
He mentions the collier again, ibid.
Such maner riches the collier tell thee can.
Alſo, ibid.
As the riche ſhepheard that woned in Mortlake.
i
I preſume this is the ſame Sebaſtian Brandt, to whom Thomas Acuparius, poet laureate, dedicates a volume of Poggius's works, Argentorat. 1513. fol. He is here ſtyled, ‘"Juris utriuſque doctor, et. S. P. Q. Argentinenſis cancellarius."’ The dedication is dated 1511. See Hendreich. PANDECT. p. 703.
k
By Joce Bade. Paris, 1497.
l
See THE PROLOGUE.
m
Fol. 38. In another place he complains that ſome of his wordes are amis, on account of the printers not perfect in ſcience. And adds that,
—The printers in their buſynes
Do all their workes ſpeediely and in haſte. fol. 258. b.
n
In folio. A ſecond edition, from which I cite, was printed with his other works, in the year 1570, by Cawood, in folio, with curious wooden cuts, taken from Pinſon's impreſſion, viz. ‘"The SHIP OF FOOL [...]S, wherein is ſhewed the ſolly of all ſtat [...]s, with divers other works adjoined to the ſame, &c."’ This has both Latin and Engliſh. But Ames, under Wynkyn de Worde, recites ‘"The Ship of Fools in this World."’ 4to. 1517. HIST. PRINT. p. 94.
o
Fol. 68.
p
To the collegiate church of ſaint Mary Ottery a ſchool was annexed, by the mu [...]ificent founder, Grandiſon, biſhop of Exeter. This college was founded in the year 1337.
q
Know.
r
Fol. 2.
s
Fol. 23.
t
See Skelton's WORKS, p. 215. edit. 1736. This will be mentioned again, below.
u
Fol. 23.
w
I ſubjoin the Latin from which he tranſlates, that the reader may judge how much is our poet's own. fol. 1. a.
Primus in excelſo ten [...]o quod nave rudentes [...]
Slultivagoſque ſequor comit [...]s per flumina vaſta,
Non ratione vacat ce [...]ta, ſenſuque latenti [...]
Conge [...]tis etenim ſtultus con [...]ido libellis;
Spem quoque, nec parvam, conge [...]ta volumina pr [...]ebent.
Calleo nec verbum [...] nec libri [...]ſentio mentem:
Attamen in magno per me ſervantur honore,
Pulveris et cariem plumatis tergo flabellis.
Aſt ubi doctrina [...] cer [...]amen volvitur, inquam,
Aedib [...]s in noſtris librorum culta ſupellex
Emin [...]t, et chartis vivo contentus opertis,
Qu [...]s video ignora [...]s, juvat et me copia ſola.
Con [...]tituit quondam dives Ptolomeus, haberet
Ut libros toto quaeſit [...]s undique mundo;
Quos grandes rerum theſauros eſſe putabat:
Non tamen arcan [...]e legis documenta tenebat,
Q [...]eis [...]in [...] non poterat vitae diſponere curſum [...]
E [...] pariter teneo numeroſa volumina, tardus:
Pauca lego, viridi contentus tegmine libri.
[...]ur velle [...] ſtudio ſenſus turbare frequenti,
Aut tam ſollicitis animum confundere rebus?
Qui [...]udet, aſſiduo motu [...]it ſtultus et amens.
S [...] [...]udeam, ſeu non, dominus tamen eſſe vo [...]bor;
Et poſſum ſtudio ſocium diſponere noſ [...]ro [...]
Qui pro me ſapiat, doctaſque examinet artes:
Aut ſi cum doctis verſor, concedere malo
Omnia, ne cogar fors verba Latina profa [...].
x
Students and monks were antiently the binders of books. In the firſt page of a manuſcript Life of Concubranus, this note occurs, ‘"EX CONJUNCTIONE dompni Wyllelmi Edys monaſterii B. Mariae S. Modwenae virginis de Burton ſuper Trent monachi, dum eſſet ſtudens Oxoniae, A. D. MDXVII."’ See MSS. Cotton. CLEOPATR. ii. And MSS. Coll. Oriel. N. vi. 3. et 7. Art. The word Conjunctio is ligatura. The book is much older than this entry.
y
Ptolomeus Philadelphus, for whom he quotes Joſephus, lib. xii.
z
Know.
a
Fol. 2.
b
Meed. Reward.
c
Fol. 241. b.
d
He alſo wrote, The figure of our mother holy [...]urch oppreſſed by the French king, printed for Pinſon, 4to.—Anſwer to John Skelton the P [...]t.—The Lives of S. Catharine, S. Margaret, and St. Etheldred.—The Life of S. George, from Mantuan: dedicated to N. Weſt biſhop of Ely, and written while our author was a monk of Ely.—De Pronuntiatione Gallica. John Pal [...] grave, a polite ſcholar, and an eminent preceptour of the French language about the reign of Henry the eighth, and one of the firſt who publiſhed in Engliſh a grammar or ſyſtem of rules for teaching that language, ſays in his L'Ecla [...]r [...]iſſement de la language François, addreſſed to H [...]nry the eighth, and printed (fol. Lond.) in 1530, that our author Barklay wrote a tract on this ſubject at the command of Thomas duke of Norfolk.—T [...]e famous Cronycle of the Warre which the Romans had agaynſt Jugurth uſurper of the kyngdom of Numidy: which cronycle is compyled in Latyn by the renowned Romayn Sa [...]luſt. And tranſlated into Engliſhe by SYR ALEXAN [...]ER BARCLAY, pre [...]ſt, at the commaundmente of the [...]ye and mighty prince Thomas duke of Norfolk. In two editions, by Pinſon, of this work, both in folio, and in the public library at Cambridge, the Latin and Engliſh are printed together. The Latin is dedicated to Veſey biſhop of Exeter, and dated ‘"ex Cellula Hatfeld regis [i. e. Kings Hatfield, Hertfordſhire] iii. id. Novemb."’ A new edition, without the Latin and the two dedications, was printed by J. Waley, 1557, 4to.—Orationes variae.—De [...]ide Orthodoxa.—To theſe I add, what does not deſerve mention in the text, a poem tranſlated from the French, called The CASTEL OF LABOURE, wherein is riches, vertue, and honor. It is of ſome length, and an all [...]gory; in which Lady REASON conquers Deſpair, Poverty, and other evils, which attend a poor man lately married. The Prologue begins, ‘"Ye mortal people that deſire to obtayne."’ The poem begins, ‘"In muſyng an evenynge with me was none."’ Printed for Wynken de Worde, 1506. 4to. And again by Pinſon, w [...]thout date. 4to. In ſeven-lined ſtanzas. By mi [...]take I have mentioned this piece as anonymous, ſupr. p. 200.
e
Printed as above, 1570. fol. And by Pinſon, at the command of Richard earl of Kent. Without date, 4to. The Latin elegiacs are printed in the margin, which have been frequently printed. At Baſil, 1543. At Antwerp, 1559. With the epigram of Peter Carmelian annexed. And often before. Laſtly, at the end of MARTINI Braccarenſis Formula honeſtae Vitae, Helmſtad. 1691. 8vo. They are dedicated ‘"Frederico Severinati epiſcopo Malleacenſi."’ They firſt appeared at Leipſic, 1516. See Trithemius, concerning another of his poems, Mancini's, De paſſione domini, cap. 995.
f
Printed as above, 1570, fol. Firſt, I believe, by Humphry Powell. 4to. Without date. Perhaps about 1550.
g
Whom he mentions, ſpeaking of EGLOGES. EGLOG. I. PROL.
And in like maner, nowe lately in our dayes,
Hath other poetes attempted the ſame wayes,
As the moſt famous Baptiſt Mantuan
The beſt of that ſort ſince poets firſt began,
And Frauncis Petrarke alſo in Italy, &c.
h
Becauſe he praiſes ‘"noble Henry which now departed late."’ Afterwards he falls into a long panegyric on his ſucceſſour Henry the eighth. EGLOG. i. As he does in the SHIP OF FOOLES, fol. 205. a. where he ſays,
This noble prince beginneth vertuouſly
By juſtice and pitie his realme to mayntayne.
He then wiſhes he may retake Jeruſalem from the Turks; and compares him to Hercules, Achilles, &c.
i
That is pope PIUS the ſecond, who died in 1464. This piece is among his EPISTLES, ſome of which are called Tracts. EPIST. CLVI.
k
It is properly an elegy on the death of the duke of Norfolk, lord high admiral.
k
This very learned and munificent prelate deſervedly poſſeſſed ſome of the higheſt dignities in church and ſtate. He was appointed biſhop of Ely in 1486. He died at Wiſbich, 1501. See Whart. ANGL. SACR. i. 675. 801. 381. Roſſe ſays, that he was tutor to prince Edward, afterwards Edward the fifth, but removed by the king's uncle Richard. Roſſe, I think, is the only hiſtorian who records this anecdote. HIST. REG. ANGL. p. 212. edit. Hearn.
l
The iſle of Ely.
m
ALCOCK.
n
Among Wren's manuſcript Collections, (Regiſtr. parv. Conſiſtorii Elienſis, called the BLACK BOOK.) the following curious memorial, concerning a long ſermon preached by Alcock at ſaint Mary's in Cambridge, occur [...]. ‘"I. Alcock, divina gratia epiſcopus Elienſis prima die dominica, 1488, bonum et blandum ſermonem praedicavit in eccleſia B. Mariae Cantabrig. qui incepit in hora prima poſt meridiem et duravit in horam tertiam et ultra."’ He ſometimes, and even in the epiſcopal character, condeſcended to ſport with his own name. He publiſhed an addreſs to the clergy aſſembled at Barnwell, under the title of GALLI CANTUS ad con [...]ratres ſuos curatos in ſynodo apud Barnwell, 25 Sept. 1498. To which is annexed his CONSTITUTION for celebrating certain feaſts in his dioceſe. Printed for Pinſon, 1498. 4to. In the beginning is the figure of the biſhop preaching to his clergy, with two cocks on each ſide. And there is a cock in the firſt page. By the way, Alcock wrote many other pieces. The HILL OF PERFECTION, from the Latin. For Pinſon, 1497. 4to. For Wynkyn de Worde, 1497. 4to. Again, for the ſame, 1501. 4to. THE ABBY OF THE HOLY GHOST that ſhall be founded and grounded in a clear conſcience, in which abbey ſhall dwell twenty and nine ladies gh [...]ſtly. For the ſame, 1531. 4to. Again, for the ſame, without date, but before 1500. 4to. At the end, ‘"Thus endeth without boſt, The Abby of the holi go [...]t."’ [See MSS. Harl. 5272. 3.—1704. 9. fol. 32. b. And MSS. C. C. C. Oxon. 155. And MSS. MORE, 191.] SPOUSAGE OF A VIRGIN TO CHRIST, 1486. 4to. HOMELIAE VULGARES. MEDITATIONES PIAE. A fragment of a comment upon the SEVEN PENITENTIAL PSALMS, in Engliſh verſe, is ſuppoſed to be by biſhop Alcock, MSS. Harl. 1704. 4. fol. 13.
o
E [...]LOG. i. Signat. A. iii.
p
He rebuilt, or greatly improved, the epiſcopal palace at Ely.
q
Beaſts, quadrupeds of all kinds. So in the romance of SYR BEVIS, Signat. F. iii.
Rattes and myſe and ſuch ſmal dere
Was his meate that ſeven yere.
Whence Shakeſpeare took, as Dr. Percy has obſerved, the well-known diſtich of the madman in KING LEAR, ACT iii. Sc. 4 [...]
Mice and rats and ſuch ſmall decre
Have been Tom's food for ſeven long y [...]er [...].
It cannot now be donbted, that Shakeſpeare in this paſſage wrote deer, inſtead of g [...]er or cheer, which have been conjecturally ſubſtituted by his commentators.
r
EGL. iii.
s

He alſo compliments Alcock's prede [...]eſſour Moreton, afterwards archbiſhop of Canterbury: not without an alluſion to his troubles, and reſtoration to favour, under Richard the third and Henry the ſeventh. EGL. iii.

And ſhepheard MORETON, when he dur [...]t not appeare,
Howe his olde ſervauntes [...]ere carefull of his chere;
In payne and pleaſour they kept fidelitie,
Till grace agayne gave him authoritie, &c. And again, EGL. iiii.
Micene [Mecenas] and MORETON be dead [...] and gone certaine.

The Deane of Powles, I ſuppoſe dean Colet, is c [...]lebrated as a preacher, ibid. As is, ‘"The olde friar that wonned in Greenwich,"’ EGL. v.

t
EGL. v.
u
EGL. iv.
x
Armour and coats of mail.
y
Apparelled in uniform.
z
Maſques, &c [...]
a
Tapeſtry.
b
Roofs, curiouſly vaulted.
c
Houſes, Seats.
d

EGL. ii. I ſhall here throw together in the Notes, ſome traits in theſe Eclogues of the common cuſtoms and manners of the times. A ſhepherd, after mentioning his ſkill in ſhooting birds with a bow, ſays, EGL. i.

No ſhephearde throweth the axletr [...] ſo farre.

A gallant is thus deſcribed, EGL. ii.

For women uſe to love them moſt of all,
Which boldly boſteth, or that can ſing and jet;
Whiche hath the maiſtry oftimes in tournament,
Or that can gambauld, or dance feat and gent.

The following ſorts of wine are recited, EGL. ii.

As muſcadell, caprike, r [...]mney, and malmeſy,
From Genoe brought, from Greece, or Hungary.

As are the dainties of the table, ibid. A ſhepherd at court muſt not think to eat,

—Swanne, nor heron,
Curlewe, nor crane.—

Again, ibid.

What fiſhe is of favour ſwete and delicious,—
Roſted or ſodden in ſwete herbes or wine;
Or fried in oyle, moſt ſaporous and fine.—
—The paſties of a hart.—
The crane, the feſaunt, the pecocke, and curlewe,
The partriche, plover, bit [...]orn, and heronſewe:—
Seaſoned ſo well in licour redolent,
That the hall is full of pleaſant ſmell and ſent.

At a feaſt at court, ibid.

Slowe be the ſewers in ſerving in alway,
But ſwift be they after, taking the meate away:
A ſpeciall cuſtom is uſed them amonge,
No good diſhe to ſuffer on borde to be long:
If the diſhe be pleaſaunt, eyther fleſhe or fiſhe,
Te [...] handes at once ſwarme in the diſhe:
And if it be fl [...]ſhe ten knives ſhall thou ſe [...]
Mangling the fleſhe, and in the platter flee:
To put there thy handes is perill without fayle,
Without a gauntlet or els a glove of mayle.

The two laſt lines remind us of a ſaying of Quin, who declared it was not ſafe to ſit down to a turtle-feaſt in one of th [...] city-halls, without a baſket-hilted knife and [...]ork. Not that I ſuppoſe Quin borrowed his bon mots from black letter books.

The following lines point out ſome of the feſtive tales of our anceſtors. EGL. iv.

Yet would I gladly heare ſome mery FIT
Of Mayde Marian, or els of Robin Hood;
Or Bentley's Ale which cha [...]eth well the blood,
Of Perte of Norwich, or ſauce of Wilberton,
Or buckiſh Toby well-ſtuffed as a ton.

He mentions Bentley's Ale, which maketh me to winke, EGL. ii.

Some of our antient domeſtic paſtimes and amuſements are recorded, EGL. iv.

Then is it pleaſure the yonge maydens amonge
To watche by the fire the winter-nightès long:—
And in the aſhes ſome playès for to marke,
To cover wardens [pears] for faulte of other warke:
To toſte white ſhevers, and to make prophitroles;
And, a [...]tir talking, oftimes to fill the bowles, &c.

He mentions ſome muſical inſtrument [...], EGL. ii.

—Methinkes no mirth is ſcant,
Where no rejoyſing of minſtrelſie doth wan [...]:
The bagpipe or fiddle to us is d [...]lectable, &c.

And the mercantile commodities of different countries and cities, EGL. iv.

England hath cloth, Bordeus hath [...]ore of wine,
Cornwalle hath tinne, and Lymſter wool [...]s fine.
London hath ſcarlet, and Briſtowe pleaſaunt red, &c.

Of ſongs at feaſts, EGL [...] iv.

When your fat diſhes ſmoke hot upon your table,
Then laude ye ſonges and balades magnifie,
If they be merry, or written craftely,
Ye clappe your handes and to the makinge harke,
And one ſay to another, lo here a proper warke.

He ſays that minſtrels and ſingers are highly favoured at court, eſpecially thoſe of the French giſe. EGL. ii. Alſo jugglers and pipers, EGL. iv.

c
E [...]L. iv.
966
e EGL. iv.
f
[...]bid.
g
BUCOL [...]CORUM ECLOGAE XI [...].
h
Viz. xxxviii. AUTHOR [...] BUCOLICI, Baſil. 1546. 8vo.
i
One of Mantuan's lines. Farnaby in his Preface to Martial ſays, that Fauſte precor gelida, was too often preferred to Arma virumque cano. I think there is an old black letter tranſlation of Mantuan into Engliſh. Another tranſlation appeared by one Thomas Harvey, 16 [...]6. Mantuan was three times printed in England before the year 1600. Viz. B. Mantuani Carmelitae theologi ADOLESCENTIA ſeu BUCOLICA. With the commentary of Jodocus Badius. Excud. G. Dewes and H. Marſhe, 1584. 12mo. Again, for the ſame, the ſame year, 12mo. Again, for Robert Dexter, 1598. 12mo. With Arguments to the Eclogues, and Notes by John Murmelius, &c.
k
LOVE'S LAB. L. ACT iv. Sc. 3.
l
BUCOLICA VIRGILII cum commento familiari. At the end, Ad juvenes [...]ujus Maro [...]iani operis commendatio. Die vero viii Aprilis. 4to. And they were reprinted by the ſame, 1514, and 1516.
m
Viz. LA BUCOLICA DI VIRGILIO per Fratrem Evangeliſtam FOSSA de Cremona ord. ſervorum. In Venezia, 1494. 4to. But thirteen years earlier we find, Bernardo PULCI nella BUCOLICA di Virgilio: di Jeronimo BENIVIENI, Jacopo FIORINO Buoninſegni de Sienna: Epiſtole di Luca Pulci. In Firenze, per Bartolomeo Miſcomini, 1484. A dedication is per [...]ixed, by which it appears, that Buoninſegni wrote a PISCATORY ECLOGUE, the firſt ever written in Italy, in the year 1468. There was a ſecond edition of Pulci's v [...]rſion, La BUCOLICA di VIRGILIO tradotta per Bernardo PULCI con l'Elegie. In Fiorenza, 1494.
a
See a memoir, cited above, in Leland's COLL. tom. iii. APPEND. edit. 1770. p. 265. It is worthy of particular notice, that during this expedition there was in the magnificent ſuite of the princeſs a company of players, under the direction of one John Ingliſh, who is ſometimes called Johannes. ‘"Amonge the ſaide lordes and the qweene was in order, Johannes and his companye, the menſtrells of muſicke, &c."’ p 267. See alſo, p. 299. 300. 280. 289. In the midſt of a moſt ſplendid proceſſion, the princeſs rode on horſe-back behind the king into the city of Edinburgh, p. 287. Afterwards the ceremonies of this ſtately marriage are deſcribed; which yet is not equal, in magnificence and expence, to that of Richard the ſecond with Iſabell of France, at Calais, in the year 1397. This laſt-mentioned marriage is recorded with the moſt minute circumſtances, the dreſſes of the king and the new queen, the names of the French and Engliſh nobility who attended, the preſents, one of which is a golden cup ſtudded with jewels, and worth three thouſand pounds, given on both ſides, the banquets, entertainments, and a variety of other curious particulars, in five large vellum pages, in an antient Regiſter of Merton priory in Surrey, in old French. MSS. LAUD, E. 54. fol. 105. b. Bibl. Bodl. Oxon. Froiſſart [...] who is moſt commonly prolix in deſcribing pompous ceremonies, might have greatly enriched his account of the ſame royal wedding, from this valuable and authentic record. See his CRON. tom. iv. p. 226. ch. 78. B. penult. Paris, 1574. fol. Or lord Berners's Tranſlation, vol. ii. f. 275. cap. ccxvi. edit. Pinſon, 1523. fol.
b
Great god help, &c.
c
If ſhe continues to do as ſhe has done.
d
Bounty. Fr. L'Oſſre.
e
Any other I could ſpeak of.
f
Largeſs. Bounty.
g
St. x.
h
When. Qu has the force of w.
i
Taken Leave.
k
Mother.
l
Mattin oriſons. From Horae in the miſſal. So again in the GOLDEN TERGE, St. ii. Where he alſo calls the birds the chapel-clarkes of Venus, St. iii. In the COURTE OF LOVE, Chaucer introduces the birds ſinging a maſs in honour of May. Edit. Urr. p. 570. v. 1353. ſeq.
On May-day, when the larke began to ryſe,
To MATTINS went the luſtie nighingale.
He begins the ſervice with Domine labia. The eagle ſings the Venite. The popingay C [...]eli [...]narrant. The peacock Dominus regnavit. The owl Benedicite. The Te Deum is converted into T [...] Deum AMORIS, and ſung by the thruſh, &c. &c. Skelton, in the BOKE OF PHILIP SPARROW, ridicules the miſſal, in ſuppoſing various parts of it to be ſung by birds. p. 226. edit. Lond. 1739, 12mo. Much the ſame ſort of fiction occurs in Sir David Lyndeſay's CO [...] PLAYNT OF THE PAPYNGO, edit. ut infr. SIGNAT. B. iii.
Suppoſe the geis and hennis ſuld cry alarum,
And we ſall ſerve ſ [...]cundum uſum Sarum, &c.
m
Looked.
n
Hailed.
o
With good will. Loudly.
p
Lovers.
q
Slumbering.
r
Attire.
s
From Chaucer, MILLER'S TAL [...], v. 147. p. 25. Urr.
Full brightir was the ſhining of hir hewe
Than in the Towre the noble [...]orged newe.
t
Brightneſ [...].
u
Songs.
x
St. iv. See Chaucer's KNIGHT'S TALE, v. 1042. p. 9. Urr.
She was ariſin, and all redie dight,
For May will have no ſluggardy annight:
The ſeaſon prikkith every gentill herte;
And makith it out of his ſlepe to ſterte,
And ſayth, aryſe, and do May obſervaunce, &c.
y
St. viii.
z
The hierarchy. See JOB, ch. xxxviii. v. 7. The morning-ſtars ſinging together.
a
S [...]. ix.
b
Bold.
c
Read Scho-u-ris.
d
Should hurt.
e
St. x.
f
The yarrow is Achillea, or Millefolium, commonly called Sneeſwort. There is no reaſon for ſelecting this plant to go on a meſſage to the flowers; but that its name has been ſuppoſed to be derived from Arrow, being held a remedy for healing wounds inflicted by that weapon. The poet, to apologiſe for his boldneſs in perſonifying a plant, has added, ‘"full craftely conjurit ſcho."’ St. xii.
g
Fierce.
h
Encircled.
i
St. xiv.
k
Boiſterous. Strong.
l
Plough-ox.
m
St. xvi.
n
Defend the reſt.
o
Among the pageants exhibited at Edinburgh in honour of the nuptials, ſhe was complimented with the following curious mixture of claſſical and ſcriptural hiſtory. ‘"Ny to that croſs was a ſcarfawſt [ſcaffold] made, where was repreſented Paris and the three Deeſſes, with Mercure that gaff hym the apyll of gold for to gyffe to the moſt fayre of the Thre, which he gave to Venus. In the ſcarfawſt was alſo repreſented the Salutacion of Gabriell to the Virgyne in ſaying Ave gratia, and ſens after [next,] the ſollempnizacion of the very maryage betwix the ſaid Vierge [Virgin] and Joſeph."’ Leland, COLL. iii. APPEND. p. 289. ut ſupr. Not to mention the great impropriety, which they did not perceive, of applying ſuch a part of ſcripture.
p
Dainty. Price.
q
If thou doeſt.
r
St. xxi.
s
Roſe-tree.
t
Purified.
u
Cape. Ere Phebus was dreſſed in his purple robe.
w
Then.
x
Curtains.
y
The pearled drops fell from the trees like ſilver ſhowers.
z
Branches.
a
Knobs. Buds.
b
Beſprinkled. An heraldic term. See OBSERVATIONS on the FAIRY QUEEN, ii. p. 158. ſeq.
c
Covered with ſtreaks, ſlips, of ſilver.
d
Through the buſhes, the trees. Rice, or Ris, is properly a long branch. This word is ſtill uſed in the weſt of England. Chaucer, MILLER'S TALE, v. 215. p. 26. Urr. edit.
And thereupon he had a fair ſurplice
As white as is the bloſome on the rice.
[See ſupr. vol. i. p. 428.] So in a Scotch poem by Alexander Scott, written 1562. ANTIENT SCOTTISH POEMS, Edinb. 1770. p. 194.
Welcum oure rubent rois [roſe] upon the rice.
So alſo Lydgate, in his poem called LONDON LICKPENNY, MSS. Harl. 367.
Hot peſcode own [one] began to crye,
Straberys rype, and cherryes in the RYSE.
That is, as he paſſed through London ſtreets, they cried, hot peaſe, ripe ſtrawberries, and cherries on a bough, or twig.
e
Pleaſant.
f
The water blazed like a lamp, and threw about it ſhadowy gleams of twinkling light.
g
Boughs.
h
The high-raiſed edges, or bank.
i
Caſt.
k
Garden.
l
Gules. The heraldic term for red.
m
The rock, glittering with the reflection of the river, illuminated as with fire all the bright leaves. Low is flame.
n
ST. i. ſeq. Compare Chaucer's Morning, in the KNIGHT'S TALE, v. 1493. p. 12. Urr.
The mery lark, meſſengere of the day,
Salewith in her ſong the morowe gray;
And fyrie Phebus ryſing up ſo bright
That all the orient laughith at the ſight,
And with his ſtremis dryith in the greves
The ſilver dropis hanging in the leves.
It is ſeldom that we find Chaucer indulging his genius to an abſurd exceſs in florid deſcriptions. The ſame cannot be ſaid of Lydgate.
o
In our old poetry and the romances, we frequently read of ſhips ſupe [...]bly decorated. This was taken from real life. Froiſſart, ſpeaking of the French [...]l [...]et in 1387, prepared for the invaſion of England under the reign of Richard the ſecond, ſays, that the ſhips were painted with the arms of the commanders and gilt, with banners, p [...]nnons, and ſtandards, of ſilk: and that the maſts were painted from top to bottom, glittering with gold. The ſhip of lord Guy of Tremoyll was ſo ſumptuouſly garniſhed, that the painting and colours coſt 2000 French franks, more than 222 pounds of Engliſh currency at that time. See Grafton's CHRON. p. 364. At his ſecond expedition into France, in 1417, king Henry the fifth was in a ſhip, whoſe ſails were of purple ſilk moſt rich [...]y embroidered with gold. Speed's CH [...]ON. B. ix. p. 636. edit. 1611. Many other inſtances might be brought from antient miniatures and illuminations.
p
Caul.
q
Bound.
r
Paps.
s
ST. vii.
t
To her.
u
Broad.
w
ST. x.
x
ST. xi.
y
Crabbed.
z
Hoar.
a
Found.
b
ST. xiii [...]
c
Formidable weapons.
d
Behaviour.
e
Next.
f
Warrio [...]
g
ST. xvii.
h
Injury.
i
Weapons.
k
ST. xix.
l
Warily.
m
ST. xxiii.
n
ST. xxvi.
o
Dream.
p
Vale.
q
ST. xxviii.
r
Other inſtances occur in the elder Scotch poets. See ſupr. p. 125.
s
One flower.
t
Ever roſe, or ſprung, in Britain, whoſ [...] reads right.
u
Thou beareſt of poets.
w
This ſubject would have appeared t [...] ſome advantage, had not, &c.
x
Sugared.
y
Lips.
z
To our ears.
a
Ere your golden pens were ſhaped to write.
b
Bare and deſolate.
c
Elegant compoſition.
d
ST. xxx.
e
No freſh and fragrant roſes of rhetoric are placed on high in thy garland.
f
Be aſhamed.
g
Weed. Dreſs.
h
ST. xxxi.
i
Mahon. Sometimes written Mahoun, or Mahound. See Mat. Pariſ. p. 289. ad ann. 1236. And Du Freſne, Lat. Gloſſ. V. MAHUM. The chriſtians in the cruſades were accuſtomed to hear the Saracens ſwear by their prophet Mahomet: which thence became in Europe another name for the devil.
k
The original is garmountis. In the Memoir, cited above, concerning the progreſs of the princeſs Margaret into Scotland, we have the following paſſage. ‘"The lord of Northumberland m [...]de his devoir, at the departynge, of gambades and lepps, [leaps,] as did likewiſe the lord Scrop the father, and many others that retorned agayne, in takyng ther congie."’ p. 281. [See Notes, ſupr. p. 253.]
l
Mahomet.
m
Began to dance at once.
n
Wheel.
o
Rumples.
p
Caſaque, Caſſock.
q
Nonce. Deſignedly.
r
Deceiver. See Spenſer's SIR TROMPART. Or perhaps an empty fellow, a rattle. Or Trompour may be trumpeter, as in Chaucer's KNIGHT'S TALE, v. 2673. See Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES, with the NOTES of the very judicious and ingenious editor. Lond. 1775. vol. iv. p. 231.
s
Scalding.
t
They grinned hideouſly.
v
ST. ii.
w
ST. iii.
x
Haughty guiſe.
y
Gambols.
z
Never laughed.
a
While prieſts came with bare-ſhaven.
b
Laughed.
c
Signs of d [...]iſion.
d
ST. iv.
e
Diſturbance. Affray.
f
Literally, ‘"All arrayed in feature of war."’ Bodi [...], and feir of war, are in the Scotch ſtatute-book. Sir David Lyndeſay thus ſpeaks of the ſ [...]te of Scotland during the minority of James the fifth. COMPLAYNT OF THE PAPYNGO. SIGNAT. B. iii. edit. ut infr.
Oppreſſioun did ſa loud his bougill blaw [...]
That n [...]ne durſt ride but into feir of weir.
That is, without being armed for battle.
g
In ſhort jackets, plates, or ſlips, and bonnets of ſteel. Short coats of mail and helmets.
h
Either, chained together. Or, their legs armed with iron, perhaps iron net-work, down to the heel.
i
Their buſineſs was untoward. Or elſe, their look [...]roward, fierce. Feir i [...] feature.
k
Some ſtruck others, their companion [...], with ſwords.
l
Wounded others to the quick. To the haft.
m
Cut ſharp.
n
ST. v.
o
Enmity.
p
Hatred.
q
Trembled.
r
Diſſembling gallant.
s
Backbiters.
t
Lye.
u
Rounders, whiſperers. To round in the ear, or ſimply to round, was to whiſper in the ear.
w
Falſities.
x
Free.
y
ST. vi.
z
ST. vii.
a
Dunghill.
b
Snout. Viſage.
c
Lazy, drunken ſloven.
d
Slothful, idle, ſpectre.
e
Attended on him with care.
f
Into a chain.
g
A bridle-rein. Thong of leather.
h
Laſhed them on the loins.
i
Apprehenſion.
k
‘"Berand like a bagit horſe."’ The French baguett [...] need not be explained.
l
ST. viii.
m
Womb. Belly.
n
Cup.
o
Out-caſt.
p
Wombs. Bel [...]ies.
q
Fat.
r
Gape.
s
Hot lead to drink, to lap.
t
Deſire. Appetite.
u
ST. ix.
w
ST. x.
x
Nook.
y
As ſoon as he had made the cry of diſtreſs, what the French call a l'aide. Some ſuppoſe, that the correnoth, or corynoch, is a highland tune. In MAK-GREGOR'S TESTAMENT, [MS. infr. ci [...]at.] the author ſpeaks of being out-lawed by the CORRINOCH, v. 51.
The loud CORRINOCH then did me exile,
Throw Lorne, Argyle, Monteith, and Braidalbane, &c.
That is, The Hue and Cry. I preſume, what this writer, in another place, calls the KING'S-HORN, is the ſame thing, v. 382.
Quhen I have beine aft at the KINGIS HORNE.
z
Perhaps the poet does not mean the common idea annexed to termagant. The context ſeems to ſhew, that he alludes to a ſpecies of wild-fowl, well known in the highlands, and called in the Scotch ſtatutebook termigant. Thus he compares the highlanders to a flock of their country birds. For many illuſtrations of this poem, I am obliged to the learned and elegant editor of ANTIENT SCOTTISH POEMS, lately publiſhed from Lord Hyndford's manuſcript: and to whom I recommend a taſk, for which he is well qualified, The Hiſtory of Scotch Poetry.
a
Chattered hoarſely.
b
Deafened.
c
ST. xi.
d
MEMOIR, ut ſupr. p. 300.
e
Hume, HIST. DOUGL. p. 219.
f
Leſl. REB. GEST. SCOT. Lib. ix.
g
Thynne, CONTINUAT. HIST. SCOT. 455.
h
Hollinſh. SCOT. 307.—iii. 872.
i
Bale, xiv. 58.
k
Weever, FUN. MON. p. 446. And Stilling [...]l. ORIG. BRIT. p. 54.
l
See edit. Edinb. fol. 1710. p. 483. In the EPISTLE, or EPILOGUE, to Lord Sinclair. I believe the editor's name is ROBERT FREEBAIRN, a Scotchman. This tranſlation was firſt printed at London, 1553. 4to. bl. lett.
m
Leſl. RE [...]. GEST. SCOT. lib. ix. p. 379. Rom. 1675.
n
EPILOGUE, ut ſupr.
o
The PALICE OF HONOUR. ad calcem.
p
EPIL. ut ſupr.
q
PROLOGUE to the Tranſlation, p. 5. The manuſcript notes written in the margin of a copy of the old quarto edition o [...] this tranſlation, by Patrick Junius, which biſhop Nicolſon (HIST. LIBR. p. 99.) declares to be excellent, are of no conſequence, Bibl. Bodl. ARCHIV. SELD. B [...] 54. 4to. The ſame may be ſaid of Junius's Index of obſolete wor [...]s in this tranſlation, Cod. MSS. Jun. 114. (5225.) Se [...] alſo Muſ. Aſhmol. Diverſe Scotch words, &c. COD. ASHM. 846. 13.
r
In the PROLOGUE to the eighth book, the alliterative manner of Pierce Plowman is adopted.
s
Pag. 400.
t
Iſſued.
u
Ivory.
w
Crimſon.
x
Edge.
y
Unſhut, i. e. opened.
z
Streamers.
a
Streaks mingled with, &c.
b
Blazing.
c
Fr. Habillè. Cloathed.
d
Luminous.
e
Curled locks.
f
Whoſe exceſſive brightneſs.
g
Fans, or vanes, of gold.
h
Ocean.
i
Only with one glance.
k
Settled, calmed.
l
Seaſon.
m
Air without wind, &c.
n
Frith.
o
Sand, gravel.
p
Athwart, acroſs, through.
q
Gliding ſwiftly, [...]ith a tremulous motion, or vibration, of their tails.
r
Cinnabar.
s
Tails ſhaped like chiſſels.
t
Swimming ſwiftly, darting haſtily.
u
Illuminating.
w
Over, upon, over-againſt, the bright gravel, or ſmall ſtones, thrown out on th [...] banks of rivers. Hence, the ſtrands were all of beryl.
x
Pleaſant banks.
y
Brilliant, glittering.
z
Bladed with graſs, and embroidered with ſtrange colours.
a
Boughs.
b
Portrayed, painted, re [...]ected.
c
Battlements.
d
Round tower.
e
Story.
f
Their own ſhadow.
g
Having.
h
The ſoil, the country, ſpread abroad her expanſive boſom.
i
New-ſprung barley.
k
Earth.
l
Furrow.
m
Turf.
n
It is evident our author intends to deſcribe two diſtinct things, viz. corn-fields, [...]nd meadows or paſture-lands: the former in the three firſt lines; the varyant veſture, &c, is plainly arab [...]e, and the fulȝeis and fyguris full dyuers, are the various leaves and flowers of the weeds growing among the corn, and making a piece of embroidery. And here the deſcription of corn-fields ends: and that of paſture-lands begins at, The pray byſprent, &c. Pr [...]y, not as the printed gloſſary ſays, corruptedly for ſpray, but formed, through the French, from the Lat. Pratum, and Spryngand Sproutis, riſing ſprings, from the Ital. ſpruzzare, ſpruzz [...] lare, aſpergere.
o
Leaves.
p
Mead.
q
Ivy-leaves.
r
[...]ampart.
s
Springs.
t
Young.
u
Trelliſſes. Eſpaliers for vines.
w
Locked. Encloſed. Gemmed.
x
Red.
y
Watchet.
z
Blue and wavy.
a
Unbraid.
b
Graſs embattelled.
c
Dande [...]ion.
d
Young weeds.
e
Gilliflowers. Gariophilum, Lat. [...] [...] Gr. The Scotch word is nearer the original. Probably the poet wrote thare awi [...]. See ver. 72. thare awi [...] umbrage.
f
It is obſervable, that our Poet ne [...]er once mentions the ſcent of flowers [...]ill he comes to the roſe, and never at all the ſcent of any particular flower, except the roſe, not even of the lily; for I take it, the words, from thare ſylkyn croppis, are meant to deſcribe the flowers in general; and the balmy vapour to be the ſame with the fr [...]ſche liquour, and the dulce hum [...]uris quhareof the b [...]is wrocht thare hony ſwet [...], an exhalation diſtinct from that which cauſes the ſcent. Afterwards redole [...]t odour, is gen [...]ral; for he certainly means to cloſe his deſcription of the vegetable world, by one univerſal cloud of fragrance from all nature.
g
Seeds.
h
Redeemed. Releaſed, opened. The gloſſary ſays, Decked, Beautiful, from Redimitus, Lat.
i
Shakers.
k
That Milton had his eye upon this paſſage is plain, from his deſcribing the ſwan, the cock, and peacock, in this order, and with ſeveral of the attributes that our author has given them. See PARAD. L. vii. 438. ſeq.
—The SWAN with arched neck
Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows
Her ſtate with oary feet; yet oft they quit
The dan [...], and riſing on ſtiff pennons, tower
The mid aereal ſky: Others on ground
Walk'd firm: the creſted COCK, whoſe clarion ſounds
The ſilent hours, and th' OTHER, whoſe gay train
Adorns him, color'd with the florid hue
Of rainbows and ſtarry eyes.—
l
Ruſtling.
m
Lakes.
n
Peacock.
o
Wheel-rim.
p
Branches.
q
Oaks.
r
Gnat.
s
Does.
t
Roes.
u
Leaſowes.
w
Dove.
x
Fine tunes.
y
Firmament.
z
Cries. So Chaucer of the nightingale. COUR. L. v. 1357.
But DOMINE LABIA gan he crie and GALE.
So the Friar is ſaid to gal [...], WIFE OF B. PROL. v. 832.
a
Reſounded.
b
Mounting.
c
Praiſed their Lady NATURE.
d
Sugared Throats.
e
Who build.
f
Ploughs.
g
Reſtorer.
h
P. 200. fol. edit.
i
xiv [...] 58.
k
Ut ſupr. p. 483.
l
Lugd. apud Seb. Gryph. 1543. 4to.
m
In quarto. Again, [...]dinb. 1579. 4to. ‘"When pale Aurora with face lamentable."’ Douglaſs alſo wrote a ſmall Latin Hiſtory [...]f Scotland. See alſo a DIALOGUE concerning a theological ſubject to be debated between, duos famatos viros, G. Douglas provoſt of ſaint Giles, and maſter David Cranſtoun bachelour of divinity, pre [...]ixed to John Major's COMMENTARII in [...]rim. Sentent. Pariſ. 1519. fol.
n
See the WARKIS OF THE FAMOUS AND WORTHIE KNI [...]HT SCHIR DAVID LYNDESAY of the Mount, &c. Newly correctit and vindicate from the former errouris, &c. Pr. by Johne Scott, A. D. 1568. 4to. They have been often printed. I believe the laſt edition is at Edinburgh, 1709. 12mo.
o
Began to walk.
p
Then.
q
So alſo his COMPLAYNT to the Kingis Grace. SIGNAT. E. iii.
—As an [...] chapman bures his pak,
I bure thy grace upon my bak;
And ſometimes ſtridlingis on my nek,
Danſand with many bend and bek.—
And ay quhen thow come from the ſcule,
Than I behu [...]it to play the fule.—
I wol thou luffit me better than
Nor now ſome wyfe dois hir gude man.
r
Playing farces, frolics.
s
In the ſhape of a [...]iend.
t
The grieſly ghoſt of Guy earl of Warwick.
u

Diſguiſed, maſked, to make ſport. SIGNAT. D. i. He adds, what illuſtrates the text, above.

So ſen thy birth I have continuallie
Ben occupyit, and ay to thy pleſour,
And ſumtyme Sewar, Coppar, and Carvour.

That is, [...]ewer, and cupper or butler. He then calls himſelf the king's ſecreit Theſaurar, and chief Cubicular. Afterwards he enumerates ſome of his own works.

I have at lenth the ſtoreis done diſcryve
Of Hector, Arthur, and gentill Julius,
Of Alexander, and worthy Pompeius.
Of Jaſon and Medea, all at lenth,
Of Hercules the actis honorable,
And of Sampſon the ſupernaturall ſtrength,
And of leil luffaris [lovers] ſtories amiable;
And oftimes have I [...]einȝeit mony fable,
Of Troilus the ſorrow and the joy,
And ſieges all of Tire, Thebes, and Troy.
The prophecyis of Rymour, Beid, and Marling,
And of mony other pleſand hiſtories,
Of the reid Etin, and the gyir catling.

That is, the prophecies of Thomas Rymour, venerable Bede, and Merlin. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 74. 75. ſeq. And MSS. Aſhm. 337. 6.] Thomas the RIMOUR, or Thomas Leirmouth of Erceldoun, ſeems to have wrote a poem on Sir Triſtram. Rob. BRUNNE ſays this ſtory would exc [...]d all others,

If men yt ſayd as made THOMAS.

That is, ‘"If men recited it according to the original compoſition of Thomas Erceldoun, or the RIMOUR."’ See Langtoft's CHRON. Append. Pref. p. 100. vol. i. edit. Hearne. Oxon. 1725. 8vo. He flouriſhed about 1280. I do not underſtand, The reid Etin, and the gyir catling: but gyir is a maſke or maſquerade. Many of Lyndeſay's Interludes are among Lord Hyndford's manuſcripts of Scotch poetry, and are exceedingly obſcene. One of Lyndeſay's MORALITIES, called, ANE SATYRE OF THE THREE ESTAITS in commendation of vertew and vytuperation of vyce, was printed at Edinburgh, 1602. This piece, which is intirely in rhyme, and conſiſts of a variety of meaſures, muſt have taken up four hours in the repreſentation.

w
SIGNAT. D. ii.
x
Diſguiſed in a dark garment.
y
Violent.
z
Once, one while.
a
Low.
b
It was a part of the old mundane ſyſtem, that hell was placed in the centre of the earth. So a fragment, cited by Hearne, GLOSSARY Rob. Glouc. ii. 583.
Ryght ſo is hell-pitt, as clerkes telles,
Amyde the erthe and no where elles.
So alſo an old French tract, LIMAIGE DU MONDE, or Image of the world, ‘"Saches que en la terre eſt enfer, car enfer ne pourrait eſtre en ſi noble lieu comme eſt l'air, &c."’ ch. viii.
c
See above, p. 197. ſeq. I have there mentioned a Viſion of Hell, under the title of OWAYNE MILES. One Gilbertus Ludenſis, a monk ſent by king Stephen into Ireland, where he founded a monaſtery, with an Iriſh knight called OEN, wrote De OENI Viſione in Purgatorio. See Wendover, apud Mat. Paris, ſub ann. 1153. Reg. Stephan. According to Ware, Gilbertus flouriſhed in the year 1152. SCRIPTOR. HIBERN. p. 111. Among the manuſcripts of Magdalene college in Oxford, are the VISIONES of Tundal, or Tungal, a knight of Ireland. ‘"Cum anima mea corpus exueret."’ MSS. Coll. Magd. 53. It is printed in Tinmouth's SANCTILOGIUM. And in the SPECULUM HISTORIALE of Vincentius Bellovacenſis, lib. xxvii. cap. 88. He is called Fundalus in a manuſcript of this piece, Bibl. Bodl. NE. B. 3. 16. He lived in the year 1149. Ware, ut ſupr. p. 55. I believe this piece is in the Cotton library, under the name of TUNDALE, MS. CALI [...]. A. 12. f. 17. See what is ſaid in Froiſſart, of the viſions of a cave in Ireland, called ſaint Patrick's Purgatory. tom. ii. c. 200. Berners's Tranſl.
d
Roar.
e
SIGNAT. D. iii.
f
The planetary ſyſtem was thus divided. i. The Primum Mobile, or firſt motion. ii. The criſtalline heaven, in which were placed the fixed ſtars. iii. The twelve ſigns of the zodiac. iv. The ſpheres or circles of the planets in this order: viz. Saturn, Jupiter [...] Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury, and laſtly the moon, which they placed in the centre of univerſal nature. Again, they ſuppoſed the earth to be ſurrounded by three elementary ſpheres, fire, air, and water. Milton, in his Elegy on the DEATH OF A FAIR INFANT, makes a very poetical uſe of the notion of a primum mobile, where he ſuppoſes that the ſoul of the child hovers
—Above that high FIRST MOVIN [...] SPHERE,
Or in th' Elyſian fields, &c.
ST. vi. v. 39. See PARAD. L. iii. 483.
g
To be pronounced diſſyllabically.
h
SIGNAT. E. i.
i
Moſt of this philoſophy is immediately borrowed from the firſt chapters of the Nuremburgh Chronicle, a celebrated book when Lyndeſay wrote, printed in the year 1493. It is there ſaid, that of the water [...] above the firmament which were frozen like cryſtal, God made the cryſtalline heaven, &c. fol. iv. This idea is taken from GENESIS, i. 4. See alſo ſaint Paul, EPIST. COR. ii. xii. 2. The ſame ſyſtem is in Taſſo, where the archangel Michael deſcends from heaven, GIER. LIB. C. ix. [...]t. 60. ſeq. And in Milton, PARAD. L. iii. 481.
They paſs the planets ſeven, and paſs the fixed,
And that cryſtallin ſphere, &c.
k
Becauſe the ſcriptures have mentioned ſeveral degrees of angels, Dionyſius the Areopagite, and others, have divided them into nine orders; and thoſe they have reduced into three hierarchies. This was a tempting ſubject for the refining genius of the ſchool-divines: and accordingly we find in Thomas Aquinas a diſquiſition, De ordinatione Angelorum ſecundum Hierarchias et Ordines. QUAEST. cviii. The ſyſtem, which perhaps makes a better figure in poetry than in philoſophy, has been adopted by many poets who did not outlive the influence of the old ſcholaſtic ſophiſtry. See Dante, PARAD. C. xxviii. Taſſo mentions, among La grande o [...]e del ciel,
TRE FOLTE SQUADRE, et ogni ſquadra inſtrutta
In TRE ORDINI gira, &c.
GIER. LIB. xviii. 96. And Spenſer ſpeaks of the angels ſinging in their TRINALL TRIPLICITIES. FAIR. QU. i. xii. 39. And again, in his Hymne of HEAVENL [...] LOVE. See alſo Sannazarius, DE PART. VIRGIN. iii. 241. Milton perhaps is the laſt poet who has uſed this popular theory. PARAD. L. v. 748.
Regions they paſs'd, and mighty regencies
Of Seraphim, and Potentates, and Thrones,
In their TRIPLE DEGREES.—
And it gives great dignity to his arrangement of the celeſtial army. See ibid. ſupr. 583.
—Th' empyreal hoſt
Of angels, by imperial ſummons call'd,
Innumerable before th' Almighty's throne,
Forthwith from all the ends of heaven appear'd,
Under their HEIRARCHIES in ORDERS bright.—
Ten thouſand thouſand enſigns high advanc'd,
Standards and gonfalons, twixt van and rear
Stream in the air, and for diſtinction ſerve
Of HIEARCHIES, of ORDERS, and DEGREES.
Such ſplendid and ſublime imagery has Milton's genius raiſed on the problems of Thomas Aquinas! See alſo ibid. v. 600. Hence a paſſage in his Hymn on THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY is to be illuſtrated. ST. xiii. v. 131.
And with your ninefold harmony
Make up full concert to the angelike ſymphony.
That is, the ſymphony of the nine orders of angels was to be anſwered by the ninefold muſic of the ſpheres. One Thomas Haywood, a moſt voluminous dramatic poet in the reign of James the firſt, wrote a long poem with large notes on this ſubject, called THE HIERARCHIE OF ANGELS, printed in folio, at London, 1635. See alſo Jonſon's ELEGIE ON MY MUSE, in the UNDERWOOD. p. 260. edit. fol. Lond. 1640.
l
Ibid.
m
At a VACATION EXERCISE, &c. Newton's MILT. ii. p. 11.
n
For the benefit of thoſe who are making reſearches in antient coſmography, I obſerve that the map of England, mentioned by Harriſon and Hearne, and belonging to Merton college library, appears to have exiſted at leaſt ſo early as the year 1512. For in that year, it was lent to the dean of Wells, William Coſyn, with a caution of forty ſhillings. Regiſtr. Vet. Coll. Mert. fol. 218. b. See its reſtitution, ibid. fol. 219. b.
o
‘"Paradiſus tantae eſt altitudinis, quod eſt inacceſſibilis ſecundum Bedam; et tam altus, quod etheream regionem pertingat, &c."’ CHRON. NUR. ut ſupr. f. viii. b.
p
SIGNAT. E. iii.
q
Boiſterous fellow.
r
Coarſe graſs.
s
Without.
t
Riven.
u
If you pleaſe.
w
Know.
x
JOHN, for what reaſon I know not, is a name of ridicule and contempt in moſt modern languages.
y
SI [...]NAT. F. i.
z
They ſpared not the powder nor the ſtones.
A proof that ſtones were now uſed inſtead of leaden bullets. At firſt they ſhot darts, or carrieaux, i. e. quarrels, from great guns. Afterwards ſtones, which they called gun-ſtones. In the BRUT OF ENGLAND, it is ſaid, that when Henry the fifth, before Hareflete, received a taunting meſſage from the Dauphine of France, and a ton of tennis-balls by way of contempt, ‘"he anoone lette make tenes balles for the Dolfin [Henry's ſhip] in all the haſte that they myght, and they were great [...]ONNESTONES for the Dolfin to playe with alle."’ But this game at tennis was too rough for the beſieged, when Henry ‘"playede at the tenes with his harde [...]ONNESTONES, &c."’ See Strutt's CUSTOMS AND MANNERS OF THE ENGLISH, vol. ii. p. 32. Lond. 1775.
a
In the Medicean library at Florence, and the Ambroſian at Milan, there is a long manuſcript Italian poem, in three books, divided into one hundred chapters, written by Matteo Palmeri, a learned Flo [...]entine, about the year 1450. It is in imitation of Dante, in the terza rima, and entitled CITTA DI V [...]TA, or The City of Life. The ſubject is, the peregrination of the ſoul, freed from the ſhackles of the body, through various ideal places and ſituations, till at length it arrives in the city of heaven. This poem was publicly burnt at Cortona, becauſe the author adopted Origen's hereſy concerning a third claſs of angels, who for their ſins wer [...] deſtined to animate human bodies. See Trithem. c. 797. Julius Niger, SCRIPTO [...]. FLORENT. p. 404.
b
In a manuſcript at Lambeth [332.] this poem is ſaid to have been begun Jun. 11, 1556. This is a great miſtake. It was printed Hafn. 1552. 4to.
c
SIGNAT. i. B. A park is a favorite ſcene of action in our old poets. See Chaucer's COMPL. BL. KN. v. 39.
Toward a park encloſid with a wall, &c.
And in other place [...]. Parks were antiently the conſtant appendage of almoſt every conſiderable manerial houſe. The old patent-rolls are full of licences for imparcations, which do not now [...]xiſt.
d
Inſtead of Pa [...]naſſus he chuſes mount Calvary, and his Helicon is the ſtrea [...] which flowed from our Saviour's ſide on the croſs, when he was wounded by Longinus, that is LONGIAS. This is a fictitious perſonage in Nicodemus's Goſpel. I have mentioned him before. Being blind, he was reſtored to ſight by wiping his eyes with his hands which were bloody. See more of him in Chaucer's LAMENTAT. MARY MAGD. v. 176. In the Gothic pictures of the Crucifixion, he is repreſented on horſeback, piercing our Saviour's ſide: and in Xavier's Perſic Hiſtory of Chriſt, he is called a horſeman. This notion aroſe from his uſing a ſpear, or lance: and that weapon, [...], undoubtedly gave riſe to his ideal name of Longias, or Longinus. He is afterwards ſuppoſed to have been a biſhop of Ceſarea, and to have ſuffered martyrdom. See Tillemont. ME [...]OR. HIST. EC [...]LESIAST. tom. i. pp. 81. 251. And Fabric. APOCR. NOV. T [...]STAM [...] tom. i. p. 261. In the old Greek tragedy of CHRIST SUFFERING, the CONVERTED CENTURION is expreſsly mentioned, but not by this name. Almoſt all that relates to this perſon, who could not eſcape the [...]ictions of the monks, has been collected by J. Ch. Wolfius, CUR. PHILOL. ET CRIT. IN S. EVANGEL. tom. i. p. 414. ii. 984. edit. Baſil. 1741. 4to. See alſo Hoffman. LEXIC. UNIVERSAL. CONTINUAT. in Voc. tom. i. p. 1036. col. [...]. Ba [...]il. 1683. fol.
f
SIGNAT. B. i.
g
Quharefore to colyearis, carteris, and to cuki [...]
To Jok and Thome, my ryme ſall be derectit.
SIGNAT. C. i.
h
SIGNAT. C. iii.
i
Eſcape.
k
Smothered.
l
White.
m
f. Raſed.
n
In their rage.
o
SIGNAT. L. iii.
p
A meteor quickly glancing along.
q
Lightens.
r
Repreſentations.
s
Diſmay. Tormen [...].
t
SIGNAT. P. iii.
u
SIGNAT. M. iii.
w
An old image made of a ſtock of wood.
x
Tabor.
y
So as.
z
SIGNAT. H. iii.
a
SIGNAT. H. i. For alluſions of this kind the following ſtanza may be cited, which I do not entirely underſtand. SIGNAT. H. iii.
This was the practick of ſum pilgrimage,
Quhen fillokis into Fyfe began to fen
With Jok and Thome than tuke thai thair voyage
In Angus to the field chapel of Dron:
Than Kittock thare alſ cadye as ane Con,
Without regard other to ſyn or ſchame,
Gave Lowrie leif at la [...]er to loup on,
Far better had bene till have biddin at hame.
I will here take occaſion to explain two lines, SIGNAT. I. iii.
Nor yit the fai [...] madin of France
Danter of Ingliſh ordinance.
That is Joan of Arc, who ſo often daunted or defeated the Engliſh army. To this heroine, and to Pentheſilea, he compares Semiramis.
b
See it alſo among [...] SCRIPTOR. GERMAN. per J. Piſtorium, tom. i. p. 580.
c
Again, ibid. by Joh. Schenſperger. 1497. fol.
d
SIGNAT. F. ii.
e
By Philip Le Noir, Paris. 1526. fol.
f
By Benaccivoli, Ven. 1528. 4to.
g
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 220.
h
If thou at length would read his reign.
i
SIGNAT. K. iii. He alſo cites Lucan for Alexander, SIGNAT. L. i. For an account of the riches of pope John, he quotes Palmerius. SIGNAT. N. i. This muſt have been Mattheus Palmerius abovementioned, author of the CITTA DI VITA, who wrote a general chronicle from the fifth century to his own times, entitled DE TEMPORIBUS, and, I believe, firſt printed at Milan, 1475. fol. Afterwards reprinted with improvements and continuations. Particularly at Venice, 1483. 4to. And by Grynaeus at the end of Euſebius, fol. 1570.
k
SIGNAT. K. iii.
l
Moiſtens.
m
Are cloſed.
n
Owlet. Owl.
o
SIGNAT. R.
p
Not inelegantly, he compares James making frequent and dangerous voyage [...] into France to addreſs the princeſs, to Leander ſwimming through the Helleſpont to Hero.
q
Making.
r
Men, actors diſguiſed.
s
Plays and pageants acted on moveable ſcaffolds.
t
To grief.
u
Sound.
w
Maces.
x
Heard.
y
SIGNAT. K. iii.
z
The curious reader may compare ‘"The ordynaunce of the entre of quene Iſabell into the towne of Paris,"’ in Froiſſart. Berners's Tranſl. tom. ii. c. clvii. f. 172. b.
a
SIGNAT. G. i.
1333

b I here take occaſion to explain the two following lines.

Als Jhone Makray, the kingis fule,
Gat dowbyll garmountis agane th [...] ȝule.

That is, ‘"The king's fool got two ſuits of apparel, or garments doubly thick, to wear at Chriſtmas."’ SIGNAT. G. i. Ȝule is Chriſtmas. So James the firſt, in his declaration at an aſſembly of the Scotch Kirk at Edinburgh, in 1590, ‘"The church of Geneva keep Paſche and YULE,"’ that is, [...]a [...]er and CHRISTMAS. Calderwood's HIST. CH. SCOT. p. 256. Our author, in The COMPLAYNT OF THE PAPYNGO, ſays that his bird ſung well enough to be a minſtrel at Chriſtmas. SIGNAT. A. iii.

Scho micht have bene ane menſtrall at th [...] ȝule.

Thus Robert of Brunne, in his chronicle, ſpeaking of King Arthur keeping Chriſtmas at York.

On gole day mad he feſt
With many barons of his geſte.

See Hearne's ROB. GLOUC. vol. ii. p. 678. And Leland's ITIN. vol. ii. p. 116. In the north of England, Chriſtmas to this day is called ule, yule, or youle. Blount [...]ays, ‘"in the northern parts they have an old cuſtom, after ſermon or ſervice on Chriſtmas-day; the people will, even in the churches, cry ule, ule, as a token of rejoycing, and the common ſort run about the ſtreets ſinging, "ULE, ULE, ULE,"Three puddings in a pule,"Crack nuts, and cry ULE."

DICTION. VOC. ULE. In Saxon the word is gehul, gehol, or geol. In the Welch rubric every ſaint's day is the Wyl, or Gwl, of that ſaint: either from a Britiſh word ſignifying watching, or from the Latin Vigilia, Vigil, taken in a more extended [...]enſe. In Wales wyliau or gwyliau hadolig, ſignifies the Chriſtmas holidays, where wyla or gwyliau is the plural of wyl or gwyl.

I alſo take this opportunity of obſerving, that the court of the Roman pontiff was exhilarated by a fool. The pope's fool was in England in 1230, and received forty ſhillings of king Henry the third, de do [...]o regis. MSS. James, xxviii. p. 190.

c
SIGNAT. F. iii.
d
SIGNAT. G. i.
e

Leland. COL [...]. AP [...]END. iii. p. 284. ut ſupr. In our author's TRAGEDIE o [...] CARDINAL BETOUN, a ſoliloquy ſpoken by the cardinal, he is made to declare, that he played with the king for three thouſand crowns of gold in one night, at cartis and dice. SIGNAT. I. ii. They are alſo mentioned in an old anonymous Scotch poem, Of COVETICE. ANC. SC. [...]. ut ſupr. p. 168. ſt. iii.

Halking, hunting, and ſwift horſe rynning,
Are changit all in wrangus wynning;
Thar is no play bot cartis and dyce.

Where, by the way, horſe-racing is conſidered among the liberal ſports, ſuch as hawking, and hunting [...] and not as a ſpecies of gaming. See alſo, IBID. p. 146. ſt. v.

Cards are mentioned in a ſtatute of Henry the ſeventh, xi. Hen. vii. cap. ii. That is, in 1496. Du Cange cites two Greek writers, who mention card-playing as one of the games of modern Greece, at leaſt before the year 1498. GLOSS. GR. tom. ii. V. XAPTIA. p. 1734. It ſeems highly probable, that the Arabians, ſo famous for their ingenuity, more eſpecially in whatever related to numbers and calculation, were the inventors of cards, which they communicated to the Conſtantinopolitan Greeks. Carpentier ſays, that cards, or folia l [...]ſoria, are prohibited in the STATUTA CRIMIN. Saonae. cap. xxx. p. 61. But the age of theſe ſtatutes has not occured to me. SUPPLEM. LAT. GLOSS. Du Cange, V. CARTAE. tom. i. p. 842.

B [...]n [...]dictus Abbas has preſerved a very curi [...]s edict, which ſhews the ſtate of gaming in the chriſtian army, commanded by Richard the firſt king of England, and Philip of France, during the cruſade in the year 1190. No perſon in the army is permitted to play at any ſort of game for mon [...]y, except Knights and Clergymen; who in one whole day and night ſhall not, each, loſe more than twenty ſhillings: on pain of forfeiting one hundred ſhillings, to the archbiſhops of the army. The two kings may play for what they pleaſe: but their attendants, not for more than twenty ſhillings. Otherwiſe, they are to be whipped naked through the army for three days, &c. VIT. RIC. i. p. 610. edit. Hearn. tom. ii. King Richard is deſcribed playing at cheſs in this expedition. MSS [...] Harl. 4690.

And kyng Rychard ſtode and playe
Att the cheſſe in hys galleye.
f
Earn. Gain.
g
Ibid. SIGNAT. H. i.
h
Even his governors and preceptors threw theſe temptations in his way: a circumſtance touched with ſome humour by our author. Ibid. SIGNAT. G.
Thare was few of that garni [...]oun
That lernit hym ane gude leſſoun.—
Quod one, The devill ſtik me with ane knyfe,
Bot, Schir, I knaw ane maid in Fyfe,
Ane of the luſtieſt wantoun laſſis!
Hald thy tunge brother, q [...]od ane uther,
I knaw ane fairer be fyſtene futh [...]r.
Schir, whan ye pl [...]is to Linlithquow pas,
Thare ſall ye ſe ane luſtie las.
Now tritill tratill trow low,
Quod the third man, thow dois bot mow;
Quhen his grace cummis to faire Stirling
Thare ſal he ſe ane dayis darling.
Schir quod the fourth, tak my counſell,
And go all to the hie bordell,
Thare may we loup at liberte
Withoutin any gravite, &c.
Compare Buchanan, HIST. lib. xiv. ad [...]in.
i
Printed at Oxford, by Edm. Gibſon, 1691. 4to. with Notes. He died in 1452.
k
Imitate.
l
I ſuppoſe Walter Kennedie, who wrote a poem in Scottiſh metre, whether printed I know not, on the Paſſion of Chriſt. MSS. Coll. Greſham, 286. Some of Kennedie's poems are in MSS. Hynd [...]ord. The Flyting between Dunba [...] and Kennedy is in the EVERGREEN. See Dunbar, ut ſupr. p. 77. And ibid. p. 274. And Kennedy's PRAIS OF AGE, ibid. p. 189. He exceeds his cotemporary Dunbar in ſmoothneſs of verſification.
m
The poem examined above, p. 264.
n
He flouriſhed about the year 1320. He was driven from Scotland under the devaſtations of Edward the firſt, and too [...] refuge [...]at Paris. He wrote a poem, called the Complaint of the Miſeri [...]s of his Country, printed at Pari [...], 1511. Dempſt. xv. 1034.
o
Merſer is celebrated by Dunbar, LAMENT FOR THE DETH OF THE MAKKARIS, or POETS. See ANC. SCOTTISH POEMS, ut ſupr. p. 77.
That did in luve ſo ly [...]y wryte,
So ſchort, ſo quick, of ſentens hie.
See, in that Coll [...]ction, his PERRELL I [...] PARAMOURS [...] p. 156.
p
Dunbar mentions Rowll of Aberde [...]n, and Rowll of Corſtorphine, ‘"twa bettir [...]allowis did no ma [...] ſie."’ Ibid. p. 77. In Lord Hyndford's Manuſcript [p. 104. 2.] a poem is mentioned, called ROWLL' [...] CURSING. ibid. p. 272. There is a [...] alluſion in this piece to pope Alexander the ſixth, who preſided from 1492 to 1503.
q
Perhaps Robert Henriſon. See Dunbar, ubi ſupr. p. 77. And ibid. p. 98. ſeq. In MSS. Harl. are, ‘"The morall fabillis of Eſope compylit be Maiſte [...] Robert Henryſount ſcholmaiſter of Dumferling, 1571."’ 3865. 1. He was moſt probably a teacher of the youth in the Benedictine convent at Dun [...]ermline. See many of his poems, which are of a grave moral turn, in the elegant Scottiſh Miſcellany juſt cited.
r
I know not if he means Archibald Hay, who wrote a panegyric on Cardinal Beaton, printed at Paris, 1540. 4to. He alſo tranſlated the HECUBA of Euripides from Greek into Latin. MSS. HATTON. But I have ſeen none of his Scotch poetry.
s
See Dunbar, ut ſupr. p. 77. His poem, called the HOWLATT, is in the Manuſcripts of Lord Hyndford, and Lord Auchinleck. In this are deſcribed, the ‘"Kyndis of inſtrumentis, the ſportaris, [juglers] the Iriſh bard, and the [...]ule."’ It was written before the year 1455.
t
Living.
u
Stream.
w
Write.
x
I know nothing of Sir James Ingl [...]s, or of his ballads, farces, and pleaſant plays. But one John Ingliſh was maſter of a company of players, as we have before ſeen, at the marriage of James the fourth. Here is a proof, however, that theatrical repreſentations were now in high repute in the court of Scotland.
y
Yet in knowing.
z
See ſome of his ſatirical poetry, ANC. SC. P. p. 151.
a
Theſe two poets are converted into one, under the name of GABRIELL KINLYCK, in an edition of ſome of Lyndeſay's work [...] firſt turned and made perfect Engliſhe, printed at London by Thomas Purfoote, A. D. 1581. p. 105. This edition often omits whole ſtanzas; and has the moſt arbitrary and licentious miſrepreſentations of the text, always for the worſe. The editor, or tranſlat [...]r, did not underſtand the Scottiſh language; and is, beſides, a wretched writer of Engliſh. But the attempt ſufficiently expoſes itſelf.
b
I preſume this is John Balantyn, or Ballenden, archdeacon of Murray, canon of Roſſe, and clerk of the regiſter in the minority of James the fifth and his ſucceſſour. He was a doctor of the Sorbonne at Paris. G. Con, De duplici ſtatu religionis apud Scotos, lib. ii. p. 167. At the command of James the fifth, he tranſlated the ſeventeen books of Hector Boethius's HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Edinb. by T. Davidſon, 1536. fol. The preface is in verſe, ‘"Thow marcyal buke pas to the nobyll prince."’ Prefixed is the COSMOGRAPHY of Boethius's Hiſtory, which Mackenzie calls, A Deſcription of Albany, ii. 596. Before it is a Prologue, a viſion in verſe, in which VIRTUE and PLEASURE addreſs the king, after the manner of a dialogue. He wrote an addition of one hundred years to Boethius's hiſtory: but this does not appear in the Edinburgh edition: alſo Epiſtles to James the fifth, and On the Life of Pythagoras. Many of hi [...] poems are extant. The author of the article BALLENDEN, in the BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA, written more than thirty ago, ſays, that ‘"in the large collection of Scottiſh poems, made by Mr. Carmichael, there were ſome of our author's on various ſubjects; and Mr. Laurence Dundaſs had ſeveral, whether in manuſcript or printed, I cannot ſay."’ vol. i. p. 461. His ſtyle has many galliciſms. He ſeems to have been a young man, wh [...]n this compliment was paid him by Lyndeſay. He died at Rome, 1550. Dempſt. ii. 197. Bale, xiv. 65. Mackenz. ii. 595. ſeq.
c
SIGNAT. K.
d
Hard dints.
e
Buſy bees.
f
Artillery. SIGNAT. C. ii.
g
MSS. JAMES. xxvi. p. 32. Bibl. Bod [...] Oxon.
h
Round table. Tournaments.
i
SIGNAT. B. iii.
k
Compare a manuſcript poem of Occleve, Of Pride and waſt clothing of Lordis men which is aȝens her aſtate. MSS. LAUD. K. 78. f. 67. b. Bibl. Bodl. His chief complaint is againſt pendent ſ [...]eeves, ſweeping the ground, which with their [...]ur amount to more than twenty pounds.
l
SIGNAT. L. ii.
m
Cauſey. Street. Path.
n
Kitty that was born yeſterday.
o
Moor-land.
p
Clogged.
q
SIGNAT. L. iii. He commends the ladies of Italy for their dece [...]cy in this article.
r
ACT. 70.
s
As appears from a paſſage in the poem before us.
Bot in the kirk and market placis
I think thay ſuld nocht hide thair facis.—
He therefore adviſes the king to iſſue a proclamation,
Both throw the land, and Borrowſtonis,
To ſchaw thare face, and cut thare gownis.
He add [...], that this is quite contrary to the mode of the French ladies.
Hails ane Frence lady quhen ye pleis,
Scho wyll diſcover [...]mouth and neis.
t
‘"Velamina etiam mulierum, quae ad v [...]recundiam deſignandam eis ſunt conceſſa, ſed nunc, per inſipientiam earum, in laſciviam et luxuriam excreverunt, et immoderata lo [...]git [...]do ſuperpelliceorum, quibus pulverem trab [...]nt, ad moder [...]tum uſum, ſicut decet verecundiam ſexus, per excommunicationis ſententiam cohibeantur."’ Ludewig, RELIQ. DIPLOM. tom. ii. p. 441.
u
See Notes to A [...]C. SC. POEMS, ut ſupr. p. 256.
w
See Collectanea Hiſtorica, ex DIC [...]ION. MS. Thomae Gaſcoign. Apud Hearne's W. HEMINGFORD, p. 512.
x
Chaucer repreſents his WI [...] OF BATH a [...] riding with a pair of ſpurs. PROL. v. 475. p. 5. Urr.
And on her feete a paire of ſpurris ſharpe.
y
For the uſe of this manuſcript I am obliged to the ingenious Mr. Pennant; whoſe valuable publications are familiar to every reader of taſte and ſcience.
z
V. 162.
a
V. 78.
b
‘"Copied, ſays my manuſcript, at Taymouth, in September 1769. From a Manuſcript in the library there, ending Auguſt 20th, 1490."’ The latter date certainly cannot refer to the time when this poem was written.
c
See The Teſtament of Mr. Andro Kennedy. ANC. SC. POEMS, ut ſupr. p. 35.
d
Viz. LAIDER.
e
Named. Hight.
f
Robbery.
g
Took many a booty.
h
Murder, Slaughter.
i
The pages of my bed-chamber. Ca [...]led, in Scotland, Chamber-lads.
k
That ſcrupled to do no wrong.
l
Gates. Yates, Yatt [...]s.
m
All times.
n
Beloved.
o
Theft.
p
Steer. Steerage. The management.
q
Enmity. Hatred.
r
Brought Loyalty to death,
s
Caught Good Rule. Read cleikit, clecked. CLEIK is crooked iron, Uncus.
t
Threw him into priſon.
u
Over the ſtairs.
w
Murthered in the croud.
x
Furniſhed it well with much ill-gotten [...]ealth.
y
V. 15. ſeq.
z
Pariſhioners.
a
As good.
b
Seldom.
c
To be bleached. Whitened, or purified.
d
Till they be waſhed clean.
e
Part of the pall, taken as a fee at funerals. The Kirk-kow, or cow, is an eccleſiaſtical perquiſite which I do not underſtand.
f
More than.
g
If [...] the poor have ſix pigs and one ſow.
h
His belly full. BELLY was not yet proſcribed as a coarſe indelicate word. I [...] often occurs in our Tranſlation of the Bible: and is uſed, ſomewhat ſingularly, in a chapter [...]act of Weſtminſter-abbey, ſo late as the year 1628. The prebendaries vindicate themſelves from the imputation of having reported, that their dean, biſhop Williams, repaired the abbey, ‘"out of the diet, and BELLIES of the prebendaries, and revenues of our ſaid church, and not out of his own revenues, &c."’ Widmore's WESTMINST. ABBEY, p. 213. Append. NUM. xii. Lond. 1751. Here, as we now think, a periphraſis, at leaſt another term, was obvious. How ſhocking, or rather ridiculous, would this expreſſion appear in a modern inſtrument, ſigned by a body of clergy!
i
He thinks more of his Eaſter-offerings, than of the ſouls in purgatory. Paſche is paſchal. PAIS, Eaſter.
k
I leave Oppreſſion to the PARSON, the proprietor of the great, or rectorial, tythes.
l
To keep the corn of the poor in the rig, or rick.
m
Until he g [...]t the tythe all at his will.
n
Suppoſe the children ſhould beg their bread. Barins, or Bearns.
o
To build no churches.
p
So fair a harveſt.
q
The choir, or chancel, which, as the rector, he is obliged to keep in repair. The more tythe he receives, the leſs willing [...]e is to return a due proportion of it to the church.
r
Without doubt.
s
A fine for adultery. MAILIS is dutie [...], rents. MAILE-MEN, MAILLERIS, perſons who pay rent. Male is Saxon for tribute or [...]x. Whence Maalman, Saxon, for one paying tribute. See Spelman and Dufreſne, in VV.
t
If a man give a maid one kiſs. Chaucer ſays of his SOMPNOU [...], or Apparitor, PROL. Urr. p. 6. v. 651.
He would ſuffer for a quart of wine
A good fellow to have his concubine.
See the FREERES TALE, where theſe [...] buſes are expoſed with much humour. Urr. edit. p. 87.
u
If he does not get his fine, they will not be ſaved. GEIR is properly goods [...] chattels.
w
His profits, in the ſpiritual court.
x
Surely in the ſame manner.
y
An Engliſh gallon.
z
To read one chapter.
a
Unto death.
b
Feign themſelves poor.
c
To ride on a mule with rich trappings. Cavendiſh ſays, that when cardinal Wolſey went embaſſador to France, he rode through London with more than twenty ſumptermules. He adds, that Wolſey ‘"rode very ſumptuouſlie like a cardinal, on a mule; with [...]is ſpare-mule, and his ſpare-horſe, covered with crimſon velvett, and gilt ſtirrops, &c."’ MEM. OF CARD. WOLSEY. edit. Lond. 1708. 8vo. p. 57. When he meets the king of France near Amiens, he mounts another mule, more ſuperbly capariſoned. Ibid. p. 69. See alſo p. 192. [See a manuſcript of this Life, MSS. LAUD. i. 66. MSS. ARCH. B. 44. Bibl. Bodl.] The ſame writer, one of the cardinal's domeſtics, ſays that he conſtantly rode to Weſtminſter-hall, ‘"on a mule trapped in crimſon velvett with a [...]addle of the ſame."’ Ibid. p. 29. 30. In the Computus of Maxtoke priory, in Warwickſhire, for the year 1446, this article of expenditure occurs, ‘"Pro pabulo duarum mularum cum harneſiis domini PRIORIS hoc anno."’ Again in the ſame year, ‘"Pro freno deaurato, cum ſella et panno blodii coloris, mulae PRIORIS."’ MS. penes me ſupr. citat. Wiccliffe deſcribes a WORDLY PRIEST, ‘"with fair hors and jolly, and gay ſaddles and bridles ringing by the way, and himſelf in coſtly clothes and pelure."’ Lewis's WICCL. p. 121.
d
Continue.
e
Look out for a biſhoprick.
f
Marcs.
g
Give, Aſſign.
h
He will order tryal in his own court. It is therefore unſafe to attack him.
i
You well know the pope is at a great diſtance.
k
He had rather ſit in parliament.
l
Fawn.
m
Or, Lentron. Lent.
n
Who get more by making one match, than by preaching a whole Lent. The mendicants gained an eſtabliſhment in families, and were conſulted and gave their advice in all caſes. Chaucer's FREERE
Had mad full manie a marriage
Of yong women, &c.
PROL. v. 212.
o
Expound.
p
Explain. The mendicants not only perverted the plaineſt texts of ſcripture to cover their own fraudulent purpoſes, but [...]en amuſed their hearers with legends and religious romances. Wiccliffe, the grand a [...]tagoniſt of theſe orders, ſays that, ‘"Capped [graduated] friers that been cleped [called] maſters of divinitie, have their chamber and ſervice as lords and kings, and ſenden out idiots full of covetiſe to preche, not the goſpel, but chronicles, fables, and leſinges, to pleſe the peple, and to robbe them."’ Lewis's LIFE OF WICCL. p. 21. xiii.
q
Theſe.
r
Diſpoſed. Bequeathed.
s
A true churchman, a chriſtian on the reformed plan, ſhall never get any thing belonging to me.
t
Whole.
u
Till.
w
Sins [...]
x
V. 309. ſeq.
y
Percy's BALL. i. 100.
z
See tom. ii. c. 170. f. 115. a. And tom. i. c. 149. f. 73. See alſo, ib. c.. 440. [...]. 313. b. Berners's Tranſl.
a
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 321. Dempſter ſays he lived in 1361.
b
The poem as now extant has probably been reformed and moderniſed.
c
HIST. MAGN. BRITAN. L. iv. c. xv. f. 74. a. edit. Aſcenſ. 1521. 4to. Compare Hollinſh. SCOT. ii. p. 414. And Mack. tom. i. 423. Dempſt lib. viii. p. 349.
d
See p. 245. edit. 1776. 4to.
e
See ſupr. p. 130.
f

At leaſt before the year 1507. For at the end of his TRENTALE for old John Clarke, there is this colophon. ‘"Auctore Skelton rectore de Dis. Finis, &c. Apud Trumpinton, ſcript. per Curatum ejuſdem quinto die Jan. A. D. 1507."’ See the PITHY PLEASAUNT AND PROFITABLE WORKES OF MAISTER SKELTON, reprinted at London, 1736, 12mo. pag. 272. He was ordained both deacon and prieſt in the year 1498. On the title of the monaſtery de Graciis near the tower of London. REGISTR. Savage. Epiſc. Lond. There is a poem by Skelton on the death of king Edward the fourth, who died A. D. 1483. WORKES, ut ſupr. p. 100. This is taken into the MIRROUR OF MAGISTRATES.

Skelton's poems were firſt printed at London, 1512. 8vo. A more complete edition by Thomas Marſhe appeared in 1568. 12mo. From which the modern edition, in 1736, was copied. Many pieces of this collection have appeared ſeparately. We have alſo, CERTAINE BOKES OF SKELTON. For W. Bonham, 1547. 12mo. Again, viz. Five of his poems, for John Day, 1583. 12mo. Another collection for A. Scolocker, 1582. 12mo. Another of two pieces, without date, for A. Kytſon. Another, viz. MERIE TALES, for T. Colwell, 1575. 12mo. MAGNIFICENCE, a goodly Interlude and a mery devyſed and made by mayſter Skelton, poet laureate, late deceaſed, was printed by Raſtell, in 1533. 4to. This is not in any collection of his poems. He mentions it in his CROWNE OF LAWRELL, p. 47. ‘"And of MAGNIFICENCE, a notable mater, &c."’ Pinſon alſo printed a piece of Skelton, not in any collection, ‘"How yong ſcholars now a days emboldened in the fly blowne blaſt of the moche vayne glorious, &c."’ Without date, 4to. There are alſo, not in his Works, Epitaph of Jaſper duke of Bedford, Lond. 4to. And, Miſeries of England under Henry ſeventh, Lond. 4to. See two of his Epitaphs in Camden's EPITAPHIA REGUM, &c. Lond. 1600. 4to. See a diſtich in Hollinſh. iii. 878. And Stanzas preſented to Henry the ſeventh, in 1488, at Windſor, in Aſhmole's ORD. GART. chap. xxi. SECT. vii. p. 594. A great number of Skelton's pieces remain unprinted. See MSS. Harl. 367. 36. fol. 101. ſeq.—2252. 51. fol. 134. ſeq. MSS. Reg. 18 D. 4 5. MSS. C. C. C. Cambr. G. ix. MSS. Cotton. VITELL. E. x. 28. And MSS. Cathedr. Linc. In the CROWNE OF LAWRELL, Skelton recites many of his own pieces. p. 47. ſeq. The ſoverayne Interlude of Virtue. The Roſiar. Prince Arthur's creacion. Of Perfidia. Dialogues of Ymaginacion. The comedy of Achad [...]mios. Tullis familiars, that is, a tranſlation of Tully's Familiar Epiſtles. Of good Adviſement. The Recule againſt Gaguine. See p. 47. 162. The Popingay. A noble pamphelet of ſoveraintie. The Play of Magnificence, abovementioned. Maters of Myrth to maiſtres Margery. The Peregrinacion of Mannes Lyfe, from the French, perhaps of Guillaume, prior of Chalis. [See ſupr. p. 120.] But it ſhould be obſerved, that Pynſon printed Peregrinatio humani generis, 1508. 4to. The triumphes of the redde roſe, containing many ſtories long unremembered. Speculum principis, a manual written while he was creauncer, or tutor, to Henry the eighth, when a boy. The Tunnyng of Elinour Rummyng. See p. 123. Colin Clout. See p. 179. John Yve. Joforth Jacke. Verſes to maiſtres Anne. Epitaph of one Adam a knave. See p. 271. The balade of the muſtarde tarte. The fate of Philip Sparrowe. See p. 215. The grounting of the ſwyne. The mournyng of the map [...]ly rote. A prayer to Moyſe's hornes. The paiants [pageaunts] played in joyous garde, that is, in king Arthur's caſtle, ſo called in the romance of MORTE ARTHUR. The feneſtrall [window] of caſtell Angel. The recule of Roſamundes bowre. How dame Minerva firſt found the olive-tre. The myller and his joly mate, or wife. Marione clarion. Of the Bonhoms of Aſhrige near Berkhamſtead, where is the ſange royall of Chriſt's blode, that is, the real blood of Chriſt. He profeſſes to have received many favours from this monaſtery. The nacion of foles. The boke of three fooles is printed in his works, p. 260. Apollo that whirled up his chare. The mayden of Kent. Of lovers teſtaments. Of Jollas and Phillis. The boke of honorouſe aſtate: Of royall demenaunce: How to fle ſynne: How to ſp [...]ke well. How to dye when ye will. A tranſlation of Diodorus Siculus, oute of freſhe Latin, that is, of Poggius Florentinus, containing ſix books. MS. C. C. C. Camb. viii. 5. Poggius's verſion was firſt printed at Venice, 1476. Caxton in his Preface to Virgil's ENEIDOS, ſays that Skelton ‘"tranſlated diverſe other workes out of Latyn into Englyſh,"’ beſide Tully's Epiſtles, and Diodorus Siculus. Bale mentions his Invectiva on William Lily the grammarian. I know nothing more of this, than that it was anſwered by Lily in Apologia ad Joh. Scheltonum. Pr. ‘"Siccine vipereo pergis me, &c."’ The piece of Skelton moſt frequently printed was, I believe, his ELINOUR RUMMYNG, or Rumpkin. The laſt of the old editions is, in 1624. 4to. In the title page, is the picture of our genial hoſteſs, a deformed old woman, holding a pot of ale, with this inſcription.

When Skelton wore the lawrel crown
My ale put all the alewives down.

See Davies's CRITICAL HISTORY OF PAMPHLETS, p. 28. 86.

g
See WORKS, p. 200. 202. &c.
h
AT [...]. OXO [...]. i. 2 [...]. ſeq.
i
His Latin epitaph or elegy on the Death of Henry the ſeventh, is addreſſed to Iſlip, A. D. 1512. p. 285.
k
MSS. Reg. 18 D. 11.
l

See ſupr. p. 126. And MSS. C. C. C. Cant. 168. Three of the apartments in Wreſſill Caſtle, now deſtroyed, were adorned with POETICAL INSCRIPTIONS. Theſe are called in the manuſcript abovementioned, ‘"PROVERBES in the LODGINGS in WRESSILL."’

‘"The proverbes in the ſydis of the innere chamber at Wreſſill."’ This is a poem of twenty-four ſtanzas, each containing ſeven lines [...] beginning thus,

When it is tyme of coſte and greate expens,
Beware of waſte and ſpende by meaſure:
Who that outrageouſly makithe his diſpens,
Cauſy the his goodes not long to endure, &c.

‘"The counſel [...] of Ariſtotill, whiche he gayſe to Alexander, kynge of Maſſydony; whiche are wrytyn in the ſyde of the Utter Chamber above the houſe in the Garden at Wreſyll."’ This is in diſtichs of thirty-eight lines; beginning thus,

"Punyſhe moderatly and diſcretly correcte,
"As well to mercy as to juſtice havynge a reſpecte, &c.

‘"The proverbis in the ſyde of th'Utter Chamber above of the hous in the gardying at Wreſyll."’ A poem of thirty ſtanzas, chiefly of four lines, viz.

"Remorde thyne ey inwardly,
"Fyx not thy mynde on Fortune, that delythe dyverſly, &c.

The following apartments in Lekinfield had poetical inſcriptions: as mentioned in the ſaid manuſcript. ‘"PROVERBS in the LODGINGS at LEKINGFIELD."’

‘"The proverbis of the garett over the Bayne at Lekyngfelde."’ This is a dialogue in 32 ſtanzas, of four lines, between ‘"the Parte Senſatyve,"’ and ‘"the Part Intellectyve;"’ containing a poetical compariſon between ſenſual and intellectual pleaſures.

‘"The proverbis in the garet at the new lodge in the parke of Lekingfelde."’ This is a poem of 32 ſtanzas, of four lines, being a diſcant on Harmony, as alſo on the manner of Singing, and playing on moſt of the inſtruments then uſed: i. e. the Ha [...]ps, Claricordes, Lute, Virgynall, Clariſymballis, Clarion, Shawme, Orgayne, Recorder. The following ſtanza relates to the SHAWME, and ſhews it to have been u [...]ed for the Baſs, as the RECORDER was for the Meane or Tenor.

"A SHAWME makithe a ſweete ſounde for he tunithe BASSE,
"It mountithe not to hy, but kepithe rule and ſpace.
"Yet yf it be blowne with a too vehement wynde,
"It makithe it to miſgoverne out of his kynde.

‘"The proverbis in the rooffe of the hyeſt chawmbre in the gardinge at Leking [...]elde."’ If we ſuppoſe this to be the room mentioned by Leland, where the Genealogy was kept; the following jingling reflections on the family motto (in thirty diſtichs) will not appear quite ſo miſplaced;

"Eſperaunce en Dyex,
"Truſte in hym he is moſt trewe.
"En Dieu eſperance,
"In hym put thyne affiance.
"Eſperaunc [...] in the worlde? nay;
"The worlde varieth every day.
"Eſperaunc [...] in riches? nay, not ſo,
"Riches ſlidithe and ſone will go.
"Eſperaunce in exaltacion of honoure?
"Nay, it widderithe ... lyke a floure.
"Eſperaunce in bloode and highe lynage?
"At moſte nede, bot eſy avauntage.

The concluding diſtich is,

"Eſperaunce en Die [...], in hym is all;
"Be thou contente and thou art above Fortune's fall."

‘"The proverbis in the rouſe of my Lorde Percy cloſett at Lekyngfelde."’ A poetical dialogue, containing inſtructions for youth, in 142 lines.

‘"The proverbis in the roufe of my Lordis library at Lekyngefelde."’ Twentythree ſtanzas of four lines, from which take the following ſpecimen:

"To every tale geve thou no credens.
"Prove the cauſe, or thou give ſentens.
"Agayn the right make no dyffens,
"So haſt thou a clene conſcie [...]s."

‘"The counſell of Ariſtotell, whiche he gave to Alexander kinge of Macedony; in the ſyde of the garet of the gardynge in Lekynfelde."’ This conſiſts of nine ſtanzas, of eight lines: Take the laſt ſtanza but one:

"Puniſhe moderatly, and diſcretly correct,
"As well to mercy, as to juſtice havynge a reſpect;
"So ſhall ye have meryte for the punyſhment,
"And cauſe the offender to be ſory and penitent.
"If ye be movede with anger or haſtynes,
"Pauſe in youre mynde and your yre repreſs:
"Defer vengeance unto your anger aſſwagede be;
"So ſhyll ye mynyſter juſtice, and do dewe equyte."

This caſtle is alſo demoliſhed. One of the ornaments of the apartments of the old caſtles in France, was to write the walls all over with amorous SONNETS.

m
From the Receiver's accompts of the earl's eſtates in Com. Northumb. A. xv. Henr. viii. A. D. 1527. ‘"SOLUCIONES DENARIORUM per WARRANTUM DOMINI. Et in denariis per dominum receptorem doctori Makerell Abbati monaſterii de Alnewyk ſolutis, de exitibus hujus anni, pro ſolucione vadii unius [...]EDAGOGI, [...]ive Magiſtri, exiſtentis infra Abbathiam predictam, et docentis ac legentis GRAMMATICAM et PHILOSOPHIAM canonicis et fratribus monaſterii predicti, ad x marcas per annum pro termino iij annorum, virtute unius warran [...]i, cujus data eſt apud Wreſſill xxm• die Septembris anno xij Regis predicti, ſigno manuali ipſius Comitis ſignati, et penes ipſ [...]m Abbatem remanentis, ultra vj lib. xiij s. iv d. ſibi allocatas anno xiij Henr. viijv•, et vj lib. xiij s. iiij d. ſimiliter ſibi allocatas in anno xiiij ejuſdem Regis ut per ii acquietancias inde confectas, et penes Auditorem remanentes."’ From EVIDENCES of the PERCY FAMILY, at Sion-houſe. C. iii. Num. 5. 6. Communicated by doctor Percy,
n
Pag. 44. P. Cop.
o
Pag. 378. I am indebted to the uſual kindneſs of Dr. Percy for all the notices relating to this earl. See his Preface to the HOUSHOLD BOOK, pag. xxi. ſeq.
p

I am informed by a manuſcript note in one of Mr. Oldys's books, that Skelton alſo wrote a poem called TITUS AND GESIPPUS. This I believe to be a miſtake: for I ſuppoſe he attributes to Skelton, William Walter's poem on this ſubject, mentioned above, p. 238. At the ſame time I take occaſion to correct a miſtake of my own, concerning that piece; which I have inadvertently called, ‘"a tranſlation from a Latin romance concerning the ſiege of Jeruſalem."’ ibid. Titus and Geſippus were famous for their friendſhip; and their hiſtory forms an intereſting novel in Boccacio, the ſubſtance of which is this. Geſippus, falling into poverty, thought himſelf deſpiſed by Titus; and thence growing weary of life, gave out that he was guilty of a murther juſt committed. But Titus knowing the true ſtate of the caſe, and deſiring to ſave the life of his friend by loſing his own, charged himſelf with the murther: at which the real murtherer, who ſtood among the croud at the trial, was ſo ſtruck, that he confeſſed the fact. All three are ſaved; and Titus, to repair the broken fortunes of Geſippus, gives him his ſiſter in marriage, with an ample dower. Bocc. DECAM. Nov. viii. GIORN. x. This is a frequent example of conſummate friendſhip in our old poets. In the FAERIE QUEENE, they are placed in the temple of Venus among the celebrated Platonic friends of antiquity, B. iv. c. x. ſt. 27.

Myld Titus and Geſippus without pryde.

See alſo SONGES and SONNETTS written by E. G. At the end of lord Surrey's Works, fol. 114.

O frendſhip flour of flours, O lively ſprite of life,
O ſacred bond of blisful peace, the ſtalworth ſtaunch of life!
Scipio with Lelius didſt thou conjoin in care:—
GESIPPUS eke with TITE, Damon with Pythias;
And with Menethus ſonne Achill by thee combyned was:
Euryalus and Niſus, &c. &c.

There is a manuſcript of ſome of Skelton's poems in the Cotton library: but the volume is ſo much damaged by fire, that they are almoſt illegible. [Brit. Muſ.] VITELL. E. x. 28.

o
Lib. ii. ch. ix. p. 69.
q
‘"Being the ſecond part of WIT' [...] COMMONWELTH. By Francis Meres, maiſter of artes of both univerſities. London, printed by P. Short, &c. 1598."’ 12mo. fol. 279. b. The firſt part is, ‘"POLITEUPHNIA, Wit's Commonwealth, for Nicholas Ling, 1598,"’ 12mo.
r
By the dozen.
s
This is ſtill a deſcription of tapeſtry.
t
The Boke of Colin Cloute, p. 205. ſeq.
u

J. Roſſ. WARWIC. HIST. REG. ANGL. edit. Hearne, p. 64. Hugh de Foliot, a canon regular of Picardy, ſo early as the year 1140, cenſures] the magnificent houſes of the biſhops, with the ſumptuous paintings, or tapeſtry, of their chambers, chiefly on the Trojan ſtory. ‘"Epiſcopi domos non impares eccleſiis magnitudine conſtruunt. Pictos del [...]ctantur habere thalamos: veſtiuntur ibi imagines pretioſis colorum indumentis.—Trojanorum geſtis paries, purpura atque auro veſtitur.—Graecorum exercitui dantur arma. Hectori clypeus datur auro ſplendens, &c."’ Bibl. Bodl. MSS. JAMES. ii. p. 203. But I believe the tract is publiſhed in the Works of a cotemporary writer, Hugo de Sancto-Victore. Among the manuſcript EPISTLES of Gilbert de Stone, a canon of Wells, and who flouriſhed about the year 1360, there is a curious paſſage concerning the ſpirit for fox-hunting which antiently prevailed among our biſhops. Reginald Bryan, biſhop of Worceſter, in 1352, thus writes to the biſhop of ſaint David's. ‘"Reverende in Chriſto pater et domine, premiſſa recommendatione d [...] bita tanto patri. Illos optimos canes venaticos, duodecim ad minus, quibus non vidimus meliores, quos nuper, ſcitis, veſtra REVERENDA PATERNITAS repromiſit, quotidie expectamus. Languet namque cor noſtrum, donec realiter ad manus n [...]ſtras ven [...]rit repromiſſum."’ He then owns his eagerneſs of expectation on this occaſion to be ſinful; but obſerves, that it is the fatal conſequence of that deplorable frailty which we all inherit from our mother Eve. He adds, that the foxes, in his manor of Alnechurch, and elſewhere, had killed moſt of his rabbits, many of his capons, and had deſtroyed ſix of his ſwans in one night. ‘"Veniant ergo, PATER REVERENDE, illae ſex Caniculorum copulae, et non tardent, &c."’ He then deſcribes the very exquiſite pleaſure he ſhall receive, in hearing his woods echo with the cry of the hounds, and the muſic of the horns; and in ſeeing the trop [...]ies of the chace affixed to the walls of his palace. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. SUPER. D. 1. ART. 123.—MSS. Cotton. VITELL. E. x. 17. [See MSS.] JAMES, xix. p. 139.]

From a want of the notions of common propriety and decorum, it is amazing to ſee the [...]trange abſurdities committed by the clergy of the middle ages, in adopting the laical character. Du Cange ſays, that the deans of many cathedrals in France entered on the dignities habited in a ſurplice, girt with a ſword, in boots and gilt ſpurs, and a hawk on the fiſt. LATIN. GLOSS. V. DECANUS, tom. i. p. 1326. See alſo ibid. p. 79. And tom. ii. p. 179. ſeq. Carpentier adds, that the treaſurers of ſome churches, particularly that of Nivernois, claimed the privilege of aſſ [...]ſting at maſs, on whatever feſtival they pleaſed, without the canonical veſtments, and carrying a hawk. And the lord of Saſſay held ſome of his lands, by placing a hawk on the high altar of the church of Evreux, while his pariſh prieſt celebrated the ſervice, booted and ſpurred, to the beat of drum, i [...]ſtead of the organ. SUPPL. tom. i. p. 32. Although their ideas of the dignity of the church were ſo high, yet we [...]ind them ſometimes conferring the rank and title of ſecular nobility even on the Saints. Saint James was actually created a BARON at Paris. Thus Froiſſart, tom. iii. c. 30. ‘"Or eurent ils affection et devotion d'aller en pelerinage au BARON Saint Jaques."’ And in Fabl. (tom. ii. p. 182.) cited by Carpentier, ubi ſupr. p. 469.

Dame, diſt il, et je me v [...]u,
A dieu, et au BARON Saint Leu,
Et s' irai au BARON Saint Jaques.

Among the many contradictions of this kind, which entered into the ſyſtem of theſe ages, the inſtitution of the Knights templars is not the leaſt extraordinary. It was an eſtabliſhment of armed monks; who made a vow of living at the ſame time both as anchorets and ſoldiers.

w
Hierarchy.
x

The ſtar-chamber. So below, p. 151.

In the ſter-chamber he nods and becks.

y
The pomp in which he celebrates divine ſervice.
z
Love of money.
a
Simony.
b
The true reading is CASTRIMARGIA, or Gulae concupiſcentia, Gluttony. From the Greek, [...], Ingluvies, helluatio. Not an uncommon word in the monkiſh latinity. Du Cange cites an old Litany of the tenth century, ‘"A Spiritu CASTRIMARGIAE Libera nos domine!"’ LAT. GLOSS. i. p. 398. Carpentier adds, among other examples, from the ſtatutes of the Ciſtercian order, 1375, ‘"Item, cum propter deteſtabile CASTRIMARGIAE vitium in labyrinthum vitiorum deſcendatur, &c."’ SUPPL. tom. i. p. 862.
c
I have before ſpoken of Hypocras, or ſpiced wine. I add here, that the ſpice, for this mixture, was ſerved, often ſeparately, in what they called a ſpice-plate. So Froiſſart, deſcribing a dinner in the caſtle of Thoulouſe, at which the king of France was preſent. ‘"After dyner, they toke other paſtymes in a great chambre, and hereyng of inſtruments, wherein the erle of Foiz greatly delyted. Than WINE and SPYCES was brought. The erle of Harcourt ſerved the kyng of his SPYCE-PLADE. And ſir Gerard de la Pyen ſerved the duke of Burbone. And ſir Monaunt of Noailles ſerved the erle of Foiz, &c."’ This was about the year 1360. CHRON. tom. ii. cap. 164. f. 184. a. Again, ibid. cap. 100 [...] f. 114. a. ‘"The kynge alyght [...]d at his palis [of Weſtminſter] whiche was redie apparelled for him. There the kynge DRANKE and TOKE SPYCES, and his uncles alſo: and other prelates, lordes, and knyghtes."’ Lord Berners's TRANSL. In the Computus of Maxtoke priory [MS. ſupr. citat.] an. 1447, we have this entry, ‘"Item pro vino cretico cum ſpeciebus et confectis datis diverſis generoſis in die ſancti Dionyſii quando Le fole domini Monfordes erat hic, et faceret jocoſitates ſuas in camera orioli."’ Here, I believe, vinum [...]reticum is raiſinwine, or wine made of dried grapes; and the meaning of the whole ſeems to be this. ‘"Paid for raiſin wine with comfits and ſpices, when ſir S. Montford's FOOL was here, and exhibited his merriments in the oriel-chamber."’ With regard to one part of the entry, we have again, ‘"Item [...] extra cameram vocatam le geſtis chamber, erat una litheamina furata in die ſancti Georgii Martiris quando le fole de MONFORDES erat hic."’
d
An apoſtle's. p. 147. He afterwards in [...]inuates, that the Cardinal had loſt an eye by the French diſeaſe: and that Balthaſar, who had cured of the ſame diſorder Domingo Lomelyn, one who had won much money of the king at cards and haſarding, was employed to recover the cardinal's eye. p. 175. In the Bok [...] of Colin Clout, he mentions the cardinal's mule, ‘"Wyth golde all be trapped."’ p. 188. [See ſupr. p. 329.]
e
But in this ſtanza he ſometimes relapſes into the abſurdities of his favorite ſtyle of compoſition. For inſtance, in SPEAKE PARROT, p. 97.
Albertus de modo ſignificandi,
And Donatus, be dryven out of ſchole;
Priſians hed broken now handy dandy,
And Interdidaſcalos is returned for a fole:
Alexander a gander of Menander's pole,
With da Canſales is caſt out of the gate,
And da Racionales dare not ſhew his pate.
Here, by da Canſales, he perhaps means Concilia, or the canon law. By da Racio [...]ales he ſeems to intend Logic. Albertus is the author of the MARGARITA POETICA, a collection of Flores from the claſſics and other writers, printed at Nurenberg, [...]472. fol. For Donatus, ſee vol. i. p. 281. To which add, that Ingulphus ſays, in Croyland abbey library, there were many Catones and DONATI, in the year 1091. HIST. CROYL. Ingulph. Script. Vet. i. p. 104. And that no perſon was admitted into the college of Boiſſy at Paris, founded in 1358, ‘"niſi DONATUM aut Catonem didicerit."’ Bul. HIST. UNIV. PARIS. tom. iv. p. 355. INTERDIDASCALOS is the name of an old grammar. Alexander was a ſchoolmaſter at Paris about the year 1290, author of the DOCTRINALE PUERORUM, which for ſome centuries continued to be the moſt favorite manual of grammar uſed in ſchools, and was firſt printed at Venice in the year 1473. It is compiled from Priſcian and in Leonine verſe. See Henr. Gandav. SCRIPTORECCLES. cap. lix. This admired ſyſtem has been loaded with gloſſes and lucubrations: but, on the authority of an eccleſ [...] aſtical ſynod, it was ſuperſeded by the COMMENTARII GRAMMATICI of Deſpauterius, in 1512. It was printed in England as early as the year 1503, by W. de Worde. [See ſupr. p. 168.] Barklay, in the SHIP OF FOOLES, mentions Alexander's book, which he calls ‘"The olde DOCTRINALL with his diſ [...]uſe and unper [...]ite brevitie."’ fol. 53. b.
f
Galant.
g
All over tatters and rags.
h
Dice.
i
Saint Thomas Becket.
k
Caſt. He threw I know not what.
l
There was an affectation of ſmartneſs in the trimming of his hoſe, Yet, &c.
m
See KENDALL-GREEN, in the Gloſſary to Shakeſpeare. edit. 1771.
n
Doublet. Jacket.
o
His coat-ſ [...]eeve was ſo ſhort.
p
Pag. 70. The devil might dance in his purſe without meeting with a ſingle ſixpence. C [...]OUCHE is Croſs, a piece of money ſo called, from being marked with the croſs. Hence the old phraſe, to croſs the [...]and, for, to give money. In Chaucer's MARCHAUNT'S TALE, when January and May are married, it is ſaid the prieſt ‘"Crouchid them, and b [...]d god ſhould them bleſs."’ v. 1223. Urr. That is, "He croſſed the new-married couple, &c." In the poem before us, RYOTTE ſays, ‘"I have no coyne nor croſſe."’ p. 72. Carpentier mentions a coin, called in Latin CROSATUS, and in old French CROSA [...], from being marked with the Croſs. Hence CROISAGE, Fr. for TRIBUTE. V. CROSATUS. SUPPL. Du Cange, LAT. GLOSS. tom. i. p. 1208. In Shakeſpeare's TIMON OF ATHENS, Flavius ſays,
More jewels yet! There is no CROSSING him in's humour,
Elſe I ſhould tell him—well—ifaith I ſhould,
When all's ſpent he'd be [...]ROSS'D then if he could.—
Act i. Sc. iv. That is, not thwarting him in his humour, but giving him money. Yet a jingle is intended. So in AS YOU LIRE IT, ii. iv. ‘"Yet I ſhould bear no CROSS if I did bear you; for I think you have no money in your pu [...]ſe."’ A CRUZADOE, a Portugueſe coin, occurs in Shakeſpeare.
q
P. 73.
r
To catch a ſilly bird.
s
The Hoſt's oath in Lydgate. See ſupr. p. 73.
t
Bitt.
u
In anger.
w
Weened. Thought.
x
Mad.
y
P. 69.
z
See ſupr. p. 231.
a
It was ſurrounded with ſand-walks.
b

Roſe-trees. See Chaucer's ROM. R. v. 1651. ſeq. And our author, infr. p. 40.

The ruddy roſary,
The pretty roſemary, &c.
c
P. 30. ſeq.
d
P. 28.
e
With as much life.
f
Glares.
g
I cannot decypher this appellation.
h
Of the popularity of Lucan in the dark [...]ges, I have given proofs in the SECOND DISSERTATION, vol. i. To which I will here add others. The following paſſage occurs in Lydgate's PROLOGUE to the LYFF AND PASSIOUN of the bleſſid Martyr ſeynt Alboon [Alban] and ſeynt Amphiballus, written in 1439. MSS. Coll. Trin. Oxon. Num. xxxviii. fol. 1. a. [Never printed.]
I not acqueyntyd with Muſes of Mars,
Nor with metris of LUCAN nor Virgile;
Nor with ſugred diteys of Cichero,
Nor of Omere to folowe the freſsh ſtyle.
And again, ſpeaking of Julius Caeſar, Lydgate refers to Lucan's PHARSALIA, which he calls the ‘"Records of Lucan."’ ibid. fol. 2. b. Peter de Blois, in writing to a profeſſor at Paris, about the year 1170, ſays, ‘"Priſcianus, et Tullius, Lucanus, et Perſius, iſti ſunt dii veſtri."’ EPISTOL. iv. fol. 3. edit. 1517. fol. Eberhardus Bethunienſis, called GRAECISTA, a philologiſt who wrote about the year 1130, in a poem on VERSIFICATION, ſays of Philip Gualtier, author of a popular epic poem called ALEXANDREIS, that he ſhines with the light of LUCAN. ‘"Lucet Alexander Lucani luce."’ And of Lucan he obſerves, ‘"Metro lucidiore canit."’ [See ſupr. p. 167. 168.] It is [...]aſy to conceive why Lucan ſhould have been a favorite in the dark ages.
i
That is, Horace's ART OF POETRY. Vineſauf wrote DE NOVA POETRIA. Horace's ART is frequently mentioned under this title.
k
His ſix Elegies De incommodis ſenectutis. See ſupr. p. 168. Reineſius thinks that Maximinian was the biſhop of Syracuſe, in the ſeventh century: a moſt intimate friend, and the ſecretary, of pope Gregory the Great. EPIST. ad Daum. p. 207. Theſe Elegies contain many things ſuperior to the taſte of that p [...]riod.
l
Poggius flouriſhed about the year 1450. By his mad tales, Skelton means his FACETIAE, a ſet of comic ſtories, very licentious and very popular. See Poggius's WORKS by Thomas Aucuparius, fol. Argentorat. 1513. f. 157.—184. The obſcenity contained in theſe compoſitions gave great offence, and fell under the particular cenſure of the learned Laurentius Valla. The objections of Valla, Poggius attempts to obviate; by ſaying, that Valla was a [...]lown, a cynic, and a pedant, without any idea [...] of wit or elegance: and that the FAC [...]T [...]AE were univerſally eſteemed in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, England, and all countries that cultivated pure Latinity. Poggius's INVECTIVA. Invect. in Laurent. Vallam, f. 82. b. edit. ut ſupr.
m
Robert, or Rupert, Gaguin, a German, miniſter general of the Maturines, who died at Paris 1502. His moſt famous work is COMPENDIUM SUP [...]R FRANCORUM GESTIS, from Pharamond to the author's age. He has written, among many other pieces, Latin orations and poems, printed at Paris in 1498. The hiſtory of Skelton's quarrel with him is not known. But he was in England, as ambaſſador from the king of France, in 1490. He was a particular friend of dean Colet.
n
Our author got the name of Piſander, a Greek poet, from Macrobius, who cites a few of his verſes.
o
In the boke of Philip Sparow, he ſays, Gower's Englyſh [...] is old, but that Chauc [...]r [...]s E [...]glyſhe is wel allowed: he adds, that Lydgate writes after an hyer rate, and that he has been cenſured for his elev [...]tion of phraſe; but acknowledges, ‘"No man can amend thoſe matters that he hath pend."’ p. 237. In Raſ [...]all's TERENS, in EN [...] LISH, printed in the reign of Henry the e [...]ghth, theſe three are mentioned in the Prologue, which is in ſtanzas, as the only Engliſh poets. Without date [...] 4 [...]o.
p
P. 19. ſeq.
q
Ibid. p. 15.
r
P. 26.
s

Margel [...]in, the herb Marjoram. Chaucer. ASS. LAD. 56.

And upon that a potte of MARGELAIN.

t
Goodlihed. Goodneſs.
u
Virginity.
w
In truth, I cannot flatter or deceive. Or, gloſe may be, ſimply to write.
x
As I imagine. So Chaucer, NON. PR. T. 1381.
I can noon harme of no woman divine.
y
Are.
z
F. 39.
a
F. 41. In the king's mews in the tower.
b
P. 41.
c
Perhaps formed from Zanni, or Giovanni, a fooliſh character on the Italian ſtage. See Riccoboni, THEATR. ITAL. ch. ii. p. 14. ſeq.
e
I have given ſpecimens. But the following paſſage in the Boke of C [...]lin Clout affords [...]n appoſite example at one view. p. 186.
Of ſuche vagabundus
Speaketh totus [...]undus.
How ſome ſyng let abundus, &c.
Cum ipſis et illis
Qui manent in villis [...]
Eſt uxor vel ancilla,
Welcome Jacke and Gilla,
My pretty Petronilla,
And you wil be ſtilla
Yo [...] ſhall have your willa:
Of ſuch pater noſter pekes
All the worlde ſpekes.
d
See his Life, Jac. Phil. Thomaſin's Elog. Patav. 1644. 4to. p. 71.
e
At Venice, 8vo. Again, 1564. And, 1613. 8vo.
f
See Liv. iv. c. 13. ii. 1. xi. 3.
g
See Menag. DICTION. ETYMOL. ORIG. Lang. Franc. edit [...] 1694. p. 462. V. MACARONS. And Oct. Ferrarius, ORIG. ITALIC.
h
DICT. LUDR. p. 453.
i
He wrote alſo DE BELLO MASSILIENS [...].
k
Erythra [...]us mentions Bernardinus Stephonius as writing in this way. PINACOTH. i. p. 160. See alſo ſome poems in Baudius, which have a mixture of the Gre [...]k and Latin la [...]guages; and which others have imitated, in German a [...]d Latin.
l
Printed at Oxford by Joſeph Barnes, 1589. 4to. See alſo a doggrel piece of this kind, in imitation of Skelton, introduced into Browne's SHEPHERD'S PIPE, Lond. 1614. 8vo. Perhaps this way of writing is ridiculed by Shakeſpeare, MERRY W. OF WINDS. A. ii. Sc. i. Where Falſtaffe ſays, ‘"I will not ſay, Pity me, 'tis not a ſoldier's phraſe, but I ſay love me: by me
"Thine own true knight, by day or night,
"Or any kind of light, with all his might
"With thee to fight.—"
See alſo the Interlude of Pyramus and Thiſbe, in the MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Often printed ſeparately in quarto, [...] a droll for Bartholomew fair, under the title of BOTTOM THE WEAVER. Skelton, however, ſeems to have retained his popularity till late. For the firſt part of T. Heywood's twofold play on the earl of Huntingdon, entitled, ‘"Robert earl of Huntingdon's downfall, afterwards called Robin Hood of merry Sherwoode, with his love to chaſte Matilda the lord Fitzwater's daughter, afterwards his fair maid Marian,"’ acted by lord Nottingham's players, and printed in quarto, at London, in [...]601, is introduced by JOHN SKELTON, poet laureat to king Henry the eighth. The ſecond part, printed with the former, is introduced by FRYAR TUCK, with whom I am leſs acquainted.
l
See ANT. SCOTTISH POEMS, Edinb. 1770. p. 35. And the Notes of the learned and ingenious editor; who ſays, tha [...] Dunbar's DERGE is a moſt profane parody on the popiſh litanies. p. 243.
m
ST. xiii. xiv.
n
My own merry companions.
o
A ſtake.
p
With that verſe, or ſtanz [...], in the Pſalms, ‘"I have mingled my drink with weeping."’
q
A hymn on the reſurrection in the miſſal, ſung at funerals.
r
Inſtead of a croſs on my grave to keep off the devil.
s
A verſe in the Pſalms. See other inſtances in Dunbar, ibid. p. 73. In George Bannatyne's manuſcript collection of old Scotch poetry are many examples of thi [...] mixture: the impropriety of which was not perhaps perceived by our anceſtors. Ibid. p. 268. See a very [...]dicrous ſpecimen in Harſenet's DETECTION, p. 156. Where he mentions a witch who has learned ‘"of an old wi [...]e in a chimnies end Pax, max, fax, for a ſpell; or [...]n ſay ſir John of Grantam's curſe for [...]he miller's eeles that were ſtolne.
"All you that ſtolen the miller's eeles,
"Laudate dominum de coelis,
"And all they that have conſented thereto,
"Benedicamus domino."
See a poem on Becket's martyrdom, in Waſſe's BIBL. LITER. Num. i. p. 39. Lond. 1722. 4to. Hither we muſt refer the old Caroll on the BOAR'S HEAD, Hearne's SPICILE [...]. ad Gul. Neubrig. HIST. vol. iii. p. 740. [See alſo ſupr. vol. i. p. 86.] Some of the metrical hymns in the French FETE DE ANE are in Latin and French. See MERCURE DE FRANCE, Avril. 1725. p. 724. ſuiv.
u
See Op. p. 1019. 1021.
w
Theſe two writers are ofte [...] confounded. See the Second DISSERTATION. James ſays, that Golias was not a name adopted by Mapes: but that there was a real writer of that name, a collection of whoſe works he had ſeen. See MSS. [Bibl. Bodl.] JAMES, i. p. 320. Golias and Mapes appear to have been cotemporaries, and of a ſimilar genius. The curious reader will find many extracts from their poetry, which has very great merit in its way, among James's manuſcript collections. The facility of theſe old Latin rhymers is amazing: and they have a degree of humour and elegance far exceeding their age.
x

My lamented friend Mr. William Collins, whoſe ODES will be remembered while any taſte for true poetry remains, ſhewed me this piece at Chicheſter, not many months before his death: and he pointed it out as a very rare and valuable curioſity. He intended to write the HISTORY OF THE RESTORATION OF LEARNING UNDER LEO THE TENTH, and with a view to that deſign, had collected many ſcarce books. Some few of theſe fell into my hands at his death. The reſt, among which, I ſuppoſe, was this INTERLUDE, were diſperſed.

In the Myſtery of MARIE MAGDALENE, written in 1512, a Heathen is introduced celebrating the ſervice of Mabound, who is called Saracenorum fortiſſsmus; in the midſt of which, he reads a Leſſon from the Alcoran, conſiſting of gibberiſh, much in the metre and manner of Skelton. MSS. Digb. 133.

y
Simony is introduced as a perſon in SIR PENNY, an old Scotch poem, written in 1527, by Stewart of Lorne. See ANTIENT SCOTTISH POEMS. Edinb. 1770. 8vo. p. 154.
So wily can ſyr Peter wink,
And als ſir SYMONY his ſervand,
That now is gydar of the kyrk.
And again, in an antien [...] anonymous Scotch poem, ibid. p. 253. At a feaſt, to which many diſorderly perſons are invited, among the reſt are,
And twa lerit men thairby,
Schir Ochir and ſchir SIMONY.
That is, ſir Uſury and ſir Simony. SIMONY is alſo a character in Pierce Plowman's VISIONS. Paſſ. ſec. fol. viii. b. edit. 1550. Wiccliffe, who flouriſhed about the year 1350, thus deſcribes the ſtate of Simony in his time. ‘"Some lords, to colouren their Symony, wole not take for themſelves but keverchief [...] for the lady, or a palfray, or a tun of wine. And when ſome lords wolden preſent a good man and able, for love of god and criſten ſouls, then ſome ladies been means to have a dancer, a tripper on tapits, or hunter or hawker, or a wild player of ſummers gamenes, &c."’ MSS. C. C. C. Cant. O. 161. 148. There is an old poem on this ſubject, MSS. Bodl. 48.
z
Robert Crowley, a great reformer, of whom more hereafter, wrote ‘"The Fable of PHILARGYRIA, the great gigant of Great Britain, what houſes were builded, and lands appointed, for his proviſion [...] &c."’ 1551. 4to.
a
Thus in Turpin's HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE, the Saracens appear, ‘"Habentes LARVAS BARBATAS, cornutas, DAEMONIBUS con [...]imi [...]es."’ c. xviii. And in LEWIS THE EIGHTH, an old French romance of Philip Mouſkes.
J ot apries lui une barboire,
Com diable cornu et noire.

There was a ſpecies of maſquerad [...] celebrated by the eccleſiaſtics in France, called the SHEW OF BEARDS, entirely conſiſting of an exhibition of the moſt formidable beards. Gregory of Tours ſays, that the abbeſs of Poictou was accuſed for ſuffering one of theſe ſhews, called a BARBATORIA, to be performed in her monaſtery. HIST. lib. x. c. vi. In the EPISTLES of Peter de Blois we have the following paſſage [...] ‘"Regis curiam ſequuntur a [...]idue hiſtriones, candida [...]rices, aleatores, dulcorarii, caupones, n [...]bulatores, mimi, BARBATORES, balatrones, et hoc genus omne."’ EPIST. xiv. Where, by Barbatores, we are not to underſtand Barbers, but mimics, or buffoons, diſguiſed in huge [...]earded maſks. In Don Quixote, the barber who perſonates the ſquire of the princeſs Micomicona, wears one of theſe maſks, ‘"una gran barba, &c."’ Part. prim. c. xxvi. [...]. 3. And the counteſs of Trifaldi's ſquire has ‘"la mas larga, la mas horrida, &c."’ Part. ſec. c. xxxvi. [...]. 8. See OBSERVAT. ON SPENSER, vol. i. p. 24. SECT. ii.

About the eleventh century, and long before, beards were looked upon by the clergy as a ſecular vanity; and accordingly were worn by the laity only. Yet in England this diſtinction ſeems to have been more rigidly obſerved than in France. Malmeſbury ſays, that king Harold, at the Norman inva [...]ion, ſent ſpies into Duke William's camp; who reported, that moſt of the French army were prie [...]ts, becauſe their faces were [...]aved. HIST. lib. iii. p. 56. b. edit. Savil. 1596. The regulation remain [...]d among the Engliſh clergy at leaſt till the reign of Henry the eighth: for Longland biſhop of Lincoln, at a Viſitation of Oriel college, Oxford, in 1531, orders one of the fellows, a prieſt, to abſtain, under pain of expulſion, f [...]om wearing a beard, and pinked ſhoes, like a laic; and not to take the liberty, for the future, of inſulting and ridiculing the governor and fellows of the ſociety. ORDINAT. Coll. Oriel. Oxon. APPEND. ad Joh. TROKELOW [...], p. 339. See Edicts of king John, in Prynne, LIBERTAT. ECCLES. ANGL. [...]om. iii. p. 23. But among the religious, the Templars were permitted to wear long beards. In the year 1311, king Edward the ſecond granted letters of ſafe conduct to his valet Peter Auger, who had made a vow not to ſhave his beard; and who having reſolved to viſit ſome of the holy places abroad as a pilgrim, feared, on account of the length of his beard, that he might be miſtaken for a knight-templar, and inſulted. Pat. iv. Edw. ii. In Dugdale's WARWICKSHIRE, p. 704. Many orders about Beards occur in the regiſters of Lincoln's-inn, cited by Dugdale. In the year 1542, it was ordered, that no member, wearing a BEARD, ſhould preſume to dine in the hall. In 1553, ſays Dugdale, ‘"ſuch as had beards ſhould pay twelvepence for every meal they continued them; and every man to be ſhaven, upon pain of being put out of commons."’ ORIG. JURID. cap. 64. p. 244. In 1559, no member is permitted to wear any beard above a fortnight's growth [...] under pain of expulſion for the third tranſgreſſion. But the faſhion of wearing beards beginning to ſpread, in 1560 it was agreed at a council, that ‘"all orders before that time made, touching BEARDS, ſhould be void and repealed."’ Dugd. ibid. p. 245.

b
In the Myſtery of MARY MAGDALENE, juſt mentioned, one of the ſtagedirections is, ‘"Here enters the pryn [...]e of the devylls in a ſtage, with hell onderneth the ſtage."’ MSS. DI [...]B. 133.
c
Hollinſh. iii. 850.
d

It is in Mr. Garrick's valu [...]ble coll [...]tion. No date. 4to. Hawkins, in the HISTORY OF MUSIC, has firſt printed a Song written by Skelton, alluded to in the CROWNE O [...] LAW [...]LL, and ſet to muſic by William Corni [...]e, a muſician of the chapel royal under Henry the ſev [...]n [...]h. B. i. ch. i. vol. iii. p. 3. Lond. 1776. It begins,

Ah, beſhrew you, by my [...]ay,
Theſe wanton clarkes ar [...] nice alway, &c.

The ſame diligent and ingenious inquirer has happily illuſtrated a paſſage in Skelton's deſcription of RIOT. Ibid. B. iii. ch. ix. vol. ii. p. 354.

Counter he coulde O LUX upon a potte.

That is, this drunken diſorderly fellow could play the beginning of the hymn, O LUX beata Trinitas, a very popular m [...] lody, [...]d on which many fugues and canons were antiently compoſed, on a quartpot at the tavern. See alſo, ibid. B. i. ch. vii. p. 90. ii. 1. p. 130.

By the way, the abov [...]ntioned William Corniſh has a poem print [...]d at the end of Skelton's Works, called a Treatiſe between Tr [...]t [...]e a [...]d I [...]for [...]atio [...] containing ſome anecdotes of the ſtate of antient muſic, written while the author was in the Fleet, in the year 1504. MSS. REG. 18 D. ii. 4. See Thoreſby's LEEDES, for Old muſical compoſitions by ſeveral maſters, among them by WILLIAM CORNISH. p. 517. Morley has aſſigned Cornyſh a place in his Catalogue of Engliſh muſicians.

e
See ſupr. p. 206.
f
Among Mr. Garrick's OLD PLAYS. [Imperf.] i. vol. 3. It was written about 1510, or rather later. One of the characters is NATURE naturate: under which title Bale inaccurately mentions this piece. viii. 75. See Percy, ESS. ENG. STAGE, p. 8. edit. 1767. Who ſuppoſes this play to have been written about 1510, from the following lines,
—Within this xx yer [...]
Weſtwarde be founde new landes,
That we never harde tell of before this.
The Weſt-Indies were diſcovered by Columbus in 1492.
g
For the ſake of connection I will here mention ſome more of Raſtall' [...] pieces. He was a great writer of INTERLUDES. He has written, ‘"Of GENTYLNESS AND NOBYLYTE. A dyaloge between the marchaunt, the knyght, and the plowman, diſputynge who is a veray gentylman, and how men ſhuld come to auctoryte, compiled in maner of an INTERLUDE. With dyvers TOYES and GESTIS addyd therto, to make mery paſtyme and diſport. J. Raſtall me fieri fecit."’ Printed by himſelf in quarto, without date. PR. ‘"O what a gret welth and."’ Alſo, ‘"A new Commodyte in Englyſh in maner of an ENTERLUDE ryght elygant and full of craft of rhetoryck: wherein is ſhewed and dyſcrybyd, as well the beute of good propertes of women, as theyr vyces and evyll condicions, with a morall concluſion and exhortation to vertew. J. Raſtall me imprimi [...]ecit."’ In folio, without date. This is in Engliſh verſe, and contains twelve leaves. PR. ‘"Melebea, &c."’ He reduced a dialogue of Lucian into Engliſh verſe, much after the manner of an interlude, viz. ‘"NECROMANTIA. A Dialogue of Lucyan for his fantaſy fayned for a mery paſtyme, &c.—J. Raſtall me [...]ieri fecit."’ It is tranſlated from the Latin, and has Latin notes in the margin. It may be doubted, whether Raſtall was not the printer only of theſe pieces. If the printer only, they might come from the feſtive genius of his brother ſir Thomas More. But Raſtall appears to have been a ſcholar. He was educated at Oxford; and took up the employment of printing as a profeſſion at that time eſteemed liberal, and not unſuitable to the character of a learned and ingenious man. An Engliſh tranſlation of Terence, called TERENS in ENGLISH, with a prologue in ſtanzas, beginning ‘"The famous renown through the worlde is ſpronge,"’ is believed, at leaſt from ſimilarity of type, to be by Raſtall. In quarto, without date. He publiſhed, in 1525, The MERY GESTYS of one callyd EDYTH the lyeng wydow. This is a d [...] ſcription, in Engliſh rhymes, of the frauds practiſed by a fem [...]le ſharper in the neighbourhood of London: the ſcene of one of her impoſtures is laid in ſir Thomas More's houſe at Chelſea. The author, one of her dupes, is Walter Smyth. Empry [...]ted at London at the ſygne of the M [...]remayde a [...] Pollis gate next to Chepeſyde by J. Raſtall. fol. It will be ſufficient to have given thi [...] ſhort incidental notice of a piece which hardly deſerves to be named. Raſtall wrote and printed many other pieces, which I do not mention, as unconnected with the hiſtory of our poetry. I ſhall only obſerve further, in general, that he was eminently ſkilled in mathematics, coſmography, hiſtory, our municipal law, and theology. He died 1536.
h
And of Shakeſpeare. There is a paſſage in ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, where the metaphor is exc [...]edingly beautiful; but where the beauty both of the expreſſion and the alluſion is loſt, unleſs we recollect the frequency and the nature of theſe ſhews in S [...]akeſpeare's age. ACT iv. Sc. xi. I muſt cite the whole of the context, for th [...] ſake of the laſt hemiſtich.
Sometime we ſee a cloud that's dragoniſh,
A vapour ſometime, like a bear or lion;
A towred citadel, a pendant rock,
A forked mountain, or blue promontory
With trees upon't, that nod unto the world
And mock our eyes with air. Thou'ſt ſeen theſe ſigns,
They are BLACK VESPER'S PAGEANTS.—
g
Compar [...] vol. i. p. 235.
h
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 279.
i
For a moſt full and comprehenſive account of theſe feaſts, ſee ‘"Memoires pour [...]ervir a l'hiſtoire de la FETE DE FOUX, qui ſe faiſoit autrefois dans plu [...]ieurs egli [...]es. Par M. du TILLIOT, gentilhomme ordinaire de ſon Al [...]eſſe royale Monſeigneur le duc de BERRY. A LAUSANNE et a GENEVE, 1741."’ 4to. Groſthead, biſhop of Lincoln in the eleventh century, orders his dean and chapter to aboliſh the FESTU [...] A [...]INORUM, [...]um ſit vanita [...]e pl [...]num, et voluptatibus ſpurcum, which uſed to be annually celebrated in Lincoln cathedral on the feaſt of the Circumciſion. Groſſeteſti EPISTOL. xxxii. apud Browne's FASCICUL. p. 331. edit. Lond. 1690. tom. ii. Append. And p. 412. Alſo he forbids the archdeacons of his dioceſe to permit SCOT-ALES in their chapters and ſynods, (Spelm. Gl. p. 506.) and other LUDI on holidays. Ibid. Epiſtol. xxii. p. 314. [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 247.] See in the MERCURE FRANCOIS for September, 1742, an account of a mummery celebrated in the city of Beſançon in France, by the canons of the cathedral, conſiſting of dancing, ſinging, eating and drinking, in the cloiſters and church, on Eaſter-day, called B [...]RGER [...]TTA, or the SONG OF THE SHEPHERDS; which remained unaboliſhed till the year 1738. From the RITUAL of the church, pag. 1930, ad ann. 1582. See Carpentier, SUPPL. Du Cang. LAT. GLOSS. tom. i. p. 523. in V. And ibid. V. BOCLARE, p. 570.
l
See ſupr. vol. i. p. 244.
m
OP. Greg. Nazianz. tom. ii. p. 253. In a manuſcript cited by Lambeccius, it is called [...]. iv. 22. It ſeems to have been falſely attributed to Apollinaris, an Alexandrian, biſhop of Laodicea. It is, however, written with leſ [...] elegance and judgement than moſt of Gregory's poetical pieces. Apollinaris lived about the year 370.
n
Hiſt. Gen. Addit. p. 13 [...].
o
Cedren. COMPEND. HIST. p. 639. B. edit. Pariſ. 1647. Compare Baron. ANNAL. ſub ann. 956. tom x. p. 752. C. edit. Plantin. Antw. 1603. fol.
p
COMMENT. ad CANON. lxii. SYNOD. vi. in Trullo. Apud Beverigii SYNODIC. tom. i. Oxon. fol. 1672. p. 230. 231. In return, he [...]orbids the profeſſed players to appear on the [...]age in the habit of monks. Saint Auſtin, who lived in the ſixth century, reproves the paganiſing chriſtians of his age, for their inde [...]nt ſports on holidays; but it does not appear, that theſe ſports were celebrated within the churches. ‘"In ſanctis ſeſtivitatibus choros ducendo, cantica luxurioſa et turpia, &c. Iſti enim infelices ac miſeri homines, qui balationes ac [...]altationes ANTE IPSAS BASILICAS ſanctorum exercere nec metuunt nec erubeſcunt."’ SERM. ccxv. tom. x. opp. S. Auguſtin. edit. Froben. 1529. fol. 763. B. See alſo SERM. cxcvii. cxcviii. opp. edit. Benedictin. tom. v. Pariſ. 168 [...]. p. 904. [...]t ſeq.
q
Sozomen (ubi infra) ſays, that he compiled a ſyſtem of grammar, [...], on the chriſtian model.
r
Socrates, iii. 16. ii. 46. Sozomen, v. 18. vi. 26. Niceph. x. 25.
s
In Clemens Alexandrin. lib. i. STROM. p. 344. ſeq. Euſebius, PRAEPARAT. EVANG. c. xxviii. xxix. Euſtathius ad HEX. p. 25. They are collected, and tranſlated into Latin, with emendations, by Fr. Morellus, Pariſ. 1580. See alſo CORPUS POETAR. GR. TRAGICOR. et COMICOR. Genev. 1614. fol. And POETAE CHRISTIAN. GRAECI, Pariſ. 1609. 8vo.
t
See Scaliger, ad EUSEB. p. 401.
u
DEMOMSTRAT. EVANGELIC. p. 99.
w
See Le Moyne, OBS. ad VAR. SACR. tom. i. pag. 336.
x
ART. POET. cant. iii. 81.
y
Des Repreſent [...] en MUSIQU [...]. p. 153. ſeq.
z
In ſome regulations given by cardinal Wolſey, to the monaſteries of the canons regular of St. Auſtin, in the year 1519, the brothers are forbidden to be LUSORES aut MIMICI, players or mimics. Dugd. Monaſt. ii. 568. But the prohibition means, that the monks ſhould not go abroad to exerciſe theſe arts in a ſecular and mercenary capacity. See ANNAL. BURTONENSES, p. 437. ſupra citat. p. 205. By the way, MIMICUS might alſo literally be conſtrued a player, according to Jonſon, EPI [...]. 195.
—But the Vice
Acts old iniquity, and in the fit
Of MIMICRY gets th'opinion of a wit.
a
See ſupra, vol. i. 246.
b
ACT. iii. ſc. 5.
c
HIST. UNIV. PARIS. tom. ii. p. 226. See alſo his Hiſtory De Patronis quatuor Nationum, edit. 1662.
d
HIST. UNIV. PARIS. tom. iv. p. 93. Saint Nicholas was the patron of ſcholars. Hence at Eton college ſaint Nicholas has a double f [...]aſt. The celebrity of the Boy-biſhop began on St. Nicholas's day. In a fragment of the cellarer's COMPUTUS of Hyde abbey near Wincheſter, A. D. 1397. ‘"Pro [...]pulis PUERI C [...]LEBRANTIS in feſto S. Nicholai."’ That is the Choriſter celebrating maſs. MSS. Wulveſ. Winton. Carpe [...]tier mentions an indecent ſport, called le VIRELI, celebrated in the ſtreets on the feaſt of St. Nicholas, by the vicar and other choral officers of a collegiate church. SUPPL. Du Cang. LAT. GLOSS. in V. to [...]. iii. p. 1178.
e
‘"Nunquam ante ipſius aetatem Como [...] dia in Germanorum ſcholis acta fuit, &c."’ G. Lizelii HISTOR. POETAR. GERMAN. Francof. et Leipſ. 1730. 12mo. p. 11.
f
Phorc [...]e. 4to. It is publiſhed with a gloſs by Simlerus his Scholar.
g
Fol. x.
h
Fol. iv.
i
VIROR. I [...]LUST [...]. VITAE, &c. publiſhed by Fiſchardus, Franco [...]. 1536. 4to. [...]. 8. b. Celtes himſelf ſays, in his DE [...]CRIPT [...] U [...]BIS NORINBERGAE, written about 1500, that in the city there was an ‘"AUL [...] praetoria, ubi PUBLI [...]A [...]UPTIARUM ET CHOREARUM SPECTACULA celebrantur, hyſtoriis et ymaginibus imperatorum et regum noſtrorum depicta."’ Cap. x.
k
See Conr [...]di Celtis AMORES, Noring [...]. 1502. 4to. ad calc. SIGNAT. q.
l
In the colleges of the Jeſuits in Italy this was a conſtant practice in modern times. Denina ſays, that father Granelli's three beſt tragedies were written, for this purpoſe, between 1729, and 1731. ch. v. § 9. The [...]ragedies of Petavius, Bernardinus and Stephonius, all Jeſuits, ſeem intended for this uſe. See Morhoff, POLYHIST. LITERAR. lib. vii. cap. iii. tom. i. 15. pag. 1069. edit. [...]abric. Lubec. 1747. 4to. Riccoboni relates, that he ſaw, in the Jeſuit's college at Prague, a latin play acted by the ſtudents, on the ſubject of Luther's hereſy [...] and the ridicule conſiſted in bringing Luther on the ſtage, with a bible in his hand, quoting chapter and verſe in defence of the reformation.
m
Inter MSS. Rawlinſ. Bib [...]. Bodl. Oxon.
n
MSS. Coll. C. C. Cant. CATAL. Naſmith. p. 92. This mode of attack was ſeldom returned by the oppoſite party: the catholic worſhip, founded on ſenſible repreſentations, afforded a much better hold for ridicule, than the religion of ſome of ſects of the reformers, which was of a more ſimple and ſpiritual nature. But I ſay this of the infancy of our ſtage. In the next century, fanaticiſm was brought upon the Engliſh ſtage with great ſucceſs, when poliſhed manners had introduced humour into comedy, and character had taken place of ſpectacle. There are, however, two Engliſh interludes, one of the reign of Henry the eighth, called EVERY MAN, the other of that of Edward the ſixth, called LUSTY JUVENTUS, written by R. Weever: the former defends, and the latter attacks, the church of Rome.
o
This article is ſtruck out from CAP. xxiv. p. 85. MSS. Rawlinſ. Num. 233. Only that part of the ſtatute is retained, in which Comedies and Tragedies are ordered to be acted. Theſe are to be written, or rather exhibited, by the nine lecturers. The ſenior lecturer is to produce one: the eight others are charged with four more. A fine of ten ſhillings is impoſed for the omiſſion of each interlude. Another [...]lauſe is then [...]truck out, which limits the number of the plays to THR [...], if [...]IVE commode exponi non que [...].
p
COMPENDIOUS REHEARSALL of JOHN DEE, &c. written by himſelf, A. D. 1592. ch. i. p. 501. 502. APPEND. J. Glaſtonien [...]is CHRON. [...]dit. Hearne, Oxon. 1726.
q
Ibid. p. 502.
r
Buchanan has a tragedy on this ſubject, written in 1554. Hamlet ſeems to be quoting an old play, at leaſt an old ſong, on Jepthah's ſtory, HAML. ACT ii. Sc. 7. There is an Italian tragedy on this ſubject by Benedict Capuano, a monk of Caſino. Florent. 1587. 4to.
s
There is a latin tragedy, ARCHIPROPHETA, five Johannes Ba [...]tiſta, written in 1547, by Nicolas Grimald, one of the firſt Students of Chriſt-church, Oxford, which probably was acted in the refectory there. It is dedicated to the dean, doctor Richard Cox, and was printed, Colon. 1548. 8vo. This play coincided with his plan of a rhetoric lecture, which he had ſett up in the college.
t
Aſchami EPISTOL. p. 126. b. Lond. 1581.
u

Fuller, CH. HIST. Hiſt. of Cambridge, p. 159. edit. 1655. See OBSERVAT. on Spenſer, ii. 211. In the court of king Edward the ſixth, George Ferrers, a lawyer, poet, and hiſtorian, bore this office at Greenwich, all the twelve days of chriſtmas, in 1552. ‘"Who ſo pleaſantly and wiſ [...]ly behaved himſelf, that the king had great delight in his PASTIMES."’ Stowe's CHRON. p. 632. Hollingſhead ſays, that ‘"being of better credit and eſtimation than commonlie his predeceſſors had beene before, he received all his commiſſions and warrants by the name of the MAISTER OF THE KING'S PASTIMES. Which gentleman ſo well ſupplied his office, both in ſhew of ſundrie ſights and devices of rare inventions, and in act of divers INTERI [...]UDES, and matters of paſtime plaied by perſons, as not onlie ſatisfied the common ſort, but alſo were verie well liked and allowed by the COUNCELL, and others of ſkill in the like PASTIMES, &c."’ CHRON. iii. p. 1067. col. 2. 10. The appointment of ſo dex [...]rons and reſpectable an officer to this department, was a ſtroke of policy; and done with a deſign to give the court popularity, and to divert the mind of the young king, on the condemnation of Somerſet.

In ſome great families this officer was called the ABBOT OF MISRULE. In Scotland, where the reformation took a more ſevere and gloomy turn, theſe and other feſtive characters were thought worthy to be ſuppreſſed by the legiſlature. See PARL. vi. of queen Mary of Scotland, 1555. ‘"It is ſtatute and ordained, that in all times cumming, na maner of perſon be choſen ROBERT HUDE nor LITTLE JOHN, ABBOT OF UN-REASON, QUEENIS of MAY, nor [...]therwiſe, nother in burgh, nor to landwart, [in the country,] in onie time to cum."’ And this under very ſevere penalties, viz. In burghs, to the chuſers of ſuch characters, loſs of Freedom [...] with other puniſhments at the queen's pleaſure: and thoſe who accepted ſuch offices were to be baniſhed the realm. In the country, the chuſers forfeited ten pounds, with an arbitrary impriſonment. ‘"And gif onie women or [...]ther about ſummer hees [hies, goes,] ſingand [ſi [...]ging] ... thorow Burrowes and uthers Landward tounes, the women .... [...]all be taken [...] handled, and put upon the cuck-ſtules, &c."’ See Notes to the PERCY HOUSHOLD-BOOK. p. 441. Voltaire ſays, that ſince the Reformation, for two hundred years there has not been a [...]ddle heard in ſome of the cantons of Switze [...]land.

In the French towns there was L'ABBE DE LIESSE, who in many towns was elected from the burgeſſes by the magiſtrates, and was the director of a [...]l their public ſhows. Among his numerous mockofficers were a herald, and a Maitre d'Hotel. In the city of Auxerre he was eſpecially concerned to ſuperintend the play which was annually acted on Quinquageſima Sunday. Carpentier, SUPPL. GLOSS. LAT. Du, Cange, tom. i. p. 7. V. ABBAS LAETITIAE. See alſo, i [...]id. V. CHARAVA [...]ITUM, p. 923.

w
This youth had before been introduced to the queen's notice, in her privy chamber at her lodgings at Chriſt-Church [...] where he ſaluted her in a ſhort Latin oration with ſome Greek verſes, with which ſhe was ſo pleaſed, that ſhe called in ſecretary Cecill, and encouraging the boy's modeſty with many compliments and kind ſpeeches, begged him to repeat his elegant performance. By Wood he is called, ſummae ſpei puer. HIST. ANTIQ. UNIV. OXON. lib. i. p. 287. col. 2. See alſo ATHEN. OXON. i. 152. And Peck's DESID. CURIOS. vol. ii. lib. vii. Num. xviii. p. 46. ſeq.
x
Wood. ATHEN. O [...]ON. ubi ſupr.
y
For a minute account [...] of which, ſee Peck's DESID. CURIOS. ut ſupr. p. 25. Num. [...]v. [MSS. Baker. vol. x. 703 [...]. p. 109. Brit. Muſ.] The writer was probably N. Robinſon, domeſtic chaplain to archbiſhop Parker, afterwards biſhop of Bangor. See Wood, ATHEN. OXON. i. col. 696. MS. Baker, ut ſupr. p. 181. And Parke [...]'s ANT. BRIT. ECCLES [...] p. 14. MATH. Vir [...]uit prudens, &c. edit. 1572-3.
z
Peck, ut ſupr. p. 36. 39.
a
Peck, ibid. p. 36.
b
Suppoſed to be the perſon whom Shakeſpeare, in the MERCHANT OF VENICE, called the Count Palatine. ACT. i. SC. i.
c
This was in Latin, and written by William Gager, admitted a ſtudent of Chriſt-Church in 1572. By the way, he is ſtyled by Wood, the beſt comedian of his time, that is dramatic poet. But he wrote only Latin plays. His Latin M [...] LEAGER was acted at Chriſt-Church before [...]ord Leiceſter, ſir Philip Sydney, and other diſtinguiſhed perſons, in 1581. ATH. OXON. i. p. 366. This Gager had a controverſy with doctor John Rainolds, preſident of Corpus, at Oxford, concerning the lawfulneſs of plays: which produced from the latter a pamphlet, called THE OVERTHROW OF STAGE-PLAYS, &c. Printed 1599. Gage [...]'s letter, in defence of his plays, and of the ſtudents who acted in them, is in Bibl. Coll. Univ. MSS. [...]. 18. It appears by a pamphlet written by one W. Heale, and printed at Oxford in 1609, that Gager held it lawful, in a public Act of the univerſity, for huſbands to beat their wives.
d
Hollinſh. CHRON. iii [...] 1355.
e
See PREPARATIONS AT OXFORD, &c. APPEND. L [...]LANDI COLL. vol. ii. p. 626. ſeq. edit. Lond. 1774. [MSS. Baker, ut ſupr. Brit. Muſ.] They were written by one preſent.
f
Ibid. p. 637.
g
The queen was not preſent: but next morning, with her ladies, the young prince, and gallants attending the court, ſhe ſaw an Engliſh paſtoral, by Daniel, called ARCADIA RE [...]ORMED. Ibid. p. 642. Although the anecdote is foreign to our purpoſe, I cannot help mentioning the reaſon, why the queen, during this viſit to Oxford, was more pleaſed to hear the Oration of the profeſſor of Greek, than the king. ‘"The king heard him willingly, and the Queen much more; becauſe, ſhe ſayd, ſhe never had h [...]ard Greek."’ Ibid. 636.
h
Towards the end of the hall, was a ſcene like a wall, ‘"painted and adorned with ſtately pillars, which pillars would turn about, by reaſon whereof, with the help of other painted clothes, their ſtage did vary three times in the acting of one tragedy."’ LEL APPEND. ut ſupr. p. 631. The machinery of theſe plays, and the temporary ſtages in St. Mary's church, were chiefly conducted by ‘"one Mr. Jones, a great traveller, who undertooke to furniſh them with rare devices, but performed very little to that which was expected."’ Ibid. p. 646. Notwithſtanding theſe ſlighting expreſſions, it is highly probable that this was Inigo Jones, afterwards the famous architect. He was now but thirty-three years of age, and juſt returned into England. He was the principal Contriver for the maſques at Whitehall. Gerrard, in STRAFFORDE'S LETTERS, deſcribing queen Henrietta's popiſh chapel, ſays, ‘"Such a glorious ſcene built ov [...]r the altar! Inigo Jones never preſented a more curious piece in any of the maſks at Whitehall.’ [dat. 1635.] vol. i. pag. 505.
i
Ibid. p. 639.
k
REX PLATONICUS, five MUSAE RE [...] NANTES, Oxon. 1607. 4to. p. 18.
l
LEL. APPEND. ut ſupr. p. 636.
m
Supr. i. 245. See more inſtances, ibid.
n
Written in 1553, p. 69.
o
Suppoſed to have been drawn up about the year 1560. But containing all the antient and original cuſtoms of the ſchool. MSS. Rawlinſ. Bibl. Bodl.
p
See ſupr. p. 341.
q
Bale viii. 98. ATH. OXON. i. 73. I have ſeen an anonymous comedy, APOLLO SHROVING, compoſed by the Maſter of Hadleigh-ſchool, in Suffolk, and acted by his ſcholars, on Shrove-tueſday, Feb. 7. 1626. printed 1627. 8vo. Publiſhed, as it ſeems, by E. W. Shrove-tueſday, as the day immediately preceding Lent, was always a day of extraordinary ſport and feaſting. So in the ſong of Juſtice Silence in Shakeſpeare, See P. HENRY iv. A. v. S. 4.
Tis merry in hall when beards wag all,
And welcome MERRY SHROVETIDE.
In the Romiſh church there was antiently a feaſt immediately preceding Lent, which laſted many days, called CARNISCAPIUM. See Carpentier, in V. SUPPL. LAT. GL. Du Cang. tom. i. p. 831. In ſome cities of France an officer was annually choſen, called LE PRINCE D'AMOUREUX, who preſided over the ſports of the youth for ſix days before Aſh-wedneſday. Ibid. V. AMORATUS. p. 195. and V. CARDINALIS. p. 818. alſo V. SPINETUM, tom. iii. p. 848. Some traces of theſe feſtivities ſtill remain in our univerſities. In the PERCY HOUSHOLD-BOOK, 1512, it appears that the clergy and officers of lord Percy's chapel performed a play ‘"before his lordſhip upon Shrowfteweſday at night."’ pag. 345.
r
It appears antiently to have been an exerciſe for youth, not only to act but to write interludes. Eraſmus ſays, that ſir Thomas More, ‘"adoleſcens COMOEDIOLAS et ſcripſit et egit."’ EPISTOL. 447. But ſee what I have ſaid of More's PAGEAUNTS, Obſervat. on Spenſ. ii. 47. And we are told, that More, while he lived a Page with archbiſhop Moreton, as the plays were going on in the palace during the chriſtmas holidays, would often ſtep upon the ſtage without previous notice, and exhibit a part of his own, which gave much more ſatisfaction than the whole performance beſides. Roper's LIFE AND DEATH OF MORE, p. 27. edit. 1731. 8vo.
s
ACT ii. SC. 7.
t
ACT iii. p. 50. edit. [...]ol. 1631. This play was firſt acted in the year 1625.
u

In a ſmall college, for only one provoſt, five fellows, and ſix choriſters, founded by archbiſhop Rotheram in 1481, in the obſcure village of Rotheram in Yorkſhire, this piece of mummery was not omitted. The founder leaves by will, among other bequeſts to the college, ‘"A Myter for the barne-biſhop of cloth of gold, with two knopps of ſilver, gilt and enamelled."’ Hearne's LIB. NIG. SCACC. APPEND. p. 674. 686. This eſtabliſhme [...]t, but with a far greater degree of buffoonery, was common in the collegiate churches of France. See Dom. Marlot, HISTOIRE de la Metropole de Rheims, tom. ii. p. 769. A part of the ceremony in the church of Noyon was, that the children of the choir ſhould celebrate the whole ſervice on Innocent's day. Brillon, DICTIONAIRE DES ARRETS, Artic. NOYON. edit. de 1727. This privilege, as I have before obſerved, is permitted to the children of the choir of Wincheſter college, on that feſtival, by the founder's ſtatutes, given in 1380. [See ſupr. vol. i. 248.] Yet in the ſtatutes of Eton college, gi [...]en in 1441, and altogether tranſcribed from thoſe of Wincheſter, the choriſter-biſhop of the chapel is permitted to celebrate the holy offices on the feaſt of ſaint Nicholas, but by no means on that of the INNOCENTS.—‘"In feſto ſancti Nicolai, in QUO et NULLATENUS in feſto ſanctorum INNOCENTIUM, divina officia (praetur Miſſae Secreta) exequi et dici permittimus per Epiſcopum Puerorum, ad hoc, de eiſdem [pueris choriſtis] annis ſingulis eligendum."’ STATUT. Coll. Etonenſ. Cap. xxxi. The ſame clauſe is in the ſtatutes of King's college at Cambridge. Cap. xlii. The parade of the mock-biſhop is evidently akin to the Fete des Foux, in which they had a biſhop, an abbot, and a precentor, of the fools. One of the pieces of humour in this laſt-mentioned ſhew, was to ſhave the precentor in public, on a ſtage erected at the weſt door of the church. M. Tilliot, MEM. de la Fete des Foux, ut ſupr. p. 13. In the Council of Sens, A. D. 1485, we have this prohibition. ‘"Turpem etiam illum abuſum in quibuſdam frequentatum eccleſiis, quo, certis annis, nonnulli cum mitra, baculo, ac veſtibus pontificalibus, more epiſcoporum benedicu [...]t, alii ut reges et duces induti, quod Feſtum FATUORUM, vel INNOCENTIUM, ſeu PUERORUM, in quibuſdam regionibus [...]uncupatu [...], &c."’ CONCIL. S [...]NON. cap. iii. Harduin. ACT. CONCIL. Pariſ. 1714. tom. ix. p. 1525. E. See alſo ibid. CONCIL. BASIL. Seſſ. xxi. p. 1122. E. And 1296. D. p. 1344. A. It is ſurpriſing that Colet, dean of ſaint Paul's, a friend to the purity of religion, and who had the good ſenſe and reſolution to cenſure the ſuperſtitions and [...]opperies of popery in his public ſermons, ſhould countenance this idle farce of the boy-biſhop, in the ſtatutes of his ſchool at ſaint Paul's; which he founded with a view of eſtabliſhing the education of youth on a more rational and liberal plan than had yet been known, in the year 1512. He expreſsly orders that his ſcholars, ‘"ſhall every Childermas [Innocents] daye come to Paulis churche [...] and hear the CHILDE-BYSHOP'S [of S. Paul's cathedral] ſermon. And after, be at the hygh maſſe; and each of them offer a penny to the CHILDE-BYSHOP, and with them the maiſters and ſurveyors of the ſcole."’ Knight's LIFE OF CO [...]ET, (MISCELL. Num. V. APPEND.) p. 362. I take this opportunity of obſerving, that the anniverſ [...]ry cu [...]om at Eton of going ad Montem, originated from the antient and popular practice of theſe theatrical proceſſions in collegiate bodies.

In [...]he ſtatutes of New college in Oxford, founded about the year 1380, there is the following remarkable paſſage. ‘"Ac etiam illum LUDUM viliſſimum et horribilem [...]ADENDI BA [...]BAS, qui [...]eri ſolet i [...] nocte praecedente Inceptionis Magiſtradorum in Artibus, infra collegium noſtrum praedictum, vel alibi in Univerſitate praedicta, ubicunque, ipſis [ſociis et ſcolaribus] penitus interdicimus, ac etiam prohibemus expreſſe."’ RUBR. xxv. Hearne endeavours to explain this injunction, by ſuppoſing that it was made in oppoſition to the Wiccli [...]ites, who diſregarded the laws of ſcripture; and, in this particular inſtance, violated the following text in LEVITICUS, where this cuſtom is expreſsly forbidden. xix. 27. ‘"Neither ſhalt thou mar the corners of thy beard."’ NOT. ad Joh. Trokelowe. p. 393. Nothing can be more unfortunate tha [...] this elucidation of our antiquary. The direct contrary was the caſe: for the Wickliffites entirely grounded their ideas of reformation both in morals and doctrine on ſcriptural proofs, and often committed abſurdities in too preciſe and literal an acceptation of texts. And, to ſay no more, the cuſtom, from the words of the ſtatute, ſeems to have been long preſerved in the univerſity, as a mock-ceremony on the night preceding the ſolemn Act of Magiſtration. It is ſtyled LUDUS, a Play: and I am of opinion, that it is to be ranked among the other eccleſiaſtic mummeries of that age; and that it has ſome connection with the exhibition mentioned above of ſhaving the Precentor in public.

w
Penes me. ſupr. citat.
x
S [...]e RISE AND PROGRESS, &c. CI [...] L. vol. ii. p. 118.
y
Who perhaps performed the play of HOLOPHERNES, the ſame year, after a greate and rich maſkinge and banquet, given by ſir Thomas Pope to the princeſs, in the grete [...]all at Hatfelde. LIFE of ſir THO. POPE. SECT. iii. p. 85.
z
MS. ANNAL [...]S OF Q. MARIE'S REIGN [...]. MSS. Cotton. VIT [...]LL. F. 5. There is a curious anecdote in Melville's MEMOIRS, concerning Elizabeth, when queen, being ſurprized from behind the tapeſtry by lord Hunſdon, while ſhe was playing on her virginals. Her majeſty, I know not whether in a [...]it of royal prudery, or of royal coquetry, ſuddenly roſe from the inſtrument and offered to ſtrike his lordſhip: declaring, ‘"that ſhe was not uſed to play before m [...]n, but when ſhe was ſolitary to ſhun melancholy."’ MEM. Lond. 1752. pag. 99. Leland applauds the ſkill of Elizabeth, both in playing and ſinging. EN COM. fol. 59. [p. 125. edit. Hearn.]
Aut quid commemor [...]m quos tu teſtudine ſumpta
Concentus referas melli [...]luoſque modos?
a
ANN. REF. vol. i. ch. xv. p. 194. edit. 1725. fol.
b
Strype's edit. of Stowe's SURV. LOND. B. v. p. 231.
c
Six of Lilly's nine comedies are entitled COURT-COMEDIES: which, I believe, were written profeſſedly for this purpoſe. Theſe were reprinted together, Lond. 1632. 12mo. His laſt play is dated 1597.
d
They very frequently were joined by the choriſters of ſaint Paul's. It is a miſtake that theſe were rival companies; and that becauſe Jonſon's POETASTER was acted, in the year 1601, by the boys of the chapel, his antagoniſt Decker got his SATIROMASTIX, an anſwer to Jonſon's play, to be performed, out of oppoſition, by thoſe of ſaint Paul's. Lilly's court-comedies, and many others, were acted by the children of both choirs in conjunction. It is certain that Docker ſneers at Johnſon's intereſt with the Maſter of the Revels, in procuring his plays to be acted ſo often at court. ‘"Sir Vaughan. I have ſome coſſen-germans at court ſhall beget you the reverſion of the maſter of the king's revels, or elſe to be his lord of miſrule nowe at Chriſtmas."’ SIGNAT. G. 3. Dekker's SATIROMASTIX, or the Untruſſing of the Humorous Poet. Lond. for E. White, 1602. 4to. Again, SIGNAT. M. ‘"When your playes are miſſelikt at court, you ſhall not crie mew like a puſſe-cat, and ſay you are glad you write out of the courtier's element."’ On the ſame idea the ſatire is founded of ſending Horace, or Jonſon, to court, to be dubbed a poet: and of bringing ‘"the quivering bride to court in a maſke, &c."’ Ibid. SIGNAT. I. 3.
e
Neſt of young hawks.
f
Paid.
g
ACT. ii. Sc. vi. And perhaps he glances at the ſame ſet of actors in ROMEO AND JULIET, when a play, or maſke, is propoſed. ACT i. Sc. v.
We'll have no Cupid, hood-wink'd with a ſcarf,
Bearing a Tartar's painted bow of lath.—
Nor a without-book prologue faintly ſpoke
After the prompter.—
h
Ibid. Sc. iii.
i

There is a paſſage in STRAFFORDE'S LETTERS, which ſeems to ſhew, that the diſpoſitions and accommodations at the theatre of Black-friars, were much better than we now ſuppoſe. ‘"A little pique happened betwixt the duke of Lenox and the lord chamberlain, about a box at a new play in the Black-friers, of which the duke had got the key."’ The diſpute was fettled by the king. G. GARRARD to the LORD DEPUTY. Jan. 25. 1635. vol. i. p. 511. edit. 1759. fol. See a curious account of an order of the privy council, in 1633, ‘"hung up in a table near Paules and Black-fryars, t [...] command all that reſort to the play-houſe there, to ſend away their coaches, and to diſperſe abroad in Paules church-yard, carter-lane, the conduit in f [...]eet-ſtreet, &c. &c."’ Ibid. p. 175. Another of Garrard's letters mentions a play at this theatre, which ‘"coſt three or four hundred pounds ſetting out; eight or ten ſuits of new cloaths he [the author] gave the players, an unheard of prodigality!"’ Dat. 1637. Ibid. vol. ii. 150.

It appears by the Prologue of Chapman's ALL FOOLS, a comedy preſented at Blackfriers, and printed 1605, that only the ſpectators of rank and quality ſate on the ſtage.

—To fair attire the ſtage
Helps much; for if our other audience ſe [...]
You on the ſtage depart before we end,
Our wits go with you all, &c.—
k
EPI [...]RAMMES, Epig. cxx.
l
Stowe's SURV. LOND. ut ſupr. lib. v. p. 231.
m
ECCLES. MEM. vol. iii. ch. xiii. p. 121.
n
Hollinſh. CHRON. iii. 894.
o
Dugdale, ORIG. JURID. cap. 67. p. 285.
p
Printed at London, 1565. 12mo. In one of the old editions of this play, I think a quarto, of 1590, it is ſaid to be ‘"ſet forth as the ſame was ſhewed before the queen's moſt excellent majeſtie, in her highneſs's court of the inner-temple."’ It is to be obſerved, that Norton, one of the authors, was connected with the law: For the ‘"Approbation of Mr. T. Norton, counſellor and ſollicitor of London, appointed by the biſhop of London,"’ is prefixed to Ch. Marbury's Collection of Italian Proverbs, Lond. 1581. 4to.
q
SATIROMASTIX, edit. 1602. ut ſupr. SIGNAT. M.
r
Dudg. ut ſupr. cap. 57. p. 140. ſeq. alſo c. 61. 205.
s
It is not, however, exactly known whether theſe revels were not ſimply DANCES: for Dugdale ſays, that the ſtudents of this inn ‘"anciently had DANCINGS for their recreation and delight."’ IBID. And he adds, that in the year 1610, the under barriſters, for example's ſake, were put out of commons by decimation, becauſe they offended in not DANCING on Candlemasday, when the JUDGES were preſent, according to an antient order of the ſociety. Ibid. col. 2. In an old comedy, called CUPID'S WHIRLIGIG, acted in the year 1616, by the children of his majeſty's revels, a law-ſtudent is one of the perſons of the drama, who ſays to a lady, ‘"Faith, lady, I remember the firſt time I ſaw you was in quadrageſſimo-ſexto of the queene, in a michaelmas tearme, and I think it was the morrow upon menſe Michaelis, or craſtino Animarum, I cannot tell which. And the next time I ſaw you was at our REVELLS, where it pleaſed your ladyſhip to grace me with a galliard; and I ſhall never forget it, for my velvet pantables [pantofles] were ſtolne away the whilſt."’ But this may alſo allude to their maſks and plays. SIGNAT. H. 2. edit. Lond. 1616. 4to.
t
Dugdale IBID. p. 246. The other ſocieties ſeem to have joined. IBID. cap. 67. p. 286. See alſo Finett's PHILOXENIS, p. 8. 11. edit. 1656. and Ibid. p. 73.
u
Printed LOND. 1614. 4to. ‘"With a deſcription of the whole [...]hew, in the manner of their march on horſeback to the court from the Maſter of the Rolls his houſe, &c."’ It is dedicated to ſir E [...] Philipps, Maſter of the Rolls. But we find a maſque on the very ſame occaſion, and at Whitehall, before the king and queen, called The maſque of Grays inn gentlemen and the Inner temple, by Beaumont, in the works of Beaumont and Fletcher.
w
Dugd. ibid. p. 346.
x

It was printed, Lond. 1633. 4to. The author ſays, that it exceeded in variety and richneſs of decoration, any thing ever exhibited at Whitehall. There is a little piece called THE INNS OF COURT ANAGRAMMATIST, or The Maſquers Maſqued in Anagrams, written by Francis Lenton, the queen's poet, Lond. 1634. 4to. In this piece, the names, and reſpective houſes, of each maſquer are ſpecified; and in commendation of each there is an epigram. The maſque with which his majeſty returned this compliment on the ſhrove-tueſday following at Whitehall, was, I think, Carew's COELUM BRITANNICUM, written by the king's command, and played by his majeſty, with many of the nobility and their ſons who were boys. The machinery by Jones, and the muſic by H. Lawes. It has been give [...] to Davenant, but improperly.

There is a play written by Middleton about the year 1623, called INNER TEMPLE MASQUE, or the MASQUE OF HEROES, preſented as an ent [...]rtainm [...]nt for many worthy ladies, by the members of that ſociety. Printed, Lond. 1640. 4to. I believe it is the foundation of Mrs. Behn's C [...]TY-HEIRESS.

I have alſo ſeen the MASQUE OF FLOWERS, acted by the ſtudents of Grays-inn, in the Banquetting-houſe at White-hall, on Twelf [...]h Night in 1613. It is dedicated to ſir F. Bacon, and was printed, L [...]nd. 1614. 4to. It was the laſt of the courtſolemnities exhibited in honour of Carr, e [...]rl of Somerſ [...]t.

y
They went from Ely houſe.
z
At Whitehall.
a

STRAFFORDE'S L [...]TTER [...], Garrard to [...]e Lord Deputy, dat. Feb. 27. 1633. vol. i. p. 207. It is added, ‘"On ShroveTueſday at night, the king and the lord [...] per [...]ormed their Maſque. The templars were all invited, and well pleaſed, &c."’ See alſo p. 177. And Fr. Oſborn's TRADIT. MEM. vol. ii. p. 134. WORKS, edit. 1722. 8vo. It ſeems the queen and her ladies were experienced actreſſes: for the ſame writer ſays, Jan. 9. 1633. ‘"I never knew a duller Chriſtmas than we had at Court this year; but one play all the time at Whitehall!—The queen had ſome little infirmity, which made her keep in: only on Twelfth-night, ſhe feaſted the king at Somerſet-houſe, and preſented him with a play, newly ſtudied, long ſince printed, the FAITHFUL SHEPERDESS [of Fletcher] which the king's players acted in the robes ſhe and her ladies acted their PASTORAL in the laſt year."’ Ibid. p. 177. Again, Jan. 11. 1634. ‘"There is ſome reſolution for a Maſke at Shrovetide: the queen, and fifteen ladies, are to perform, &c."’ Ibid. p. 360. And, Nov. 9. 1637. ‘"Here are to be two maſkes this winter; one at Chriſtmaſs, which the king and the young nobleſſe do make; the other at Shrovetide, which the queen and her ladies do preſent to the king. A great room is now building only for this uſe betwixt the guard chamber and the banquetting-houſe, and of [...]ir, &c."’ Ibid. vol. ii. p. 130. See alſo p. 140. And Finett's PHILOXENIS, ‘"There being a maſke in practice of the queen in perſon, with other great ladies, &c."’ p. 198. See Whitelock, ſub. an. 1632. She was [alſo] an actreſs in Davenant's maſque of the TEMPLE OF LOVE, with many of the nobility of both ſexes. In Jonſon's CLORIDIA at Shrovetide, 1630.—In Jon [...]on's Maſque called LOVE FREED FROM IGNORANCE AND FOLLY, printed in 1640.—In W. Mountagu's SHE [...]HEARD [...]S ORACLE, a Paſtoral, printed in 1649.—In the maſque of ALBION'S TRIUMPH, the Sunday [...]fter Twelfth-night, 1631. Printed 1631.—I [...] LUMINALIA, or The F [...]ſtival of Light, a maſque, on Shrove-tueſday in 1637. Printed Lond. 1637. 4to.—In SALMACIDA SPOLIA at Whitehall, 1639. Printed Lond. 16 [...]9. 4to. The words, I believe, by Davenant; and the muſic by Lewis Richard, maſter of her majeſty's muſic.—In TEMPE R [...]STORED, with fourteen other ladies, on Shrove-tueſday at Whitehall, 1631. Printed Lond. 1631. 4to. The words by Aurelian Townſend. The king acted in ſome of theſe pieces. In the preceding reign, queen Anne had given countenance to this practice; and, I believe. ſhe is the firſt of our queens that appeared perſonally in this moſt elegant and rational amuſement of a court. She acted in Daniel's Maſque of THE VI [...]ION OF THE FOUR GODDESS [...]S, with eleven other ladies, at Hampton-court, in 1604. Lond. 1624. 4to.—In Jonſon's MASQUE OF QUEENS, at Whitehall, in 1609.—In Daniel's TETHYS'S FESTIVAL, a Maſque, at the creation o [...] prince Henry, Jun. 5. 1610. This was called the QUEEN' [...] WAKE. Se [...] Winwood. iii. 180. Daniel dedicates to this queen a paſtoral tragicomedy, in which ſhe perhaps performed, called HYMEN'S TRIUMPH. It was preſented at Somerſet-houſe, where ſhe magnificently entertained the king on occaſion of the marriage of lord Roxburgh. Many others, I preſume, might be added. Among the ENTERTAINMENTS at RUTLANDHOUSE, compoſed by Davenant in the reign of Charles the firſt, there is a DECLAMATION, or rather Diſputation, w [...]th muſic, concerning Public E [...]tertainment by Moral R [...]preſ [...]ntation. The diſputants are Diogenes and Ari [...]ophanes. I am informed, that among the manuſcript papers o [...] the late Mr. Thomas Coxeter, of Trini [...]y college in Oxford, an ingenious and inqu [...] ſitive gleaner of anecdotes for a biogra [...]hy of Engliſh poets, there was a correſpondence between ſir Fulke Greville and Daniel the poet, concerning improvements and reformations propoſed to be made in theſe court-interludes. But this ſubject will be more fully examined, and further purſued, in its proper place.

After the Reſtoration, when the dignity of the old monarchical manners had ſuffered a long eclipſe from a Calviniſtic uſurpation, a feeble effort was made to revive theſe liberal and elegant amuſements at Whitehall. For about the year 1675, queen Catharine ordered Crowne to write a Paſtoral called CALISTO, which was acted at court by the ladies Mary and Anne daughters of the duke of York, and the young nobility. About the ſame time lady Anne, afterwards queen, plaid the part of Semandra, in Lee's MITHRIDATES. The young noblemen were inſtructed by Better [...]on, and the princeſſes by his wife; who perhaps conceived Shakeſpeare more fully than any female that ever appeared on the ſtage. In remembrance of her theatrical inſtructions, Anne, when queen, aſſigned Mrs. Betterton an annual penſion of one hundred pounds. Langb. DRAM. P. p. 92. edit. 1691. Cibber's APOL. p. 134.

This was an early practice in Franc [...]. In 1540, Margaret de Valois, queen of Navarre, wrote Moralities, which ſhe called PASTORALS, to be acted by the ladies of her court.

b
Printed from a manuſcript in Emanuelcollege at Cambridge, by Tho. Davies. WORKS of W. Browne, Lond. 1772. vol. iii. p. 121. In the dedication to the Society the author ſays, ‘"If it degenerate in kinde from thoſe other the ſociety hath produced, blame yourſelves for not keeping a happier muſe."’ Wood ſays that Browne ‘"retiring to the inner temple, became famed there for his poetry."’ ATH. OXON. i. p 492.
c
Pag. 135.
d
ACT iii. SC. iii.
e
In the text, "When I laid at Clement's inn," i [...] lodged, or lived. So Leland. ‘"An old manor place, where in tymes paſte ſum of the Moulbrays LAY for a ſtarte."’ That is LIVED for a time, or ſometimes [...] ITIN. vol. i. fol. 119. Again, ‘"Maiſter Page hath tranſlated the Houſe, and now much LYITH there."’ Ibid. fol. 121. And in many other places.
f
That Mile-end green was the place for public ſports and exerciſes, we learn from Froiſſart. In the affair of Tyler and Straw he ſays, ‘"Then the kynge ſende to them that they ſhulde all drawe to a fayre playne place, called Myle-end, where the people of the cytie did ſport themſelve [...] in the ſomer ſeaſon."’ &c. Berner's TRANSL. tom. i. c. 383. f. 262. a.
g
See alſo Dugd. ORIG. Jurid. p. 15 [...]. where many of the circumſtances of this officer are deſcribed at large: who alſo mentions, at Lincoln's-inn, a KING OF THE COCKNEY [...] on childermas-day, cap. 64. p. 247.
h
STRAFFOLDE'S LETTERS, ut ſupr. vol. i. p. 507. The writer adds, ‘"All this is done, to make [...]hem fit to give the prince [...]lector a royal ent [...]rtainment, with maſks, dancings, and ſome other exerciſes of wit in orations or arraingments, that day they invite him."’
i
This, I think, was Davenant's TRIUMPHS OF PRINCE D'AMOUR, written at their requeſt for the purpoſe, in three days. The muſic by H. and W. Lawes. The names of the performers are at the end.
k
Ibid. p. 525. The writer adds, ‘"Mrs. Baſſet, the great lace-woman of Cheapſide, went foremoſt, and led the queen by the hand, &c."’ See ibid. p. 506.
l
But it ſhould be remembered, that ſome learned Grecians, foreſeeing the perſecutions impending over their country, frequented Italy, and taught their language there, before the taking of Conſtantinople. Some Gre [...]ks, who attended the Florentine council, and never returned for fear of the Turks, founded the preſent royal library in the city of Turenne. In the year 1401, the Greek emperor, unable to reſiſt the frequent inſults of theſe barbarians, came into England to ſeek redreſs or protection from Henry the fourth. He landed at Dover, attended by many learned Greeks; and the next day was honourably received at Chriſt-church priory at Canterbury, by the prior, Thomas Chyllenden. In a manuſcript called SPECULUM PARVULORUM, lib. 5. c. 30. MSS. Bibl. Lamb [...]th.
m
He was honoured with the laurel, and died 1329.
n
Printed at Venice, 1636. fol. with his EPISTOLAE, ELEGI, SOLILOQUIA, ECLOGAE, CENTO OVIDIANUS, Latin Hiſtory of Italy, and BAVARUS ad Filium. And in Muratori's RER. ITAL. SCRIPTOR. [...]om. x. Mediolan. 1727. P. 1. 123. 569. 769. 785. See alſo in THESAUR. ITAL. [...]om. vi. part. ii. Lugd. Bat. 1722. Among his inedited works are mentioned, LI [...]ER DE LIT [...] NATURAE ET FORTUNAE, on Natural Cauſes and Fate. And three books in heroic verſe, on the War againſt the Veroneſe above-mentioned. The name and writings of Muſſato were hardly known, till they were brought forward to the public notice in the ESSAY ON POPE; which I ſhall not be accuſed of partiality, as I only join the voice of the world, in calling the moſt agreeable and judicious pi [...]ce of criticiſm produced by the preſent age.
o
See ‘"Dominei Georgii DISSERTATIO de Nich. quinti erga Li [...]. et Literat. Viros Patroc [...]nio."’ Rom. 1742. 4to. Added to his LIFE.
p
See Fr. Burmanni PRAEFAT. ad Inſcription. Gruterian. Amſtel. 1707. fol. Baluz. MISCELL. tom. vi. p. 539. Ant. Auguſtini DIALOG. DE NUMI [...]MAT. ix. xi. Voſſ. de HISTOR. LAT. p. 809. His ITINERARIUM was printed at Florence, by L. Mehus, 1742. 8vo. See Leon. Aretini EPISTOL. tom. ii. lib. ix. p. 149. And GIORNAL. de' Letterati d'Italia. tom. xxi. p. 428. See the COLLECTION of Inſcriptions, by P. Apianus, and B. Amantius, Ingoldſtat. 1634. fol. at the MONUM. GADITAN.
q
Philelph. EPIST. xxiv. 1. xxxvi. 1. In the EPISTLE of Philelphus, and in his ten books of SATIRES in Latin verſe, are many curious particulars relating to the literary hiſtory of thoſe times. Venet. fol. 1502. His NICOLAUS, or two books of Lyrics, is a panegyric on the life and acts of pope Nicholas the fifth.
r
It was in the year 1513, on occaſion of Juli [...]n Medicis, Leo's brother, being made free of Rome. P. Jovius, HIST. lib. xi. ad calc. And VIT. LEON. lib. iii. p. 145. Jovius ſays, that the actors were Roman [...] juventutis lepidiſſimi. And that ſeveral picces of poetry were recited at the ſame time. Leo was alſo preſent at an Italian comedy, written by cardinal Bibienna, called CALANDER, in honour of the Ducheſs of Mantua. It was acted by noble youths in the ſpacious apartments of the Vatican, and Leo was placed in a ſort of throne. Jov. in VIT. p. 189.
s
Paulus Jovius relates an anecdote of pope Leo the tenth, which ſhews that ſome paſſages in the claſſics were ſtudied at the court of Rome to very bad purpoſes. I muſt give it in his own [...]ords. ‘"Non caruit [...]tiam in [...]amia, quod parum honeſte nonnullos e cubiculariis ſuis (erant enim [...] tota Italia nobiliſſimi) adamare, et cu [...] his tenerius atque libere jocari videretur."’ In VITA LEONIS X. p. 192.
t
Du Breul, ANTIQUITEZ de Paris, liv. ii. 1639. 4to. p. 563. Bembi HIST. VE [...]T. par. ii. p. 76. And R. Simon, CRITIQUE de la Bibl. Eccleſ. par du Pin, tom. i. p. 502. 512.
x
Hody, p. 233.
y
Morhoff, POLYHIST. iv. 6.
z
Du Breul, ibid. p. 568. It is a juſt remark of P. Victorius, that Francis the firſt, by founding beautiful Greek and Roman types at his own coſt, invited many ſtudents, who were caught by the elegance of the impreſſion, to read the antient books. PRAEFAT. AD COMMENT. in octo libr. Ariſtotelis d [...] Opt. Stat [...] Civitat.
a
Alciati EPISTOL. xxiii. inter GUDIANAS, pag. 109.
b
Matagonis de Matagonibus adverſus Italogalliam Antonii Matharelli, p. 226.
c
Varillas, HIST. de François I. livr. ix. pag. 381.
d
Brantome, MEM. tom. i. p. 227. Mezerai, HIST. France, ſur HEN. III. [...]om. iii. p. 446. 447.
u
D. Chytraeus, SAXONIA. [...]. iii. p. 80. Trithem. p. 993. De S. E. Et D [...] LU [...]INARI [...]. GERMAN. p. 239.
w
See EPISTOL. CLAROR. VIROR. ad Reuchlin. p. m. 4. 17. Maius, in VITA REUCHLINI, &c. [See ſupr. p. 376.]
e
Ce [...]tes dedicates his AMOR [...]S, or Latin Elegies, to Maximilian, in a latin panegyric prefixed; in which he compliments the emperor, ‘"You who have this year endowed moſt liberally the muſes, long wandering, and baniſhed from Germany by the calumnies of certain unſkilful men, with a college and a perpetual ſtipend: having, moreover, according to a cuſtom practiſed in my time at Rome, delegated to me and my ſucceſſors, in your ſtead, the authority of creating and laureating poets in the ſaid college, &c."’ PANEG. PRIM. ad Maximilian. IMP. Signat. a. ii. AMORES, &c. Noringb. 1502. 4to. The ſame author, in his DESCRIPTION of the city of Nuremburgh, written in 1501, men [...]ions it as a circumſtance of importance and a ſingul [...]rity, that a perſon ſkilled in the Roman literature had juſt begun to give lectures in a public building, to the ingenuous youth of that city, in poetry and o [...]atory, with a ſalary of one hundred aurei, as was the practice in the cities of Italy. Deſcript. URB. NORINGB. cap. xii.
f
See the imperial patent for erecting this college, in Freherus's GERMAN. RERUM SCRIPTOR. VAR. &c. tom. ii. fol. Francof. 1602. p. 237. And by J. Henry Van Seelen, Lubec. 4to. 1723. And in his SELECT. LITERAR. p. 488. In this patent, the purpoſe of the foundation i [...] declared to be, ‘"reſtituere abolitam priſci ſaeculi eloquentiam."’
g
See Nic. Anton. BIBL. NOV. HISPAN. tom. i. p. 104.—109.
h
L. Vives, de Cauſis CO [...]UPTARUM ART. ii. p. 72.
i
See Alvarus Gomeſius de VITA XIMENIS, lib. ii. pag. 43. Nic. Anton. ut ſupr. p. 109. Imbonatus, BIBL. LATINOHEBR. p. 315.
k
See Petr. Jaenichii NOTIT. BIBLIOTH. THORUNIENSIS, p. 32. Who has written a DISSERTATION D [...] meritis Matthiae Corvini in r [...]m literariam.
l
See Joh. Alex. Braſſicani PRAE [...]AT. AD SALVIANUM, Baſil. 1530. fol. And MADERUS DE BIBLIOTHECIS. p. 145. 149.
m
Anton. Bon [...]inii RER. HUNGAR. Decad. iv. lib. 7. p. 460. edit. 1690.
n
Belius, APPARAT. AD HISTOR. HUNGAR. Dec. i. cap. 5.
o
Among other things, he wrote Commentaries on Perſius, Juvenal, Livy, and Ariſtotle's POETIC [...]. He tranſlated Phalaris's Epiſtles into the Tuſcan language, publiſhed at Florence 1491. Creſcimbeni has placed him among the the Italian po [...]ts. Lambeccius ſays, that in the year 1665, he was ſent to Buda by the emperor Leopold, to examine what remained in this library. After repeated del [...]ys and difficulties, he was at length permitted by the Turks to enter the room: where he ſaw about four hundred books, printed, and of no value, diſperſed on the floor, and covered with duſt and filth. Lambeccius ſuppoſes, that the Turks, knowing the condition of the books, were aſhamed to give him admittance. COMMENT. DE BIBL. VINDOBON. lib. ii. c. ix. p. 993.
p
COLLECTIO Madero-Schmidiana, ACCESS. i. p. 310. ſeq. Belius, ut ſupr. tom. iii. p. 225.
q
In the PREFACE. See Neandri PRAEFAT. AD GNOMOLOG. Stobaei, p. 27.
r
Ubi ſcholae grammaticales exiſtunt de [...]olatae." Pat. Hen. vi. ann. reg. xvii. p. 2. membr. 16.
s
Rymer, Foeder [...] xii. 653. We find early eſtabliſhments of this ſort in the colleges of Paris. In the year 1304, queen Jane founded the college of Navarre, at Paris, for thirty theologiſts, thirty artiſts, and twenty GRAMMARIANS, who are alſo called Enfans eſcholiers en grammaire. They are ordered to hear lectiones, [leſſons] materias, et verſus, prout in ſcholis grammati [...]alibus conſu [...]vit. Boul. HIST. ACAD. PARIS. vol. iv. p. 74. But the college of AVE MARIA, at Paris, founded in 1339, is for a Maſter and ſix boys only, from nine to ſixteen years. Boul. ibid. p. 261. The ſociety of Metton college, in Oxford, founded in 1272, originally maintained in the univerſity ſuch boys as claimed kindred to the founder, biſhop Walter de Merton, in grammar learning, and all neceſſaries, ſometimes till they were capable of taking a degree. They were placed in Nunhall, adjoining to the college on the ea [...]. ‘"Expenſ. factae per Thomam de Herlyngton, pro pueris de genere fundatoris a feſt. Epiph. uſque ad feſt. S. Petri ad vincula, 21 Edw. iii. A. D. 1347."’‘"Item, in filo albo et viridi, et ceteris pertinenciis, ad reparationem veſtium tam artiſtarum quam GRAMMATICORUM, vid. Item, Mag. Joh. Cornubienſ [...] pro ſalario SCHOLAE, in tertio quadrageſimali, xd. Et hoſtiario [u [...]her] ſuo, ii d. ob. Item, Mag. Joh. Cornubienſi pro tertio eſtivali, xd. Et hoſtiario ſuo. ii d. ob."’ A. Wood, MS. Coll. Merton COLLECTAN. [Cod. MSS. Ballard. Bibl. Bodl. 46.]
t
MSS. Bibl. C. C. C. Camb. MISCELL. P. p. 194. O [...]icium magiſtri Glom [...]rioe. I obſerve here, that Giles du Vadis, or Aegidius Dewes, ſucceſſively royal librarian at Weſtminſter, to Henry the ſeventh and eighth, was a Frenchman. The laſt king granted him a ſalary for that office, of ten pounds, in the year 1522. Priv. Sig. 13 Henr. viii. O [...]ic. Pell. He was preceptor in French to Henry eighth, prince Arthur, princeſs Mary, the kings of France and Scotland, and the marquis of Exeter. Stowe, LONDON, p. 230. Among other things of the ſort, he wrote at the command of Henry, An Introductorie for to lerne to rede, to prononnce, and to ſp [...]ak French truely compyled for the princeſs Mary. Lond. p. Waley, 4to. [See Pref. Palſgrave's LESCLAIRCISSMENT]. He died in 1535.
u
‘"Quod fecit admodum frigide, ut ea erant tempora."’ Lib. Matt. Archiep. Parker, MSS. BAKER, MSS. Harl. 7046. f. 125, 6.
w
Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. FF. [EPISTOL. ACAD.] fol. 254. The Epiſtles in this Regiſter, contain many local anecdotes of the reſtoration of learning at Oxford.
x
Such of our countrymen as wrote in Latin at this period, and were entirely educated at home without any connections with Italy, wrote a ſtyle not more claſſical than that of the monkiſh latin annaliſts who flouriſhed two or three centuries before. I will inſtance only in Roſs of Warwick, author of the HISTORIA REGUM ANGLIAE, educated at Oxford, an eccleſiaſtic, and eſteemed an eminent ſcholar. Nor is the plan of Roſs's Hiſtory, which was finiſhed ſo late as the year 1483, leſs barbarous than his latinity; for in writing a chronicle of the kings of England, he begins, according to the conſtant practice of the monks, with the creation and the firſt ages of the world, and adopts all their legends and fables. His motives for undertaking this work are exceedingly curious. He is ſpeaking of the method of perpetuating the memories of famous men by ſtatues: ‘"Alſo in our churches, tabernacles in ſtonework, or niches, are wrought for containing images of this kind. For inſtance, in the new work of the college of Windſor, [i. e. ſaint George's chapel,] ſuch tabernacles abound, both within and without the building. Wherefore, being [...]requeſted, about the latter end of the reign of king Edward the fourth, by the venerable maſter Edward Seymor, Maſter of the Works there, and at the deſire of the ſaid king, to compile a hiſtory of thoſe kings and princes who have founded churches and cities, that the images placed in thoſe niches might appear to greater advantage, and more effectually preſerve the names of the perſons repreſented; at the inſtance of this my brother-ſtudent at Oxford, and eſpecially at the deſire of the ſaid moſt noble monarch, as alſo to exhilarate the minds of his royal ſucceſſours, I have undertaken his work, &c."’ Edit. Hearne, Oxon. 1745. p. 120. 8vo.
y
Leland, in V. One Adam Eſton, educated at Oxford, a Benedictine monk of Norwich, and who lived at Rome the greateſt part of his life, is ſaid to have written many pieces in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. He died at Rome, in the year 1397. Tanner, p. 266. Leland mentions John Bate, a Carmelite, of York, about the year 1429, as a Greek ſcholar. Scriptor. BATUS.
z
Wood, HIST. UNIV. OXON. ii. 62. Wharton, APPEND. p. 155. Bate, viii. 21.
a
Printed at Ferrara, 1477. 8vo. In two book [...]. He was prothonotary to pope Sixtus. In this poem he mentions Baptiſta Platina, the librarian at Rome; who, together with moſt of the Italian ſcholars, was his familiar friend. See Carbo's funeral Oration on Guarini. I know not whether one John Opicius, our countryman as it ſeems, and a Latin poet, improved his taſte in Italy about this time: but he has le [...]t ſome copies of elegant Latin verſes. MSS. COTTON. VESPAS. B. iv. One is, De regis H [...]nrici ſ [...] timi in Galliam progreſſu. It begins, ‘"Bella canant alii Trojae, proſtrataque dicant."’ Another is, De ejuſdem laudibus ſub pratextu roſae purpureae, a dialogue between Mopſus and Melibeus. One of the poems, On Chriſtmas, has the date 1497.
b
Lel. ibid.
c
Pat. 7. Edw. iv. m. 2. Five of his ORATIONS before illuſtrious perſonages ars extant, MSS. Bodl. NE. F. ii. 20. In the ſame manuſcript are his ANNOTATIONES quaedam CRITICAE in v [...]rba quaedam apud poetas citata. He gave many books, collected in Italy, to Jeſus college at Cambridge. Lel. COLL. iii. 13. He was ambaſſador to the king of Caſtile, in 1466, and 1470. Rymer, FOED. xi. 572. 653. Bale mentions his Diver [...]i generis CARMINA. viii. 42. And a book on Rhetoric.
d
Regiſtr. Eccleſ. Wellenſ.
e
Wharton, ANGL. SACR. i. 672.
f
One of thoſe was Antoninus Marius. In Baliol college library, one of bi [...]hop Gray's manuſcripts has this entry. ‘"Antonius Marii ſilius Florentinus civis tranſcripſi ab originalibus exemplaribus, 2 Jul. 1448. &c."’ MSS. lxviii. [Apud MSS. Langb. BAL. p. 81.] See Leland. COLL. iii. p. 21.
g
Leland, COLL. ut ſupr. p. 61.
h
Among Phrea's EPISTLES in Baliol library, one is PRECEPTORI SUO GUARINO, whoſe epiſtles are full of encomiums on Phreas, MSS. Bal. Coll. Oxon. G. 9. See ten of his epiſtles, five of which are written from Italy to biſhop Gray, MSS. Bibl. Bodl. NE. F. ii. 20. In one of theſe he complains, that the biſhop's remittances of money had failed, and that he was obliged to pawn his books and clothes to Jews at Ferrara.
i
He alſo tranſlated into latin Syneſius's PANEGYRIC ON BALDNESS. Printed, Baſil. 1521. 8vo. [Whence Abraham Flemming made his Engliſh tranſlation, London, 1579.] Leland mentions ſome flowing latin heroics, which he addreſſed to his patron Tipto [...]t, earl of Worceſter, in which Bacchus expoſtulates with a goat gnawing a vine. COLL. iii. 13. And SCRIPTOR. PHREAS. His COSMOGRAPHIA MUNDI is a collection from Pliny. Leland, COLL. iii. p. 58. See MSS. Br. Twyne, 8. pag. 285.
k
S [...]e Leland, COLL. iii. 58. Wood, HIST. UNIV. OXON. ii. 76.
l
See Leland, COLL. iii. 13. 63. Leland ſays that he had the new epitaph, Novum ac [...]legans. SCRIPTOR. Phreas. ‘"Tuſcia me genuit, &c."’
m
Leland, CELLINGUS.
n
Id. ITIN. vi. f. 5.
o
Wood, HIST. UNIV. OXON. ii. 177. In a monaſtic OBITARY, cited by Wharton, he is ſaid to be, ‘"Latina quoque et GRAECA lingua apprime inſtitutus."’ It is added, that he adorned the library over the prior's chapel with exquiſite ſculptures, and furniſhed it with books, and that he glazed the ſouth ſide of the cloyſters of his monaſtery, for the uſe of his ſtudious brethren, placing on the walls new TEXTS, or inſcriptions, called CAROLI, or carols. ANGL. Sacr. i. p. 145. ſeſ.
p
This is aſſerted on the authority of Leland. SCRIPTOR. ut ſupr. [See ſupr. p. 218.] Cardinal Pole expended two thouſand crowns in ſearching for Tully's Six Books DE REPUBLICA in Poland, but without ſucceſs. EPISTOL. Aſchami ad Sturm. dat. 14 Sept. 1555. lib. i. p. 99. And Sturmius, in a letter to Aſcham [dat. 30 Jan. 1552.] ſays, that a perſon in his neighbourhood had [...]lattered him with a promiſe of this ineſtimable treaſure. Barthius reports, that they were in the monaſtery of Fulda, on vellum, but deſtroyed by the ſoldiers in a pillage of that convent. Chriſtiani Feuſtell. MISCELLAN. p. 47. Compare Mabillon. MUS. ITALIC. tom. i. p. 79. IſaacBullart relates, that in the year 1576, during the ſiege of Moſcow, ſome noble Poliſh officers, accompanied by one Voinuſkius, a man profoundly ſkilled in the learned languages, made an excurſion into the interior parts of Muſcovy; where they found, among other valuable monuments of antient literature, Tully's REPUBLIC, written in golden letters. ACAD. Art. Scient. tom. p. 87. It is to be wiſhed, that the ſame good fortune which diſcovers this work of Cicero, will alſo reſtore the remainder of Ovid's FASTI, the loſt Decads of Livy, the ANTICATONES of Ceſar, and an entire copy of Petronius.
p
From his EPITAPH.
q
Wood, HIST. UNIV. OXON. i. 246. Se [...] Fiddes's WOLSEY, p. 201.
r
ANGL. HISTOR. lib. xxvi. p. 610. 30. edit. Baſil. 1534. fol. But he ſeems to have only been ſchoolmaſter of Magdalen or New-college. See Nic. Harpsfield, HIST. ECCLES. p. 651. who ſays, that this Vitellius ſpoke his firſt oration at Newcollege. ‘"Qui primam ſuam ora [...]ionem in collegio Wiccamenſi hab [...]it."’
s
See Ware, SCRIPT. HIBERN. ii. 133. Camd. BRIT. p. 436. And the Funeral Oration of Ludovico Carbo, on Guarini.
t
In this correſpondence, four letters are written by the earl, viz. To Laurence More, John Fre or Phrea, William Atteclyff, and Magiſter Vincent. To the earl are letters of Galeotus Martius, Baptiſta Guarini, and other anonymous friends. MSS. Eccleſ. Cathedr. Lincoln.
u
Printed by Caxton, 1481. fol. Leland thinks, that the verſion of Tully de Senectute, printed alſo by Caxton, was made by this earl. But this tranſlation was made by William of Wyrceſtre, or William Botoner, an eminent phyſician and antiquary, from the French of Lawrence Premierfait, and preſented by the tranſlator to biſhop Wayn [...]lete, Aug. 20, 1473. See MSS. Harl. 4329. 2. 3. Typtoft alſo tranſlated into Engliſh two elegant Latin ORATIONS of Banatuſius Magnomontanus, ſuppoſed to be ſpoken by C. Scipio and C. Flaminius, who were rivals in the courtſhip of Lucretia. This verſion was printed by Caxton, with Tully's two DIALOGUES abovementioned. He has left other pieces.
w
EPIST. Acad. Oxon. 259. Regiſtr. F [...]. [...]. [...]. I ſuſpect, that on the earl's execution, in 1470, they were never received by the univerſity. Wood, ANTIQ. Un. Oxon. ii. 50. Who adds, that the earl meditated a benefaction of the ſame kind to Cambridge.
x

As the Greek language became faſhionable in the courſe of erudition, we find the petty ſcholars affecting to underſtand Greek. This appears from the following paſſage in Barclay's SHIP OF FOOLES, written, as we have ſeen, about the end of the fifteenth century:

Another boaſteth himſelf that hath bene
In Greece at ſcholes, and many other lande;
But if that he were appoſed* well, I wene
The Greekes letters he ſcant doth underſtand.

Edit. 1570. ut ſupr. fol. 185. a. With regard to what is here ſuggeſted, of our countrymen reſorting to Greece for inſtruction, Rhenanus acquaints us, that Lily, the famous grammarian, was not only intimately acquainted with the whole circle of Greek authors, but with the dome [...]ic life and familiar converſation of the Greeks, he having lived ſome time in the iſland of Rhodes. PRAEFAT. ad T. Mori EPIGRAM. edit. Baſil. 1520. 4to. He ſtaid at Rhodes five years. This was about the year 1500. I have before mentioned a Tranſlation of Vegetius's TACTICS, written at Rhodes, in the year 1459, by John Newton, evinently one of our countrymen, who perhaps ſtudied Greek there. MSS. LAUD. Bibl. Bodl. Oxon. K. 53. It muſt however be remembered, that the paſſion for viſiting the holy places at Jeruſalem did not ceaſe among us till late in the reign of Henry the eighth. See The pylgrymage of ſyr Richard Torky [...]gton, parſon of Mulberton in Norfolk, to Jeruſalem, An. 1517. Catal. MSS. vol. 2. 182. vol. 2. William Wey, fellow of Eton college, celebrated maſs cum cantu organico, at Jeruſalem, in the year 1472. MSS. James, Bibl. Bodl. vi. 153. See his ITINERARIES, MSS. Bibl. Bodl. NE. F. 2. 12. In which are alſo ſome of his Engliſh rhymes on The Way to Hieruſalem. He went twice thither.

Barclay, in the ſame ſtanza, like a plain eccleſiaſtic, cenſures the prevailing practice of going abroad for inſtruction; which, for a time at leaſt, certainly proved of no ſmall detriment to our Engliſh ſchools and univerſities.

But thou, vayne boaſter, if thou wilt take in hand
To ſtudy* cunning, and ydelnes deſpiſe,
Th'royalme of England might for thee ſuffice:—
In England is ſufficient diſcipline,
And noble men endowed with ſcience, &c.
And in another place, ibid. fol. 54. a.
One runneth to Almayne, another into Fraunce,
To Paris, Padway, Lombardy, or Spayne;
Another to Bonony, Rome, or Orleaunce,
To Cayns, to§ Tholous, Athens, or{inverted †} Colayne:
And at the laſt returneth home agayne,
More ignoraunt.—

Yet this practice was encouraged by ſome of our biſhops, who had received their education in Engliſh univerſities. Pace, one of our learned countrymen, a friend of Eraſmus, was placed for education in grammar and muſic in the family of Thomas Langton, biſhop of Wincheſter; who kept a domeſtic ſchool within the precincts of his palace, for training boys in theſe ſciences. ‘"Humaniores literas (ſays my author) tanti eſtimabat, ut domeſtica ſchola pueros ac juvenes ibi erudiendos curavit, &c."’ The biſhop, who took the greateſt pleaſure in examining his ſcholars every evening, obſerving that young Pace was an extraordinary proficient in muſic, thought him capable of better things; and ſent him, while yet a boy, to the univerſity of Padua. He afterwards ſtudied at Bononia: for the ſame biſhop [...] by Will, bequeaths to his ſcholar, Richard Pace, ſtudying at Bononia, an exhibition of ten pounds annually for ſeven years. See Pace's TRACTATUS de fructu qui ex doctrina percipitur, edit. Baſil, 1517. 4to. p. 27. 28. In which the author calls himſelf biſhop Langton's a man [...] miniſter. See alſo Langton's Will, Cur. Praerog. Cant. Regiſtr. MOONE. qu. 10. Biſhop Langton had been provoſt of queen's college at Oxford, and died in 1501. At Padua Pace was inſtructed by Cuthbert Tunſtall, afterwards biſhop of Durham, and the giver of many valuable Greek books to the univerſity of Cambridge; and by Hugh Latimer. TRACTAT. ut ſupr. p. 6. 99. 103. Leland, COLL. iii. 14.

We find alſo archbiſhop Wareham, before the year 1520, educating at his ow [...] expence, for the ſpace of twelve years, Richard Croke, one of the firſt reſtorers of the Greek language in England, at the univerſities of Paris, Louvain, and Leipſic: from which returning a moſt accompliſhed ſcholar, he ſucceeded Eraſmus in the Greek profeſſorſhip at Cambridge. Croke dedicated to archbiſhop Wareham his INTRODUCTIONES IN RUDIMENTA GRAECA, printed in the ſhop of Eucharius Cervicornius, at Cologne, 1520.

With regard to what has been here ſaid concerning the practice of educating boys in the families of our biſhops, it appears that Groſthead, biſhop of Lincoln in the thirteenth century, educated in this manner moſt of the nobility in the kingdom, who were placed there in the character of pages: ‘"Filios Nobilium procerum regni, quos ſecum habuit DOMICELLOS."’ Joh. de Athona. in CONSTIT. OTTOBON. Tit. 23. in VOC. BARONES. Cardinal Wolſey, archbiſhop of York, educated in his houſe many of the young nobility. Fiddes's WOLSEY, p. 100. See what is ſaid above of the quality of pope Leo's CUBICULARII, p. 411. Fiddes cites a record remaining in the family of the earl of Arundel, written in 1620, which contains inſtructions how the younger ſon of the writer, the earl of Arundel, ſhould behave himſelf in the family of the biſhop of Norwich, whither he is ſent for education as page: and in which his lordſhip obſerves, that his grandfather the duke of Nor [...]olk, and his uncle the earl of Northampton [...] were both bred as pages with biſhopps. Fiddes, ibid. RECORDS. No. 6. c. 4. pag. 19. Sir Thomas More was educated as a page with cardinal Moreton, archbiſhop of Canterbury, about 1490, who was ſo ſtruck with his genius, that he would often ſay at dinner, This child here waiting at table is ſo very ingenious, that he will one day prove an extraordinary man. Mori UTOP. cited by Stapleton, p. 157. 138. And Roper's MO [...]E, p. 27. edit. ut ſupr.

*
Examined.
*
Knowledge.
Padua.
Bononia.
§
C [...]en [...]nd Tholou [...]e.
{inverted †}
Cologne in Germany.
y
Many of them were ſent into Italy by Laurence of Medicis, particularly John Laſcaris. Varillas ſays, that Bajazet the ſecond underſtood Averroes's commentaries on Ariſtotle. ANECDOT. de Florence, p. 183. P. Jovii ELOG. c. xxxi. p. 74. Laſcaris alſo made a voyage into Greece by command of Leo the tenth; and brought with him ſome Greek boys, who were to be educated in the college which that pope had founded on mount Quirinal, and who were intended to propagate the genuine and native pronunciation of the Greek tongue. Jov. ut ſupr. c. xxxi.
z

The inferiour clergy were in the mean time extremely ignorant. About the year 1300, pope Boniface the eighth publiſhed an edict, ordering the incumbents of eccleſiaſtic benefices to quit their cures for a certain time, and to ſtudy at the univerſities. [S [...]e his ten CONSTITUTIONES, in the BULLARIUM MAGNUM of Laertius Cherubinus, tom. i. p. 198. ſeq. Where are his Erectiones ſtudioru [...] g [...]neralium in civitate Firmana, Romae, et Avenione, A. D. 1303.] Accordingly our epiſcopal regiſters are full of licences granted for this purpoſe. The rector of Bedhampton, Hants, being an accolite, is permitted to ſtudy for ſeven years from the time of his inſtitution, in lit [...]rarum ſ [...]ientia, on condition that within one year he is made a ſubdeacon, and after ſeven [...]ears a deacon and prieſt. Mar. 5. 1302. Regiſtr. PONTISSAR. Winton. fol. 38. Another rector is allowed to ſtudy for ſeven years, in loco quem eligit et ubi viget ſtudium generale, 16 kal. Octobr. 1303. ibid. fol. 40. Another receives the ſame privilege, to ſtudy at Oxford, Orleans, or Paris, A. D. 1304. ibid. fol. 42. Another, being deſirous of ſtudy, and able to make a proficiency, is licenced to ſtudy in aliquo ſtudio tranſmarino, A. D. 1291. ibid. fol. 84. This, however, was three years before Boniface became pope. Another is to ſtudy per terminum conſtitutionis novell [...], A. D. 1302. ibid. fol. 37. b. But theſe diſpenſations, the neceſſity of which proves the illiteracy of the prieſts, were moſt commonly procured for pretence [...] of abſence or neglect. Or, if in conſequence of ſuch diſpenſations, they went to any univerſity, they ſ [...]m to have miſpent their time there in riot and idleneſs, and to have returned more ignorant than before. A grievance to which Gower alludes in the VOX CLAMANTIS, a poem which preſents ſome curious pictures of the manners of the clergy, both ſecular and monaſtic. cap. xvii. lib. 3. MSS. Coll. Omn. Anim. Oxon. xxix. Hic loquitur de R [...]ctoribus illis, qui ſub epiſcopo licentiati fingunt ſe ire ſcolas, ut ſub nomine vir [...]utis vitia corporalia frequentent.

Et ſic Ars noſtrum Curatum reddit inertem,
De longo ſtudio fert nihil inde domum:
Stultus i [...]i venit, ſed ſtul [...]ior inde redibit, &c.

By Ars we are here to underſtand the ſcholaſtic ſciences, [...]nd by Curatus the bebene [...]iced prieſt. But the moſt extraordina [...]y anecdote of incompetency which I have ſeen, occurs ſo late as the year 1448. A rector is inſtituted by Waynſlete biſhop of Wincheſter, on the preſentation of Merton priory in Surrey, to the pariſh of Sherfield in Hampſhire. But previouſly he takes an oath before the biſhop, that on account of his inſufficiency in letters, and d [...]ault of knowledge in the ſuperintendence of ſouls, he will learn Latin for the two following years; and at the end of the firſt year he will ſubmit himſelf to be examined by the biſhop, concerning his progreſs in grammar; and that, if on a ſecond examination he ſhould be found deſicient, he will reſign the benefice. Regiſtr. WAYNFLETE. Winton [...] fol. 7. In the Statutes of New College at Oxford, given in the year 1386, o [...]e of the ten chaplains is ordered to learn grammar, and to be able to writ [...]; in order that he may be qualified for the arduous taſk of aſ [...]iſting the treaſurers of the ſociety in tranſcribing their Latin evidences. STATUT. Coll. Nov. RUBRIC. 58. In the ſtatutes of Bradgare college in Kent, given in 1398, it is required that the governor of the houſe, who is to be a prieſt, ſhould read well, conſtrue Latin well, and fing well, ſciat b [...]ne leger [...], bene conſ [...]ruere, et bene cantare. Dugd. MONAST. tom. iii. Eccleſ. Collegiat. p. 118. col. 2. At an epiſ [...]opal viſitation of ſaint Swithin's priory at Wincheſter, an ample ſociety of Benedict [...]es, biſhop William of Wykeham orders the monaſtery to provide an INFORMATOR, or Latin preceptor, to teach the prieſts, who performed the ſervice in the church without knowing what they were uttering and could not attend to the common ſtops [...] to read grammatically, Feb. 8. 1386. MSS [...] Harl. 328. Theſe, indeed. were not ſecula [...] prie [...]ts: the inſtance, however, illuſtrates what is here thrown together.

Wiccliffe ſays, that the beneficed prieſts of his age ‘"kunnen [know] not the ten commandments, ne read their ſauter, ne underſtand a verſe of it."’ LIFE of Wiccli [...]e, p. 38. Nor were even the biſhops of the fourteenth century always very eminently qualified in literature of either ſort. In the year 1387, the biſhop of Worceſter informed his clergy, that the Lollards, a ſett of reformers whoſe doctrines, a few [...]anatical extravaganci [...] excepted, coincided in many reſpects with the preſent rational principles of proteſtantiſm, were f [...]llowers of MAHOMET. Wilkins, CONCIL. tom. iii. p. 202. [See ſupr. p. 190. in the NOTES.]

But at this time the moſt ſhameful groſsneſs of manners, partly owing to their celibacy, prevailed among the clergy. In the ſtatutes of the college of ſaint Mary Ottery in Devonſhire, dated 1337, and given by the founder biſhop Grandiſon, the following injunction occurs. ‘"Item ſtatuimus, quod nullus Canonicus, Vicarius, vel Secundarius, pueros choriſtas [collegii] ſecum pernoctare, aut in lectulo cum ipſis dormire, faciat ſeu permittat."’ Cap. 50. MS. apud Archiv. Wulveſ. Winton. And what ſhall we think of the religious manners and practices of an age, when the following precautions were thought neceſſary, in a reſpectable collegiate church, conſiſt [...]ng of a dean and ſix ſecular canons, amply endowed? ‘"Statutum eſt, quod ſiquis convictus fuerit de peccato Sodomitico, vel arte magica, &c."’ From the ſtatutes of Stoke-Clare college, in Suffolk, given by the dean Thomas Barneſley, in the year 1422. Dugd. MONAST. ut ſupr. p. 169. col. 1.

From theſe horrid pictures let us turn our eyes, and learn to ſet a juſt value on that pure religion, and thoſe improved habits of life and manners, which we at preſent enjoy.

a
EPIST. Petr. Bleſenſ. vi. fol. 3. a. OPERA. edit. Pariſ. 1519. fol.
b
EPIST. cii. fol. 49. b.
c
Ibid. That is, ‘"Which are of no real uſe or ſervice, at home, in the camp, at the bar, in the cloyſter, in the court, in the church, or indeed in any place or ſituation whatſoever."’
d
EPIST. li. fol. 24. a.
e
‘"Ut ad miniſteriales curiae redeam, apud forinſecos janitores biduanam forte gratiam aliquis multiplici obſequio merebitur.—Regem dormire, aut aegrotare, aut eſſe in conſiliis, mentientur.—Oſtiarios camerae confundat altiſſimus! Si nihil dederis oſtiario actum eſt. Si nihil attuleris ibis, Homer [...], foras. Poſt primum Cerberum, tibi ſupereſt alius horribilior Cerbero, Briareo terribilior, nequior Pygmalione, crudelior Minotauro. Quantacunque tibi mortis neceſſitas, aut diſcrimen exhaeredationis incubat, non intrabis ad regem."’ EPIST. xiv. fol. 8. b.
f
Latin and French, the vernacular excepted, were the only languages now known. Foliot biſhop of London, cotemporary with De Blois and Becket, was eſteemed, both in ſecular and ſacred literature, the moſt conſummate prelate of his time. Becket, EPISTOL. lib. iii. 5. Walter Mapes, their cotemporary, giving Foliot the ſame character, ſays he was TRIUM peritiſſimus linguarum Latinae, Gallicae, Anglicae, et lucidiſſime diſertus in ſingulis. Apud. MSS. JAMES, xiv. p. 86. Bibl. Bodl. [EX NUGIS CURIAL.]
g
‘"De magno Pompeio refert Salluſtius, quod cum alacribus ſaltu, cum velocibus curſu, cum validis vecte certabat, &c. &c."’ EPIST. xciv. fol. 45. a. Part of this paſſage is cited by Vegetius, a favorite author of the age of Peter de Blois. De RE MILIT. lib. i. c. ix. It is exhibited by the modern editors of Salluſt, as it ſtands in Vegetius.
h
Knight, LIFE of Colet, p. 19. Pace, abovementioned, in the Epiſtle dedica [...]ory to Colet, before his Treatiſe De fructu qui ex Doctrina percipitur, thus compliments Lillye, edit. Baſil. ut ſupr. 1517. p. 13. ‘"Ut politiorem Latinitatem, et ipſam Romanam linguam, in Britanniam noſtram introduxiſſe videatur.—Tanta [ei] [...]ruditio, ut extruſa barbarie, in qua noſtri adoleſcentes ſolebant fere aetatem conſumere, &c."’ Eraſmus ſays, in 1514, [...]hat he had taught a youth, in three years, more Latin than he could have acquired in any ſchool in England, n [...] Liliana quidam [...]xcepta, not even Lillye's excepted. EPISTOL. 165. p. 140. tom. iii.
i
Tanner, NOTIT. MON. p. 520.
k
‘"Elegantiſſima literatura."’ Fiddes's WOLSEY. COLL. p. 105.
l
Wood, Ath. Oxon. i. 15. See what is ſaid of this practice, ſupr. p. 386.
m
‘"Epiſcopum quendam, et eum qui habetur a SAPIENTIORIBUS, in magno hominum Conventu, noſtram ſcholam blaſphemaſſe, dixiſſeque, me erexiſſe rem inutilem, imo malam, imo etiam, ut illius verbis utar, Do [...]um Idololatri [...]e, &c."’ [Coletus Eraſmo. Lond. 1517.] Knight's LIFE OF COL [...]T, p. 319.
n
STATUT. C. C. C. Oxon. dat. Jun. 20. 1517. CAP. xx. fol. 51. Bibl. Bodl. MSS LAUD. I. 56.
o
At Chriſt's college in Cambridge, where, in the [...]tatutes given in 1506, a lecturer is eſtabliſhed; who, together with logic and philoſophy is ordered to read, ‘"vel ex poetarum, vel ex oratorum operibus."’ Cap. xxxvii. In the ſtatutes of King's at Cambridge, and New college at Oxford, both much more antient, an inſtructour is appointed with the general name of INFORMATOR only, who taught all the learning then in vogue. ROTUL. COMPUT. vet. Coll. Nov. Oxon. ‘"Solut. Informatoribus ſociorum et ſcolarium, iv l. xiis. ii d."’
p
‘"Lector ſeu profeſſor artium humaniorum ... BARBARIEM a noſtro alveario exſtirpet."’ STATUT. ut ſupr.
q
Wood, HIST. Univ. Oxon. i. 245. 246. But ſee Fiddes's WOLSEY, p. 197.
r
Wakefield's ORATIO DE LAUDIBUS TRIUM LINGUARUM, &c. Dated at Cambridge, 1524. Printed for W. de Worde, 4to. Signa [...] C. ii. See alſo FAST. A [...]ad. Lovan [...] by Val. Andreas, p. 284. edit. 1650.
s
ACT. MON. fol. 1192. edit. 1583.
t
‘"Quem praeter [...]a in noſtro Alveario collocavimus, quod SACROSANCTI CANONES commodiſſime pro bonis literis, et imp [...]imis chriſtianis, inſtituerunt ac juſſerunt, cum in ha [...] univerſitate Oxonienſi, perinde ac paucis aliis celeberrimis gymnaſiis, nunquam deſiderari."’ STATUT. C. C. C. Oxon. ut ſupr. The words of this ſtatute which immediately follow, deſerve notice here, and require explanation. ‘"Nec tamen Eos hac ratione excuſatos volumus, qui Gra [...]cam lectionem in co SUIS IMPENSIS ſu [...]entare debent."’ By Eos, he means the biſhops and abbots of England, who are the perſons particularly ordered in pope Clement [...]s injunction to ſuſtain theſe lectures in the univerſity of Oxford. Biſhop Fox, therefore, in founding a Greek lecture, would be underſtood, that he does not mean to abſolve or excuſe the other prelates of England from doing their proper duty in this nec [...] ſary buſineſs. At the ſame time a charg [...] on their negligence ſ [...]ms to be implied.
u
Naud. i. 3. p. 234. This was in 1472.
w
See, among other proofs, his E [...]ISTOLA Scholaſticis quibuſdam Trojanos ſe appellantibus, publiſhed by Hearne, 1716, 8vo.
x
Eraſmi EPIST. Ammonio, dat. 1512. Ep. 123. Op. tom. iii. p. 110.
y
Ibid. EPIST. 139. dat. 1512. p. 120. Henry Bullock, called Bovillus, one of E [...]aſmus's friends, and much patroniſed by Wolſey, printed a Latin tranſlation of Lu [...]ian, [...], at Cambridge, 1521, quarto.
z
Ibid. EPIST. 148. dat. 1513. p. 126.
a
See Eraſmi O [...]ERA. tom [...] ix. p. 1440. Even the prieſts, in their confeſſions of young ſcholars, cautioned againſt this growing evil. ‘"Cave a Gr [...]cis ne fias haereticus."’ Eraſm. ADAG. Op. ii. 993.
b
Eraſm. EPIST. 301.
c
Cavendiſh, MEM. Card. Wolſey, p. 94. edit. 1708. 8vo.
d
Eraſm. E [...]IST. 380. tom. iii.
e
Ibid. p. 408.
f
Statuimus praeterea, ut per Decanum, etc. unus [Archididaſcalus] ‘"eligatur, Latine et Gra [...]ce doctus, bonae famae, &c."’ STATUT. Eccleſ. Roffenſ. cap. xxv. They were given Jun. 30, 1545. In the ſame ſt [...]tute the ſecond maſter is required to be only Latine doctus. All the ſtatutes of the new cathedrals are alike. It is remarkable, that Wolſey does not order Greek to be taught in his ſchool at Ipſwich, founded 1528. See Strype, ECCL. MEM. i. Append. xxxv. p. 94. ſeq.
g
Twyne, APOL. lib. ii. §. 210. ſeq. Probaby he was patroniſed by Catharine as a Spaniard.
h
Eraſm. EPISTOL. Jodoco Jonae. Ibid. Jun. 1521.
i
Wood, HIST. UNIV. OXON, i. 249.
k
Luther, Op. ii. 412. 414.
l
Strype, ANN. REF. p. 292. ſub ann. 1562. The greater abbies appear to have had the direction of other ſchools in their neighbourhood. In an abbatial Regiſter of Bury abbey there is this entry. ‘"Memorand. quod. A. D. 1418. 28 Jul. Gulielmus abbas contulit regimen et magiſterium ſcholarum grammaticalium in villa de Bury S. Edmundi magiſtro Johanni Somerſet, artium et grammaticae profeſſori, et baccalaur [...]o in medicina, cum annua penſione xl. ſolidorum."’ MS. Cotton. TIBER. B. ix. 2. This John Somerſet was tutor and phyſician to king Henry the ſixth, and a man of eminent learning. He was inſtrumental in procuring duke Humphrey's books to be conveyed to Oxford. Regiſtr. Acad. Oxon. EPIST. F. 179. 202. 218. 220. And in the foundation of King's college at Cambridge. MSS. COTT. JULIUS, F. vii. 43.
m
I do not, however, lay great ſtreſs on the following paſſage, which yet deſerves attention, in Roſſe of Warwickſhire, who wrote about the year 1480: ‘"To this day, in the cath [...]drals and ſome of the greater collegiate churches, or monaſteries, [quibuſdam nobilibus collegiis,] and in the houſes of the four mendicant orders, uſeful lectures and diſputations ar [...] kept up; and ſuch of their members as are thought capable of degrees, ar [...] ſent to the univerſities. And in towns where there are two or more fraternities of mendicants, in each of theſe ar [...] held, every week by turns, proper exerciſes of ſcholars in diſputation."’ HIST. REG. ANGL. edit. Hearne, p. 74. [See ſupr. p. 340.]
n
From a fragment of the COMPUTUS CAMERARII Abbat. Hidenſ. in Archiv. Wulveſ [...] apud Winton, ut ſupr.
o
HIST. and ANTIQ. of GLASTON [...]URY, Oxon. 1722. [...]vo. p. 98.
p
Reyner, APOSTOLAT. BENEDICT. Tract. i. ſect. ii. p. 224. Sanders de SCHISM. pag. 176.
q
Strype's WHITGIFT, b. i. ch. i. p. 3.
r
Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. F. F. fol. 101.—125.
s
See Leland, COL [...]ECTAN. vol. 5. p. 118. vol. 6. p. 187. And ENCOM. p. 50. edit. 1589. Eraſm. EPISTOL. p. 886.
t
Cited above, p. 124.
u.
Quarto.
w
Theodor. Petreus, BIBL. CARTHUS. edit. Col. 1609. p. 157.
x
Aſcham, EPISTOL. lib. ii. p. 77. a. edit. 1581. [See alſo iii. p. 86. a.] O [...] the death of the archbiſhop, in 1544, Aſcham deſires, that a part of his penſion then due might be paid out of ſome of the archbiſhop's greek books: one of theſe h [...] wiſhes may be Aldus's DECEM RHETORES GR [...] CI, a book which he could not purchaſe or procure at Cambridge.
y
‘"Non aliter quam ſi fuiſſet altera NOVA UNIVERSITAS, tametſi exigua, clauſtrum Wynchelcombenſe tun [...] temporis ſe h [...]b [...]ret."’ From his own HISTORIA, as below. Wood, HIST. Univ. OXON. i. p. 248. There is an Epiſtle from Colet, the learned dean of St. Paul's, to this abbot, concerning a paſſage in ſaint Paul' [...] E [...]ISTLES, fir [...]t printed by Knight, from the original manuſcript at Cambridge. Knight's LIFE, p. 311.
z
Printed by Dugdale, before the whol [...] of the original was deſtroyed in the fire of London. MONAST. i. 188. But a tranſcript of a part remains in Dodſworth, MSS. Bibl. Bodl. lxv. 1. Compare A. Wood, ut [...] ſupr. and ATHEN. OXON. i. 28.
a
Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. F [...]. fol. 46.
b
It ought not here to be unnoticed, that the royal library of the kings of England, originally ſubſiſting in the old palace at Weſtminſter, and lately transferred to the Britiſh Muſeum, received great improvements under the reign of Henry the eighth; who conſtituted that elegant and judicious ſcholar, John Leland, his librarian, about the year 1530. Tanner, BIBL. pag. 475. Leland, at the diſſolution of the monaſteries, removed to this royal repoſitory a great number of valuable manuſcripts; particularly from ſaint Auſtin's abbey at Canterbu [...]y. SCRIPT. BRIT. p. 299. One of theſe was a manuſcript given by Athelſtan to that convent, a HARMONY of the FOUR GOSPELS. Bibl. Reg. MSS. i. A. xviii. See the hexaſthic of Leland prefixed. See alſo SCRIPT. BRIT. ut ſupra, V. ATHEL [...]TANUS. Leland ſays, that he placed in the PALATINE library of Henry the eighth the COMMENTARII IN MATTHAEUM of Claudius, Bede's diſciple. Ibid. V. CLAUDIUS. Many of the manuſcripts of this library appear to have belonged to Henry's predeceſſors; and if we may judge from the ſplendour of the decorations, were preſents. Some of them bear the name of Humphrey duke of Gloceſter. Others were written at the command of Edward the fourth. I have already mentioned the librarian of Henry the ſeventh. Bartholomew Traheron, a learned divine, was appointed the keeper of this library by Edward the [...]ixth, with a ſalary of twenty marcs, in the year 1 [...]49. See Rymer's FoeD. xv. p. 351. Under the reign of Eli [...]abeth, Hentzner, a German traveller, who ſaw this library at Whitehall in 1598, ſays, that it was well furniſhed with Greek, Latin, Italian, and French books, all bound in velvet of different colours, yet chiefly red, with claſps of gold and ſilver; and that the covers of ſome were adorned with pearls and precious ſtones. ITINERAR. Germaniae, Angliae, &c. Noringb. 1629. 8vo. p. 188. It is a great miſtake, that James the firſt was the firſt of our kings who founded a library in any of the royal palaces; and that this eſtabliſhment commenced at St. James's palace, under the patronage of that monarch. This notion wa [...] firſt propagated by Smith in his life of Patrick Junius, Vit. QUORUND. etc. Lond. 1707. 4to. pp. 12. 13. 34. 35. Great part of the royal library, which indeed migrated to St. James's under James the firſt, was partly ſold and diſperſed, at Cromwell's acceſſion: together with another ineſtimable part of its furniture, 12000 medals, rings, and gems, the entir [...] collection of Gorlaeus's DACTYLIOTHECA, purchaſed by prince Henry and Charles the firſt. It muſt be allowed, that James the firſt greatly enriched this library with the books of lord Lumley and Caſaubon, and ſir Thomas Roe's manuſcripts brought from Conſtantinople. Lord Lumley's chiefly conſiſted of lord Arundel's, his father in law, a great collector at the diſſolution of monaſteries. James had previouſly granted a warrant to ſir Thomas Bodley, in 1613, to chuſe any books from the royal library at Whitehall, over the Queen's Chamber. [RELIQ. BODL. p. Hearne, p. 205. 286. 320.]
c
During his abode in England, having largely experie [...]ced the boun [...]y and advice of ſir Thomas [...] More, he returned home, fraught with materials which he had long ſought in vain, and publiſhed his PLATO [...] viz. ‘"Platonis Opera, cum commentarii [...] Procli in Timaeum et Politica, Baſil. 1534."’ fol. See the EPISTLE DEDICATORY to ſir Thomas More. He there mentions other pi [...]ces of Proclus, which he ſaw at Oxford.
d
See Dr. Layton's letter to Cromwell. Strype's ECCL. MEM. i. 210.
e
Wood, HIST. Univ. Oxon. i. 26. ii. 36.
f
Wood, ibid. ſub anno.
g
Collier, ECCLES. HIST. vol. ii. p. 110.
h
SERMONS, &c. p. 63. Lond. 1584. 4to. Sermon before Edward the ſixth, in the year 1550. His words are, ‘"It would pitty a man's heart to hear that I hear of the ſtate of Cambridge: what it is in Oxford I cannot tell. There be few that ſtudy divinity but ſo many a [...] of neceſſitie muſt furniſh the colledges."’
i
Aſcham. EPISTOL. ut modo infr. p. 65. a. Aſcham calls Gardiner, ‘"omnibus literarum, prudentiae, conſilii, authoritatis, praeſidiis ornatiſſimus, abſque ha [...] u [...]a re eſſ [...]t, literarum et academiae noſtrae patronus ampliſ [...]imus."’ But he ſays, that Gardiner took this meaſure, ‘"quorundam invidoru [...] ho [...]inum precibus victus."’ ibid. p. 64. b.
k
Strype's CRANMER, p. 170. Aſcham. EPISTOL. L. ii. p. 64. b. 1581.
l
Aſcham. E [...]IST. lib. ii.
m
EPISTOL. lib. i. p. 18. b. Dat. 1550. edit. 1581.
n
See Collier's ECCL. H [...]ST. Records, lxvii. p. 80.
o
B [...]rnet, R [...]F. P. ii. 8.
p
Wood, ſ [...]b ann. 1550. See alſo Strype's CRANMER, Append. N. xciii. p. 220. viz. A Letter to ſecretary Cecil, dat. 1552.
q
EPISTOL. lib. un. COMMENDAT. p. 194. a. Lond. 1581. ‘"Ruinam et interitum publicarum ſcholarum, &c."—"Quam gravis haec univerſa ſcholarum calamita [...], &c."’ See p. 62. b. p. 210. a.
r
Wood, ut ſupr. p. 273.
s
Catal. MSS. ANGL. fol. edit. 1697 [...] in Hiſt. Bibl. Bodl. Prefat.
t
See ſupr. p. 44.
u
Firſt printed in the reign of Edward the ſixth. See Preface to the ſecond edition of the RHETORIC, in 1560. He tranſlated the three Olynthiacs, and the four Philippic [...], of Demoſthenes, from the Greek into Engliſh. Lond. 1570. 4to.
w
In the year 1554.
x
‘"Latini ſermonis ornatu et elegantia imbuendos diligenter curabit, &c."’ Statut. Coll. Trin. Oxon. cap. iv. Again, ‘"Cupiens et ego Collegii mei juventutem in primis Latini ſermonis Purita [...]e ac ingenurarum artium rudimentis, convenienter erudiri, &c."’ Ibid. cap. xv.
y
Ibid. cap. xv. A modern writer in dialectics, Rodolphus Agricola, is alſo recommended to be explained by the reader in philoſophy, together with Ariſtotle.
z
Ibid. cap. xv. It may be alſo obſerved here, that the philoſophy reader is not only ordered to explain Ariſtotle, but Plato. Ibid. cap. xv. It appears by implication in the cloſe of this ſtatute, that the public lectures of the univerſity were now growing uſel [...]ſs, and dwindling into mere matters of form, viz. ‘"Ad hunc modum Domi meos LECTIONIBUS er [...]diri cupiens, [...]os a publicis in Academia lectionibus avocar [...] nolui.—Verum, ſi temporis tractu, et magiſtratuum i [...]curia, adeo a primario inſtituto degenerent Magi [...]rorum regentium Lectiones ordinariae, ut inde null [...], aut admodum exigua, auditoribus acc [...] dat utilitas,’ &c. Ibid. cap. xv.
a
Ibid. cap. vii.
b
D [...] RATIONE CONSCRIBENDI EPI [...] TOLAS.
c
About the year 1500. At Ba [...]l, 1522. It was reprinted at Cambridge by Siberch, and dedicated to archbiſhop Fiſher, 1521. 4to.
d
[...]bid. cap. xv. Every day after dinner ‘"Aliquis ſcholarium, a Praefidente aut Lectore Rhetorico juſſus, de themate quodam propo [...]ito, ad edendum ing [...]nii ac profectus ſui ſpecimen, diligenter, orn [...]t [...], ac breviter, dicat, &c."’ Ibid. [...]ap. x.
e
‘"Caeteri autem, ſcholare [...] nuncupati, POLITIORI [...]US Literis, &c."’ Ibid. cap. i.
f
About the year 1520.
g
Dated 1556. See LIFE of ſir Thomas Pope, p. 226.
h
Lond. 1548. fol.
i
Strype's GRINDAL. B. i. ch. iv. b. 40.
k
Numerous illuminated artificers began [...]arly to preach and write in defence of the reformed religion. The firſt mechanic who left his lawful calling to vindicate the cauſe of the catholics, was one Miles Hoggard, a ſhoe-maker or hoſier, of London; who, in the reign of queen Mary, wrote a pamphlet entitled, The Diſplaying o [...] prote [...]ants, and [...]ondry their practices, &c. Lond. 1556. 12mo. This piece ſoon acquired importance, by being anſwered by Lawrence Humphries, and other eminent reformers. He printed other pieces of the ſame tendency. He was likewiſe an Engliſh poet; and I am glad of this opportunity of mentioning him in that character, as I could not have ventured to give him a place in the ſeries of our poetry. He wrote the MIRROUR of LOVE, Lond. 1555. 4to. Dedicated to queen Mary. Alſo the PATHWAY to THE TOWRE of PERFECTION [...] Lond. 1556. 4to. with ſome other pieces.
l
Doctor Lawrence Humphreys, mentioned in the laſt note. Of whom it will not be improper to obſerve further in this place, that about the year 1553, he wrote an Epiſtola de Grecis literis et Homeri lectione et imitatione ad praeſidem et ſocios collegii Magdalenae, Oxon. In the CORNUCOPIA of Hadrian Junius, Baſil. 1558. fol.
m
Wood, ut ſupr. i. 285.
n
Regiſtr. Horne, Epiſc. Winton. fol. 80. b.
o
Strype's GRINDAL. B. ii. ch. xvii. p. 312. This was in iu 1583.
p
Blomefield's NORFOLK, ii. 224.
q
Aſcham's SCHOLEMASTER, p. 19. b. edit. 1589. Aud EPISTOL. lib. i. p. 19. ut ſupr.
a
Dear-worthy.
b
Diaper fine.
c
Squires. Attendants.
d
Rooms. Apartments.
e
Shall we long.
f
Adventures.
g
Swiftly. Immediately.
h
My Companion. My Love [...] He is called afterwards, ‘"Sire [Sir] Walter of Berwick."’
i
Tables.
k
Sheer. Clean.
l
Or Sithe, i. e. often.
m
Waſhed.
n
Mazer. Great cup.
o
Cups.
p
Afterwards there was ſport and minſtrelſy.
q
i. e. Recept. Reception. But ſee Chaucer's ROM. R. v. 6509.
Him, woulde I comfort and rechete.
And TR. CRESS. iii. 350.
g
Goes to harbour among the fern.
s
The romance ſays, that king Arthur ‘"made grete clerkes com before him that they ſhould cronicle the adventures of theſe goode knygtes."’ [See ſupr. vol. i. p. 336.]
t
See ſupr. vol. ii. p. 235.
u
There is printed, ‘"Le Roman du noble et vaillant Chevalier Triſtan fils d [...] noble roy M [...]liadus de Leonnoys, par Luce, chevalier, ſeigneur du chaſtea [...] de Gaſt. Rouen, 1489. fol."’
w
Juſt before it is ſaid, ‘"Le roy Artus fiſt venir les CLERCS qui les aventures aux chevalliers mettoient en eſcript."’ As in MORT D'ARTHUR.
x
But at the end, this twelfth book is called the the ſecond booke of SYR TRYSTRAM. And it is added, ‘"But here is no reherſall of the thyrd booke [of SIR TRISTRAM."’]
y
Perhaps Tyrone in Irela [...]d.
a
When king Richard the firſt, in 1191, took the iſle of Cyprus, he is ſaid to have found the caſtles filled with rich furniture of gold and ſilver, ‘"necnon lapidibus pretioſis, et plurima [...] vi [...]tut [...]m habentibus."’ G. Vineſ. ITER. HIEROSOL. cap. xli. p. 328. Hiſt. Anglic. SCRIPT. vol [...] ii. Oxon. 1687.
b
He gave twenty-nine antient manuſcripts to the Bodleian library, one of which is a beautiful manuſcript of Gower's Confeſſio Aman [...]is. When the Record-tower in S. Mary's abbey at York was accidentally blown up in the grand rebellion, he offered rewards to the ſoldiers who could bring him fragments of the ſcattered parchments. Luckily, however, the numerous original evidences lodged in this repoſitory had been juſt before tranſcribed by Roger Dodſworth; and the tranſcripts, which formed the ground-work of Dugdale's MONASTICON, conſiſting of for [...]y-nine large folio volumes, were bequeathed by Fairfax to the ſame library. Fairfax alſo, when Oxford was garriſoned by the parliamentary forces, exerted his utmoſt diligence in preſerving the Bodleian library from pillage; ſo that it ſuffered much leſs, than when that city was in the poſſeſſion of the royaliſts.
h
[...]. Perhaps [...].
i
Lambecc. CATAL. BIBL. CAESAR. Neſſelii SUPPL. tom. i. p. 341. MSS. Graec. CCXLIV. (Vind. et Norinb. 1690. fol.) Pr. ‘" [...]."’ Fin. ‘" [...], &c."’ This is in proſe. But under this claſs of the imperial library, Neſſelius recites many manuſcript poems in the Greco-barbarous metre of the fifteenth century or thereabouts, viz. The Loves of Hemperius; Deſcription of the city of Venice; The Romance of Florius and Platzflora; The Blindneſs and Beggary of Beliſarius; The Trojan War; Of Hell; Of an Earthquake in the Iſle of Crete, &c. Theſe were all written at the reſtoration of Learning in Italy. [See vol. i. p. 348. 350.]
k
More properly written daunzel, or danzel. As in the old French romance of GARIN.
Et li danzel que Bues ot norris.
And in other places. So our king Richard the firſt, in a fragment of one of his Provencial ſonnets.
E lou donzel de Thuſcana.
"For Boys Tuſcany is the couutry." In Spaniſh, Lo Donz [...]ll. See Andr. Boſch, Dels Titols de honor de Cathalanya. L. iii. c. 3. §. 16. In ſome of theſe inſtances, the word is reſtrained to the ſenſe of Squire. It is from the Latin DOMICEL [...]US. Froiſſart calls Richard the ſecond, when prince of Wales, "Le jeune Damoiſel Richart." tom. i. c. 325.
l

Or rather trifore. Undoubtedly from the [...]atin trif [...]rium, a rich ornamented edge or border. The Latin often occurs under Dugdale's INVENTORY of ſaint Paul's, in the MONASTICON, viz. ‘"Morſus [a buckle] W. de Ely argenteus, creſta ejus argentea, cum TRIFORIO ext [...]rius aureo et lap [...]llis inſ [...]tis, &c."’ tom. iii. ECCL. CATH, p. 309. TRIFORIATUS repeatedly occurs in the ſame page, as thus. ‘"Morſus Petri de Blois TRIFORIATUS de auro."’‘"Medio circulo [of a buckle] aurato, TRIFORIATO, inſerto groſſis lapidibus, &c."’

‘"Cum multis lapidibus et perlis inſitis in limbis, et quadraturis TRIPHORATUS aureis,"’ &c. &c. ibid. p. 309. et ſeq. It is ſometimes written TRIFORIA. As, ‘"Pannus cujus campus purpureus, cum xiv liſtis in longitudine ad modum TRIFORIAE contextis."’ ibid. p. 326. col. 2. TRIFURE, in the text, may be literally interpreted jewel-work. As in CHRON. S. Dion. tom. iii. Collect. Hiſtor. Franc. p. 183. ‘"Il [...]eſtoient de fin or eſmere et aourné de tres riches pierres precieuſes d' uere [oeuvre] TRIPHOIRE."’ Which Aimon calls, ‘"g [...]mmiſque ornata Opere incluſorio,"’ that is, work conſiſting of jewels ſet in. De GEST. FRANC. Lib. ii. cap. ix. p. 44. G. edit. Pariſ. 1603. fol.

m
In romance. In French.
n
Counterfet Countenance ſays, f. vi. a.
But nowe wyll I—
In baſtarde ryme of doggreil gyſe
Tell you where of my name doth ryſe.
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Zitationsvorschlag für dieses Objekt
TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 5309 The history of English poetry from the close of the eleventh to the commencement of the eighteenth century To which are prefixed two dissertations By Thomas Warton pt 2. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-5B1F-D