in the same character concluded a treaty between King Edward and the Duke of Bretagne. On Prince Edward being created Prince of Wales, he was appointed his governor, and had a grant of the office of chief butler of England, and was even on the point of attaining the high honour of espousing the Scottish princess, sister of King James III.

Earl Rivers had his share of his sister's afflictions as well as of her triumphs; but making a right use of adversity, and understanding that there was to be a jubilee and pardon at Santiago, in Spain, in 1473, he sailed from Southampton, and for some time was “ful vertuously occupied in goying of pilgrimages to Seint James in Galice, to Rome, and to Seint Nicholas de Bar in Puyle (Apulia), and other diverse holie places; also he procured and gotten of our holy fader the pope a greet and a large indulgence, and grace unto the chapell of our Ladye of the Piewe by Seint Stephen's at Westmenstre." Earl Rivers was beheaded at Pomfret, in 1483, by order of Richard III. The works of this gallant and learned person are:

1. The Dictes and Sayinges of the Philosophers; translated from the

by Caxton-at least, the first which he printed at Westminster— being dated November 18, 1477. A fair manuscript of this translation, with an illumination representing the earl introducing (it is uncertain whether) Caxton or the original author to Edward IV., his queen, and the prince, is preserved in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth. A remarkable circumstance attending this book is the gallantry of the earl, who omitted to translate part of it because it contained sarcasms of Socrates against the fair sex; and it is no less remarkable that his printer ventured to translate the satire, and add it to his lordship's performances, yet with an apology for his presumption.

2. The Morale Proverbes of Christyne of Pyse.

This is a translation of Les Proverbes moreaux et le Livre de Prudence par Christine de Pisan, into a poem of 203 lines, the greatest part of which the noble writer contrived to make conclude with the letter e; an instance at once of his lordship's application, and of the bad taste of an age which had witticisms and whims to struggle with as well as ignorance. 3. The Boke named Cordyale; or, Memorare Novissima. A translation from the French of an unknown author.

4. Divers Balades agenst the Seven dedely Synnes.

5. A Balet by the Earl Rivers. This, the noble writer's only original composition, was composed by him during his cruel confinement in Pomfret Castle, and the sentiments it conveys are tinctured with sage reflections and manly resignation.

JOHN NORTON.
(Circa 1444.)

John Norton, born at Bristol about the year 1444, was the most skilful alchemist of his age, although, as he relates, he occupied but forty days in learning his so potent art at twenty-eight years of age. In the year 1477 he completed the work which has entitled him to a place in the list of British poets-The Ordinal; or, a Manual of the Chemical Art. It was presented to Nevil, archbishop of York, a great patron of the hermetic philosophers, who grew so numerous in England about this time as to occasion an act of parliament against the transmutation of metals. Norton's reason for treating his subject in rhyme was to circulate the principles of a science of the most consummate utility among the unlearned. The poem, which was printed by Ashmole in his Theatrum Chemicum, 1652, is totally void of any poetical elegance. The only wonder which it relates

belonging to an art so fertile in striking inventions, and contributing to enrich the storehouse of Arabian romance with so many magnificent imageries, is that of an alchemist who projected a bridge of gold over the Thames, near London, crowned with pinnacles of gold, which, being studded with carbuncles, diffused a blaze of light in the dark. Norton's heroes in the occult sciences are Bacon, Albertus Magnus, and Raymond Lully, to whose specious promises of supplying the coinage of England with inexhaustible sources of philosophical gold, King Edward III. became an illustrious dupe.

GEORGE RIPLEY.
(Circa 1450.)

George Ripley, another poet on chemistry, was accomplished in many parts of erudition, and still maintains his reputation as a learned chemist of the lower ages. He was a canon regular of the monastery of Bridlington in Yorkshire, a great traveller, studying his art in various parts of Europe. Ashmole states, that during a long stay at Rhodes, Ripley gave the Knights of Malta 100,000l. annually towards maintaining the wars against the Turks; a statement manifesting the writer's belief that his hero was already in possession of the philosopher's stone. On Ripley's return from abroad, Pope Innocent VIII. absolved him from the observance of the rules of his order, that he might prosecute his studies with more convenience and freedom. But his convent not concurring in this very liberal indulgence, he turned Carmelite at St. Botolph's, in Lincolnshire, and died an anchorite of that fraternity in 1490. His chemical poems are nothing more than the doctrines of alchemy clothed in plain language and a very rugged versification. The capital performance is the Compounde of Alchemie, written in the year 1471, printed in 1591, and again by Ashmole in his Theatrum Chemicum, and thrice translated into Latin. It is in the octave metre, and dedicated to Edward IV. Ripley has left a few other compositions on his favourite science, also printed by Ashmole, who was an enthusiast in this abused species of philosophy. One of them, the Medulla, written in 1476, is dedicated to Archbishop Nevil. These pieces have no other merit than that of serving to develop the history of chemistry in England. They certainly contributed nothing to the state of our poetry.

THOMAS CHESTRE.

(Circa 1450.)

Thomas Chestre was a writer for the minstrels in the reign of Henry VI. No anecdote of his life is preserved. He has left a lay, entitled Sir Launfal, a memorial of one of Arthur's knights, who is celebrated, with other champions, in a set of French metrical tales or romances, written by Marie de France, under the name of Lanval. This poem, as altered into the romance of Sir Lambwell, forms part of Ritson's Collection. There appears some evidence to prove that Chestre was also the author of the metrical romance (not hitherto printed) called the Erle of Tholouse.

HOLLAND. (Circa 1450.)

Holland, who is mentioned by Dunbar and by Lindsay, and who appears to have been a retainer of Archibald Douglas, Earl of Murray, is the author of an uncouth poem called the Houlate, a kind of moral fable, illustrative of the danger of pride, but conducted with a very slight degree of poetical skill. The plan neither possesses the charm of novelty, nor is recommended by propriety of execution. The production may, however, be viewed as a curious specimen of the ancient Scottish poetry.

JOHN SKELTON.

(Circa 1460-1527.)

Most of the poems of John Skelton were written in the reign of Henry VIII.; but he had been laureated at Oxford so far back as 1489, having appeared as an author, in commemoration of the death of Edward IV., at the still earlier period of 1483, so that we may assume him to have been born in the year 1460. The locality of his birth is believed to have been Diss, in Norfolk, though his family appears to have been of Northumbrian descent. Having studied at both universities, he became M.A. at Cambridge in 1484. Skelton took orders in 1498; and prior to 1507 was promoted to the rectory of Diss. But for his buffooneries and his satirical ballads against

the Mendicants he was severely censured, and perhaps suspended, by the arbitrary Bishop Wykke, his diocesan, from exercising the duties of the sacerdotal function. Wood says he was also punished by the bishop "for having been guilty of certain crimes, as most poets are ;” the crime in question being that of having married. But these persecutions only served to quicken his ludicrous disposition, and to exasperate the acrimony of his satire. As his sermons could be no longer a vehicle for his abuse, he vented his ridicule in rhyming libels. At length, daring to attack the dignity of Cardinal Wolsey, he was closely pursued by the officers of that powerful minister, and taking shelter in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, was entertained and protected by Bishop Islip till the day of his death in the year 1529. He was buried in the church of St. Margaret.

Skelton was warmly patronised by Henry Algernon Percy, the fifth Earl of Northumberland, a man who loved literature at a time when many of the nobility of England could hardly read or write their names, and was the general patron of such genius as his age produced. He encouraged Skelton to write an elegy on the death of his father, which is still extant.

It is in vain to apologise for the coarseness, obscenity, and scurrility of "angry Skelton," as Bishop Hall tersely designates him, by saying that his poetry is tinctured with the manners of his age. Skelton would have been a writer without decorum at any period. The manners of Chaucer's age were undoubtedly more rough and unpolished than those of the reign of Henry VII. and VIII.; yet Chaucer, a poet abounding in humour, and often employed in describing the vices and follies of the world, writes with delicacy when compared with Skelton.

Skelton's characteristic vein of humour was capricious and grotesque. If his whimsical extravagances ever move our laughter, at the same time they shock our sensibility. His festive levities are not only vulgar and indelicate, but frequently want truth and propriety; his subjects are often as ridiculous as his metre ; and he sometimes debases his matter by his versification. On the whole, his genius seems better suited to low burlesque than to liberal and manly satire.

A list of Skelton's works would occupy several pages of this work. They have all been collected (2 vols. 8vo, 1843) by the accomplished critic Mr. Dyce, who has printed many of them for the first time.