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he his gathering at Oxen-ford. Anc! tliar he nam the biscop Rogerof Srres-lieni. And Alexander biscop of Lincoln- and te Lan-celer Roger h;se neves, and dide aille in perisuntil hi jafen nphere castles. Tha ths suikes nnder-gffton that he milde man wasand soft and god. and na justise ne dide. tha diden hi alle wun-der. Hi hadden him manied maked and allies sueren.” &c.

“ Nearly about this time (says the Dr.) the following pieces ofpoetrv seem to have been written, of which I have inserted onlyshort fragments : the first is a rude attempt at the present mea-sure of eight syllables, and the second is a natural introduction toRobert ot Gloucester, being composed in the same measure,which, however rude and barbarous it may seem, taught the wayto the Alexandrines of the French poetry.

“ Fi'R in see hi west spaynge.

If a loud thote cokaygue.

'I her nis loud under heuenriche.

Of wel ofgodnis hit iliclie.

Thoy poradis he miri and briyt.

Cohaygn if of fairir siyt.

What is tiler in paradis.

Hot grass and ilure and generis.

Thoy tlier he ioi and gret dute,

Ther nis met bote finite.

Ther nis halle hureno bench.

Rot vatu' man if thursto quench,

Beth ther no men hut two.llely and enok also.

Clinghch may hi go.

Whar ther ivonith men no mo.” &c.

SANCTA MARGARETrA,

* Olde ant yonge i preit on oure folief for to lete.

Thencheton god that yef ou wit oure sunnes to bete.

Here mai telien ou. wid wonles feire and swete.

The vie of one meidan. was hoten Maregrele.

Hire fader was a patriae, as ic on telien may.

In auntioge wif echef 1 the false lay.

l)eve gotles ant doumbe. he served nitt ant day.

S'o dedeu mony othere. that singet weilawey.

Theodosius was is nonie. on crist ne levede he noult.lie levede on the false godes. that weren wid honden wroutt.

Tho that child sculde Christine hen. ic com him well in thoutt.

E bed wen it were ibore. to dethe it were ibroutt.”

“ In these fragments, the adulteration of the Saxon tongue, bya mixture of the Norman, becomes apparent; yet it is not somuch changed by the admixture of new words, which might beimputed to commerce with (he continent, as by changes of its ownforms and terminations; for which no reason can be given. Hi-therto the language used in this island, however different insuccessive time, may be called Saxon ; nor can it he ex-pected, from the nature of tilings gradually changing, that anytime can he assigned, when the Saxon may be said to cease,and the English to commence. Robert of Gloucester, however'who is placed by the critics in the 13th century, seems lo havewsed a kind of intermediate diction, neither Saxon nor English ;'n his work, therefore we see the transition exhibited, and, as lie is•he hrst of our writers in rhyme, of whom any large work remains,tlip V>rC extens ‘ v e quotation is extracted. lie writes apparently inwhirlf’n'r ! uc 1 usuri ' " ith tiie foregoing author of St. Margafile,» lnto greater exactness, appeared to our ancestors soname to the genius of the English language, that it was conti-nued m use almost to the middle of the 17th century.

Of the batayles of Dcnemarcb, that liii dude in tin's londe• hat worst were of alle othere, we mote abbe an honde.worst hii were, vor othere adde somwanne ydo,

As Romeyns & Saxons, & wel wuste that loud tlierto.

Ac hii ne kepte yt holde nogt, bote robby, and ssende,

And destrue, & berne, & sle, and ne couthe abbe non ende.And bote lute yt lias worth, they hii were ouercome ylome.

or myd sspes and great poer as prest efsone hii come.^.f^B-Adelwolfof hys lend kyng was tuenty zer.ine Dcueys come by hym ryuor than he dude er,” &e.

7. N G

“ The kyng Aidered sone tho then wey of detli nonie,

As yt vel, the vyfty zer ofys kynedom.

At Wymbourne he was ybured, as God gef that cas,

The gode Alfred, ys brother, after hym kyng was.

Alfred, thys noble man, as in the zer of grace he nomEygte hondred and sixty and lueluetlie kynedom.

Arst he adde at Rome ybe, &, vor ys grete wysdom,

The pope Leon hym blessede, tho lie tiiuder com.—

Kyng Alfred was tiie wysost kyng, that long was bynore.

Vor they me segge the lawes beth in worre tyme vovlore,

Nas yt nogt so liiis daye. vor they he in worre were,

Lawes he made rygtuollore, and strengore than er werclClevc he was god ynou, and zut, as me telleth me,

He was more than ten zer old, as he couthe ys abece.

Ac ys gode moder ofte smale gyftes l;ym tok,

Vor tobyleue other pie, and loky on his boke.

So that by por clergye ys rygt lawes he wonde,

Tliat neuere er nere y mad, to gouerny ys lond.

Hys lyf eygte and tuenty zer in ys kynedom ylaste.

Alter ys detli he wos ybured at Wynehestre atte laste.”

Tiie following is a quotation from Sir John Mandcville’s workswho wrote, as himself informs us, in the 14th century. “ In thatlond, ne in many othere bezonde that, no man may see the sterretransnioutane, that is clept the sterre of the see, that is immovable,and that is toward the Nortlie, that we clepen the lode sterre. Rutmen see another sterre, the contrarie to him, lhat is toward theSouthe, that is clept Antartyk. And rigid as the scliip men takenhere avys here, and governe hem be the lode sterre, right so doaschip men bezonde the parties, be the sterre of the Southe, thewhich sterre appercthe not to us. And this sierre, lhat is towardthe Northe, that wee clepen the lode sterre, lie apperethe not tohem. Forwhiche cause, men may wel perceyve that the londe,and the see hen of rowude schapp and tonne. For the partie ofthe firmament sehewelhe in o conlree, that schewethe not in ano-ther contree. And men may well preven be experience and so-tylc compassement of wytt.that zif a man fend passages be scliippes,that wold go toserchen the world, men myghte go be schippe altaboute the world, and aboven and henetlien. h

“ The first of our authors, who can be properly said to havewritten English, was Sir John Gower , who, in his Confession of aLover, calls Chaucer hie disciple, and may therefore be consideredas the father of our poetry.

“ Nowe for to speke of the commune.

It is to dredc ot that fortune,

Which hath bcfalle in sondrye londes ;

Bid ofte for defaute of bolidesAll sodeinly, er it be wist,

A twine, when his lie aristTobreketh, and renneth alt aboute,

Which els shulde noghte gone out.” See.

Dr. Johnson ha< given several extracts from Chaucer , of whietiwe shall here insert the following :

CllAUCEIL

“ Alas ! I wepyng am constrained to begin verse of sorowfullmatter, that whilom in llorishyng studie make dehtabie ditees.Forlo! vendyng muses of Poeles enditen to metninges to bewriten, and drerie teres. At laste no drede ne might overcometlio muses, that thei ne weren telluwes, and followeclen my wale,that is to saie, when I was exiled, thei that weren of my youthwhilom wellull and grene, condorten now sorowiull v.irules ofme olde man : for eliie is conien unwarely upon me. hasted bythe liarmes that 1 have, and sonow hath cominaunded his age to be-in me. Heres bore aren shad overtimeliche upon my bed : andthe slacke skintie tremblethe of mine einpted bodie. Tliilke detliof men is welefull, tliat lie ne cometh not in veres that be swete,but cometh to wretches often icleped.”

Fortescue was chief justice of the Common-Pleas, in the reignof king Henry VI. He retired in 1471, after tiie battle ol Tewkes-bury , and probably wrote most of his works in his privacy. Thefollowing passage is selected from his book of the “ Difference be-tween an absolute and limited Monarchy. “ Hyt may pergventui e-

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