"fweare this, if fome of their mothers were aliue, thei were "not able to tel what thei faie: and yet these fine Englishe "clerkes wil faie thei fpeake in their mother tongue, if a man "fhould charge them for counterfeityng the kinges Englishe. "Some farre iournied gentlemen at their returne home, like as "thei loue to go in forrein apparel, fo thei will pouder their "talke with ouerfea language. He that cometh lately out of "Fraunce will talke Frenche Englishe, and neuer blushe at the "matter. Another choppes in with Englishe Italianated, and applieth the Italian phraise to our Englishe speakyng: the "whiche is, as if an Oration that profeffeth to vtter his mynde "in plaine Latine, would needes fpeake Poetrie, and farre "fetched colours of ftraunge antiquitie. The lawier will store "his stomacke with the prating of pedlers. The auditour, in

6.6

makyng his accompt and reckenyng, cometh in with fife fould, "and cater denere, for vj. s. and iiij. d. The fine courtier will "talke nothyng but CHAUCER. The misticall wisemen, and poeticall clerkes, will fpeake nothyng but quainte prouerbes, "and blinde allegories; delightyng muche in their owne dark"neffe, efpecially when none can tel what thei do faie. The " vnlearned or folishe phantasticall, that smelles but of learnyng (fvche fellowes as haue feene learned men in their daies) will "fo Latine their tongues, that the fimple cannot but wonder at "their talke, and thinke surely thei speake by fome reuelacion. "I know Them, that thinke RHETORIKE to ftande wholie vpon darke wordes; and he that can catche an ynkehorne "terme by the taile, hym thei compt to be a fine Englishman "and a good rhetorician'. And the rather to fet out this folie,

f Puttenham, in THE ARTE OF ENGLISH POESIE, where he treats of style and language, brings fome illuftrations from the practice of oratory in the reign of queen Mary, in whofe court he lived: and although his book is dated 1589, it was manifeftly written much earlier. He refers to fir Nicholas Bacon, who began to be high in the departments of the law in queen Mary's time, and died in 1579:

Having told a story from his own knowledge in the year 1553, of a ridiculous oration made in parliament by a new fpeaker of the houfe, who came from Yorkfhire, and had more knowledge in the affairs of his county, and of the law, than gracefulness or delicacy of language, he proceeds, " And though graue and wife "counsellours in their confultations do not "vfe much fuperftitious eloquence, and "alfo

"I will adde here fvche a letter as William Sommer himself, "could not make a better for that purpose,-deuised by a Lin

"colnefhire man for a voide benefice." This point he illuftrates with other familiar and pleasant inftances 1.

In enforcing the application and explaining the nature of fables, for the purpose of amplification, he gives a general idea of the Iliad and Odyffey. "The faying of poetes, and al "their fables, are not to be forgotten. For by them we maie "talke at large, and win men by perfwafion, if we declare be"fore hand, that these tales wer not fained of fuche wifemen "without cause, neither yet continued vntill this time, and

kept in memorie without good confideracion, and therevpon "declare the true meanyng of all fvche writynge. For vn"doubtedly, there is no one Tale among all the poetes, but " vnder the fame is comprehended fomethyng that perteyneth "either to the amendement of maners, to the knowledge of "truthe, to the fettyng forth natures worke, or els to the vn"derstanding of fome notable thing doen. For what other is "the painful trauaile of Vliffes, defcribed fo largely by Ho"mere, but a liuely picture of mans miferie in this life? And "as Plutarche faith, and likewife Bafilius Magnus, in the "ILIADES are defcribed ftrength and valiauntneffe of bodie: in

ODISSEA, is set forthe a liuely paterne of the mynde. The "Poetes are Wifemen, and wished in harte the redreffe of thinges, the which when for feare thei durft not openly re"buke, they did in colours paint them out, and tolde men by "fhadowes what thei fhold do in good fothe: or els, because "the wicked were vnworthy to heare the trueth, thei spake fo

"that none might vnderftande but thofe vnto whom thei please "to vtter their meanyng, and knewe them to be men of honeft "conuerfacion '."

Wilson thus recommends the force of circumftantial defcription, or, what he calls, An euident or plaine fetting forthe of a thing as though it were prefently doen. "An example. If our "enemies shal inuade and by treafon win the victory, we shal "all die euery mothers fonne of vs, and our citee shal be def"troied, fticke and ftone: I fe our children made flaues, our daughters rauished, our wiues carried away, the father forced "to kill his owne fonne, the mother her daughter, the fonne "his father, the fucking childe flain in his mothers bofom, one standyng to the knees in anothers blood, churches spoiled, "houses plucte down, and al fet on fire round about vs, euery one cvrfing the daie of their birth, children criyng, women wailing, &c. Thus, where I might haue faid, We shal al be deftroied, and fay [no] more, I haue by defcription set the "euill forthe at large*.' It must be owned that this picture

of a facked city is literally tranflated from Quintilian. But it is a proof, that we were now beginning to make the beauties of the antients our own.

On the neceffity of a due preservation of character he has the following precepts, which feem to be directed to the writers of Hiftorical Plays. "In defcribyng of perfons, there ought al"waies a comelineffe to be vfed, fo that nothing be spoken "which may be thought is not in them. As if one shold de"scribe Henry the fixt, He might call hym jentle, milde of "nature, ledde by perfwacion, and ready to forgiue, carelesse for "wealth, fufpecting none, mercifull to al, fearful in aduersitie, "and without forecast to efpie his misfortvne. Againe, for "Richarde the thirde, I might brynge him in cruell of harte, "ambicious by nature, enuious of minde, a deepe diffembler, "a close man for weightie matters, hardie to reuenge and feare

i Lib. iii. fol. 99. b.

* Fol. 91.3.

"full

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"full to lofe hys high estate, truftie to none, liberall for a purpose, caftyng still the worfte, and hoping euer for the best'. "By this figure" alfo, we imagine a talke for fome one to fpeake, and accordyng to his perfone we frame the oration. "As if one shoulde bryng in noble Henry the eight of famous memory, to enuegh against rebelles, thus he might order his ❝oration. What if Henry the eight were aliue, and fawe fuche "rebellion in the realme, would he not faie thus and thus? Yea " methinkes I heare hym fpeake euen nowe. And fo fette "forthe fuche wordes as we would haue hym to fay "." Shakespeare himself has not delineated the characters of thefe English monarchs with more truth. And the firft writers of the MIRROUR OF MAGISTRATES, who imagine a talke for fome one to Speake, and according to his perfon frame the oration, appear to have availed themselves of thefe directions, if not to have catched the notion of their whole plan from this remarkable paffage.

"แ

He next shews the advantages of personification in enlivening a compofition. "Some times it is good to make God, the Countray, or fome one Towne, to fpeake; and looke what "we would faie in our owne perfone, to frame the whole tale "to them. Such varietie doeth much good to auoide tediousneffe. For he that fpeaketh all in one forte, though he speake thinges neuer fo wittilie, shall sone weary his hearers. Figures "therefore were inuented, to auoide fatietie, and caufe delite : "to refresh with pleasure and quicken with grace the dulneffe " of mans braine. Who will looke on a white wall an houre "together where no workemanshippe is at all? Or who will "eate still one kynde of meate and neuer defire chaunge?"