A DISSERTATION ON THE GESTA ROMANORUM.

TALES are the learning of a rude age. In the p [...]og [...]eſs of letters, ſpeculation and enquiry commence with re⯑finement of manners. Literature becomes ſentimental and diſcurſive, in proportion as a people is poliſhed: and men muſt be inſtructed by facts, either real or imaginary, before they can apprehend the ſubtleties of argument, and the force of ref [...]ection.

Vincent of Beauvais, a learned Dominican of France, who flou⯑riſhed in the thirteenth century, obſerves in his MIRROR of HISTORY, that it was a practice of the preachers of his age, to rouſe the indifference and relieve the languor of their hearers, by quoting the fables of Eſop: yet, at the ſame time, he re⯑commends a ſparing and prudent application of theſe profane fancies in the diſcuſſion of ſacred ſubjects ^a. Among the Harleian [ii] manuſcripts in the Britiſh Muſeum we find a very antient collection of two hundred and fifteen ſtories, romantic, allegorical, religious, and legendary, which were evidently compiled by a profeſſed preacher, for the uſe of monaſtic ſocieties. Some of theſe ap⯑pear to have been committed to writing from the recitals of bards and minſtrels: others to have been invented and written by troubadours and monks ^b. In the year 1389, a grand ſyſtem of divinity appeared at Paris, afterwards tranſlated by Caxton under the title of the COURT OF SAPYENCE, which abounds with a multitude of hiſtorical examples, parables, and apologues; and which the writer wiſely ſuppoſes, to be much more likely to intereſt the attention and excite the devotion of the people, than the authority of ſcience, and the parade of theology. In conſequence of the expediency of this mode of of inſtruction, the Legends of the Saints were received into the ritual, and rehearſed in the courſe of public worſhip. For religious romances were nearly allied to ſongs of chivalry; and the ſame groſs ignorance of the people, which in the early centuries of chriſtianity created a neceſſity of introducing the viſible pomp of theatrical ceremonies into the churches, was taught the duties of devotion, by being amuſed with the achieve⯑ments of ſpiritual knight-errantry, and impreſſed with the ex⯑amples of pious heroiſm. In more cultivated periods, the DECA⯑MERON of Boccace, and other books of that kind, ought to be conſidered as the remnant of a ſpecies of writing which was founded on the ſimplicity of mankind, and was adapted to the exigencies of the infancy of ſociety.

Many obſolete collections of this ſort ſtill remain, both printed and manuſcript, containing narratives either fictitious or hiſtorical,

[iii] But among the antient ſtory-books of this character, a Latin compilation entitled GESTA ROMANORUM ſeems to have been the favorite.

This piece has been before incidentally noticed: but as it operated powerfully on the general body of our old poetry, affording a variety of inventions not only to Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate, but to their diſtant ſucceſſors, I have judged it of ſufficient importance to be examined at large in a ſeparate diſſer⯑tation: which has been deſignedly reſerved for this place, for the purpoſe both of recapitulation and illuſtration, and of giving the reader a more commodious opportunity of ſurveying at leiſure, from this intermediate point of view, and under one comprehenſive detail, a connected diſplay of the materials and original ſubjects of many of our paſt and future poets.

Indeed, in the times with which we are now about to be con⯑cerned, it ſeems to have been growing more into eſteem. At the commencement of typography, Wynkyn de Worde pub⯑liſhed this book in Engliſh. This tranſlation wasre printed, by one Robinſon, in 1577. And afterwards, of the ſame tranſla⯑tion there were ſix impreſſions before the year 1601 ^d. There is an edition in black letter ſo late as the year 1689. About the year 1596, an Engliſh verſion appeared of ‘"Epitomes des cent HISTOIRES TRAGIQUES, partie extraictes des ACTES DE [...] ROMAINS et autres, &c."’ From the popularity, or rather familiarity, of this work in the reign of queen Eliſabeth, the title of GESTA GRAYORUM was affixed to the hiſtory of the acts of the Chriſtmas Prince at Grays-inn, in 1594 ^e. In Sir GILES GOOSECAP, an anonymous comedy, preſented by the Children of the Chapel in the year 1606, we have, ‘"Then for your lordſhip's quips and quick jeſts, why GESTA RO⯑MANORUM were nothing to them ^f."’ And in George Chap⯑man's MAY-DAY, a comedy, printed at London in 1611, a man of the higheſt literary taſte for the pieces in vogue is characteriſed, ‘[iv] "One that has read Marcus Aurelius, GESTA RO⯑MANORUM, the Mirrour of Magiſtrates, &c.—to be led by the noſe like a blind beare that has read nothing ^g!"’ The critics and collectors in black-letter, I believe, could produce many other proofs.

The GESTA ROMANORUM were firſt printed without date, but as it is ſuppoſed before or about the year 1473, in folio, with this title, Incipiunt HISTORIE NOTABILES collecte ex GESTIS ROMANORUM et quibuſdam aliis libris cum applicationibus eorundem ^h. This edition has one hundred and fifty-two chapters, or GESTS, and one hundred and ſeventeen leaves ⁱ. It is in the Gothic letter, and in two columns. The firſt chapter is of king Pompey, and the laſt of prince, or king, Cleonicus. The initials are written in red and blue ink. Thi [...] [...]dition, ſlightly mutilated, is among biſhop Tanner's printed books in the Bod⯑leian library. The reverend and learned doctor Farmer, maſter of Emanuel college in Cambridge, has the ſecond edition, as it ſeems, printed at Louvain, in quarto, the ſame or the ſubſe⯑quent year, by John de Weſtfalia, under the title, Ex GESTIS ROMANORUM HISTORIE NOTABILES de viciis virtutibuſque tractantes cum applicationibus moraliſatis et myſticis. And with this colophon, GESTA ROMANORUM cum quibuſdam aliis HIS⯑TORIIS eiſdem annexis ad MORALITATES dilucide redacta hic finem habent. Quae, diligenter correctis aliorum viciis, impreſſit Joannes de Weſtfalia in alma Vniverſitate Louvanienſi. It has one hundred and eighty-one chapters ^k. That is, twenty-nine more than are contained in the former edition: the firſt of the addi⯑tional chapters being the ſtory of Antiochus, or the ſubſtance of the romance of APOLLONIUS of TYRE. The initials are inſerted [v] in red ink ^l. Another followed ſoon afterwards, in quarto, Ex GESTIS ROMANORUM Hiſtorie notabiles moralizatae, per Gi⯑rardum Lieu, GOUDAE, 1480. The next edition, with the uſe of which I have been politely favoured by George Maſon eſquire, of Aldenham-Lodge in Hertfordſhire, was printed in folio, and in the year 1488, with this title, GESTA RHOMA⯑NORUM cum Applicationibus moraliſatis et miſticis. The colophon is, Ex GESTIS ROMANORUM cum pluribus applicatis Hiſtoriis de virtutibus et viciis myſtice ad intellectum tranſſumptis Recollectorii finis. Anno nre ſalutis MCCCCLXXX viij kalendas vero februarii xviij. A general, and alphabetical, table, are ſubjoined. The book, which is printed in two columns, and in the Gothic cha⯑racter, abounding with abbreviations, contains ninety-three leaves. The initials are written or flouriſhed in red and blue, and all the capitals in the body of the text are miniated with a pen. There were many other later editions ^m. I muſt add, that the GESTA ROMANORUM were tranſlated into Dutch, ſo early as the year 1484. There is an old French verſion in the Britiſh Muſeum.

This work is compiled from the obſolete Latin chronicles of the later Roman or rather German ſtory, heightened by roman⯑tic inventions, from Legends of the Saints, oriental apologues, and many of the ſhorter fictitious narratives which came into Europe with the Arabian literature, and were familiar in the ages of ignorance and imagination. The claſſics are ſometimes cited for authorities; but theſe are of the lower order, ſuch as Valerius Maximus, Macrobius, Aulus Gallius, Seneca, Pliny, and Boethius. To every tale a MORALISATION is ſubjoined, reducing it into a chriſtian or moral leſſon.

Moſt of the oriental apologues are taken from the CLERICA⯑LIS DISCIPLINA, or a latin Dialogue between an Arabian Philo [...]opher [vi] and Edricⁿ his ſon, never printed ^o, written by Peter Al⯑phonſus, a baptized Jew, at the beginning of the twelfth cen⯑tury, and collected from Arabian fables, apothegms, and ex⯑amples ^p. Some are alſo borrowed from an old Latin tranſlation of the CALILAH U DAMNAH, a celebrated ſett of eaſtern fables, to which Alphonſus was indebted.

On the whole, this is the collection in which a curious enquirer might expect to find the original of Chaucer's Cam⯑buſcan:

Our author frequently cites GESTA ROMANORUM, the title of his own work. By which I underſtand no particular book of that name, but the Roman Hiſtory in general. Thus in the title of the SAINT ALBANS CHRONICLE, printed by Caxton, Titus Livyus de GESTIS ROMANORUM is recited. In the year 1544, Lucius Florus was printed at Paris under the ſame title ^r. In the Britiſh Muſeum we find ‘"LES FAIS DE ROMAINS juſques a la [...]in de l' empire Domician, ſelon Oroſe, Juſtin, Lucan, &c."’ A plain hiſtorical deduction ^s. The ROMULEON, an old manuſcript hiſtory of Rome from the foundation of the city to Conſtantine the Great, is alſo called de GESTIS ROMANORUM. This manuſcript occurs both in Latin and French: and a French copy, among the royal man [...]ſcripts, [vii] has the title, ‘"ROMULEON, ou des FAIS DE RO⯑MAINS ^t."’ Among the manuſcript books written by Lapus de Caſtellione, a Florentine civilian, who flouriſhed about the year 1350, there is one, De Origine URBIS ROMAE et de GESTIS ROMANORUM ^u. Gower, in the CONFESSIO AMANTIS, often introduces Roman ſtories with the Latin preamble, Hic ſecundum GESTA. Where he certainly means the Roman Hiſtory, which by degrees had acquired ſimply the appellation of GESTA. Herman Korner, in his CHRONICA NOVELLA, written about the year 1438, refers for his vouchers to Bede, Oroſius, Vale⯑rius Maximus, Joſephus, Euſebius, and the Chronicon et GESTA ROMANORUM. Moſt probably, to ſay no more, by the CHRO⯑NICON he means the later writers of the Roman affairs, ſuch as Iſidore and the monkiſh compilers; and by GESTA the antient Roman hiſtory, as related by Livy and the more eſtabliſhed Latin hiſtorians.

Neither is it poſſible that this work could have been brought as a proof or authority, by any ſerious annaliſt, for the Roman ſtory.

For though it bears the title of GESTA ROMANORUM, yet this title by no means properly correſponds with the contents of the collection: which, as has been already hinted, comprehends a multitude of narratives, either not hiſtorical; or, in another reſpect, ſuch as are either totally unconnected with the Roman people, or perhaps the moſt prepoſterous miſrepreſentations of their hiſtory. To cover this deviation from the promiſed plan, which, by introducing a more ample variety of matter, has contributed to encreaſe the reader's entertainment, our col⯑lector has taken care to preface almoſt every ſtory with the name or reign of a Roman emperor; who, at the ſame time, is often a monarch that never exiſted, and who ſeldom, whether real or ſuppoſitious, has any concern with the circumſtances of the narrative.

[viii] But I haſten to exhibit a compendious analyſis of the chap⯑ters which form this very ſingular compilation: intermixing occaſional illuſtrations ariſing from the ſubject, and ſhortening or lengthening my abridgement of the ſtories, in proportion as I judge they are likely to intereſt the reader. Where, for that reaſon, I have been very conciſe, I have yet ſaid enough to direct the critical antiquarian to this collection, in caſe he ſhould find a ſimilar tale occurring in any of our old poets. I have omitted the mention of a very few chapters, which were beneath notice. Sometimes, where common authors are quoted, I have only mentioned the author's name, without ſpecifying the ſubſtance of the quotation. For it was neceſſary that the reader ſhould be made acquainted with our collector's track of reading, and the books which he uſed. In the mean time, this review will ſerve as a full notification of the edition of 1488, which is more comprehenſive and complete than ſome others of later publication, and to which all the reſt, as to a general criterion, may be now comparatively referred.

CHAP. i. Of a daughter of king Pompey, whoſe chamber was guarded by five armed knights and a dog. Being permitted to be preſent at a public ſhew, ſhe is [...]educed by a duke, who is afterwards killed by the champion of her father's court. She is reconciled to her father, and betrothed to a nobleman: on which occaſion, ſh [...] receives from her father an embroidered robe and a crown of gold, from the champion a gold ring, ano⯑ther from the wiſe man who pacified the king's anger, another from the king's ſon, another from her couſin, and from her ſpouſe a ſeal of gold. All theſe preſents are inſcribed with pro⯑verbial ſentences, ſuitable to the circumſtances of the princeſs.

The latter part of this ſtory is evidently oriental. The feudal manners, in a book which profeſſes to record the achievements of the Roman people, are remarkable in the introductory cir⯑cumſtances. But of this mixture we ſhall ſee many ſtriking inſtances.

CHAP. ii. Of a youth taken captive by pirates. The king's [ix] daughter falls in love with him; and having procured his eſcape, accompanies him to his own country, where they are married.

CHAP. vi. An emperor is married to a beautiful young prin⯑ceſs. In caſe of death, they mutually agree not to ſurvive one other. To try the truth of his wife, the emperor going into a diſtant country, orders a report of his death to be circulated. In remembrance of her vow, and in imitation of the wives of India, ſhe prepares to throw herſelf headlong from a high pre⯑cipice. She is prevented by her father; who interpoſes his pa⯑ternal authority, as predominating over a raſh and unlawful promiſe.

CHAP. vii. Under the reign of Diocleſian, a noble knight had two ſons, the youngeſt of which marries a harlot.

This ſtory, but with a difference of circumſtances, ends like the beautiful apologue of the Prodigal Son.

CHAP. viii. The emperor Leo commands three female ſta⯑tues to be made. One has a gold ring on a finger pointing for⯑ward, another a beard of gold, and the third a golden cloak and purple tunic. Whoever ſteals any of theſe ornaments, is to be puniſhed with an ignominious death.

This ſtory is copied by Gower, in the CONFESSIO AMAN⯑TIS: but he has altered ſome of the circumſtances. He ſup⯑poſes a ſtatue of Apollo.

[x] In the ſequel, Gower follows the ſubſtance of our author.

CHAP. x. Veſpaſian marries a wife in a diſtant country, who refuſes to return home with him, and yet declares ſhe will kill herſelf if he goes. The emperor ordered two rings to be made, of a wonderous efficacy; one of which, in the ſtone, has the image of Oblivion, the other the image of Memory: the ring of Oblivion he gave to the empreſs, and returned home with the ring of Memory.

CHAP. xi. The queen of the ſouth ſends her daughter to king Alexander, to be his concubine. She was exceedingly beautiful, but had been nouriſhed with poiſon from her birth. Alexander's maſter, Ariſtotle, whoſe ſagacity nothing could eſcape, knowing this, entreated, that before ſhe was admitted to the king's bed, a malefactor condemned to death might be ſent for, who ſhould give her a kiſs in the preſence of the king. The malefactor, on kiſſing her, inſtantly dropped down dead. Ariſtotle, having explained his reaſons for what he had done, was loaded with honours by the king, and the princeſs was diſmiſſed to her mother.

This ſtory is founded on the twenty-eighth chapter of Ariſ⯑totle's SECRETUM SECRETORUM: in which, a queen of India is ſaid to have treacherouſly ſent to Alexander, among other coſtly preſents, the pretended teſtimonies of her friendſhip, a girl of exquiſite beauty, who having been fed with ſerpents from her infancy, partook of their nature ^y. If I recollect right, in Pliny there are accounts of nations whoſe natural food was poiſon. Mithridates, king of Pontus, the land of venomous herbs, and the country of the ſorcereſs Medea, was ſuppoſed to [xi] eat poiſon. Sir John Maundeville's Travels, I believe, will afford other inſtances.

CHAP. xii. A profligate prieſt, in the reign of the emperor Otto, or Otho, walking in the fields, and neglecting to ſay maſs, is reformed by a viſion of a comely old man.

CHAP. xiii. An empreſs having loſt her huſband, becomes ſo doatingly fond of her only ſon, then three years of age, as not to bear his abſence for a moment. They ſleep together every night, and when he was eighteen years of age, ſhe proves with child by him. She murthers the infant, and her left hand is immediately marked with four circles of blood. Her repentance is related, in conſequence of a viſion of the holy virgin.

This ſtory is in the SPECULUM HISTORIALE of Vincent of Beauvais, who wrote about the year 1250 ^z.

CHAP. xiv. Under the reign of the emperor Dorotheus, a remarkable example of the filial piety of a young man, who redeems his father, a knight, from captivity.

CHAP. xv. Eufemian, a nobleman in the court of the em⯑peror of Rome, is attended by three thouſand ſervants girt with golden belts, and cloathed in ſilken veſtments. His houſe was crouded with pilgrims, orphans, and widows, for whom three tables were kept every day. He has a ſon, Allexius; who quits his father's palace, and lives unknown ſeventeen years in a monaſtery in Syria. He then returns, and lives ſeventeen years undiſcovered as a pilgrim in his father's family, where he ſuf⯑fers many indignities from the ſervants.

Allexius, or Alexis, was canoniſed. This ſtory is taken from his Legend ^a. In the metrical Lives of the Saints, his life is told in a ſort of meaſure different from that of the reſt, and not very common in the earlier ſtages of our poetry. It begins thus.

When Alexius returns home in diſguiſe, and aſks his father about his ſon, the father's feelings are thus deſcribed.

At his burial, many miracles are wrought on the ſick.

The hiſtory of Saint Alexius is told entirely in the ſame words in the GESTA ROMANORUM, and in the LEGENDA AUREA of Jacobus de Voragine ^f, tranſlated, through a French medium, by Caxton. This work of Jacobus does not conſiſt [xiv] ſolely of th [...] legends of the ſaints, but is interſperſed with multis aliis pulcherrimis et peregrinis hiſtoriis, with many other moſt beautiful and ſtrange hiſtories ^t.

CHAP. xvi. A Roman emperor in digging for the foundation of a new palace, finds a golden ſarcophagus, or coffin, inſcribed with myſterious words and ſentences. Which being explained, prove to be ſo many moral leſſons of inſtruction for the em⯑peror's future conduct.

CHAP. xvii. A poor man named Guido, engages to ſerve an emperor of Rome in ſix ſeveral capacities, or employments. One of theſe ſervices is, to ſhew the beſt way to the holy land. Acquitting himſelf in all with ſingular addreſs and fidelity, he is made a knight, and loaded with riches.

CHAP. xviii. A knight named Julian is hunting a ſtag, who turns and ſays, ‘"you will kill your father and mother."’ On this he went into a diſtant country, where he married a rich Lady of a caſtle. Julian's father and mother travelled into va⯑rious lands to find their ſon, and at length accidentally came to this caſtle, in his abſence; where telling their ſtory to the lady, who had heard it from her huſband, ſhe diſcovered who they were, and gave them her own bed to ſleep in. Early in the morning, while ſhe was at maſs in the chapel, her huſband Julian unexpectedly returned; and entering his wife's chamber, perceived two perſons in the bed, whom he immediately ſlew with his ſword, haſtily ſuppoſing them to be his wife and her adulterer. At leaving the chamber, he met his wife coming from the cha⯑pel; and with great aſtoniſhment aſked her, who the perſons were ſleeping in her bed? She anſwered, ‘"They are your parents, who have been ſeeking you ſo long, and whom I have honoured with a place in our own bed."’ Afterwards they founded a ſumptuous hoſpital for the accommodation of travellers, on the banks of a dangerous river.

This ſtory is told in Caxton's GOLDEN LEGENDE ^u, and in [xv] the metrical Lives of the Saints ^w. Hence Julian, or Saint Julian, was called hoſpitator, or the gode herberjour; and the Pater Noſter became famous, which he uſed to ſay for the ſouls of his father and mother whom he had thus unfortunately killed ^x. The peculiar excellencies of this prayer are diſplayed by Boc⯑cace ^y. Chaucer ſpeaking of the hoſpitable diſpoſition of his FRANKELEIN, ſays,

This hiſtory is, like the laſt, related by our compiler, in the words of Julian's Legend, as it ſtands in Jacobus de Voragine ^a. Bollandus has inſerted Antoninus's account of this ſaint, which appears alſo to be literally the ſame ^b. It is told, yet not exactly in the ſame words, by Vincent of Beauvais ^c.

I take this opportunity of obſerving, that the Legends of the the Saints, ſo frequently referred to in the GESTA ROMA⯑NORUM, often contain high ſtrokes of fancy, both in the ſtructure and decorations of the ſtory. That they ſhould abound in extravagant conceptions, may be partly accounted for, from the ſuperſtitious and viſionary caſt of the writer: but the truth is, they derive this complexion from the eaſt. Some were originally forged by monks of the Greek church, to whom the oriental fictions and mode of fabling were familiar. The more early of the Latin lives were carried over to Conſtantinople, where they were tranſlated into Greek with new embelliſhments of eaſtern imagination. Theſe being returned into Europe, were tranſlated into Latin, where they naturally ſuperſeded the old Latin arche⯑types. Others of the Latin lives contracted this tincture, from being written after the Arabian literature became common in Europe. The following ideas in the Life of Saint Pelagian [xvi] evidently betray their original. ‘"As the bysſhop ſange maſſe in the cyte of Uſanance, he ſaw thre dropes ryghte clere all of one grateneſſe whiche were upon the aulter, and al thre ranne to gyder in to a precyous gemme: and whan they had ſet thys gemme in a croſſe of golde, al the other precyous ſtones that were there, fyllen^d out, and thys gemme was clere to them that were clene out of ſynne, and it was obſcure and darke to ſynners ^e, &c."’ The peculiar caſt of romantic inven⯑tion was admirably ſuited to ſerve the purpoſes of ſuperſtition.

Poſſevin, a learned Jeſuit, who wrote about the cloſe of the ſixteenth century, complains, that for the laſt five hundred years the courts of all the princes in Europe had been infatuated by reading romances: and that, in his time, it was a mark of in⯑elegance, not to be familiarly acquainted with Lancelot du Lake, Perceforeſt, Triſtan, Giron the Courteous, Amadis de Gaul, Primaleon, Boccace's Decameron, and Arioſto. He even goes ſo far as to ſay, that the devil inſtigated Luther to procure a tranſla⯑tion of Amadis from Spaniſh into French, for the purpoſe of facilitating his grand ſcheme of overthrowing the catholic reli⯑gion. The popularity of this book, he adds, warped the minds of the French nation from their antient notions and ſtudies; introduced a neglect of the ſcriptures, and propagated a love for aſtrology, and other fantaſtic arts ^f. But with the leave of this zealous catholic I would obſerve, that this ſort of reading was likely to produce, if any, an effect quite contrary. The genius of romance and of popery was the ſame; and both were ſtrengthened by the reciprocation of a ſimilar ſpirit of cre⯑dulity. The dragons and the caſtles of the one, were of a piece with the viſions and pretended miracles of the other. The ridiculous theories of falſe and unſolid ſcience, which, by the way, had been familiariſed to the French by other ro⯑mances, long before the tranſlation of Amadis, were ſurely more likely to be advanced under the influence of a religion founded on [xvii] deception, than in conſequence of Luther's reformed ſyſtem, which aimed at purity and truth, and which was to gain its end by the ſuppreſſion of antient prejudices.

Many of the abſurdities of the catholic worſhip were per⯑haps, as I have hinted, in ſome degree neceſſary in the early ages of the church, on account of the ignorance of the people; at leaſt, under ſuch circumſtances they were natural, and there⯑fore excuſable. But when the world became wiſer, thoſe mum⯑meries ſhould have been aboliſhed, for the ſame reaſon that the preachers left off quoting Eſop's fables in their ſermons, and the ſtage ceaſed to inſtruct the people in the ſcripture-hiſtory by the repreſentation of the MYSTERIES. The advocates of the pa⯑pal communion do not conſider, that in a cultivated age, abound⯑ing with every ſpecies of knowledge, they continue to retain thoſe fooleries which were calculated only for chriſtians in a con⯑dition of barbariſm, and of which the uſe now no longer ſubſiſts.

CHAP. xix. When Julius Ceſar was preparing to paſs the Rubicon, a gigantic ſpectre appeared from the middle of the river, threatening to interrupt his paſſage, if he came not to eſtabliſh the peace of Rome. Our author cites the GESTA ROMANORUM for this ſtory.

It was impoſſible that the Roman hiſtory could paſs through the dark ages, without being infected with many romantic cor⯑ruptions. Indeed, the Roman was almoſt the only antient hiſtory, which the readers of thoſe ages knew: and what re⯑lated even to pagan Rome, the parent of the more modern papal metropolis of chriſtianity, was regarded with a ſuperſti⯑tious veneration, and often magnified with miraculous additions.

CHAP. xx. The birth of the emperor Henry, ſon of earl Leopold, and his wonderful preſervation from the ſtratagems of the emperor Conrade, till his acceſſion to the imperial throne.

This ſtory is told by Caxton in the GOLDEN LEGENDE, under the life of Pelagian the pope, entitled, Here foloweth the lyf of Saynt Pelagyen the pope, with many other hyſtoryes and [xviii] geſtys of the Lombardes, and of Machomete, with other cronycles ^g. The GESTA LONGOBARDORUM are fertile in legendary matter, and furniſhed Jacobus de Voragine, Caxton's original, with many marvellous hiſtories ^h. Caxton, from the geſtes of the Lombardis, gives a wonderful account of a peſtilence in Italy, under the reign of king Gilbert ⁱ.

There is a LEGENDA SANCTORUM, [...]ive HISTORIA LOM⯑BARDICA, printed in 1483. This very uncommon book is not mentioned by Maittaire. It has this colophon. ‘"Expli⯑ciunt quorundam Sanctorum Legende adjuncte poſt Lom⯑bardicam hiſtoriam. Impreſſa Argentine, M. CCCC. LXXXIII ^k."’ That is, the latter part of the book contains a few Saints not in the hiſtory of the Lombards, which forms the firſt part. I have neither time nor inclination to examine whether this is Jacobus's LEGENDA: but I believe it to be the ſame. I think I have ſeen an older edition of the work, at Cologne 1470 ^l.

I have obſerved that Caxton's GOLDEN LEGENDE is taken from Jacobus de Voragine. This perhaps is not preciſely true. Caxton informs us in his firſt preface to the firſt edition of 1483 ^m, that he had in his poſſeſſion a Legend in French, ano⯑ther in Latin, and a third in Engliſh, which varied from the other two in many places: and that MANY HISTORIES were contained in the Engliſh collection, which did not occur in the French and Latin. Therefore, ſays he, ‘"I have wryton ON [...] OUTE of the ſayd three bookes: which I have orderyd other⯑wyſe than in the ſayd Englysſhe Legende, which was ſo to fore made."’ Caxton's Engliſh original might have been the old METRICAL LIVES OF THE SAINTS.

CHAP. xxi. A ſtory from Juſtin, concerning a conſpiracy of the Spartans againſt their king.

[xix] CHAP. xxii. How the Egyptians deified Iſis and Oſiris. From ſaint Auſtin. As is the following chapter.

CHAP. xxiv. Of a magician and his delicious garden, which he ſhews only to fools and to his enemies.

CHAP. xxv. Of a lady who keeps the ſtaff and ſcrip of a ſtranger, who reſcued her from the oppreſſions of a tyrant: but being afterwards courted by three kings, ſhe deſtroys thoſe memorials of her greateſt benefactor.

CHAP. xxvi. An emperor, viſiting the holy land, commits his daughter and his favorite dog, who is very fierce, to the cuſtody of five knights, under the ſuperintendance of his ſene⯑ſhall. The ſeneſhall neglects his charge: the knights are obliged to quit their poſt for want of neceſſaries; and the dog, being fed with the proviſions aſſigned to the knights, grows fiercer, breaks his three chains, and kills the lady who was per⯑mitted to wander at large in her father's hall. When the em⯑peror returns, the ſeneſhall is thrown into a burning furnace.

CHAP. xxviii. The old woman and her little dog.

CHAP. xxx. The three honours and three diſhonours, decreed by a certain king to every conqueror returning from war.

CHAP. xxxi. The ſpeeches of the philoſophers on ſeeing king Alexander's golden ſepulchre.

CHAP. xxxiii. A man had three trees in his garden, on which his three wives ſucceſſively hanged themſelves. Another begs an offset from each of the trees, to be planted in the gardens of his married neighbours. From Valerius Maximus, who is cited.

CHAP. xxxiv. Ariſtotle's ſeven rules to his pupil Alexander.

This, I think, is from the SECRETA SECRETORUM. Ariſ⯑totle, for two reaſons, was a popular character in the dark ages. He was the father of their philoſophy: and had been the pre⯑ceptor of Alexander the Great, one of the principal heroes of romance. No [...] was Ariſtotle himſelf without his romantic hiſtory; in which he falls in love with a queen of Greece, who quickly confutes his ſubtleſt ſyllogiſms.

[xx] CHAP. xxxv. The GESTA ROMANORUM cited, for the cuſ⯑tom among the antient Romans of killing a lamb for pacifying quarrels.

CHAP. xxxvi. Of a king who deſires to know the nature of man. Solinus, de MIRABILIBUS MUNDI, is here quoted.

CHAP. xxxvii. Pliny's account of the ſtone which the eagle places in her neſt, to avoid the poiſon of a ſerpent.

CHAP. xxxix. Julius Ceſar's mediation between two brothers. From the GESTA ROMANORUM.

We muſt not forget, that there was the Romance of JULIUS CESAR. And I believe Antony and Cleopatra were more known characters in the dark ages, than is commonly ſuppoſed. Shakeſpeare is thought to have formed his play on this ſtory from North's tranſlation of Amyot's unauthentic French Plu⯑tarch, publiſhed at London in 1579. Montfaucon, among the manuſcripts of monſieur Lancelot, recites an old piece written about the year 1500, ‘"LA VIE ET FAIS DE MARC ANTOINE le triumvir et de ſa mie CLEOPATRA, tranſlatè de l' hiſtorien Plutarque pour tres illuſtre haute et puiſſante dame Madame Françoiſe de Fouez Dame de Châteaubriand ⁿ."’ I know not whether t [...]is piece was ever printed. At leaſt it ſhews, that the ſtory was familiar at a more early period than is imagined; and leads us to ſuſpect, that there might have been other mate⯑rials uſed by Shakeſpeare on this ſubject, than thoſe hitherto pointed out by his commentators.

That Amyot's French verſion of Plutarch ſhould contain corruptions and innovations, will eaſily be conceived, when it is remembered that he probably tranſlated from an old Italian verſion ^o. A new exhibition in Engliſh of the French caricature [xxi] of this moſt valuable biographer by North, muſt have ſtil [...] more widely extended the deviation from the original.

CHAP. xl. The infidelity of a wife proved by feeling her pulſe in converſation. From Macrobius.

CHAP. xlii. Valerius Maximus is cited, concerning a column at Rome inſcribed with four letters four times written.

CHAP. xliv. Tiberius orders a maker of ductile glaſs, which could not be broken, to be beheaded, le [...]t it ſhould become more valuable than ſilver and gold.

This piece of hiſtory, which appears alſo in Cornelius Aggrippa DE VANITATE SCIENTIARUM ^q, is taken from Pliny, or rather from his tranſcriber Iſidore ^p. Pliny, in relating this ſtory, ſays, that the temperature of glaſs, ſo as to render it flexible, was diſcovered under the reign of Tiberius.

In the ſame chapter Pliny obſerves, that glaſs is ſuſceptible of all colours. ‘"Fit et album, et murrhinum, aut hyacinthos ſapphiroſque imitatum, et omnibus aliis coloribus. Nec eſt alia nunc materia ſequacior, aut etiam PICTURAE ACCOMMO⯑DATIOR. Maximus tamen honor in candido ^r."’ But the Romans, as the laſt ſentence partly proves, probably never uſed any coloured glaſs for windows. The firſt notice of windows of a church made of coloured glaſs occurs in chronicles quoted by Muratori. In the year 802, a pope built a church at Rome, and, ‘"feneſtras ex vitro diverſis coloribus concluſit atque deco⯑ravit ^s."’ And in 856, he produces ‘"feneſtras vero vitreis coloribus, &c ^t."’ This however was a ſort of moſaic in glaſs. To expreſs figures in glaſs, or what we now call the art of [xxii] painting in glaſs, was a very different work: and, I believe, I can ſhew it was brought from Conſtantinople to Rome before the tenth century, with other ornamental arts. Guiccardini, who wrote about 1560, in his Deſcrittione de tutti Paeſi Baſſi, aſcribes the invention of baking colours in glaſs for church⯑windows to the Netherlanders ^u: but he does not mention the period, and I think he muſt be miſtaken. It is certain that this art owed much to the laborious and mechanical genius of the Germans; and, in particular, their deep reſearches and ex⯑periments in chemiſtry, which they cultivated in the dark ages with the moſt indefatigable aſſiduity, muſt have greatly aſſiſted its operations. I could give very early anecdotes of this art in England. But, with the careleſs haſte of a lover, I am antici⯑pating what I have to ſay of it in my HISTORY OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND.

CHAP. xlv. A king leaves four ſons by his wife, only one which is lawfully begotten. They have a conteſt for the throne. The diſpute is referred to the deceaſed king's ſecretary, who orders the body to be taken from the tomb; and decrees, that the ſon who can ſhoot an arrow deepeſt into it ſhall be king. The firſt wounds the king's right hand: the ſecond his mouth: the third his heart. The laſt wound is ſuppoſed to be the ſuc⯑ceſsful one. At length the fourth, approaching the body, cried out with a lamentable voice, ‘"Far be it from me to wound my father's body!"’ In conſequence of this ſpeech, he is pro⯑nounced by the nobles and people preſent to be the true heir, and placed on the throne.

CHAP. xlviii. Dionyſius is quoted for the ſtory of Perillus's braſen bull.

Gower in the CONFESSIO AMANTIS has this ſtory; which he prefaces by ſaying that he found it in a Cronike ^w. In Caxton's Golden Legende, Macrobius is called a chronicle. ‘"Macrobius ſayth in a cronike ^x."’ Chronicles are naturally the firſt efforts [xxiii] of the literature of a barbarous age. The writers, if any, of thoſe periods are ſeldom equal to any thing more than a bare narration of facts: and ſuch ſort of matter is ſuitable to the taſte and capa⯑city of their cotemporary readers. A further proof of the prin⯑ciples advanced in the beginning of this Diſſertation.

CHAP. xlix. The ducheſs Roſmilla falls in love with Conan, king of Hungary, whom ſhe ſees from the walls of the city of Foro-Juli, which he is beſieging. She has four ſons and two daughters. She betrays the city to Conan, on condition that he will marry her the next day. Conan, a barbarian, exe⯑cuted the contract; but on the third day expoſed her to his whole army, ſaying, ‘"ſuch a wife deſerves ſuch a huſband."’

Paulus, that is, Paulus Diaconus, the hiſtorian of the Longo⯑bards is quoted. He was chancellor of Deſiderius, the laſt king of the Lombards; with whom he was taken captive by Charlemagne. The hiſtory here referred to is entitled GESTA LONGOBARDORUM ^y.

CHAP. l. From Valerius Maximus.

CHAP. li. From Joſephus.

CHAP. lii. From Valerius Maximus.

CHAP. liii. From the ſame.

CHAP. liv. The emperor Frederick's marble portico near Capua.

I wonder there are not more romances extant on the lives of the Roman emp [...]rors of Germany; many of whom, to ſay no more, were famous in the cruſades. There is a romance in old German rhyme, called TEUERDANK, on Maximilian the firſt, written by Melchior Pfinzing his chaplain. Printed at Nurem⯑berg in 1517 ^z.

[xxiv] CHAP. lv. Of a king who has one ſon exceedingly beautiful, and four daughters, named Juſtice, Truth, Mercy, and Peace.

CHAP. lvi. A nobleman invited a merchant to his caſtle, whom he met accordingly upon the road. At entering the caſtle, the merchant was aſtoniſhed at the magnificence of the chambers, which were overlaid with gold. At ſupper, the nobleman placed the merchant next to his wife, who imme⯑diately ſhewed evident tokens of being much ſtruck with her beauty. The table was covered with the richeſt dainties; but while all were ſerved in golden diſhes, a pittance of meat was placed before the lady in a diſh made out of a human ſcull. The merchant was ſurpriſed and terrified at this ſtrange ſpec⯑tacle. At length he was conducted to bed in a fair chamber [...] where, when left alone, he obſerved a glimmering lamp in a nook or corner of the room, by which he diſcovered two dead bodies hung up by the arms. He was now filled with the moſt horrible apprehenſions, and could not ſleep all the night. When he roſe in the morning, he was aſked by the nobleman how he liked his entertainment? He anſwered, ‘"There is plenty of every thing; but the ſcull prevented me from eating at ſup⯑per, and the two dead bodies which I ſaw in my chamber from ſleeping. With your leave therefore I will depart."’ The nobleman anſwered, ‘"My friend, you obſerved the beauty of my wife. The ſcull which you ſaw placed before her at ſupper, was the head of a duke, whom I detected in her embraces, and which I cut off with my own ſword. As a memorial of her crime, and to teach her modeſt behaviour, her adulterer's ſcull is made to ſerve for her diſh. The bodies of the two young men hanging in the chamber are my two kinſmen, who were murthered by the ſon of the duke. To keep up my ſenſe of revenge for their blood, I viſit their dead bodies every day. Go in peace, and remember to judge nothing without knowing the truth."’

Caxton has the hiſtory of Albione, a king of the Lombards, who having conquered another king, ‘"lade awaye wyth hym [xxv] Roſamounde his wyf in captyvyte, but after he took hyr to hys wyf, and he dyde do make a cuppe of the ſkulle of that kynge and cloſed in fyne golde and ſylver, and dranke out of it ^a."’ This, by the way, is the ſtory of the old Italian tragedy of Meſſer Giovanni Rucellai planned on the model of the antients, and acted in the Rucellai gardens at Florence, be⯑fore Leo the tenth and his court, in the year 1516 ^b. Davenant has alſo a tragedy on the ſame ſubject, called ALBOVINE king of the Lombards his Tragedy.

A moſt ſanguinary ſcene in Shakeſpeare's TITUS ADRONI⯑CUS, an incident in Dryden's, or Boccace's, TANCRED and SIGISMONDA, and the cataſtrophe of the beautiful metrical romance of the LADY of FAGUEL, are founded on the ſame horrid ideas of inhuman retaliation and ſavage revenge: but in the two laſt pieces, the circumſtances are ſo ingeniouſly ima⯑gined, as to loſe a conſiderable degree of their atrocity, and to be productive of the moſt pathetic and intereſting ſituations.

CHAP. lvii. The enchanter Virgil places a magical image in the middle of Rome ^c, which communicates to the emperor Titus all the ſecret offences committed every day in the city ^d.

This ſtory is in the old black-lettered hiſtory of the necro⯑mancer Virgil, in Mr. Garrick's collection.

Vincent of Beauvais relates many wonderful things, mirabiliter actitata, done by the poet Virgil, whom he repreſents as a ma⯑gician. Among others, he ſays, that Virgil fabricated thoſe brazen ſtatues at Rome, called Salvacio Romae, which were the gods of the Provinces conquered by the Romans. Every one of theſe ſtatues held in its hand a bell framed by magic; and [xxvi] when any province was meditating a revolt, the ſtatue, or idol, of that country ſtruck his bell ^e. This fiction is mentioned by the old anonymous author of the MIRABILIA ROMAE, written in the thirteenth century, and printed by Montfaucon ^f. It occurs in Lydgate's BOCHAS. He is ſpeaking of the Pantheon.

This fiction is not in Boccace, Lydgate's original. It is in the above-cited Gothic hiſtory of Virgil. Gower's Virgil, I think, belongs to the ſame romance.

CHAP. lviii. King Aſmodeus pardons every malefactor con⯑demned to death, who can tell three indiſputable truths or maxims.

[xxvii] CHAP. lix. The emperor Jovinian's hiſtory.

On this there is an antient French MORALITE, entitled, L'Orgueil et pre [...]omption de l'Empereur JOVINIAN ^k. This is alſo the ſtory of ROBERT king of Sicily, an old Engliſh poem, or romance, from which I have given copious extracts ^l.

CHAP. lx. A king has a daughter named Roſimund, aged ten years; exceedingly beautiful, and ſo ſwift of foot, that her father promiſes her in marriage to any man who can overcome her in running. But thoſe who fail in the attempt are to loſe their heads. After many trials, in which ſhe was always victo⯑rious, ſhe loſes the race with a poor man, who throws in her way a ſilken girdle, a garland of roſes, and a ſilken purſe in⯑cloſing a golden ball, inſcribed, ‘"whoſo plays with me will never be ſatiated with play."’ She marries the poor man, who inherits her father's kingdom.

This is evidently a Gothic innovation of the claſſical tale of Atalanta. But it is not impoſſible that an oriental apologue might have given riſe to the Grecian fable.

CHAP. lxi. The emperor Claudius marries his daughter to the philoſopher Socrates.

CHAP. lxii. Florentina's picture.

CHAP. lxiii. Veſpaſian's daughter's garden. All her lovers are obliged to enter this garden before they can obtain her love, but none return alive. The garden is haunted by a lion; and has only one entrance, which divides into ſo many windings, that it never can be found again. At length, ſhe furniſhes a knight with a ball or clue of thread, and teaches him how to foil the lion. Having achieved this adventure, he marries the lady.

Here ſeems to be an alluſion to Medea's hiſtory.

CHAP. lxiv. A virgin is married to a king, becauſe ſhe makes him a ſhirt of a piece of cloth three fingers long and broad.

CHAP. lxv. A croſs with four inſcriptions.

[xxviii] CHAP. lxvi. A knight offers to recover a lady's inheritance, which had been ſeized by a tyrant; on condition, that if he is ſlain, ſhe ſhall always keep his bloody armour hanging in her chamber. He regains her property, although he dies in the attempt; and as often as ſhe was afterwards fued for in marriage, before ſhe gave an anſwer, ſhe returned to her chamber, and contemplating with tears her deliverer's bloody armour, reſolutely rejected every ſollicitation.

CHAP. lxvii. The wiſe and fooliſh knight.

CHAP. lxviii. A woman underſtands the language of birds. The three cocks.

CHAP. lxix. A mother gives to a man who marries her daughter a ſhirt, which can never be torn, nor will ever need waſhing, while they continue faithful to each other.

CHAP. lxx. The king's daughter who requires three impoſſi⯑ble things of her lovers.

CHAP. lxxii. The king who reſigns his crown to his ſon.

CHAP. lxxiv. The golden apple.

CHAP. lxxv. A king's three daughters marry three dukes, who all die the ſame year.

CHAP. lxxvi. The two phyſicians.

CHAP. lxxix. The fable of the familiar aſs.

CHAP. lxxx. A devout hermit lived in a cave, near which a ſhepherd folded his flock. Many of the ſheep being ſtolen, the ſhepherd was unjuſtly killed by his maſter as being con⯑cerned in the theft. The hermit ſeeing an innocent man put to death, began to ſuſpect the exiſtence of a divine Providence; and reſolved no longer to perplex himſelf with the uſeleſs ſeve⯑ties of religion, but to mix in the world. In travelling from his retirement, he was met by an angel in the figure of a man; who ſaid, ‘"I am an angel, and am ſent by God to be your companion on the road."’ They entered a city; and begged for lodging at the houſe of a knight, who entertained them at a ſplendid ſupper. In the night, the angel roſe from his bed, and ſtrangled the knight's only child who was aſleep in the [xxix] cradle. The hermit was aſtoniſhed at this barbarous return for ſo much hoſpitality, but was afraid to make any remonſtrance to his companion. Next morning they went to another city. Here they were liberally received in the houſe of an opulent citizen; but in the night the angel roſe, and ſtole a golden cup of ineſtimable value. The hermit now concluded, that his companion was a Bad Angel. In travelling forward the next morning, they paſſed over a bridge; about the middle of which they met a poor man, of whom the angel aſked the way to the next city. Having received the deſired information, the angel puſhed the poor man into the water, where he was immediately drowned. In the evening they arrived at the houſe of a rich man; and begging for a lodging, were ordered to ſleep in a ſhed with the cattle. In the morning the angel gave the rich man the cup which he had ſtolen. The hermit, amazed that the cup which was ſtolen from their friend and bene⯑factor ſhould be given to one who refuſed them a lodging, began to be now convinced that his companion was the devil; and begged to go on alone. But the angel ſaid, ‘"Hear me, and depart. When you lived in your hermitage a ſhepherd was killed by his maſter. He was innocent of the ſuppoſed offence: but had he not been then killed, he would have committed crimes in which he would have died impenitent. His maſter endeavours to atone for the murther, by dedicating the remainder of his days to alms and deeds of charity. I ſtrangled the child of the knight. But know, that the father was ſo intent on heaping up riches for this child, as to ne⯑glect thoſe acts of public munificence for which he was be⯑fore ſo diſtinguiſhed, and to which he has now returned. I ſtole the golden cup of the hoſpitable citizen. But know, that from a life of the [...]tricteſt temperance, he became, in conſequence of poſſeſſing this cup, a perpetual drunkard; and is now the moſt abſtemious of men. I threw the poor man into the water. He was then honeſt and religious. But know, had he walked one half of a mile further, he would [xxx] have murthered a man in a ſtate of mortal ſin. I gave the golden cup to the rich man who refuſed to take us within his roof. He has therefore received his reward in this world; and in the next, will ſuffer the pains of hell for his inhoſpi⯑tality."’ The hermit fell proſtrate at the angel's feet; and re⯑queſting forgiveneſs, returned to his hermitage, fully convinced of the wiſdom and juſtice of God's government.

This is the fable of Parnell's HERMIT, which that elegant yet original writer has heightened with many maſterly touches of poetical colouring, and a happier arrangement of circum⯑ſtances. Among other proofs which might be mentioned of Parnell's genius and addreſs in treating this ſubject, by reſerving the diſcovery of the angel to a critical period at the cloſe of the fable, he has found means to introduce a beautiful deſcription, and an intereſting ſurpriſe. In this poem, the laſt inſtance of the angel's ſeeming injuſtice, is that of puſhing the guide from the bridge into the river. At this, the hermit is unable to ſuppreſs his indignation.

The ſame apologue occurs, with ſome ſlight additions and variations for the worſe, in Howell's LETTERS; who profeſſes to have taken it from the ſpeculative ſir Philip Herbert's CONCEPTIONS [xxxi] to his Son, a book which I have never ſeen ^m. Theſe Letters were publiſhed about the year 1650. It is alſo found in the DIVINE DIALOGUES of doctor Henry More ⁿ, who has illuſtrated its important moral with the following fine reflections. ‘"The affairs of this world are like a curious, but intricately contrived Comedy; and we cannot judge of the tendency of what is paſt, or acting at preſent, before the entrance of the laſt Act, which ſhall bring in Righteouſneſs in triumph: who, though ſhe hath abided many a brunt, and has been very cruelly and deſpightfully uſed hitherto in the world, yet at laſt, according to our deſires, we ſhall ſee the knight over⯑come the giant. For what is the reaſon we are ſo much pleaſed with the reading romances and the fictions of the poets, but that here, as Ariſtotle ſays, things are ſet down as they ſhould be; but in the true hiſtory hitherto of the world, things are recorded indeed as they are, but it is but a teſti⯑mony, that they have not been as they ſhould be? Where⯑fore, in the upſhot of all, when we ſhall ſee that come to paſs, that ſo mightily pleaſes us in the reading the moſt ingenious plays and heroick poems, that long afflicted vertue at laſt comes to the crown, the mouth of all unbelievers muſt be for ever ſtopped. And for my own part, I doubt not but that it will ſo come to paſs in the cloſe of the world. But impatiently to call for vengeance upon every enormity before that time, is rudely to overturn the ſtage before the entrance into the fifth act, out of ignorance of the plot of the comedy; and to prevent the ſolemnity of the general judgement by more paltry and particular executions ^o."’

Parnell ſeems to have chiefly followed the ſtory as it is told by this Platonic theologiſt, who had not leſs imagination than learning. Pope uſed to ſay, that it was originally written in [xxxii] Spaniſh. This I do not believe: but from the early connection between the Spaniards and Arabians, this aſſertion tends to con⯑firm the ſuſpicion, that it was an oriental tale.

CHAP. lxxxi. A king violates his ſiſter. The child is ex⯑poſed in a cheſt in the ſea; is chriſtened Gregory by an abbot who takes him up, and after various adventures he is promoted to the popedom. In their old age his father and mother go a pilgrimage to Rome, in order to confeſs to this pope, not know⯑ing he was their ſon, and he being equally ignorant that they are his parents: when in the courſe of the confeſſion, a diſcovery is made on both ſides.

CHAP. lxxxix. The three rings.

This ſtory is in the DECAMERON ^p, and in the CENTO NOVELLE ANTICHE ^q: and perhaps in Swift's TALE OF A TUB.

CHAP. xcv. The tyrant Maxentius. From the GESTA RO⯑MANORUM, which are cited.

I think there is the romance of MAXENCE, Conſtantine's antagoniſt.

CHAP. xcvi. King Alexander places a burning candle in his hall; and makes proclamation, that he will abſolve all thoſe who owe him forfeitures of life and land, if they will appear before the candle is conſumed.

CHAP. xcvii. Prodigies before the death of Julius Ceſar, who is placed in the twenty-ſecond year of the city. From the CRONICA, as they are called.

CHAP. xcix. A knight ſaves a ſerpent who is fighting in a foreſt with a toad ^r, but is afterwards bit by the toad. The knight languiſhes many days: and when he is at the point of death, the ſame ſerpent, which he remembers, enters his cham⯑ber, and ſucks the poiſon from the wound.

[xxxiii] CHAP. ci. Of Ganterus, who for his proweſs in war being elected a king of a certain country, is on the night of his coro⯑nation conducted to a chamber, where at the head of the bed is a fierce lion, at the feet a dragon, and on either ſide a bear, toads, and ſerpents. He immediately quitted his new kingdom; and was quickly elected king of another country. Going to reſt the firſt night, he was led into a chamber furniſhed with a bed richly embroidered, but ſtuck all over with ſharp razors. This kingdom he alſo relinquiſhes. At length he meets a hermit, who gives him a ſtaff, with which he is directed to knock at the gate of a magnificent palace, ſeated on a lofty mountain. Here he gains admittance, and finds every ſort of happineſs unembittered with the laeſt degree of pain.

The king means every man advanced to riches and honour, and who thinks to enjoy theſe advantages without interruption and alloy. The hermit is religion, the ſtaff penitence, and the palace heaven.

In a more confined ſenſe, the firſt part of this apologue may be ſeparately interpreted to ſignify, that a king, when he enters on his important charge, ought not to ſuppoſe himſelf to ſucceed to the privilege of an exemption from care, and to be put into immediate poſſeſſion of the higheſt pleaſures, conveniencies, and felicities of life; but to be ſenſible, that from that moment, he begins to encounter the greateſt dangers and difficulties.

CHAP. cii. Of the lady of a knight who went to the holy land. She commits adultery with a clerk ſkilled in ne⯑cromancy. Another magician diſcovers her intrigues to the abſent knight by means of a poliſhed mirror, and his image in wax.

In Adam Davie's GEST or romance of ALEXANDER, Nec⯑tabanus, a king and magician, diſcovers the machinations of his enemies by embattelling them in figures of wax. This is the moſt extenſive necromantic operation of the kind that I remember, and muſt have formed a puppet-ſhew equal to the moſt ſplendid pantomime.

Afterwards he frames an image of the queen Olympias, or Olympia, while ſleeping, whom he violates in the ſhape of a dragon.

[xxxvii] Theocritus, Virgil, and Horace, have left inſtances of incan⯑ [...]ations conducted by figures in wax. In the beginning of the laſt century, many witches were executed for attempting the lives of perſons, by fabricating repreſentations of them in wax and clay. King James the firſt, in his DAEMONOLOGIE, ſpeaks of this practice [...]s very common; the efficacy of which he pe⯑remptorily aſcribes to the power of the devil ^h. His majeſty's arguments, intended to prove how the magician's image ope⯑rated on the perſon repreſented, are drawn from the depths of moral, theological, phyſical, and metaphyſical knowledge. The Arabian magic abounded with theſe infatuations, which were partly founded on the doctrine of ſympathy.

But to return to the GESTA ROMANORUM. In this ſtory one of the magicians is ſtyled Magiſter peritus, and ſometimes ſimply Magiſter. That is, a cunning-man. The title Magiſter in our univerſities has its origin from the uſe of this word in the middle ages. With what propriety it is now continued I will not ſay. Myſtery, antiently uſed for a particular art ⁱ, or ſkill in general, is a ſpecious and eaſy corruption of Maiſtery or Maſtery, the Engliſh of the Latin MAGISTERIUM, or Arti⯑ficium; in French Maiſtriſe, Meſtier, Meſtrie, and in Italian Ma⯑giſterio, with the ſame ſenſe ^k. In the French romance of CLEO⯑MEDES, a phyſician is called ſimply Mait [...]e ^l.

[xxxviii] And the medical art is ſtyled Meſtrie. ‘"Quant il (the ſurgeon) aperçut que c'eſtoit maladie non mie curable par nature et par MESTRIE, et par medicine, &c ^m."’ Maiſtriſe is uſed for art or workmanſhip, in the CHRONICON of Saint Denis, ‘"Entr [...] [...]es autres preſens, li envoia une horologe de laton, ouvrez par marveilleuſe MAISTRISE ⁿ."’ That the Latin MAGISTERIUM has preciſely the ſame ſenſe appears from an account of the con⯑tract for building the conventual church of Caſino in Italy, in the year 1349. The architects agree to build the church in the form of the Lateran at Rome. ‘"Et in caſu ſi aliquis [defectus] in eorum MAGISTERIO appareret, promiſerunt reſarcire ^o."’ Chaucer, in the ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE, uſes MAISTRIS [...] [...]or artifice and workmanſhip.

And, in the ſame poem, in deſcribing the ſhoes of MIRTH.

MAYSTRYE occurs in the deſcription of a lady's ſaddle, in SYR LAUNFAL'S romance.

‘"In the ſaddle-bow were two jewels of In [...]ia, very beautiful [xl] to be ſeen, in conſequence of the great art with which they were wrought ^x."’ Chaucer calls his Monke,

Fayre for the Maiſtrie means, ſkilled in the Maiſtrie of the game, La Maiſtriſe du Venerie, or the ſcience of hunting, then ſo much a favorite, as ſimply and familiarly to be called the maiſtrie. From many other inſtances which I could produce, I will only add, that the ſearch of the Philoſopher's Stone is called in the Latin Geber, INVESTIGATIO MAGISTERII.

CHAP. ciii. The merchant who ſells three wiſe maxims to the wife of Domitian.

CHAP. [...]iv. A knight in hunting meets a lion, from whoſe foot he extracts a thorn. Afterwards he becomes an outlaw; and being ſeized by the king, is condemned to be thrown into a deep pit to be devoured by a hungry lion. The lion fawns on the knight, whom he perceives to be the ſame that drew the thorn from his paw. Then ſaid the king, ‘"I will learn forbearance from the beaſts. As the lion has ſpared your life, when it was in his power to take it, I therefore grant you a free pardon. Depart, and be admoniſhed hence to live virtuouſly."’

The learned reader muſt immediately recollect a ſimilar ſtory of one Androclus, who being expoſed to fight with wild beaſts in the Roman amphitheatre, is recogniſed and unattacked by a moſt ſavage lion, whom he had formerly healed exactly in the ſame manner. But I believe the whole is nothing more than an oriental apologue on gratitude, written much earlier; and that it here exiſts in its original ſtate. Androclus's ſtory is related by Aulus Gellius, on the authority of a Greek writer, one Ap⯑pion, called Pliſtonices, who flouriſhed under Tiberius. The cha⯑racter of Appion, with which Gellius prefaces this tale, in ſome meaſure invalidates his credit; notwithſtanding he pretends to [xli] have been an eye witneſs of this extraordinary fact. ‘"Ejus libri, ſays Gellius, non incelebres feruntur; quibus, omnium ferme quae mirifica in Aegypto viſuntur audiunturque, hiſtoria comprehen⯑ditur. Sed in his quae audiviſſe et legiſſe [...]eſe dicit, fortaſſe a vitio ſtudioque oſtentationis [...]it loquacior, &c ^z."’ Had our compiler of the GESTA taken this ſtory from Gellius, it is probable he would have told it with ſome of the ſame circum⯑ſtances: eſpecially as Gellius is a writer whom he frequently follows, and even quotes; and to whom, on this occaſion, he might have been obliged for a few more ſtrokes of the marvel⯑lous. But the two writers agree only in the general ſubject. Our compiler's narrative has much more ſimplicity than that of Gellius; and contains marks of eaſtern manners and life. Let me add, that the oriental fabuliſts are fond of illuſtrating and enforcing the duty of gratitude, by feigning inſtances of the gratitude of beaſts towards men. And of this the preſent compilation, which is ſtrongly tinctured with orientaliſm, affords ſeveral other proofs.

CHAP. cv. Theodoſius the bl [...]d emperor ordained, that the cauſe of every injured perſon ſhould be heard, on ringing a bell placed in a public part of his palace. A ſerpent had a neſt near the ſpot where the bell-rope fell. In the abſence of the ſerpent, a toad took poſſeſſion of her neſt. The ſerpent twiſting herſelf round the rope, rang the bell for juſtice; and by the emperor's ſpecial command the toad was killed. A few days afterwards, as the king was repoſing on his couch, the ſerpent entered the chamber, bearing a precious ſtone in her mouth. The ſerpent creeping up to the emperor's face, laid the precious ſtone on his eyes, and glided out of the apartment. Immediately the em⯑peror was reſtored to his ſight.

This circumſtance of the Bell of Juſtice occurs in the real hiſtory of ſome eaſtern monarch, whoſe name I have forgot.

[xlii] In the Arabian philoſophy, ſerpents, either from the bright⯑neſs of their eyes, or becauſe they inhabit the cavities of the earth, were conſidered as having a natural, or occult, connection with precious ſtones. In Alphonſus's CLERICALIS DISCI⯑PLINA, a ſnake is mentioned, whoſe eyes were real jacinths. In Alexander's romantic hiſtory, he is ſaid to have found ſer⯑pents in the vale of Jordian, with collars of huge emeralds growing on their necks ^a. The toad, under a vulgar indiſcri⯑minating idea, is ranked with the reptile race: and Shakeſpeare has a beautiful compariſon on the traditionary notion, that the toad has a rich gem incloſed within its head. Milton gives his ſerpent eyes of carbuncle ^b.

CHAP. cvi. The three fellow-travellers, who have only one loaf of bread.

This apologue is in Alphonſus.

CHAP. cvii. There was an image in the city of Rome, which ſtretched forth its right hand, on the middle finger of which was written STRIKE HERE. For a long time none could un⯑derſtand the meaning of this myſterious inſcription. At length a certain ſubtle Clerk, who came to ſee this famous image, ob⯑ſerved, as the ſun ſhone againſt it, the ſhadow of the inſcribed finger on the ground at ſome diſtance. He immediately took a ſpade, and began to dig exactly on that ſpot. He came at length to a flight of ſteps which deſcended far under ground, and led him to a ſtately palace. Here he entered a hall, where he ſaw a king and queen ſitting at table, with their nobles and a multitude of people, all clothed in rich garments. But no per⯑ſon ſpake a word. He looked towards one corner, where he ſaw a poliſhed carbuncle, which illuminated the whole room ^c. In [xliii] the oppoſite corner he perceived the figure of a man ſtanding, having a bended bow with an arrow in his hand, as prepared to ſhoot. On his forehead was written, ‘"I am, who am. No⯑thing can eſcape my ſtroke, not even yonder carbuncle which ſhines ſo bright."’ The Clerk beheld all with amazement; and entering a chamber, ſaw the moſt beautiful ladies working at the loom in purple ^d. But all was ſilence. He then entered a ſtable full of the moſt excellent horſes and aſſes: he touched ſome of them, and they were inſtantly turned into ſtone. He next ſurveyed all the apartments of the palace, which abounded [xliv] with all that his wiſhes could deſire. He again viſited the hal [...], and now began to reflect how he ſhould return; ‘"but, ſays he, my report of all theſe wonders will not be believed, unleſs I carry ſomething back with me."’ He therefore took from the principal table a golden cup and a golden knife, and placed them in his boſom. When, the man who ſtood in the corner with the bow, immediately ſhot at the carbuncle, which he ſhattered into a thouſand pieces. At that moment the hall be⯑came dark as night. In this darkneſs not being able to find hi [...] way, he remained in the ſubterraneous palace, and ſoon died a miſerable death.

In the MORALISATION of this ſtory, the ſteps by which the Clerk deſcends into the earth are ſuppoſed to be the Paſſions. The palace, ſo richly ſtored, is the world with all its vanities and temptations. The figure with the bow bent is Death, and the carbuncle is Human Life. He ſuffers for his avarice in coveting and ſeizing what was not his own; and no ſooner has he taken the golden knife and cup, that is, enriched himſelf with the goods of this world, than he is delivered up to the gloom and horrors of the grave.

Spenſer in the FAERIE QUEENE, ſeems to have diſtantly re⯑membered this fable, where a fiend expecting ſir Guyon will be tempted to ſnatch ſome of the treaſures of the ſubterraneous HOUSE OF RICHESSE, which are diſplayed in his view, i [...] prepared to faſten upon him.

This ſtory was originally invented of pope Gerbert, or Sylveſter [xlv] the ſecond, who died in the year 1003. He was emi⯑nently learned in the mathematical ſciences, and on that ac⯑count was ſtyled a magician. William of Malmeſbury is, I believe, the firſt writer now extant by whom it is recorded: and he produces it partly to ſhew, that Gerbert was not always ſucceſsful in thoſe attempts which he ſo frequently practiſed to diſcover treaſures hid in the earth, by the application of the ne⯑cromantic arts. I will tranſlate Malmeſbury's narration of this fable, as it varies in ſome of the circumſtances, and has ſome heightenings of the fiction. ‘"At Rome there was a brazen ſtatue, extending the forefinger of the right hand; and on its forehead was written Strike here. Being ſuſpected to conceal a treaſure, it had received many bruiſes from the credulous and ignorant, in their endeavours to open it. At length Gerbert unriddled the myſtery. At noon-day obſerving the reflection of the forefinger on the ground, he marked the ſpot. At night he came to the place, with a page carrying a lamp. There by a magical operation he opened a wide paſſage in the earth; through which they both deſcended, and came to a vaſt palace. The walls, the beams, and the whole ſtructure, were of gold: they ſaw golden images of knights playing at cheſs, with a king and queen of gold at a banquet, with numerous attendants in gold, and cups of immenſe ſize and value. In a receſs was a carbuncle, whoſe luſtre illuminated the whole palace: oppoſite to which ſtood a figure with a bended bow. As they attempted to touch ſome of the rich furniture, all the golden images ſeemed to ruſh upon them. Gerbert was too wiſe to attempt this a ſecond time: but the page was bold enough to ſnatch from the table a golden knife of ex⯑quiſite workmanſhip. At that moment, all the golden images roſe up with a dreadful noiſe; the figure with the bow ſhot at the carbuncle; and a total darkneſs enſued. The page then replaced the knife, otherwiſe, they both would have ſuffered a cruel death."’ Malmeſbury afterwards mentions a brazen bridge, framed by the enchantments of Gerbert, beyond which [xlvi] were golden horſes of a gigantic ſize, with riders of gold richly illuminated by the moſt ſerene meridian ſun. A large company attempt to paſs the bridge, with a deſign of ſtealing ſome pieces of the gold. Immediately the bridge roſe from its foundations, and ſtood perpendicular on one end: a brazen man appeared from beneath it, who ſtruck the water with a mace of braſs, and the ſky was overſpread with the moſt horrible gloom. Gerbert, like ſome other learned necromancers of the Gothic ages, was ſuppoſed to have fabricated a brazen head under the influence of certain planets, which anſwered queſtions. But I forbear to ſuggeſt any more hints for a future collection of Ara⯑bian tales. I ſhall only add Malmeſbury's account of the educa⯑tion of Gerbert, which is a curious illuſtration of what has been often inculcated in theſe volumes, concerning the introduc⯑tion of romantic fiction into Europe ^f. ‘"Gerbert, a native of France, went into Spain for the purpoſe of learning aſtrology, and other ſciences of that caſt, of the Saracens; who, to this day, occupy the upper regions of Spain. They are ſeated in the metropolis of Seville; where, according to the cuſ⯑tomary practice of their country, they ſtudy the arts of divi⯑nation and enchantment.—Here Gerbert ſoon exceeded Ptolemy in the aſtrolabe, Alchind in aſtronomy, and Julius Firmicus in fatality. Here he learned the meaning of the flight and language of birds, and was taught how to raiſe ſpectres from hell. Here he acquired whatever human cu⯑rioſity has diſcovered for the deſtruction or convenience of mankind. I ſay nothing of his knowledge in arithmetic, muſic, and geometry; which he ſo fully underſtood as to think them beneath his genius, and which he yet with great induſtry introduced into France, where they had been long forgotten. He certainly was the firſt who brought the algorithm from the Saracens, and who illuſtrated it with [xlvii] ſuch rules as the moſt ſtudious in that ſcience cannot explain. He lodged with a philoſopher of that ſect ^g, &c."’

I conclude this chapter with a quotation from the old me⯑trical romance of SYR LIBEAUX DIASCONIOS, where the knight, in his attempt to diſenchant the Lady of Sinadone, after entering the hall of the caſtle of the necromancers, is almoſt in ſimilar circumſtances with our ſubterraneous adven⯑turers. The paſſage is rich in Gothic imageries; and the moſt ſtriking part of the poem, which is mentioned by Chaucer as a popular romance.

This caſtle is called, ‘"A paleys queynt of gynne,"’ and, ‘"by negremancye ymaketh of fayrye ⁱ."’

CHAP. cviii. The mutual fidelity of two thieves.

CHAP. cix. The cheſt and the three paſties.

A like ſtory is in Boccace's DECAMERON ^k, in the CENTO NOVELLE ANTICHE ^l, and in Gower's CONFESSIO AMANTIS ^m.

The ſtory, however, as it ſtands in Gower, ſeems to be co⯑pied from one which is told by the hermit Barlaam to king Avenamore, in the ſpiritual romance, written originally in Greek about the year 800, by Joannes Damaſcenus a Greek monk ⁿ, and tranſlated into Latin before the thirteenth century, entitled, BARLAAM and JOSAPHAT ^o. But Gower's imme⯑diate author, if not Boccace, was perhaps Vincent of Beauvais, who wrote about the year 1290, and who has incorporated Damaſcenus's hiſtory of Barlaam and Joſaphat ^p, who were canoniſed, into his SPECULUM HISTORIALE ^q. As Bar⯑laam's fable is probably the remote but original ſource of Shakeſpeare's CASKETTS in the MERCHANT OF VENICE, I will give the reader a tranſlation of the paſſage in which it occurs, from the Greek original, never yet printed. ‘"The king commanded four cheſts to be made: two of which were covered with gold, and ſecured by golden locks, but [l] filled with the rotten bones of human carcaſſes. The other two were overlaid with pitch, and bound with rough cords; but repleniſhed with pretious ſtones and the moſt exquiſite gems, and with ointments of the richeſt odour. He called his nobles together; and placing theſe cheſts before them, aſked which they thought the moſt valuable. They pronounced thoſe with the golden coverings to be the moſt pretious, ſup⯑poſing they were made to contain the crowns and girdles of the king ^r. The two cheſts covered with pitch they viewed with contempt. Then ſaid the king, I preſumed what would be your determination: for ye look with the eyes of ſenſe. But to diſcern baſeneſs or value, which are hid within, we muſt look with the eyes of the mind. He then ordered the golden cheſts to be opened, which exhaled an intolerable ſtench, and filled the beholders with horror ^s."’ In the ME⯑TRICAL LIVES OF THE SAINTS, written about the year 1300, theſe cheſts are called four fates, that is, four vats or veſſels ^t.

I make no apology for giving the reader a tranſlation from the ſame Greek original, which is now before me, of the ſtory of the Boy told in the DECAMERON. ‘"A king had an only ſon. As ſoon as he was born, the phyſicians declared, that if he was allowed to ſee the ſun, or any fire, before he arrived at the age of twelve years, he would be blind. The king com⯑manded an apartment to be hewed within a rock, into which no light could enter; and here he ſhut up the boy, totally in the dark, yet with proper attendants, for twelve years. At the end of which time, he brought him abroad from his gloomy chamber, and placed in his view, men, women, gold, pre⯑tious ſtones, rich garments, chariots of exquiſite workmanſhip [li] drawn by horſes with golden bridles, heaps of purple tapeſtry, armed knights on horſeback, oxen and ſheep. Theſe were all diſtinctly pointed out to the youth: but being moſt pleaſed with the women, he deſired to know by what name they were called. An eſquire of the king jocoſely told him, that they were devils who catch men. Being brought to the king, he was aſked which he liked beſt of all the fine things he had ſeen. He replied, the devils who catch men, &c."’ I need not enlarge on Boccace's improvements ^u.

This romantic legend of Barlaam and Joſaphat, which is a hiſtory of conſiderable length, is undoubtedly the compoſition of one who had an intercourſe with the eaſt: and from the ſtrong traces which it contains of the oriental mode of mora⯑liſing, appears plainly to have been written, if not by the monk whoſe name it bears, at leaſt by ſome devout and learned aſcetic of the Greek church, and probably before the tenth century.

Leland mentions DAMASCENUS DE GESTIS BARLAAM ET JOSAPHAT, as one of the manuſcripts which he ſaw in Nettley⯑abbey near Southampton ^w.

CHAP. cx. The life of the knight Placidus, or Placidas ^x, afterwards called Euſtacius.

It occurs in Caxton's GOLDEN LEGENDE ^y. Among the Cotton manuſcripts there is a metrical legend or romance on this ſtory ^z.

CHAP. cxi. The claſſical ſtory of Argus and Mercury, with ſome romantic additions. Mercury comes to Argus in the cha⯑racter of a minſtrel, and lulls him to ſleep by telling him tales and ſinging, incepit more hiſtrionico fabulas dicere, et plerumque cantare.

[lii] CHAP. cxii. The ſon of king Gorgonius is beloved by hi [...] ſtep-mother. He is therefore ſent to ſeek his fortune in a foreign country, where he ſtudies phyſic; and returning, heals his father of a dangerous diſeaſe, who recovers at the ſight of him. The ſtep-mother, hearing of his return, falls ſick, and dies at ſeeing him.

CHAP. cxiii. The tournaments of the rich king Adonias [...] A party of knights arrive the firſt day, who lay their ſhields aſide, in one place. The ſame number arrives the ſecond day, each of whom chuſes his antagoniſt by touching with his ſpear the ſhield of one of the firſt day's party, not knowing the owner.

The moſt curious anecdote of chivalry, now on record, oc⯑curs in the eccleſiaſtical hiſtory of Spain. Alphonſus the ninth, about the year 1214, having expelled the Moors from Toledo, endeavoured to eſtabliſh the Roman miſſal in the place of ſaint Iſidore's. This alarming innovation was obſtinately oppoſed by the people of Toledo; and the king found that his project would be attended with almoſt inſuperable difficulties. The conteſt at length between the two miſſals grew ſo ſerious, that it was mutually reſolved to decide the controverſy, not by a theological diſputation, but by ſingle combat; in which the champion of the Toletan miſſal proved victorious ^a.

Many entertaining paſſages relating to trials by ſingle combat may be ſeen in the old Imperial and Lombard laws. In Caxton's BOKE OF THE FAYTTES OF ARMES AND OF CHIVALRYE, printed at Weſtminſter in the year 1489, and tranſlated from the French of Chriſtine of Piſa, many of the chapters towards the end are compiled from that ſingular monument of Gothic legiſlation.

CHAP. cxv. An intractable elephant is lulled aſleep in a foreſt by the ſongs and blandiſhments of two naked virgins. One of them cuts off his head, the other carries a bowl of his blood to [liii] the king. Rex vero gaviſus eſt valde, et ſtatim fecit fieri PUR⯑PURAM, et multa alia, de eodem ſanguine.

In this wild tale, there are circumſtances enough of general analogy, if not of peculiar paralleliſm, to recall to my memory the following beautiful deſcription, in the manuſcript romance of SYR LAUNFAL, of two damſels, whom the knight unex⯑pectedly meets in a deſolate foreſt.

CHAP. cxvi. The queen of Pepin king of France died in childbed, leaving a ſon. He married a ſecond wife, who bore [liv] a ſon within a year. Theſe children were ſent abroad to be nurſed. The ſurviving queen, anxious to ſee her child, deſired that both the boys might be brought home. They were ſo exceedingly alike, that the one could not be diſtinguiſhed from the other, except by the king. The mother begged the king to point out her own ſon. This he refuſed to do, till they were both grown up; left ſhe ſhould ſpoil him by too fond a partia⯑lity. Thus they were both properly treated with uniform affec⯑tion, and without exceſs of indulgence.

A favorite old romance is founded on the indiſtinctible like⯑neſs of two of Charlemagne's knights, Amys and Amelion; ori⯑ginally celebrated by Turpin, and placed by Vincent of Beauvais under the reign of Pepin ^o.

CHAP. cxvii. The law of the emperor Frederick, that who⯑ever reſcued a virgin from a rape might claim her for his wife.

CHAP. cxviii. A knight being in Egypt, recovers a thouſand talents which he had entruſted to a faithleſs friend, by the artifice of an old woman.

This tale is in Alphonſus. And in the CENTO NOVELLE ANTICHE ^p.

CHAP. cxix. A king had an oppreſſive Seneſhall, who paſſing through a foreſt, fell into a deep pit, in which were a lion, an ape, and a ſerpent. A poor man who gathered ſticks in the foreſt hearing his cries, drew him up: together with the lion, the ape, and the ſerpent. The Seneſhall returned home, pro⯑miſing to reward the poor man with great riches. Soon after⯑wards the poor man went to the palace to claim the promiſed reward; but was ordered to be cruelly beaten by the ſeneſhall. In the mean time, the lion drove ten aſſes laden with gold to the poor man's cottage: the ſerpent brought him a pretious ſtone of three colours: and the ape, when he came to the foreſt on his daily buſineſs, laid him heaps of wood. The poor man, in conſequence of the virtues of the ſerpent's pretious ſtone, [lv] which he ſold, arrived to the dignity of knighthood, and ac⯑quired ample poſſeſſions. But afterwards he found the pretious ſtone in his cheſt, which he preſented to the king. The king having heard the whole ſtory, ordered the ſeneſhall to be put to death for his ingratitude, and preferred the poor man to his office.

This ſtory occurs in Symeon Seth's tranſlation of the cele⯑brated Arabian fable-book called CALILAH U DUMNAH ^q. It is recited by Matthew Paris, under the year 1195, as a parable which king Richard the firſt, after his return from the eaſt, was often accuſtomed to repeat, by way of reproving thoſe ungrate⯑ful princes who refuſed to engage in the cruſade ^r. It is verſified by Gower, who omits the lion, as Matthew Paris does the ape, in the fifth book of the CONFESSIO AMANTIS ^s. He thus deſcribes the ſervices of the ape and ſerpent to the poor man [...] who gained his livelihood by gathering ſticks in a foreſt.

[lvi] In Gower alſo, as often as the poor man ſells the pretious ſtone, on returning home, he finds it again among the money in his purſe.

The acquiſition of riches, and the multiplication of treaſure, by inviſible agency, is a frequent and favorite fiction of the Arabian romance. Thus, among the preſents given to Sir Launfal by the Lady Triamore, daughter of the king of Faerie.

CHAP. XX. King Darius's legacy to his three ſons. To the eldeſt he bequeathes all his paternal inheritance: to the ſecond, all that he had acquired by conqueſt: and to the third, a ring and necklace, both of gold, and a rich cloth. All the three laſt gifts were endued with magical virtues. Whoever wore the ring on his finger, gained the love or favour of all whom he deſired to pleaſe. Whoever hung the necklace over his breaſt, obtained all his heart could deſire. Whoever ſate down on the cloth, could be inſtantly tranſported to any part of the world which he choſe.

From this beautiful tale, of which the opening only is here given, Occleve, commonly called Chaucer's diſciple, framed a poem in the octave ſtanza, which was printed in the year 1614, by William Browne, in his ſet of Eclogues called the SHEP⯑HEARDS PIPE. Occleve has literally followed the book before us, and has even tranſlated into Engliſh proſe the MORALISA⯑TION annexed ^y. He has given no ſort of embelliſhment to his [lvii] original, and by no means deſerves the praiſes which Browne in the following elegant paſtoral lyrics has beſtowed on his per⯑formance, and which more juſtly belong to the genuine Gothic, or rather Arabian, inventor.

The hiſtory of Darius, who gave this legacy to his three ſons, is incorporated with that of Alexander, which has been deco⯑rated with innumerable fictions by the Arabian writers. There is alſo a ſeparate romance on Darius. And on Philip of Macedon ^a.

[lviii] CHAP. cxxiv. Of the knights who intercede for their friend with a king, by coming to his court, each half on horſe back and half on foot.

This is the laſt novel in the CENTO NOVELLE ANTICHE.

CHAP. cxxvi. Macrobius is cited for the addreſs and humour of an ingenuous boy named Papirius.

This is one of the moſt lively ſtories in Macrobius ^a.

CHAP. cxxviii. The forged teſtament of the wicked knight, under the reign of Maximian.

CHAP. cxxix. A young prince is ſent on his travels. His three friends.

CHAP. cxxxii. The four phyſicians.

CHAP. cxxxiii. The king and his two greyhounds.

CHAP. cxxxiv. A ſtory from Seneca.

CHAP. cxxxv. The ſtory of Lucretia, from ſaint Auſtin's CITY OF GOD.

A more claſſical authority for this ſtory, had it been at hand, would have been ſlighted for ſaint Auſtin's CITY OF GOD, which was the favorite ſpiritual romance; and which, as the tranſition from religion to gallantry was antiently very eaſy, gave riſe to the famous old French romance called the CITY OF LADIES.

CHAP. cxxxvii. The Roman emperor who is baniſhed for his impartial diſtribution of juſtice. From the CRONICA of Euſebius.

CHAP. cxxxviii. King Medro.

CHAP. cxxxix. King Alexander, by means of a mirrour, kills a cockatrice, whoſe look had deſtroyed the greateſt part of his army.

Aelian, in his VARIOUS HISTORY, mentions a ſerpent which appearing from the mouth of a cavern, ſtopped the march of Alexander's army through a ſpacious deſert. The wild beaſts, ſerpents, and birds, which Alexander encountered in marching through India, were moſt extravagantly imagined [lix] by the oriental fabuliſts, and form the chief wonders of that monarch's romance ^b.

CHAP. cxl. The emperor Eraclius reconciles two knights.

This ſtory is told by Seneca of Cneius Piſo ^c. It occurs in Chaucer's SOMPNOUR'S TALE, as taken from Senec, or Seneca ^d.

CHAP. cxli. A knight who had diſſipated all his ſubſtance in frequenting tournaments, under the reign of Fulgentius, is re⯑duced to extreme poverty. A ſerpent haunted a chamber of his houſe; who being conſtantly fed with milk by the knight, in return made his benefactor rich. The knight's ingratitude and imprudence in killing the ſerpent, who was ſuppoſed to guard a treaſure concealed in his chamber.

Medea's dragon guarding the golden fleece is founded on the oriental idea of treaſure being guarded by ſerpents. We are told in Vincent of Beauvais, that there are mountains of ſolid gold in India guarded by dragons and griffins ^e.

CHAP. cxliii. A certain king ordained a law, that if any man was ſuddenly to be put to death, at ſun-riſing a trumpet ſhould be ſounded before his gate. The king made a great feaſt for all his nobles, at which the moſt ſkilful muſicians were preſent ^f. But amidſt the general feſtivity, the king was ſad and ſilent. All the gueſts were ſurpriſed and perplexed at the king's melan⯑choly; but at length his brother ventured to aſk him the cauſe. [lx] The king replied, ‘"Go home, and you ſhall hear my anſwer to morrow."’ The king ordered his trumpeters to ſound early the next morning before his brother's gate, and to bring him with them to judgement. The brother, on hearing this unexpected dreadful ſummons, was ſeized with horror, and came before the king in a black robe. The king commanded a deep pit to be made, and a chair compoſed of the moſt frail materials, and ſupported by four ſlight legs, to be placed in⯑clining over the edge of the pit. In this the brother, being ſtrip⯑ped naked, was ſeated. Over his head a ſharp ſword was hung by a ſmall thread of ſilk. Around him four men were ſtationed with ſwords exceedingly ſharp, who were to wait for the king's word, and then to kill him. In the mean time, a table co⯑vered with the moſt coſtly diſhes was ſpread before him, ac⯑companied with all ſorts of muſic. Then ſaid the king, ‘"My brother, why are you ſo ſad? Can you be dejected, in the midſt of this delicious muſic, and with all theſe choice dainties?"’ He anſwered, ‘"How can I be glad, when I have this morning heard the trumpet of death at my doors, and while I am ſeated in this tottering chair? If I make the ſmalleſt mo⯑tion, it will break, and I ſhall fall into the pit, from which I ſhall never ariſe again. If I lift my head, the ſuſpended ſword will penetrate my brain; while theſe four tormentors only wait your command to put me to death."’ The king replied, ‘"Now I will anſwer your queſtion, why I was ſad yeſterday. I am exactly in your ſituation. I am ſeated, like you, in a frail and periſhable chair, ready to tumble to pieces every moment, and to throw me into the infernal pit. Divine judgement, like this ſharp ſword, hangs over my head: and I am ſurrounded, like you, with four executioners. That before me is Death, whoſe coming I cannot tell; that behind me, my Sins, which are prepared to accuſe me before the tribunal of God; that on the right, the Devil, who is ever watching for his prey; and that on the left, the Worm, who is now [...] after my fleſh. Go in peace, my [lxi] deareſt brother: and never aſk me again why I am ſad at a feaſt."’

Gower, in the CONFESSIO AMANTIS, may perhaps have co⯑pied the circumſtance of the morning trumpet from this apo⯑logue. His king is a king of Hungary.

But Gower has connected with this circumſtance a different ſtory, and of an inferior caſt, both in point of moral and ima⯑gination. The truth is, Gower ſeems to have altogether fol⯑lowed this ſtory as it appeared in the SPECULUM HISTORIALE of Vincent of Beauvais ^h, who took it from Damaſcenus's ro⯑mance of BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT ⁱ. Part of it is thus [lxii] told in Caxton's tranſlation of that legend ^k. ‘"And the kynge hadde ſuche a cuſtome, that whan one ſholde be delyvered to deth, the kynge ſholde ſende hys cryar wyth hys trompe that was ordeyned therto. And on the euen he ſente the cryar wyth the trompe tofore hys brother's gate, and made to ſoune the trompe. And whan the kynges brother herde this, he was in deſpayr of ſauynge of his lyf, and coude not ſlepe of alle the nyght, and made his teſtament. And on the morne erly, he cladde hym in blacke: and came with wepyng with hys wyf and chyldren to the kynges paleys. And the kynge made hym to com tofore hym, and ſayd to hym, a fooll that thou art, that thou haſt herde the meſſager of thy bro⯑ther, to whom thou knoweſt well thou haſt not treſpaced and doubteſt ſo mooche, howe oughte not I then ne doubte the meſſageres of our lorde, agaynſte whom I haue ſoo ofte ſynned, which ſignef [...]ed unto me more clerely the deth then the trompe?"’

CHAP. cxlv. The philoſopher Socrates ſhews the cauſe of the inſalubrity of a paſſage between two mountains in Armenia, by means of a poliſhed mirrour of ſteel. Albertus is cited; an abbot of Stade, and the author of a Chronicle from Adam to 1256.

CHAP. cxlvi. Saint Auſtin's CITY OF GOD is quoted for an anſwer of Diomedes the pirate to king Alexander.

CHAP. cxlviii. Aulius Gellius is cited.

Aulus Gellius is here quoted, for the ſtory of Arion ^l, throw⯑ing himſelf into the ſea, and carried on the back of a dolphin to king Periander at Corinth ^m. Gellius relates this ſtory from Herodotus, in whom it is now extant ⁿ.

CHAP. cliii. The hiſtory of Apollonius of Tyre.

This ſtory, the longeſt in the book before us, and the groundwork [lxiii] of a favorite old romance, is known to have exiſted before the year 1190.

In the Prologue to the Engliſh romance on this ſubject, called KYNGE APOLYNE OF THYRE, and printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1510, we are told. ‘"My worſhypfull mayſter Wyn⯑kyn de Worde, havynge a lytell boke of an auncyent hyſtory of a kynge ſomtyme reygnyne in the countree of Thyre called Appolyn, concernynge his malfortunes and peryllous adventures right eſpouventables, bryefly compyled and pyteous for to here; the which boke, I Robert Coplande^o have me applyed for to tranſlate out of the Frensſhe language into our maternal Englysſhe tongue, at the exhortacyon of my for⯑ſayd mayſter, accordynge dyrectly to myn auctor: gladly fol⯑lowynge the trace of my mayſter Caxton, begynnynge with ſmall ſtoryes and pamf [...]etes and ſo to other."’ The Engliſh romance, or the French, which is the ſame thing, exactly cor⯑reſponds in many paſſages with the text of the GESTA. I will inſtance in the following one only, in which the complica⯑tion of the fable commences. King Appolyn dines in diſguiſe in the hall of king Antiochus.—‘"Came in the kynges daugh⯑ter, accompanyed with many ladyes and damoyſelles, whoſe ſplendente beaute were too long to endyte, for her roſacyate coloure was medled with grete favour. She dranke unto hir fader, and to all the lordes, and to all them that had ben at the play of the Shelde ^p. And as ſhe behelde here and there, ſhe eſpyed kynge Appolyn, and then ſhe ſayd unto her fader, Syr, what is he that ſytteth ſo hye as by you, it ſemeth by hym that he is angry or ſorrowfull? The kynge ſayd, I never ſawe ſo nimble and pleaſaunt a player at the ſhelde, and therfore [lxiv] have I made hym to come and ſoupe with my knyghtes. And yf ye wyll knowe what he is, demaunde hym; for per⯑adventure he wyll tell you ſooner than me. Methynke that he is departed from ſome good place, and I thinke in my mynde that ſomethynge is befallen hym for which he is ſorry. This ſayd, the noble dameyſell wente unto Appolyn and ſaid, "Fayre Syr, graunt me a boone. And he graunted her with goode herte. And ſhe ſayd unto hym, albeyt that your vyſage be tryſt and hevy, your behavour ſheweth nobleſſe and facundyte, and therefore I pray you to tell me of your affayre and eſtate. Appolyn anſwered, Yf ye demaunde of my rycheſſes, I have loſt them in the ſea. The damoyſell ſayd, I pray you that you tell me of your adventures ^q."’ But in the GESTA, the princeſs at entering the royal hall kiſſes all the knights and lords preſent, except the ſtranger ^r. Voſſius ſays, that about the year 1520, one Alamanus Rinucinus a Florentine, tranſlated into Latin this fabulous hiſtory; and that the tranſlation was corrected by Beroaldus. Voſſius certainly cannot mean, that he tranſlated it from the Greek original ^s.

CHAP. cliv. A ſtory from Gervaſe of Tilbury, an Engliſh⯑man, who wrote about the year 1200, concerning a miraculous ſtatue of Chriſt in the city of Edeſſa.

CHAP. clv. The adventures of an Engliſh knight named Albert in a ſubterraneous paſſage, within the biſhoprick of Ely.

This ſtory is ſaid to have been told in the winter after ſup⯑per, in a caſtle, cum familia divitis ad focum, ut Potentibus moris eſt, RECENSENDIS ANTIQUIS GESTIS operam daret, when the fa⯑mily of a rich man, as is the cuſtom with the Great, was ſitting round the fire, and telling ANTIENT GESTS. Here is a traite of the private life of our anceſtors, who wanted the diver⯑ſions and engagements of modern times to relieve a tedious even⯑ing. Hence we learn, that when a company was aſſembled, if a [lxv] jugler or a minſtrel were not preſent, it was their cuſtom to en⯑tertain themſelves by relating or hearing a ſeries of adventures. Thus the general plan of the CANTERBURY TALES, which at firſt ſight ſeems to be merely an ingenious invention of the poet to ſerve a particular occaſion, is in great meaſure founded on a faſhion of antient life: and Chaucer, in ſuppoſing each of the pilgrims to tell a tale as they are travelling to Becket's ſhrine, only makes them adopt a mode of amuſement which was com⯑mon to the converſations of his age. I do not deny, that Chaucer has ſhewn his addreſs in the uſe and application of this practice.

So habitual was this amuſement in the dark ages, that the graver ſort thought it unſafe for eccleſiaſtics, if the ſubjects ad⯑mitted any degree of levity. The following curious injunction was deemed neceſſary, in a code of ſtatutes aſſigned to a college at Oxford in the year 1292. I give it in Engliſh. ‘"CH. xx.—The fellows ſhall all live honeſtly, as becomes Clerks.—They ſhall not rehearſe, ſing, nor willingly hear, BALLADS or TALES of LOVERS, which tend to laſciviouſneſs and idle⯑neſs ^t."’ Yet the libraries of our monaſteries, as I have before obſerved, were filled with romances. In that of Croyland-abbey we find even archbiſhop Turpin's romance, placed on the ſame ſhelf with Robert Tumbeley on the Canticles, Roger Dymock againſt Wickliffe, and Thomas Waleys on the Pſalter. But their apology muſt be, that they thought this a true hiſtory: at leaſt that an archbiſhop could write nothing but truth. Not to men⯑tion that the general ſubject of thoſe books were the triumphs of chriſtianity over paganiſm ^u.

CHAP. clvi. Ovid, in his TROJAN WAR, is cited for the ſtory of Achilles diſguiſed in female apparel.

Gower has this hiſtory more at large in the CONFESSIO AMANTIS: but he refers to a Cronike, which ſeems to be the BOKE OF TROIE, mentioned at the end of the chapter ^w.

[lxvi] CHAP. clvii. The porter of a gate at Rome, who taxes all deformed perſons entering the city. This tale is in Alphonſus. And in the CENTO NOVELLE ANTICHE ^x.

CHAP. clviii. The diſcovery of the gigantic body of Pallas, ſon of Evander, at Rome, which exceeded in height the wa [...]s of the city, was uncorrupted, and accompanied with a burning lamp, two thouſand two hundred and forty years after the deſtruction of Troy. His wound was freſh, which was four feet and a half in length.

It is curious to obſerve, the romantic exaggerations of the claſſical ſtory.

CHAP. clix. Joſephus, in his book de Cauſis rerum naturalium, is quoted, for Noah's diſcovery of wine.

I know not any book of Joſephus on this ſubject. The firſt editor of the Latin Joſephus was Ludovicus Cendrata of Verona, who was ignorant that he was publiſhing a modern tranſlation. In the Dedication he complains, that the manuſcript was brought to him from Bononia ſo ill-written, that it was often impoſſible even to gueſs at Joſep [...]us's words. And in another place he ſays, Joſephus firſt wrote the ANTIQUITATES in He⯑brew, and that he afterwards tranſlated them from Hebrew into Greek, and from Greek into Latin ^y.

The ſubſtance of this chapter is founded on a Rabbinical tra⯑dition, related by Fabricius ^z. When Noah planted the vine, Satan attended, and ſacrificed a ſheep, a lion, an ape, and a ſow. Theſe animals were to ſymboliſe the gradations of ebriety. When a man begins to drink, he is meek and ignorant as the lamb, then becomes bold as the lion, his courage is ſoon tranſ⯑formed into the fooliſhneſs of the ape, and at laſt he wallows in the mire like the ſow. Chaucer hence ſays in the MANCIPLES PROLOGUE, as the paſſage is juſtly corrected by Mr. Tyrwhitt,

In the old KALENDRIER DES BERGERS, as Mr. Tyrwhitt has remarked, Vin de ſinge, vin de mouton, vin de lyon, and vin de porceau, are mentioned, in their reſpective operations on the four temperaments of the human body.

CHAP. clxi. Of a hill in a foreſt of England, where if a hunter ſate after the chace, he was refreſhed by a miraculous perſon of a mild aſpect, bearing a capacious horn, adorned with gems and gold ^b, and filled with the moſt delicious liquor. This perſon inſtantly diſappeared after adminiſtering the draught; which was of ſo wonderful a nature, as to diſpel the moſt op⯑preſſive laſſitude, and to make the body more vigorous than before. At length, a hunter having drank of this horn, un⯑gratefully refuſed to return it to the friendly apparition; and his maſter, the lord of the foreſt, leſt he ſhould appear to countenance ſo atrocious a theft, gave it to king Henry the elder ^c.

This ſtory, which ſeems imperfect, I ſuppoſe, is from Ger⯑vaſe of Tilbury.

CHAP. clxii. The ſame author is cited for an account of a hill in Caſtile, on which was a palace of demons.

Whenever our compiler quotes Gervaſe of Tilbury, the re⯑ference is to his OTIA IMPERIALIA: which is addreſſed to the emperor Otho the fourth, and contains his Commentarius de regnis Imperatorum Romanorum, his Mundi Deſcriptio, and his Tractatus de Mirabilibus Mundi. All theſe four have been im⯑properly ſuppoſed to be ſeparate works.

CHAP. clxiii. King Alexander's ſon Celeſtinus.

CHAP. clxvii. The archer and the nightingale.

This fable is told in the Greek legend of BARLAAM AND [lxviii] JOSAPHAT, written by Johannes Damaſcenus ^d. And in Caxton's GOLDEN LEGENDE ^e. It is alſo found in the CLERICALIS DISCIPLINA of Alphonſus.

CHAP. clxviii. Barlaam is cited for the ſtory of a man, who, flying from a unicorn, and falling into a deep and noiſom pit, hung on the boughs of a lofty tree which grew from the bottom. On looking downward, he ſaw a huge dragon twiſted round the trunk, and gaping to devour him. He alſo obſerved two mice gnawing at the roots of the tree, which began to totter. Four white vipers impregnated the air of the pit with their poiſonous breath. Looking about him, he diſcovered a ſtream of hony diſtilling from one of the branches of the tree, which he began eagerly to devour, without regarding his dan⯑gerous ſituation. The tree ſoon fell: he found himſelf ſtrug⯑gling in a loathſome quagmire, and was inſtantly ſwallowed by the dragon.

This is another of Barlaam's apologues in Damaſcenus's ro⯑mance of BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT: and which has been adopted into the Lives of the Saints by Surius and others ^f. A MORALISATION is ſubjoined, exactly agreeing with that in the GESTA ^g.

CHAP. clxix. Trogus Pompeius is cited, for the wiſe legiſla⯑tion of Ligurius, a noble knight.

Our compiler here means Juſtin's abridgement of Trogus; which, to the irreparable injury of literature, ſoon deſtroyed its original. An early epitome of Livy would have been attended with the ſame unhappy conſequences.

CHAP. clxx. The dice player and ſaint Bernard.

This is from ſaint Bernard's legend ^h.

CHAP. clxxi. The two knights of Egypt and Baldach.

This is the ſtory of Boccace's popular novel of TITO AND [lxix] GISIPPO, and of Lydgate's T [...]le of two Marchants of Egypt and of Baldad, a manuſcript poem in the Britiſh Muſeum, and lately in the library of doctor Aſkew ⁱ. Peter Alphonſus is quoted for this ſtory; and it makes the ſecond Fable of his CLERICALIS DISCIPLINA.

I take the liberty of introducing a ſmall digreſſion here, which refers to two pieces of the poet laſt-mentioned, never enume⯑rated among his works. In the year 1483, Caxton printed at Weſtminſter, ‘"The PYLGREMAGE [...] OF THE SOWLE tranſlated oute of Frensſhe into Englisſhe. Full of devout maters touching the ſowle, and many queſtyons aſſoyled to cauſe a man to lyve the better, &c. Emprinted at Weſtminſter by William Caxton the firſt yere of kynge Edward V. 1483."’ The French book, which is a viſion, and has ſome degree of imagination, is probably the PELERIN DE L'AME, of Guillaume prior of Chaulis ^k. This tranſlation was made from the French, with additions, in the year 1413. For in the colophon are theſe words. ‘"Here endeth the dreme of the PYLGREMAGE OF THE SOWLE tranſlated out of Frenſche into Englisſhe, with ſomwhat of Addicions, the yere of our lorde M. CCCC. and thyrteen, and endethe in the vigyle of ſeint Bartholomew."’ The tranſlator of this book, at leaſt the author of the Addicions, which altoge⯑ther conſiſt of poetry in ſeven-lined ſtanzas, I believe to be Lydgate. Not to inſiſt on the correſpondence of time and ſtyle, I obſerve, that the thirty-fourth chapter of Lydgate's metrical LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MARY is literally repeated in the thirty⯑fourth chapter of this Tranſlation. This chapter is a digreſſion of five or ſix ſtanzas in praiſe of Chaucer; in which the writer feelingly laments the recent death of his maiſter Chaucer, poete of Britaine, who uſed to amende and correcte the wronge traces of my rude penne. No writer beſides, in Lydgate's own life-time, can be ſuppoſed, with any ſort of grace or propriety, to have men⯑tioned thoſe perſonal aſſiſtances of Chaucer, in Lydgate's own [lxx] words. And if we ſuppoſe that the Tranſlation, or its Addicions, were written by Lydgate before he wrote his LIFE OF THE VIRGIN, the proof will be the ſame ^k.

Another piece probably written by Lydgate, yet never ſup⯑poſed or acknowledged to be of his compoſition, is a poem in the octave ſtanza, containing thirty-ſeven leaves in folio, and entitled LABEROUS AND MARVEYLOUS WORKE OF SAPIENCE. After a long debate between MERCY and TRUTH, and JUSTICE and PEACE, all the products of nature and of human know⯑ledge are deſcribed, as they ſtand arranged in the palace and do⯑minions of WISDOM. It is generally allowed to have been printed by Caxton: it has not the name of the printer, nor any date. Had it been written by Caxton, as I once haſtily ſuſpected, or by any of his cotemporaries, the name of Lydgate would have appeared in conjunction with thoſe of Gower and Chaucer, who are highly celebrated in the Prologue as erthely gods expert in poeſie: for theſe three writers were conſtantly joined in pane⯑gyric, at leaſt for a century, by their ſucceſſors, as the diſtin⯑guiſhed triumvirate of Engliſh poetry. In the ſame Prologue, the author ſays he was commanded to write this poem by the king. No poet cotemporary with Caxton was of conſequence enough to receive ſuch a command: and we know that Lydgate compiled many of his works by the direction, or under the pa⯑tronage, of king Henry the fifth. Lydgate was born in Suffolk: and our author from the circumſtance of having lived in a part of England not of a very poliſhed dialect, apologiſes for the rude⯑neſs of his language, ſo that he cannot delycately endyte. It is much in the ſtyle and manner of Lydgate: and I believe it to have been one of his early performances ^l.

CHAP. clxxii. A king of England has two knights, named [lxxi] Guido and Tirius. Guido having achieved many ſplendid ex⯑ploits for the love of a beautiful lady, at length married her. Three days after his marriage he ſaw a viſion, which ſummoned him to engage in the holy war. At parting ſhe gave him a ring; ſaying, ‘"as often as you look on this ring, remember me."’ Soon after his departure ſhe had a ſon. After various adventures, in which his friend Tirius has a ſhare, at the end of ſeven years he returned to England in the habit of a pilgrim. Coming to his caſtle, he ſaw at the gate his lady ſitting, and diſtributing alms to a croud of poor people; ordering them all to pray for the return of her lord Guido from the holy land. She was on that day accompanied by her ſon a little boy, very beautiful, and richly apparelled; and who hearing his mother, as ſhe was diſtributing her alms, perpetually recommending Guido to their prayers, aſked, if that was his father? Among others, ſhe gave alms to her huſband Guido, not knowing him in the pilgrim's diſguiſe. Guido, ſeeing the little boy, took him in his arms, and kiſſed him: ſaying, ‘"O my ſweet ſon, may God give you grace to pleaſe him!"’ For this boldneſs he was reproved by the attendants. But the lady, finding him deſtitute and a ſtranger, aſſigned him a cottage in a neighbouring foreſt. Soon afterwards falling ſick, he ſaid to his ſervant, ‘"Carry this ring to your lady, and tell her, if ſhe deſires ever to ſee me again, to come hither without delay."’ The ſervant conveyed the ring; but before ſhe arrived, he was dead. She threw her⯑ſelf on his body, and exclaimed with tears, ‘"Where are now my alms which I daily gave for my lord? I ſaw you receive thoſe alms, but I knew you not.—You beheld, embraced, and kiſſed your own ſon, but did not diſcover yourſelf to him nor to me. What have I done, that I ſhall ſee you no more?"’ She then interred him magnificently.

The reader perceives this is the ſtory of Guido, or Guy, earl of Warwick; and probably this is the early outline of the life and death of that renowned champion.

Many romances were at firſt little more than legends of devotion, [lxxii] containing the pilgrimage of an old warrior. At length, as chivalry came more into vogue, and the ſtores of invention were increaſed, the youthful and active part of the pilgrim's life was alſo written, and a long ſeries of imaginary martial adventures was added, in which his religious was eclipſed by his heroic character, and the penitent was loſt in the knight-errant. That which was the principal ſubject of the ſhort and ſimple legend, became only the remote cataſtrophe of the voluminous romance. And hence by degrees it was almoſt an eſtabliſhed rule of every romance, for the knight to end his days in a hermitage. Cer⯑vantes has ridiculed this circumſtance with great pleaſantry, where Don Quixote holds a grave debate with Sancho, whether he ſhall turn ſaint or archbiſhop.

So reciprocal, or rather ſo convertible, was the pious and the military character, that even ſome of the apoſtles had their ro⯑mance. In the ninth century, the chivalrous and fabling ſpirit of the Spaniards transformed ſaint James into a knight. They pretended that he appeared and fought with irreſiſtible fury, completely armed, and mounted on a ſtately white horſe, in moſt of their engagements with the Moors; and [...]cauſe, by his ſuperior proweſs in theſe bloody conflicts, he was ſuppoſed to have freed the Spaniards from paying the annual tribute of a hundred chriſtian virgins to their infidel enemies, they repre⯑ſented him as a profeſſed and powerful champion of diſtreſſed damſels. This apotheoſis of chivalry in the perſon of their own apoſtle, muſt have ever afterwards contributed to exaggerate the characteriſtical romantic heroiſm of the Spaniards, by which it was occaſioned; and to propagate through ſucceeding ages, a ſtronger veneration for that ſpecies of military enthuſiaſm, to which they were naturally devoted. It is certain, that in con⯑ſequence of theſe illuſtrious achievements in the Mooriſh wars, ſaint James was conſtituted patron of Spain; and became the founder of one of the moſt magnificent ſhrines, and of the moſt opulent order of knighthood, now exiſting in chriſtendom. [lxxiii] The Legend of this invincible apoſtle is inſerted in the Moſa⯑rabic liturgy.

CHAP. clxxiii. A king goes to a fair, carrying in his train, a maſter with one of his ſcholars, who expoſe ſix bundles, con⯑taining a ſyſtem of ethics, to ſale ^s.

Among the revenues accruing to the crown of England from the Fair of ſaint Botolph at Boſton in Lincolnſhire, within the HONOUR of RICHMOND, mention is made of the royal pavi⯑lion, or booth, which ſtood in the fair, about the year 1280. This fair was regularly frequented by merchants from the moſt capital trading towns of Normandy, Germany, Flanders, and other countries. ‘"Ibidem [in feria] ſunt quaedam domus quae dicuntur BOTHAE REGIAE, quae valent per annum xxviii, l. xiii, s. iiii, d. Ibidem ſunt quaedam domus quas MERCA⯑TORES DE YPRE tenent, quae valent per annum, xx, l. Et quaedam domus quas MERCATORES DE CADOMO^t ET OSTOGANIO^u tenent, xi, l. Et quaedam domus quas MER⯑CATORES DE ANACO^w tenent, xiii, l. vi, s. viii, d. Et quae⯑dam domus quas MERCATORES DE COLONIA tenent, xxv, l. x, s ^x."’ The high rent of theſe lodges, is a proof that they were conſiderable edifices in point of ſize and accommodation.

CHAP. clxxiv. The fable of a ſerpent cheriſhed in a man's boſom ^y.

About the year 1470, a collection of Latin fables, in ſix books, diſtinguiſhed by the name of Eſop, was publiſhed in Germany. The three firſt books conſiſt of the ſixty anonymous elegiac fables, printed in Nevelet's collection, under the title of Anonymi Fabulae Aeſopicae, and tranſlated in 1503, by Wynkyn de Worde, with a few variations: under each is a fable in proſe on the ſame ſubject from ROMULUS, or the old proſe LATIN [lxxiv] ESOP, which was probably fabricated in the twelfth century. The fourth book has the remaining fables of Romulus in proſe only. The fifth, containing one or two fables only which were never called Eſop's, is taken from Alphonſus, the GESTA RO⯑MANORUM, the CALILA U DAMNAH, and other obſcure ſources. The ſixth and laſt book has ſeventeen fables ex tran⯑ſlatione Rinucii, that is Rinucius, who tranſlated Planudes's life of Eſop, and ſixty-nine of his fables, from Greek into Latin, in the fifteenth century. This collection ſoon afterwards was cir⯑culated in a French verſion, which Caxton tranſlated into Engliſh.

In an antient general Chronicle, printed at Lubec in 1475, and entitled RUDIMENTUM NOVITIORUM ^y, a ſhort life of Eſop is introduced, together with twenty-nine of his fables. The writer ſays, ‘"Eſopus adelphus claruit tempore Cyri regis Per⯑ſarum.—Vir ingenioſus et prudens, qui confinxit fabulas el [...] ⯑gantes. Quas Romulus poſtmodum de greco tranſtulit in la⯑tinum, et filio ſuo Tibertino direxit, &c ^z."’ The whole of this paſſage about Eſop is tranſcribed from Vincent of Beauvais ^a.

CHAP. clxxvii. The feaſt of king Ahaſuerus and Eſther.

I have mentioned a metrical romance on this ſubject ^b. And I have before obſerved, that Thomas of Elmham, a chronicler, calls the coronation-feaſt of king Henry the ſixth, a ſecond feaſt of Ahaſuerus ^c. Hence alſo Chaucer's alluſion at the marriage of January and May, while they are at the ſolemnity of the wedding-dinner, which is very ſplendid.

Froiſſart, an hiſtorian, who ſhares the merit with Philip de Comines of deſcribing every thing, gives this idea of the ſolemnity [lxxv] of a dinner of Chriſtmas-day, at which he was preſent, in the hall of the caſtle of Gaſton earl of Foiz at Ortez in Bevern, under the year 1388. At the upper or firſt table, he ſays, [...]ate four biſhops, then the earl, three viſcounts, and an Engliſh knight belonging to the duke of Lancaſter. At another table, five abbots, and two knights of Arragon. At another, many barons and knights of Gaſcony and Bigorre. At another, a great number of knights of Bevern. Four knights were the chief ſtewards of the hall, and the two baſtard brothers of the earl ſerved at the high table. ‘"The erles two ſonnes, ſir Yvan of Leſchell was ſewer, and ſir Gracyen bare his cuppe ^m. And there were many mynſtrelles, as well of his owne as of ſtraungers, and eche of them dyde their devoyre in their fa⯑culties. The ſame day the erle of Foiz gave to harauldes and mynſtrelles, the ſomme of fyve hundred frankes: and gave to the duke of Touraynes mynſtrelles, gownes of clothe [lxxvi] of golde furred with ermyns, valued at two hundred frankes. This dinner endured four houres ⁿ."’ Froiſſart, who was en⯑tertained in this caſtle for twelve weeks, thus deſcribes the earl's ordinary mode of ſupping. ‘"In this eſtate the erle of Foiz lyved. And at mydnyght whan he came out of his chambre into the halle to ſupper, he had ever before hym twelve torches brennyng, borne by twelve varlettes [valets] ſtandyng before his table all ſupper ^o: they gave a grete light, and the hall ever full of knightes and ſquyers; and many other tables dreſſed to ſuppe who wolde. Ther was none ſhulde ſpeke to hym at his table, but if he were called. His meate was lightlye wylde foule.—He had great pleſure in armony of inſtrumentes, he could do it right well hym⯑ſelfe: he wolde have ſonges ſonge before hym. He wolde gladlye ſe conſeytes [conceits] and fantaſies at his table. And when he had ſene it, then he wolde ſend it to the other tables.—There was ſene in his hall, chambre, and court, knyghtes and ſquyers of honour goyng up and downe, and talkyng of armes and of amours, &c ^p."’ After ſupper, Froiſ⯑ſart was admitted to an audience with this magnificent earl; and uſed to read to him a book of ſonnets, rondeaus, and virelays, written by a gentyll duke of Luxemburgh ^q.

[lxxvii] In this age of curioſity, diſtinguiſhed for its love of hiſtorical anecdotes and the inveſtigation of antient manners, it is extraor⯑dinary that a new tranſlation ſhould not be made of Froiſſart from a collated and corrected original of the French. Froiſſart is commonly ranked with romances: but it ought to be remem⯑bered, that he is the hiſtorian of a romantic age, when thoſe manners which form the fantaſtic books of chivalry were actually practiſed. As he received his multifarious intelligence from ſuch a variety of vouchers, and of different nations, and almoſt al⯑ways collected his knowledge of events from report, rather than from written or recorded evidence, his notices of perſons and places are frequently confuſed and unexact. Many of theſe petty incorrectneſſes are not, however, to be imputed to Froiſſart: and it may ſeem ſurpriſing, that there are not more inaccuracies of this kind in a voluminous chronicle, treating of the affairs of England, and abounding in Engliſh appellations, compoſed by a French⯑man, and printed in France. Whoever will take the pains to compare this author with the coeval records in Rymer, will find numerous inſtances of his truth and integrity, in relating the more public and important tranſactions of his own times. Why he ſhould not have been honoured with a modern edition at the Louvre, it is eaſy to conceive: the French have a national prejudice againſt a writer, who has been ſo much more com⯑plaiſant to England, than to their own country. Upon the whole, if Froiſſart ſhould be neglected by the hiſtorical reader for his want of preciſion and authenticity, he will at leaſt be valued by the philoſopher for his ſtriking pictures of life, drawn without reſerve or affectation from real nature with a faithful and free pencil, and by one who had the beſt opportunities of obſer⯑vation, who was welcome alike to the feudal caſtle or the royal palace, and who mingled in the buſtle and buſineſs of the world, at [...]hat very curious period of ſociety, when manners are very far refined, and yet retain a conſiderable tincture of bar⯑bariſm. But I cannot better expreſs my ſentiments on this ſub⯑ject, than in the words of Montaigne. ‘"J'ayme les Hiſtorien [...] [lxxviii] ou fort ſimples ou excellens. Les ſimples qui n'ont point de quoy y meſler quelque choſe du leur, et qui n'y apportent que le ſoin et la diligence de ramaſſer tout ce qui vient a leur notice, et d'enregiſtrer a la bonne foy toutes choſes ſans chois et ſans triage, nous laiſſent le jugement entier pour la conoiſ⯑ſance de la verité. Tel eſt entre autres pour example le bon Froiſſard, qui a marchè en ſon enterpriſe d'une ſi franche naïfueté, qu'ayant fait une faute il ne craint aucunement de la reconnoiſtre et corriger en l'endroit, ou il en a eſté adverty: et qui nous repreſente la diverſité meſme des bruits qui cou⯑roient, et les differens rapports qu'on luy faiſot. C'eſt la matiere de l'Hiſtoire nuï et informe; chacun en peut faire ſon proffit autant qu'il a d'entendement ^r."’

CHAP. clxxviii. A king is deſirous to know how to rule himſelf and his kingdom. One of his wiſe men preſents an alle⯑gorical picture on the wall; from which, after much ſtudy, he acquires the deſired inſtruction.

In the original eaſtern apologue, perhaps this was a piece of tapeſtry. From the cultivation of the textorial arts among the orientals, came Darius's wonderful cloth abovementioned ^e; and the idea of the robe richly embroidered and emboſſed with ſtories of romance and other imageries, in the unprinted ro⯑mance of EMARE, which forms of one the fineſt deſcriptions of the kind that I have ſeen in Gothic poetry, and which I ſhall therefore not ſcruple to give at large.

Chaucer ſays in the ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE, that RI⯑CHESSE wore a robe of purple, which,

And, in the original,

CHAP. clxxix. Ceſarius, ſaint Baſil, the Goſpel, Boethius, and Ovid, are quoted to ſhew the deteſtable guilt of gluttony and ebriety.

Ceſarius, I ſuppoſe, is a Ciſtercian monk of the thirteenth century; who, beſide voluminous Lives, Chronicles, and Ho⯑milies, wrote twelve Books on the Miracles, Viſions, and Ex⯑amples, of his own age. But there is another and an older monkiſh writer of the ſame name. In the Britiſh Muſeum, there is a narrative taken from Ceſarius, in old northern Engliſh, of a lady deceived by the fiends, or the devil, through the pride of rich clothing ^h.

CHAP. clxxx. Paul, the hiſtorian of the Longobards, is cited, for the fidelity of the knight Onulphus.

CHAP. clxxxi. The ſagacity of a lion.

This is the laſt chapter in the edition of 1488.

Manuſcript copies of the GESTA ROMANORUM are very numerous ⁱ. A proof of the popularity of the work. There are two in the Britiſh Muſeum; which, I think, contain, each one hundred and two chapters ^k. But although the printed copies have one hundred and eighty-one ſtories or chapters, there are many in the manuſcripts which do not appear in the editions. The ſtory of the CASKETTS, one of the principal incidents in Shakeſpeare's MERCHANT OF VENICE, is in one of the manuſcripts of the Muſeum ^l. This ſtory, however, is in [lxxxiii] an old Engliſh tranſlation printed by Wynkyn de Worde, with⯑out date; from which, or more probably from another edition printed in 1577, and entitled A RECORD OF ANCIENT HYS⯑TORYES in Latin GESTA ROMANORUM, corrected and bettered, Shakeſpeare borrowed it. The ſtory of the BOND in the ſame play, which Shakeſpeare perhaps took from a tranſlation of the PECORONE of Ser Florentino Giovanni ^m, makes the forty⯑eighth chapter of the laſt-mentioned manuſcript ⁿ. Giovanni flouriſhed about the year 1378 ^o. The tale of Gower's FLO⯑RENT ^p, which reſembles Chaucer's WIFE OF BATH, occurs in ſome of the manuſcripts of this work. The ſame may be ſaid of a tale by Occleve, never printed; concerning the chaſte conſort of the emperor Gerelaus, who is abuſed by his ſteward, in his abſence. This is the firſt ſtanza. A larger ſpecimen ſhall appear in its place.

At the end is the MORALISATION in proſe ^q.

[lxxxiv] I could point out other ſtories, beſide thoſe I have mentioned, for which Gower, Lydgate, Occleve, and the author of the DE⯑CAMERON, and of the CENTO NOVELLE ANTICHE, have been indebted to this admired repoſitory ^r. Chaucer, as I have before remarked, has taken one of his Canterbury tales from his col⯑lection; and it has been ſuppoſed that he alludes to it in the following couplet,

The plot alſo of the knight againſt Conſtance, who having killed Hermegild, puts the bloody knife into the hand of Con⯑ſtance while aſleep, and her adventure with the ſteward, in the MAN OF LAWES TALE, are alſo taken from that manuſcript chapter of this work, which I have juſt mentioned to have been verſified by Occleve. The former of theſe incidents is thus treated by Occleve.

She awakens the earl, who awakens the empreſs.

This ſtory, but with ſome variation of circumſtances, is told in the HISTORICAL MIRROUR of Vincent of Beauvais ^e.

But I haſten to point out the writer of the GESTA ROMA⯑NORUM, who has hitherto remained unknown to the moſt dili⯑gent enquirers in Gothic literature. He is Petrus Berchorius, or Pierre Bercheur, a native of Poitou, and who died Prior of the Benedictine convent of ſaint Eloi at Paris, in the year 1362.

For the knowledge of this very curious circumſtance, I am obliged to Salomon Glaſſius, a celebrated theologiſt of Saxe⯑Gotha, in his PHILOLOGIA SACRA ^f, written about the year 1623 ^g. In his chapter DE ALLEGORIIS FABULARUM, he cenſures thoſe writers who affect to interpret allegorically, not only texts of ſcripture, but alſo poetical fables and profane hiſto⯑ries, which they arbitrarily apply to the explication or confir⯑mation of the myſteries of chriſtianity. He adds, ‘"Hoc in ſtudio excelluit quidam Petrus Berchorius, Pictavienſis, ordinis divi Benedicti: qui, peculiari libro, GESTA ROMANORUM, necnon Legendas Patrum, aliaſque aniles fabulas, allegorice ac myſtice expoſuit ^h."’ That is, ‘"In this art excelled one Peter Berchorius, a Benedictine; who, in a certain peculiar [lxxxvii] book, has expounded, myſtically and allegorically, the Roman GESTS, legends of ſaints, and other idle tales ⁱ."’ He then quotes for an example, the whole one hundred and ſeventieth chapter of the GESTA ROMANORUM, containing the ſtory of ſaint Bernard and the Dice-player, together with its moraliſation.

Berchorius was one of the moſt learned divines of his country, and a voluminous writer. His three grand printed works are, I. REDUCTORIUM MORALE ſuper totam Bibliam, in twenty⯑four books. II. REPERTORIUM [or Reductorium] MORALE, in fourteen books ^k. III. DICTIONARIUM MORALE. Who⯑ever ſhall have the patience or the curioſity to turn over a few pages of this immenſe treaſure of multifarious erudition, will ſoon ſee this aſſertion of Glaſſius abundantly verified; and will be convinced beyond a doubt, from a general coincidence of plan, manner, method, and execution, that the author of theſe volumes, and of the GESTA ROMANORUM, muſt be one and the ſame. The REDUCTORIUM SUPER BIBLIAM^l con⯑tains all the ſtories and incidents in the Bible, reduced into alle⯑gories ^m. The REPERTORIUM MORALE is a dictionary of things, perſons, and places; all which are ſuppoſed to be myſtical, and which are therefore explained in their moral or practical ſenſe. The DICTIONARIUM MORALE is in two parts, and ſeems principally deſigned to be a moral repertory for ſtudents in theology.

[lxxxviii] The moraliſation, or moral explanation, which is added to every ar [...]cle, is commonly prefaced, as in the GESTA, with the introductory addreſs of CARISSIMI. In the colophon, the GESTA is called Ex geſtis Romanorum RECOLLECTORIUM: a word much of a piece with his other titles of REPERTORIUM and REDUCTORIUM. Four of the ſtories occurring in the GESTA, The Diſcovery of the gigantic body of Pallas ⁿ, The ſubter⯑raneous golden palace ^o, The adventures of the Engliſh knight in the biſhoprick of Ely ^p, and The miraculous horn ^q, are related in the fourteenth book of the REPERTORIUM MORALE. For the two laſt of theſe he quotes Gervaſe of Tilbury, as in his GESTA ^r. As a further proof of his allegoriſing genius I muſt add, that he moraliſed all the ſtories in Ovid's Metamorphoſis, in a work entitled, Commentarius MORALIS, five ALLEGORIAE in Libros quindecim Ovidii Metamorphoſeon ^f, and now remaining in manu⯑ſcript in the library of the monaſtery of ſaint Germains ^s. He ſeems to have been ſtrongly impreſſed with whatever related to the Roman affairs, and to have thought their hiſtory more in⯑tereſting than that of any other people. This appears from the following paſſage, which I tranſlate from the article ROMA, in his DICTIONARIUM MORALE, and which will alſo contri⯑bute to throw ſome other lights on this ſubject. ‘"How many remarkable facts might be here collected concerning the vir⯑tues and vices of the Romans, did my deſign permit me to drop Moralities, and to enter upon an hiſtorical detail! For [lxxxix] that moſt excellent hiſtorian Livy, unequalled for the dignity, brevity, and difficulty of his ſtyle, (whoſe eloquence is ſo highly extolled by ſaint Jerome, and whom I, however unworthy, have tranſlated from Latin into French with great labour ^t, at the requeſt of John the moſt famous king of France,) records ſo many wonderful things of the prudence, fortitude, fidelity, and friendſhip, of the Roman people; as alſo of their quarrels, envy, pride, avarice, and other vices, which are indeed allied to virtues, and are ſuch, to ſay the truth, as I never remember to have heard of in any nation beſides. But becauſe I do not mean to treat of hiſtorical affairs in the preſent work, the matter of which is entirely moral, I refer the hiſtorical reader to Livy himſelf, to Trogus Pom⯑peius, Juſtin, Florus, and Oroſius, who have all written hiſ⯑tories of Rome; as alſo to Innocent, who in his book on the Miſeries of human nature ^u, ſpeaks largely of the vices of the Romans ^w."’ In the mean time we muſt remember, that at this particular period, the Roman hiſtory had become the grand object of the public taſte in France. The king himſelf, as we have juſt ſeen, recommended a tranſlation of Livy. French tranſlations alſo of Salluſt, Ceſar, and Lucan, were now circu⯑lated. A Latin hiſtorical compilation called ROMULEON was now juſt publiſhed by a gentleman of France, which was ſoon afterwards tranſlated into French. A collection of the GESTA ROMANORUM was therefore a popular ſubject, at leaſt it pro⯑duced a popular title, and was dictated by the faſhion of the times.

I have here mentioned all Berchorius's works, except his Comment on a Proſody called Doctrinale metricum, which was [xc] uſed as a ſchool-book in France, till Deſpauterius's manual on that ſubject appeared ^x. Some biographers mention his TROPO⯑LOGIA, his COSMOGRAPHIA, and his BREVIARIUM. But the TROPOLOGIA^y is nothing more than his REDUCTORIUM on the Bible; and probably the BREVLARIUM is the ſame ^z. The COSMOGRAPHIA ſeems to be the fourteenth book of his RE⯑PERTORIUM MORALE; which treats of the wonders of various countries, and is chiefly taken from Solinus and Gervaſe of Til⯑bury ^a. He is ſaid by the biographers to have written other ſmaller pieces, which they have not named or deſcribed. Among theſe perhaps is comprehended the GESTA: which we may conceive to have been thus undiſtinguiſhed, either as having been neglected or proſcribed by graver writers, or rather as having been probably diſclaimed by its author, who ſaw it at length in the light of a juvenile performance, abounding in fantaſtic and unedifying narrations, which he judged unſuitable to his character, ſtudies, and ſtation ^b. Baſilius Johannes Herol⯑dus, however, mentions Berchorius as the author of a CHRONI⯑CON, a word which may imply, though not with exact pro⯑priety, his GESTA ROMANORUM. It is in the Epiſtle dedica⯑tory of his edition of the Chronicles of Marianus Scotus, and Martinus Polonus, addreſſed to our queen Eliſabeth; in which he promiſes to publiſh many Latin CHRONICA, that is, thoſe of Godfrey of Viterbo, Hugo Floriacenſis, Conrade Engelhus, Hermannus Edituus, Lanfranc, Ivo, Robert of Saint Victor, PETER BERCHORIUS, and of many others, qui de TEMPORI⯑BUS ſcripſerunt, who have written of times ^c. Paulus Langius, [xci] who wrote about the year 1400, in his enumeration of Bercho⯑rius's writings, ſays nothing of this compilation ^d.

Had other authentic evidences been wanting, we are ſure of the age in which Berchorius flouriſhed, from the circumſtance of his being employed to tranſlate Livy by John king of France, who acceded to the throne in the year 1350, and died in the year 1364. That Berchorius died, and probably an old man, in the year 1362, we learn from his epitaph in the monaſtery of ſaint Eloy at Paris, which is recited by Sweertius, and on other accounts deſerves a place here.

HIC JACET VENERABILIS MAGNAE PRO⯑FUNDAEQUE SCIENTIAE, ADMIRABILIS ET SUBTILIS ELOQUENTIAE, F. PETRUS BERCOTH ^e, PRIOR HUJUS PRIORATUS. QUI FUIT ORIUNDUS DE VILLA S. PETRI DE ITINERE^f IN EPISCOPATU MAILLIZANCENSI^g IN PICTAVIA. QUI TEMPORE SUO FECIT OPERA SUA SOLEMNIA, SCILICET DICTIONARIUM, REDUCTORIUM, BREVIATORIUM, DESCRIPTIONEM MUNDI ^h, TRANSLATIONEM CUJUSDAM LIBRI VETUTISSIMIⁱ DE LATINO IN GALLICUM, AD PRAECEPTUM EXCEL⯑LENTISS. JOANNIS REGIS FRANCORUM. QUI OBIIT ANNO M. CCC. LXII ^k.

[xcii] Berchorius was conſtituted grammatical preceptor to the no⯑vices of the Benedictine Congregation, or monaſtery, at Clugni, in the year 1340 ^l. At which time he drew up his Notes on the Proſody, and his Commentary on Ovid, for the uſe of his ſcho⯑lars. About the ſame time, and with a view of rendering their exerciſes in Latinity more agreeable and eaſy by an enter⯑taining Latin ſtory-book, yet reſoluble into leſſons of religion, he probably compiled the GESTA: perpetually addreſſing the application of every tale to his young audience, by the paternal and affectionate appellation of CARISSIMI ^m. There was there⯑fore time enough for the GESTA to become a faſhionable book of tales, before Boccace publiſhed his DECAMERON. The action of the DECAMERON being ſuppoſed in 1348, the year of the great peſtilence, we may ſafely conjecture, that Boccace did not begin his work till after that period. An exact and ingenious critic has proved, that it was not finiſhed till the year 1358 ⁿ.

I have juſt obſerved, that Berchorius probably compiled this work for the uſe of his grammatical pupils. Were there not many good reaſons for that ſuppoſition, I ſhould be induced to think, that it might have been intended as a book of ſtories for the purpoſe of preachers. I have already given inſtances, that it was antiently faſhionable for preachers to enforce the ſeveral moral duties by applying fables, or exemplary narratives: and, in the preſent caſe, the perpetual recurrence of the addreſs of CARISSIMI might be brought in favour of this hypotheſis. But I will here ſuggeſt an additional reaſon. Soon after the age of [xciii] Berchorius, a ſimilar collection of ſtories, of the ſame caſt, was compiled, though not exactly in the ſame form, profeſſedly de⯑ſigned for ſermon writers, and by one who was himſelf an emi⯑nent preacher: for, rather before the year 1480, a Latin volume was printed in Germany, written by John Herolt a Dominican friar of Baſil, better known by the adopted and humble appella⯑tion of DISCIPULUS, and who flouriſhed about the year 1418. It conſiſts of three parts. The firſt is entitled ‘"Incipiunt Ser⯑mones pernotabiles DISCIPULI de Sanctis per anni circu⯑lum."’ That is, a ſet of Sermons on the Saints of the whole year. The ſecond part, and with which I am now chiefly con⯑cerned, is a PROMPTUARY, or ample repoſitory, of examples for compoſing ſermons: and in the Prologue to this part the author ſays, that ſaint Dominic always abundabat exemplis in his diſ⯑courſes, and that he conſtantly practiced this popular mode of edification. This part contains a variety of little hiſtories. Among others, are the following. Chaucer's Friar's tale. Ariſ⯑totle falling in love with a queen, who compels him to permit her to ride upon his back ^o. The boy who was kept in a dark cave till he was twelve years of age; and who being carried abroad, and preſented with many ſtriking objects, preferred a woman to all he had ſeen ^p. A boy educated in a deſert is brought into a city, where he ſees a woman whom he is taught to call a fine bird, under the name of a gooſe: and on his re⯑turn into the deſert, deſires his ſpiritual father to kill him a gooſe for his dinner ^q. Theſe two laſt ſtories Boccace has worked into one. The old woman and her little dog ^r. This, as we have ſeen, is in the GESTA ROMANORUM ^s. The ſon who will not ſhoot at his father's dead body ^t. I give theſe as ſpecimens of the collection. The third part contains [xciv] ſtories for ſermon writers, conſiſting only of ſelect miracles of the Virgin Mary. The firſt of theſe is the tale of the chaſt [...] Roman empreſs, occurring in the Harleian manuſcripts of the GESTA, and verſified by Occleve; yet with ſome variation ^t. This third part is cloſed with theſe words, which alſo end the volume. ‘"Explicit tabula Exemplorum in tractatulo de Ex⯑emplis glorioſe Virginis Marie contentorum."’ I quote from the firſt edition, which is a clumſy folio in a rude Gothic letter, in two volumes; and without pagings, ſignatures, or initials. The place and year are alſo wanting; but it was certainly printed before 1480 ^u, and probably at Nuremburgh. The ſame author alſo wrote a ſet of ſermons called Sermones de tempore ^w. In theſe I find^x Alphonſus's ſtory, which in the GESTA RO⯑MANORUM is the tale of the two knights of Egypt and Bal⯑dach ^y; and, in Boccace's DECAMERON, the hiſtory of TITO and GESIPPO: Parnell's HERMIT ^z: and the apologue of the king's brother who had heard the trumpet of Death ^a: both which laſt are alſo in the GESTA ^b. Such are the revolutions of taſte, and ſo capricious the modes of compoſition, that a Latin homily-book of a German monk in the fifteenth century, ſhould exhibit outlines of the tales of Boccace, Chaucer, and Parnell [...]

It may not be thought impertinent to cloſe this diſcourſe with a remark on the MORALISATIONS, ſubjoined to the ſtories of the GESTA ROMANORUM. This was an age of viſion and myſtery: and every work was believed to contain a double, or [xcv] ſecondary, meaning. Nothing eſcaped this eccentric ſpirit of refinement and abſtraction: and, together with the bible, as we have ſeen, not only the general hiſtory of antient times was ex⯑plained allegorically, but even the poetical fictions of the claſſics were made to ſignify the great truths of religion, with a degree of boldneſs, and a want of a diſcrimination, which in another age would have acquired the character of the moſt profane levity, if not of abſolute impiety, and can only be defended from the ſimplicity of the ſtate of knowledge which then prevailed.

Thus, God creating man of clay, animated with the vital principle of reſpiration, was the ſtory of Prometheus, wh [...] formed a man of ſimilar materials, to which he communicated life by fire ſtolen from heaven. Chriſt twice born, of his father God and of his mother Mary, was prefigured by Bac⯑chus, who was firſt born of Semele, and afterwards of Jupiter. And as Minerva ſprung from the brain of Jupiter, ſo Chriſt proceeded from God without a mother. Chriſt born of the Virgin Mary was expreſſed in the fable of Danae ſhut within a tower, through the covering of which Jupiter deſcended in a ſhower of gold, and begot Perſeus. Acteon, killed by his own hounds, was a type of the perſecution and death of our Saviour. The poet Lycophron relates, that Hercules in returning from the adventure of the Golden Fleece was ſhipwrecked; and that being devoured by a monſtrous fiſh, he was diſgorged alive on the ſhore after three days. Here was an obvious ſymbol of Chriſt's reſurrection. John Waleys, an Engliſh Fr [...]nciſcan of the thirteenth century, in his moral expoſition of Ovid's Me⯑tamorphoſes ^c, affords many other inſtances equally ridiculous; and who forgot that he was deſcribing a more heterrogeneous chaos, than that which makes ſo conſpicuous a figure in his author's exordium, and which combines, amid the monſtrous and indigeſted aggregate of its unnatural aſſociations,

[xcvi] At length, compoſitions profeſſedly allegorical, with which that age abounded, were reſolved into allegories for which they were never intended. In the famous ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE, written about the year 1310, the poet couches the difficulties of an ardent lover in attaining the object of his paſſion, under the allegory of a Roſe, which is gathered in a delicious but almoſt inacceſſible garden. The theologiſts proved this roſe to be the white roſe of Jericho, the new Jeruſalem, a ſtate of grace, di⯑vine wiſdom, the holy Virgin, or eternal beatitude, at none of which obſtinate heretics can ever arrive. The chemiſts pre⯑tended, that it was the philoſopher's ſtone; the civilians, that it was the moſt conſummate point of equitable deciſion; and the phyſicians, that it was an infallible panacea. In a word, other profeſſions, in the moſt elaborate commentaries, explained away the lover's roſe into the myſteries of their own reſpective ſcience. In conformity to this practice, Taſſo allegoriſed his own poem: and a flimſy ſtructure of morality was raiſed on the chimerical conceptions of Arioſto's ORLANDO. In the year 1577, a tranſlation of a part of Amadis de Gaule appeared in France; with a learned preface, developing the valuable ſtores of profound inſtruction, concealed under the naked letter of the old romances, which were diſcernible only to the intelligent, and totally unperceived by common readers; who, inſtead of plucking the fruit, were obliged to reſt contented with le ſimple FLEUR de la Lecture litterale. Even Spenſer, at a later period, could not indulge his native impulſe to deſcriptions of chivalry, without framing ſuch a ſtory, as conveyed, under the dark con⯑ceit of ideal champions, a ſet of hiſtoric tranſactions, and an exemplification of the nature of the twelve moral virtues. He preſents his fantaſtic queen with a rich romantic mirrour, which ſhewed the wonderous achievements of her magnificent anceſtry.

It was not, however, ſolely from an unmeaning and a wanton ſpirit of refinement, that the faſhion of reſolving every thing into allegory ſo univerſally prevailed. The ſame apology may be offered for the cabaliſtical interpreters, both of the claſſics and of the old romances. The former not willing that thoſe books ſhould be quite exploded which contained the antient mythology, laboured to reconcile the apparent abſurdities of the pagan ſyſtem to the chriſtian myſteries, by demonſtrating a figurative reſemblance. The latter, as true learning began to dawn, with a view of ſupporting for a while the expiring credit of giants and magicians, were compelled to palliate thoſe monſtrous incre⯑dibilities, by a bold attempt to unravel the myſtic web which had been wove by fairy hands, and by ſhewing that truth was hid under the gorgeous veil of Gothic invention.