CHAP. clvii. The porter of a gate at Rome, who taxes all deformed perfons entering the city. This tale is in Alphonfus. And in the CENTO NOVELLE ANTICHE *.

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

It is curious to obferve, the romantic exaggerations of the claffical ftory.

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

I know not any book of Jofephus on this fubject. The first editor of the Latin Jofephus 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 fo ill-written, that it was often impoffible even to guefs at Jofephus's words. And in another place he says, Jofephus first wrote the ANTIQUITATES in Hebrew, and that he afterwards tranflated them from Hebrew into Greek, and from Greek into Latin ".

The substance of this chapter is founded on a Rabbinical tradition, related by Fabricius. When Noah planted the vine, Satan attended, and facrificed a fheep, a lion, an ape, and a fow. These animals were to fymbolife 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 foon tranfformed into the foolishness of the ape, and at last he wallows in the mire like the fow. Chaucer hence fays in the MANCIPLES PROLOGUE, as the paffage is justly corrected by Mr. Tyrwhitt,

* Nov. 50.

y At Verona. 1480. By Peter Mauffer

a Frenchman. It is a most beautiful and

coftly book, printed on vellum in folio.

Z COD. PSEUDEPIGR. VET. TESTAM. vol. i. p. 275.

I trowe

I trowe that ye have dronken wine of ape,
And that is when men plaien at a strawe *.

In the old KALENDRIER DES BERGERS, as Mr. Tyrwhitt has remarked, Vin de finge, 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 fate after the chace, he was refreshed by a miraculous person of a mild aspect, bearing a capacious horn, adorned with gems and gold, and filled with the most delicious liquor. This perfon inftantly disappeared after administering the draught; which was of fo wonderful a nature, as to difpel the moft oppreffive laffitude, and to make the body more vigorous than before. At length, a hunter having drank of this horn, ungratefully refused to return it to the friendly apparition; and his master, the lord of the foreft, left he should appear to countenance so atrocious a theft, gave it to king Henry the

elder.

This story, which feems imperfect, I fuppofe, is from Gervafe of Tilbury.

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

Whenever our compiler quotes Gervafe of Tilbury, the reference is to his OTIA IMPERIALIA: which is addreffed to the emperor Otho the fourth, and contains his Commentarius de regnis Imperatorum Romanorum, his Mundi Defcriptio, and his Tractatus de Mirabilibus Mundi. All these four have been improperly supposed to be feparate works.

CHAP. clxiii. King Alexander's fon Celestinus.
CHAP. clxvii. The archer and the nightingale.

This fable is told in the Greek legend of BARLAAM AND

▲ Ver. 16993. Tyrwh.

The text fays, "Such a one as is ufed at this day."

That is, Henry the First, king of

England.

i 2

JOSAPHAT,

JOSAPHAT, written by Johannes Damafcenus". And in Caxton's GOLDEN LEGENDE. It is alfo found in the CLERICALIS DISCIPLINA of Alphonfus.

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 dangerous fituation. The tree foon fell: he found himself ftruggling in a loathfome quagmire, and was inftantly swallowed by the dragon.

This is another of Barlaam's apologues in Damafcenus's romance of BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT: and which has been adopted into the Lives of the Saints by Surius and others'. A MORALISATION is fubjoined, exactly agreeing with that in the GESTA 8.

CHAP. clxix. Trogus Pompeius is cited, for the wife legislation of Ligurius, a noble knight.

Our compiler here means Juftin's abridgement of Trogus; which, to the irreparable injury of literature, foon destroyed its original. An early epitome of Livy would have been attended with the fame unhappy confequences.

CHAP. clxx. The dice player and faint Bernard.

This is from faint Bernard's legend ".

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

This is the story of Boccace's popular novel of TITO AND

OPP. ut fupr. p. 22. See alfo Surius, ut fupr. Novembr. 27. pag. 565. Fol. ccclxxxxii. b.

f See Caxton's GOLDEN LEGEND. fol. cccclxxxxiiii. a.

See Damafcenus, ut fupr. pag. 31. And METRICAL LIVES OF SAINTS, MSS. BODL. 779. f. 293. b.

See Caxton's GOLD. LEG. f. cxxix. b,

GISIPPO,

GISIPPO, and of Lydgate's Tale of two Marchants of Egypt and of Baldad, a manuscript poem in the British Museum, and lately in the library of doctor Askew. Peter Alphonfus is quoted for this story; and it makes the second Fable of his CLERICALIS DISCIPLINA.

I take the liberty of introducing a small digreffion here, which refers to two pieces of the poet last-mentioned, never enumerated among his works. In the year 1483, Caxton printed at Westminster, "The PYLGREMAGE OF THE SowLE tranflated "oute of Frensfbe into Englishe. Full of devout maters touching "the fowle, and many queftyons affoyled 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 vifion, and has fome degree of imagination, is probably the PELERIN DE L'AME, of Guillaume prior of Chaulis. This tranflation 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 "tranflated out of Frenfche into Englishe, with somwhat of "Addicions, the yere of our lorde м.cccc. and thyrteen, and "endethe in the vigyle of feint Bartholomew." The tranflator of this book, at least the author of the Addicions, which altogether confist of poetry in seven-lined ftanzas, I believe to be Lydgate. Not to infift 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 thirtyfourth chapter of this Tranflation. This chapter is a digreffion of five or fix ftanzas 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 befides, in Lydgate's own life-time, can be fuppofed, with any fort of grace or propriety, to have mentioned those personal affistances of Chaucer, in Lydgate's own

i R. Edwards has a play on this ftory, 1582.

* See fupr. vol. ii. p. 120. words.

words. And if we fuppofe that the Translation, or its Addicions, were written by Lydgate before he wrote his LIFE OF THE VIRGIN, the proof will be the fame *.

Another piece probably written by Lydgate, yet never suppofed or acknowledged to be of his compofition, is a poem in the octave stanza, containing thirty-feven 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 knowledge are described, as they stand arranged in the palace and dominions 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 haftily fufpected, 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 poefie: for these three writers were conftantly joined in panegyric, at least for a century, by their fucceffors, as the diftinguished triumvirate of English poetry. In the fame Prologue, the author fays he was commanded to write this poem by the king. No poet cotemporary with Caxton was of confequence enough to receive fuch a command: and we know that Lydgate compiled many of his works by the direction, or under the patronage, 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 rudenefs 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'.

CHAP. clxxii. A king of England has two knights, named