[]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 re⯑flection, and uſeful obſervation. But he is ſerious and di⯑dactic 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 en⯑quiry, 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 chro⯑nicle of the inſurrection of the commons in the reign of king Richard the ſecond. The beſt and moſt beautiful ma⯑nuſcript 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. Al⯑though 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 af⯑fectations 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 exa⯑mined 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 perſonifi⯑cations, of that exquiſite allegory. His moſt ſtriking pour⯑traits, which yet are conceived with no powers of creation, nor delineated with any fertility of fancy, are IDLENESS, AVA⯑RICE, 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 diſ⯑courſing 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 Argo⯑nautic 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 pro⯑found myſteries, which had been juſt opened to our country⯑men 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 en⯑gaging 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 na⯑turally 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.

Our author cloſes this courſe of the Ariſtotelic philoſophy with a ſyſtem of politics ^d: not taken from Ariſtotle's ge⯑nuine treatiſe on that ſubject, but from the firſt chapter of a ſpurious compilation entitled, SECRETUM SECRETORUM ARIS⯑TOTELIS ^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 au⯑thor 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 aſtro⯑nomy, in which he ſpeaks of the magician Nectabanus in⯑ſtructing Alexander the Great, when a youth, in the know⯑ledge 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 in⯑ventions, 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.

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 conſe⯑crated with the name of Ariſtotle, and often quoted by the aſtrologers, which Gower might have uſed: it is DE REGI⯑MINIBUS 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 volumi⯑nous 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, Sue⯑tonius, 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; contain⯑ing 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. Caſſiodorus^b 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. Iſido⯑rus, 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 abridge⯑ment, 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 fol⯑lowed 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 after⯑wards 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.

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

And again, in the aſſembly of lovers.

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 RO⯑MANORUM, 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 trac⯑tantes 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 Antio⯑chus, 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, 1480^u. The next^w 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 colo⯑phons 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 VOLU⯑MEN, which according to cuſtom, was ſolemnly recited to [16] the emperour ^z. Here perhaps we may perceive the ground⯑work 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 Antio⯑chus, as I have hinted, is in the GESTA ROMANORUM; al⯑though 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 cour⯑tiers complained, that after a long attendance, they had not received adequate rewards, and preferments due to their ſer⯑vices. 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.

[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 diſtri⯑buted among them all. A knight by common conſent is appointed to chuſe for them, who fixes upon the cheſt filled with ſtraw and ſtones.

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 com⯑pilation 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 MER⯑CHANT 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 Euſe⯑bius, 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 po⯑pularity. It is the Dictes or Sayings of Philoſophres, which lord Rivers tranſlated from the French of William de Thignon⯑ville, provoſt of the city of Paris about the year 1408, en⯑titled 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 pro⯑bable, 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 ro⯑mances ^y: and his MACCABAICS, or hiſtory of the ſeven Maccabees martyred with their father Eleazar under the per⯑ſecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, a ſeparate work, tranſlated alſo by Rufinus, produced the JUDAS MACCABEE of Belle⯑perche in the year 1240, and at length enrolled the Macca⯑bees among the moſt illuſtrious heroes of romance ^z. On this account too, perhaps Eſdras is here ſo reſpectably re⯑membered. I ſuppoſe Sulpicius is Sulpicius Severus, a petty annaliſt of the fifth century. Termegis is probably Triſme⯑giſtus, 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 Eutro⯑pius. 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 diſ⯑putation 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 pu⯑niſhed ^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 proba⯑bility 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, pal⯑miſtry, 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 di⯑vination 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

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

The romance of IDOYNE and AMADAS is recited as a fa⯑vourite 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 lan⯑guage 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; ſeem⯑ingly 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 re⯑cently celebrated in Boccacio's FILOSTRATO ^v. And in ano⯑ther 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 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.

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."’

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.

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.

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,

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 ſtep⯑mother ^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 ſa⯑crificed 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 imagina⯑tion, 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.

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 alle⯑gorical perſonifications and his viſionary philoſophy, founded on the abſtractions of the Platonic ſchool, greatly concurred to make him a favourite ^a. His CONSOLATION of PHILOSO⯑PHY 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 annota⯑tions 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 un⯑common luſtre, but who either have cited this performance, [33] or honoured it with a panegyric ^c. It has had many imita⯑tors. Eccard, a learned French Benedictine, wrote in imi⯑tation 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 French^f and Engliſh before the year 1350 ^g. Dante was an attentive reader of Boethius. In the PURGATORIO, Dante gives THEOLOGY the name of Bea⯑trix his miſtreſs, the daughter of Fulco Portinari, who very gravely moraliſes in that character. Being ambitious of fol⯑lowing 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 dan⯑gerous 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 Johan⯑nes 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 prefer⯑ments, 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 parch⯑ment of Walton's tranſlation of Boethius: and the ma [...]gin is filled throughout with the Latin text, written by Chaund⯑ler above-mentioned ^m. There is another leſs elegant manu⯑ſcript in the ſame collection. But at the end is this note; Explicit liber Boecij de Conſolatione Philoſophie de Latino in Angli⯑cum 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 mo⯑naſtery 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 Den⯑ſhyre, 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 per⯑fection. 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, com⯑manded 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.

[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 phraſe⯑ology 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. Oc⯑cleve 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 mu⯑nicipal law ^s, as were both Chaucer and Gower; and it re⯑flects no ſmall degree of honour on that very liberal pro⯑feſſion, 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 inven⯑tion 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 Oc⯑cleef 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 SE⯑CRETORUM, 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 eccle⯑ſiaſtics 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, ‘"Tran⯑ſladar 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 ho⯑norem 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 the⯑ologiſt, 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 GOVERN⯑MENT, 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 Bour⯑gogne, 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 after⯑wards 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 Ger⯑man, 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.

[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.

Occleve ſeems to have written ſome of theſe verſes imme⯑diately 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 Weſtminſter⯑abbey, by the benefaction of Nicholas Brigham, in the year 1556 ^g. And from this drawing, in 1598, John Speed pro⯑cured 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 unqua⯑lified 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 univerſity⯑regiſter 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 tranſ⯑lation 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, look⯑ed like miſſals, and conveyed ideas of popiſh ſuperſtition, were deſtroyed or removed by the pious viſitors of the uni⯑verſity 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 reforma⯑tion, 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 four⯑teenth 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 illumina⯑tion 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 Glou⯑ceſtre 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 re⯑formers 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 pro⯑curing tranſcripts of uſeful books ^t, notwithſtanding his un⯑wearied aſſiduity in beautifying and enriching their monaſ⯑tery ^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 Ox⯑ford ^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 Hum⯑phrey: whoſe condeſcenſion in converſing with learned eccle⯑ſiaſtics, 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 cele⯑brated writers of France and Italy, many of whom he boun⯑tifully rewarded ^h. Leonard Aretine, one of the firſt re⯑ſtorers 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, in⯑ſcribed 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 tranſlat⯑ing 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 Atha⯑naſius. 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 DIREC⯑TIONUM, 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 Gre⯑ſham 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 inti⯑mately 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 fami⯑lies, 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. Ed⯑ward 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.

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 them⯑ſelves of thoſe ſtriking ornaments which his judgment and imagination had diſcloſed. They appear to have been in⯑ſenſible 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 na⯑tional diſtractions which enſued, had no ſmall ſhare in ob⯑ſtructing 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 emi⯑nence 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 pro⯑feſſion. Yet his genius was ſo lively, and his accompliſh⯑ments 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 diſtin⯑guiſhed 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 the⯑ologiſt, and a diſputant. On the whole I am of opinion, that Lydgate made conſiderable additions to thoſe amplifica⯑tions of our language, in which Chaucer, Gower, and Oc⯑cleve 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 tranſi⯑tions were rapid from works of the moſt ſerious and la⯑borious kind to ſallies of levity and pieces of popular enter⯑tainment. 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 may⯑game 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, em⯑ployed 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 mag⯑nificence, 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 Ma⯑caber 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 Lyd⯑gate 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. Be⯑ſides the decoration of illuminated initials, and one hundred and twenty pictures of various ſizes, repreſenting the inci⯑dents 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 de⯑lineat [...]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 depar⯑ture 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 Cur⯑teis ^g, was previouſly prepared, and preſented to his majeſty during the royal viſit, or very ſoon afterwards. The ſub⯑ſtance of the whole work is the life or hiſtory of ſain [...] Ed⯑mund, 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 prophe⯑ſies, 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.

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

This is our poet's l'envoye.

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.

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 de⯑ſcription, 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.

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 genuine⯑neſs authenticated, and their antiquity confirmed, by the venerable types of Caxton, and a multitude of unqueſtion⯑able manuſcripts.

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

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 ap⯑plies to the god Cupid: and declares, with how much de⯑light 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.

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 com⯑mences with Adam, and is brought down to the author' [...] age. Its laſt grand event is John king of France taken pri⯑ſoner by the Engliſh at the battle of Poitiers, in the year 1359 ^a. This book of Boccacio was ſoon afterwards tran⯑ſlated into French, by one of whom little more ſeems to be known, than that he was named Laurence; yet ſo para⯑phraſtically, 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 tran⯑ſlator. He alſo tranſlated into French Boccacio's DECAME⯑RON, 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 en⯑titled 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 CRE⯑ACION 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, por⯑traits 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 re⯑ſpective 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 chil⯑dren, and was afterwards hewn in pieces, appears thus.

Yet in ſome of theſe intereſting interviews, our poet ex⯑cites pity of another kind. When Adam appears, he fa⯑miliarly 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 perſoni⯑fication into the poetry of the middle ages.

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 condi⯑tion and the moſt elevated ſtation, ſhe calls up Caius Marius, and preſents him to the poet.

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

In another place, Dante, ‘"of Florence the laureate poete, demure of loke fullfilled with patience,"’ appears to Bo⯑chas; 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 intro⯑duced 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.

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

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

And the following lines are remarkable.

Lydgate, in this poem, quotes Seneca's tragedies^x for the ſtory of Oedipus, Tully, Virgil and his commentator Servius, Ovid, Livy, Lucan, Lactantius, Juſtin^y or ‘"prudent Juſtinus an old croniclere,"’ Joſephus, Valerius Maximus, ſaint Jerom's chronicle, Boethius ^z, Plato on the immor⯑tality 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 Calliſ⯑thenes 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 Bo⯑chas 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 he⯑ralds 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 con⯑quered 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 knight⯑hood at Athens ^r. He introduces, much in the manner of Boethius, a diſputation between Fortune and Poverty; ſup⯑poſed to have been written by ANDALUS the blake, a doctor of aſtronomy at Naples, who was one of Bochas's preceptors.

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 re⯑lating to Boccacio, its original author, which perhaps may deſerve attention. It is highly probable that Boccacio learn⯑ed many anecdotes of Grecian hiſtory and Grecian fable, not to be found in any Greek writer now extant, from his pre⯑ceptors Barlaam, Leontius, and others, who had lived at Conſtantinople while the Greek literature was yet flouriſh⯑ing. 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 Peruſi⯑nus made uſe of ſome of theſe fugitive Greek ſcholars, eſ⯑pecially 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 cer⯑tain 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.

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.

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.

Our monk, unable to withſtand this profuſion of kind⯑neſs 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 ſup⯑poſe 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 Domi⯑nican 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 ſome⯑times cites Boccacio's Latin tracts: particularly the GENEA⯑LOGIAE 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 MULI⯑ERIBUS, 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 the^u [...]ictions about Lycurgus king of Thrace^w. 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 mu⯑ſeum, a manuſcript occurs written about the [...]venth cen⯑tury, 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 Ci⯑renceſter, and a voluminous Latin writer about the year 1210, wrote annotations on Marcianus, which are yet pre⯑ſerved ^k. He was firſt printed in the year 1499, and other editions appeared ſoon afterwards. This piece of Mar⯑cianus, 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 con⯑traſte [...] w [...]h that of Oedipus and Jocaſta, which was cele⯑brated by an aſſemblage of the moſt hideous beings.

[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 fur⯑niſhed with the deſcriptions, circumſtances, and machineries, appropriated to a romance of chivalry. The Sphinx is a ter⯑rible 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 daugh⯑ter ^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 hy⯑pocras 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. After⯑wards 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 wilder⯑neſs, is thus forcibly deſcribed.

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.

In this poem, excluſive of that general one already men⯑tioned, 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 phyſicians^f. Eteocles defends the walls of Thebes with great guns ^g. And the prieſt^h 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 rebuild⯑ing the walls of Jeruſalem is introduced ^k. The moral in⯑tended by this calamitous tale conſiſts in ſhewing the per⯑nicious 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 prin⯑ciples, 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.

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 manu⯑ſcript of this poem elegantly illuminated, with the picture of a monk preſenting a book to a king ^p. From the ſplen⯑dour 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 verſion^r 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 cata⯑logue, 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.

And is cloſed with theſe lines.

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 par⯑ticulars, 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 Leon⯑tius'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 ſatisfac⯑tion 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, Boc⯑cacio was the firſt European that could read Homer; nor was there perhaps a copy of either of Homer's poems exiſt⯑ing 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 cir⯑cumſtances, and cloathed in the moſt perſpicuous and muſical numbers. The colouring of our poet's ^h mornings is often remarkably rich and ſplendid.

Again, among more pictures of the ſame ſubject.

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

Frequently in theſe florid landſcapes we find the ſame idea differently expreſſed. Yet this circumſtance, while it wea⯑kened 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.

The circumſtance of the pebbles and gravel of a tran⯑ſparent ſtream glittering againſt the ſun, which is uncom⯑mon, 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.

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

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.

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

The touches of feudal manners, which our author affords, are innumerable: for the Trojan ſtory, and with no great dif⯑ficulty, 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, glit⯑tered with gold and azure.

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 de⯑ſtruction 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 en⯑riched with a multitude of oriental fictions, and Arabian traditions. Medea gives to Jaſon, when he is going to com⯑bat 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 pre⯑cious ſtone, adds our author, which Virgil celebrates, and which Venus ſent her ſon Eneas that he might enter Car⯑thage 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 dia⯑monds, 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 Shake⯑ſpeare'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.

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 embelliſh⯑ments, not fabricated by the fertile genius of Colonna, but [92] adopted from French enlargements of Colonna, and incorpo⯑rated from romances on other ſubjects, in the French RE⯑CUYEL 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,

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."’

The ſides of every ſtreet were covered with freſhe alures ^q of marble, or cloiſters, crowned with rich and lofty pin⯑nacles, 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 again, of Priam's palace.

[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 unfore⯑ſeen machinations.

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 in⯑formation, 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 gram⯑marians 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 philo⯑ſopher, invented the game of cheſs, to divert a tyrant from his cruel purpoſes, in Chaldea; and that from thence it was im⯑ported 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 pru⯑dent 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 Ptole⯑mais 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 anec⯑dote 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 men⯑tioned 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 oppor⯑tunities 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 cha⯑racter. Inſtead of which, to obviate theſe injurious reflec⯑tions, 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 ſuf⯑fered 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 men⯑tioned. 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.

[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 arti⯑ficially diſpoſed, and operating on the principles of vegeta⯑tion. 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 manu⯑ſcript 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 com⯑poſition, 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 exe⯑cuted with remarkable elegance and beauty.

SECT. VI.

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 Caum⯑peden out of French into Engliſhe, &c ^h.’ There is no ſort of elegance in the diction, nor harmony in the verſifi⯑cation. 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,

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 boun⯑daries 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 pri⯑ſoners, 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 un⯑known to the emperour's court, and obtain a ſight of her without diſcovery. They both ſet forward, the earl diſ⯑guiſed 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 oppor⯑tunity 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 leav⯑ing 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.

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 ſuc⯑ceſs, 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, notwithſtand⯑ing 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 pro⯑teſts 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 re⯑conciliation 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, in⯑ſtead of dwelling on ſome of the beautiful ſituations which [...]he ſtory affords, he is diffuſe in diſplaying trivial and un⯑important 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 ſing⯑ing a dirge: and the ſame number of minſtrels were re⯑warded 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 con⯑vent, 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 col⯑lected from other expences of this priory ^t. In the ſame year, the prior gives only ſixpence^u 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 im⯑portant circumſtance, now operating in its full extent, and therefore purpoſely reſerved for this period, which greatly contributed to the improvement of our literature, and con⯑ſequently 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 con⯑tinuing 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 inciden⯑tally; 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 illu⯑minations 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, how⯑ever, 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 recital^y. I will therefore begin with the thirteenth cen⯑tury. In the year 1210, Peter Comeſtor's^z HISTORIA SCHO⯑LASTICA, 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 He⯑zekiah, 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 prac⯑tice which had long prevailed of turning Latin proſe into French rhymes. This piece, in compliance with an age ad⯑dicted to romantic fiction, our tranſlator undoubtedly pre⯑ferred to the more rational and ſober Latin hiſtorians of Charlemagne and of France, ſuch as Gregory of Tours, Fre⯑degaire, 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 manu⯑ſcripts, is a ſort of ſyſtem of pious tracts, partly of ritual offices, compiled in Latin by the confeſſors of Philip in 1279, tran⯑ſlated 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 in⯑termiſſion, 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 ec⯑cleſiaſtic ^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 illuſ⯑trates 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 denomi⯑nated 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 CON⯑SOLATION, 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 en⯑titled 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 tran⯑ſlation into a more intelligible language of ſome Latin liturgic pieces about the year 1330. But his chief per⯑formance 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.

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-WRIT⯑ING, 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 Ger⯑man dominican and a myſtic doctor, wrote a moſt compre⯑henſive 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 tran⯑ſlated into French, was the celebrated book of our country⯑man 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 ſyſ⯑tem 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 France^d by the victorious armies of the Engliſh, was inſtantly ſucceeded by a flouriſh⯑ing ſtate of letters. King John, having indulged his de⯑votion, and ſatisfied his conſcience, by procuring numerous verſions of books written on ſacred ſubjects, at length turn⯑ed 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 Ber⯑cheur, 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 regard⯑ed 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 tran⯑ſlate his work into the vernacular language. Valerius Maxi⯑mus 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 the⯑ology, 1401 ^g. Under the laſt-mentioned reign, Ovid's Me⯑tamorphoſes MORALISED^h 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 RHE⯑TORICA 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 learn⯑ed 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 ge⯑neral 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 con⯑founds 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 com⯑pliment to Petrarch at his leaving France ^p. Many philo⯑ſophical 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 COMMO⯑DORUM, 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 Co⯑lonna'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 to⯑wards 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 LA⯑MENTATIONS 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 enter⯑taining 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 commence⯑ment, 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, tran⯑ſlated 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 pub⯑liſh 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 un⯑dertook 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 METAMOR⯑PHOSES was executed by an eccleſiaſtic of Normandy ^e. But much earlier in the century, Laurence Premierfait, men⯑tioned 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, Lau⯑rence'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 Bed⯑ford, 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 aſ⯑tronomer 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, pro⯑voſt 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 PE⯑LERINAGE DE LA VIE HUMAINE, is dedicated to Jean queen of Sicily, above mentioned; a ducheſs of Anjou and a coun⯑teſs 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 Ja⯑cobus Magnus, confeſſor to Charles the ſeventh, about the year 1422, was made French ^o. Rather earlier, Jean de Pre⯑mierfait tranſlated BOCCACIO DE CASIBUS VIRORUM ILLUS⯑TRIUM ^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 tran⯑ſlated, at the command of queen Jane of Navarre, who ſeem [...] to have made no kind of conditions about ſuppreſſing the li⯑centious 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 tran⯑ſlator's ſtory were not equally fictitious and incredible ^r.

The concluſion intended to be drawn from this long di⯑greſſion 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 aſſiſ⯑tances, a commodious acceſs to the claſſics was opened, and the knowledge of antient literature facilitated and famili⯑ariſed in England, at a much earlier period than is imagined; and at a time, when little more than the productions of ſpe⯑culative 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 Ber⯑cheur 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 lan⯑guage 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 en⯑lightened 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 inſtruc⯑tion on various and new ſubjects, enlarged the field of in⯑formation, 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 exe⯑cute 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 circu⯑lated in the Engliſh tongue, ſo early as the cloſe of the fifteenth century ^•.

SECT. VII.

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 inde⯑fatigable 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 dedi⯑cated 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 ex⯑horts 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 verſifica⯑tion. 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 de⯑lightfull."’ 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?

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 ap⯑pointed poet laureate to Edward the fourth. It is extra⯑ordinary, 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 lau⯑reate. Although this our laureate furniſhes us with no ma⯑terials 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 ver⯑ſification ^b, antiently taken in our univerſities, particularly at Oxford: on which occaſion, a wreath of laurel was pre⯑ſented 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 acca⯑demical 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 uni⯑verſity. 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 univer⯑ſity, and not ſuffer Ovid's ART OF LOVE, and the Elegies of Pamphilus ^f, to be ſtudied in his auditory ^g. Not long after⯑wards, one John Bulman, another rhetorician, having com⯑plied 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 rhe⯑toric; 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, PRO⯑TOVATIS Angliae, in florentiſſima Oxonienſi Achademia LAU⯑REATI, DE OCTO PARTIBUS ORATIONIS ^m."’ In his PANE⯑GYRIC to cardinal Wolſey, he mentions his laurel,

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 VER⯑SIFIER, 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 pre⯑tend 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 VER⯑SIFIER gradually gave way to an appellation of more ele⯑gance and dignity: or rather, that at length, thoſe only were in general invited to this appointment, who had re⯑ceived accademical ſanction, and had merited a crown of laurel in the univerſities for their abilities in Latin compo⯑ſition, 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 Ed⯑ward 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 Tho⯑louſe, 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'S⯑GIFT 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 re⯑quired. I am conſcious I ſay this at a time, when the beſt of kings affords the moſt juſt and copious theme for pane⯑gyric: 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 em⯑ployed 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 co⯑temporary 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 inaccu⯑rately 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 with⯑out 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 CO⯑MEDIES ^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 con⯑ſummate 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 inven⯑tions, 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.

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 reputa⯑tion 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 enthu⯑ſiaſt 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 ſerv⯑ing to develope the hiſtory of chemiſtry in England. They certainly contributed nothing to the ſtate of our poetry ^w.

SECT. VIII.

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 re⯑ſpect 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 mer⯑chant 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 per⯑haps to his other charities ^d, inventories of veſtments and ornaments ^e, accompts of church-wardens, and other paro⯑chial evidences. He is ſaid to have directed, that this vene⯑rable 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 viſita⯑tion. 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 na⯑turally 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 pro⯑miſes, and ſome threats, he confeſſed that he received a manuſcript on parchment containing the narrative above⯑mentioned, together with many other manuſcripts on parch⯑ment [...] 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 manu⯑ſcripts in the year 1748. For in that year, he was permit⯑ted, by the church-wardens of Radcliffe-church, to take from this cheſt ſeveral written pieces of parchment, ſup⯑poſed to be illegible and uſeleſs, for the purpoſe of conver⯑ting 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 unwar⯑rantable 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 al⯑derman 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 pre⯑ſent, that he ſaw the merit and value of theſe poems, which he diligently tranſcribed. In the year 1770, he went to Lon⯑don, 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 diſtin⯑guiſhed 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 tran⯑ſcripts and originals, he had previouſly ſold, either to Mr. Catcott, a merchant of Briſtol, or to Mr. Barrett, an emi⯑nent 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 go⯑vernor 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.

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

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

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 MYS⯑TERIES, or religious interludes, which were the only plays then exiſting.

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 chal⯑lenged him to write verſes. The ſubject is a victory ob⯑tained by Ella over the Danes, at Watchett near Briſtol ^k. I will give this piece at length.

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 con⯑ducted, 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.

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.

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

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 EPIS⯑TLE 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 intelli⯑gent 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, al⯑though artfully contrived to wear an antiquated appearance, differed very eſſentially from every one of our early alpha⯑bets. 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 communi⯑cate a ſtronger ſtamp of rude antiquity, the ODE was writ⯑ten 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 my⯑ſelf carefully examined the original manuſcript, as it is called, of the little piece entitled, ACCOUNTE OF W. CAN⯑NYNGE'S FEAST. It is likewiſe on parchment, and, I am ſorry to ſay, that the writing betrays all the ſuſpicious ſig⯑natures 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, appa⯑rently delineated by the ſame pen which wrote the verſes. Even the ſtyle and drawing of the armorial bearings diſco⯑ver 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 Eng⯑liſh 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 cha⯑racter, 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 compoſi⯑tions. 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 tradi⯑tion, 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 mon⯑kiſh chroniclers agree. That the Druids conſtructed this ſtupendous pile for a place of worſhip, was a diſcovery re⯑ſerved for the ſagacity of a wiſer age, and the laborious diſcuſſion of modern antiquaries. In the EPISTLE to Lyd⯑gate, 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, evi⯑dently 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 an⯑tique ſpelling and phraſeology. That Rowlie was an ac⯑compliſhed 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 men⯑tioned; 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 com⯑poſitions, 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 con⯑nections, 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 commo⯑diouſly 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 ſuf⯑ficient quantity of obſolete words and phraſes were readily at⯑tainable 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 emo⯑luments 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 authen⯑ticity of theſe pieces. At leaſt it proved, that Rowlie had left ſome performances in verſe. But on examining Can⯑nynge's will, no ſuch order appears. All his bequeſts re⯑lating 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 OBLATIO⯑NUM, in the north-door: and to the fraternity Comme⯑moracionis 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 in⯑rerred. 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 ſer⯑vice-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.

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 anti⯑quity, 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.

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 ma⯑nuſcripts 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, tran⯑ſlated Cato's MORALS into the royal ſtanza, for the uſe of his pupil lord Bourchier ſon of the earl of Eſſex ^c. Encou⯑raged [166] by the example and authority of ſo venerable an ec⯑cleſiaſtic, and tempted probably by the convenient oppor⯑tunity 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: al⯑though 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 demon⯑ſtrate, 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 pre⯑fixed to theſe diſtichs, in a lower age, by the officious ig⯑norance 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 POLY⯑CRATICON, 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 com⯑mentary by Eraſmus, which is much extolled by Luther ^s. There are two or three French tranſlations ^t. That of Ma⯑thurine 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 tranſla⯑tion affirms, that Poggius Florentinus, whoſe library was fur⯑niſhed 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 MORALISA⯑TION on Cato, under the title of SPECULUM REGIMINIS, ſo early as the year 1380 ^x. In the ſame preface, Caxton ob⯑ſerves, 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 Ec⯑cleſienſis, 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 Ca⯑tonis, 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 ſuf⯑ficient foundation, is ſaid to have finiſhed Lydgate's GO⯑VERNAUNCE OF PRINCIS ^a.

About the year 1481, Julian Barnes, more properly Ber⯑ners, 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 neighbouring^b 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 exer⯑ciſing 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 au⯑thority, 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 tran⯑ſlated 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.

Our tranſlator in theſe verſes formally declares his in⯑tention 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 MIN⯑STRELS, who in this prologue of Naſſyngton are named ſeparately from the GESTOURS, or tale-tellers, were ſome⯑times diſtinguiſhed from the harpers. In the year 1374, ſix Minſtrels, accompanied with four Harpers, on the anni⯑verſary of Alwyne the biſhop, performed their minſtrelſies, at dinner, in the hall of the convent of ſaint Swithin at Win⯑cheſter; 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 min⯑ſtrels 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. Al⯑though ſongs of chivalry were equally common, and I be⯑lieve 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 bar⯑barous 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 poeti⯑cal 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 Wer⯑burgh'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, Hig⯑den'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.

He adds, with an equal attention to etymology:

But a greater degree of credulity would perhaps have af⯑forded him a better claim to the character of a poet: and, at leaſt, we ſhould have conceived a more advantageous opi⯑nion 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 admit⯑ted 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.

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 pre⯑ceded the reformation. I believe it will readily be granted, [...] our author had more piety than poetry. His Pro⯑log [...] contains the following humble profeſſions of his ina⯑bility [...]o treat lofty ſubjects, and to pleaſe light readers.

[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 Sex⯑burgh ^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 circu⯑lated 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 RECEN⯑TIUM ſtylo extulit, veterum vel amiſſas, vel informiter editas, comptius renovavit ⁿ."’ In this reſpect, the labours of Goſ⯑celin partly reſembled thoſe of Symeon Metaphraſtes, a cele⯑brated Conſtantinopolitan writer of the tenth century: who obtained the diſtinguiſhing appellation of the METAPHRAST, [191] becauſe, at the command, and under the auſpices of Con⯑ſtantine Porphyrogenitus, he moderniſed the more antient narratives of the miracles and martyrdoms of the moſt emi⯑nent 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 impor⯑tant 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 COM⯑PLAINT of king Edward the ſecond; who, like the per⯑ſonages in Boccacio's FALL OF PRINCES, is very dramatically introduced, reciting his own misfortunes ^o. But th [...] ſoli⯑loquy 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 pre⯑ſerved 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.

[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 weather⯑cock 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 follow⯑ing hymn to the virgin Mary ^s.

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 con⯑ſiderable 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, in⯑vokes the gylted goddeſs and mooſt facundyous lady Clio, apolo⯑giſes to thoſe makers who delight in termes gay, for the in⯑elegancies 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 tranſ⯑lated 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 cal⯑culated for the purpoſes of a perpetual almanac; and ſeems to have been the univerſal magazine of every article of ſa⯑lutary 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 intro⯑duced reſpectively ſpeaking, in a ſtanza of balad royal, its own panegyric. This is the ſpeech of May ^c.

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.

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 in⯑ceſſantly 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 per⯑petually 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 con⯑veyed 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, com⯑pleatly 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. Tur⯑kill 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 Bede^g, 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 pre⯑ſented on moveable theatres, or occaſional ſtages, erected in the ſtreets. The ſpeeches were in verſe; and as the pro⯑ceſſion 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 coro⯑nation 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 allegori⯑cal ſpectacles, by a giant repreſenting religious fortitude, Enoch and Eli, the holy Trinity, two Judges and eight Ser⯑jeants 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 mo⯑ther, 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 Fran⯑ciſcan 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, be⯑fore 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 al⯑legory ^o, in the application of which, ſome degree of learn⯑ing 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 contri⯑buted 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 con⯑ſequently made profane characters the ſubject of public ex⯑hibition, 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 pro⯑ceſſion through the city was very magnificent. The pa⯑geants 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 per⯑ſonages 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 coun⯑ſellor 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 court⯑rareeſhow 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 pene⯑trating 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 en⯑tering the cathedral there: at Briſtol, by king Bremmius, Prudence, and Juſtice. The two latter characters were per⯑ſonated by young girls ^s.

In the mean time it is to be granted, that profane cha⯑racters 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 EM⯑PEROR, 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 mum⯑mers did ſalute, ſhewing by a pair of dice their deſire to play with the prince,"’ which they managed with ſo much com⯑plaiſance 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 ſump⯑tuous 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 mag⯑nificent marriage of Henry the third with Eleanor of Pro⯑vence, in the year 1236, certain ſtrange pageants, and won⯑derful 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 rudi⯑ments 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 choir⯑boys, 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 repre⯑ſentation 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 con⯑veying them into Paradiſe. There is an ancient poem, per⯑haps 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, Ha⯑braham, David, Johan Baptiſt, and Moyſes. It begins,

[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 frequent⯑ly ſelected their materials from books which had more of the air of romance. The ſubject of the MYSTERIES juſt-men⯑tioned was borrowed from the PSEUDO-EVANGELIUM, or the FABULOUS GOSPEL, aſcribed to Nicodemus ^e: a book, which, together with the numerous apocryphal narratives, contain⯑ing 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 ac⯑count 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 aboliſh⯑ing 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 ſpecta⯑cles in which the mind was concerned, and by creating a regard for other arts than thoſe of bodily ſtrength and ſavage valour.

SECT. X.

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 tinc⯑ture 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 com⯑plete 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 imper⯑fectly 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 with⯑out date; but probably it was printed ſoon after the cere⯑mony 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 AL⯑PHABET 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 fic⯑tion 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 Plea⯑ſaunt Regard, the walls are decorated with hiſtorical ſculp⯑tures 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.

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

We muſt acknowledge, that all the pictureſque invention which appears in this compoſition, entirely belongs to Chau⯑cer. 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 thir⯑teenth 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 con⯑clavi, incorruptae praeliorum cum veris ducum vultibus ima⯑gines, Latinis elegis ſingula rerum elogia indicantibus ^x."’ That the caſtles and palaces of England were thus orna⯑mented 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 Weſt⯑minſter, 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 re⯑gium Anglorum, in quo illa VULGATA CAMERA, in cujus parietibus ſunt omnes HISTORIAE BELLICAE TOTIUS BIBLIAE ineffabiliter depictae, atque in Gallico completiſſime et per⯑fectiſſime conſtanter conſcriptae, in non modica intuen⯑tium 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 al⯑moſt regarded as a book of chivalry: and their chief he⯑roes, 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 opi⯑nion, that VISIONS, which are ſo common in the poetry of the middle ages, partly took their riſe from Tully's SOM⯑NIUM SCIPIONIS. Had this compoſition deſcended to poſte⯑rity 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 illuſ⯑trated 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 ad⯑mired 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 ASSEM⯑BLY 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

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 Chau⯑cer. 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 Pro⯑vencial ſchool. The model of his verſification and phraſeo⯑logy 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 circum⯑ſtantial 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 deli⯑cious 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 for⯑ward, 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 to⯑wards 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 burn⯑ing tongues denote her office of conſigning the names of [222] illuſtrious perſonages to poſterity; among which ſhe men⯑tions 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 ſurmount⯑ing 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 deco⯑rated with figures of beaſts in gold, and its lofty turrets crowned with golden images ^o. He is admitted by COUN⯑TENANCE 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 ha⯑rangue 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 ex⯑amples 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 in⯑ſtruments ^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 COUN⯑SELL, 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 ar⯑bour, 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 aro⯑matyke 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 ſuc⯑ceed 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 con⯑ſoles 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 mea⯑dow: ſhe delivers a prolix lecture on the ſeveral operations of the mind, and parts of the body ^a. He then, accom⯑panied with his greyhounds, enters an extenſive plain over⯑ſpread 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 hang⯑ing 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 STEDFAST⯑NESS 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 pic⯑ture, 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 in⯑voke Venus in her temple. FORTUNE reproves Mars for pre⯑ſuming to promiſe aſſiſtance; and declares, that all human glory is in the power of herſelf alone. Amoure is then led^c 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 Gobilive^e, who enters into a long diſ⯑courſe 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 ex⯑erciſes 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 in⯑vites 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 Me⯑duſe, 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 inſcrip⯑tion, importing, that this was the way to La Bell Pucell's habitation, and that whoever blows the horn will be aſ⯑ſaulted 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 pre⯑ſents, 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 in⯑ſcribed Diſſimulation, Delay, Diſcomfort, Variance, Envy, De⯑traction, Doubleneſs. After a bloody battle, he kills the giant, and is ſaluted by the five ladies STEDFASTNESS, AMOROUS PUR⯑VEYANCE, JOY AFTER SORROW, PLEASAUNCE, GOOD REPORT, AMIT [...]E, CONTINUANCE, all riding from the caſtle on white pal⯑fries. 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,

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 PERFECT⯑NESS. They arrive in the iſland; and Amoure diſcovers the monſter near a rock, whom he now examines more diſtinct⯑ly. The face of the monſter reſembled a virgin's, and was of gold; his neck of ſilver; his breaſt of ſteel; his fore⯑legs, 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 tor⯑rent 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 con⯑ſummate 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 aban⯑don 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 in⯑terred 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 gentle⯑man; 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 diſ⯑tinctneſs 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 enrich⯑ing the general incidents of the Gothic fable. In the crea⯑tion 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.

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

In the courſe of the poem he complains, that ſince Lyd⯑gate, 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 per⯑fection: but adds this remarkable reſtriction,

[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 SI⯑GISMOND ^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 con⯑cerning 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 in⯑terludes for the family. This piece was printed by Raſtel, in 1538, and entitled, ‘"NATURE, a goodly interlude of na⯑ture, compylyd by mayſter Henry Medwall, chaplayn to the right reverent father in God, Johan Morton, ſome⯑tyme 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 Cam⯑bridge ^c. The original had been tranſlated into French verſe by Peter Langtoft ^d. Boſham was Becket's ſecretary, and pre⯑ſent at his martyrdom.

SECT. VII.

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, ac⯑compliſhed 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 tempo⯑riſed 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, above⯑mentioned. About the year 1494, Sebaſtian Brandt, a learned civilian of Baſil, and an eminent philologiſt, pub⯑liſhed 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 artifi⯑ciality of fable; yet although the poem is deſtitute of plot, and the voyage of adventures, a compoſition of ſuch a nature be⯑came 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 coun⯑trymen. It was printed by Pinſon, in 1509, whoſe name occurs in the poem.

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."’

The ignorance of the Engliſh clergy is one of the chief ob⯑jects of his animadverſion. He ſays ^r [...]

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

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

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

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.

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.

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 cuſ⯑toms. In this light; at leaſt, Barklay's SHIP OF FOOLS, which is a general ſatire on the times, will be found enter⯑taining. 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 un⯑ſuitable 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 perfor⯑mance ſhews how little qualified he was to correct Gower.

Our author's EGLOGES, I believe, are the firſt that ap⯑peared in the Engliſh language ^f. They are, like Petrarch's and Mantuan's ^g, of the moral and ſatirical kind; and con⯑tain but few touches of rural deſcription and bucolic image⯑ry. 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.

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:

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.

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 ſhep⯑herds, he ſeems to deſcribe ſome large and ſplendid picture of the Nativity painted on the walls of Ely cathedral.

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

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

[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.

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.

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 Eclo⯑gues 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, Vi⯑negia, Vinegia, chi non te v [...]di, ei non te pregia. Old MAN⯑TUAN! 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 bu⯑colics, 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, Beni⯑vieni, and Fiorini Buoninſegni.

SECT. VIII.

IT is not the plan of this work to comprehend the Scotch poetry. But when I conſider the cloſe and national con⯑nection 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 com⯑poſition 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 ce⯑lebrated poems are The THISTLE AND THE ROSE, and THE GOLDEN TERGE.

The THISTLE AND THE ROSE was occaſioned by the mar⯑riage 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 Scot⯑land: 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 be⯑ginning 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.

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

MAY then rebukes the poet, for not riſing early, accord⯑ing 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,

The poet replies, that the ſpring of the preſent year was un⯑promiſing 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 ex⯑cuſe, 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 lan⯑guage of Lydgate.

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

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.

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. NA⯑TURE 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 ſove⯑reignty. She ſends the roe to bring the beaſts, the ſwallow to collect the birds, and the yarrow^f to ſummon the flowers. They are aſſembled before her in an inſtant. The lion ad⯑vances firſt, whoſe figure is drawn with great force and expreſſion.

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 juſ⯑tice 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.

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 politi⯑cal 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.

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 de⯑lightful 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 per⯑ſonages, 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 illuſ⯑trates 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 ac⯑companiments, are thus delineated in the manner of Lyd⯑gate, yet with more ſtrength, diſtinctneſs, and exuberance of ornament.

[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.

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.

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

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

Theſe are attended with other pagan divinities, Janus, Pria⯑pus, 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 them⯑ſelves in battle-array, and advance againſt the poet.

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, STED⯑FASTNESS, BENIGNE LOOK, MYLDE CHEIR, and HONEST BUSINESS.

The attack is renewed by DIGNITY, RENOWN, RICHES, NO⯑BILITY, 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. DISSEM⯑BLANCE, or DISSIMULATION, chuſes for her archers, PRE⯑SENCE, FAIR CALLING, and CHERISHING. Theſe bring back BEAUTY to the charge. A new and obſtinate conflict enſues.

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 diſap⯑pears, 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 de⯑ſcription. 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.

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 pre⯑vailed, even in Scotland, of the improvements introduced by their writings into the Britiſh poetry, language, and literature ^r [...]

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

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, com⯑mands 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.

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

Black-belly and Bawſy-brown are the names of popular ſpirits in Scotland. The latter is perhaps our ROBIN GOOD⯑FELLOW, 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 quar⯑relſome perſons, all armed for battle, and perpetually wound⯑ing one another ^d.

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 encou⯑ragement to the whiſperers of idle and injurious reports ⁿ.

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 tor⯑rents 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.

LUST enters, neighing like a horſe ^k, and is led by IDLE⯑NESS. 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 civili⯑ſation. In one of the Scotch interludes of this age, written by a faſhionable court-poet, among other ridiculous ob⯑ſcenities, 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.

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 high⯑landers. 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 exceſ⯑ſive, and is not yet quite eradicated. Mahoun, or Mahomet, having a deſire to ſee a highland pageant, a fiend is com⯑miſſioned 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.

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 de⯑gree 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, com⯑poſed 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.

ANother of the diſtinguiſhed luminaries, that marked the reſtoration of letters in Scotland at the commence⯑ment of the ſixteenth century, not only by a general emi⯑nence in elegant erudition, but by a cultivation of the ver⯑nacular 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 in⯑joined, 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 bi⯑ſhop of Dunkeld. He appears alſo to have been nominated by the queen regent to the archbiſhoprick, either of Glaſ⯑gow, or of ſaint Andrew's: but the appointment was re⯑pudiated by the pope ^g. In the year 1513, to avoid the per⯑ſecutions 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 Scot⯑tiſh 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 me⯑trical 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 lan⯑guages 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.