346 TRACTS OF WHETHAMSTEDE.—LEONARD ARETINE.—LYDGATE. Some of Whethamstede's tracts, MSS. copies of which often occur in our libraries, are dedicated to the duke1: who presented many of them, particularly a fine copy of Whethamstede's GRANARIUM,2 an immense work, which Leland calls ingens volumen, to the new library3. The copy of Valerius Maximus, which I mentioned before, has a curious table or index made by Whethamstede1. Many other abbots paid their court to the duke by sending him presents of books, whose margins were adorned with the most exquisite paintings". Gilbert Kymer, physician to king Henry VI., among other ecclesiastic promotions, dean of Salisbury, and chancellor of the university of Oxford, inscribed to duke Humphrey his famous medical system Diaetarium de sanitatis custodia, in the year 14247. I do not mean to anticipate when I remark, that Lydgate, a poet mentioned hereafter, translated Boccacio's book de CASIBUS VIRORUM ILLUSTRIUM at the recommendation and command, and under the protection and superintendence, of duke Humphrey : whose condescension in conversing with learned ecclesiastics, and diligence in study, the translator displays at large, and in the strongest expressions of panegyric. He compares the duke to Julius Cesar, who amidst the weightiest cares of state, was not ashamed to enter the rhetorical school of Cicero at Rome. Nor was his patronage confined only to English scholars. His favour was solicited by the most celebrated writers of France and Italy, many of whom he bountifully rewarded. Leonard Aretine, one of the first restorers of the Greek tongue in Italy, which he learned of Emanuel Chrysoloras, and of polite literature in general, dedicates to this universal patron his elegant Latin translation of Aristotle's POLITICS. The copy presented to the duke by the translator, most elegantly illuminated, is now in the Bodleian library at Oxford1o. To the same noble encourager of learning, Petrus Candidus, the friend of Laurentius Valla, and secretary to the great Cosmo duke of Milan, inscribed by the advice of the Archbishop of Milan, a Latin version of 1 Whethamstede, De viris illustribus, Brit. Mus. MSS. Cotton. TIBER. D. vi. i. OTн. B. iv. And Hearne, Pref. Pet. Lantoft. p. xix. seq. 2 Registr. Univ. Oxon. F. f. 68. 4 MSS. Bodl. NE. vii. ii. 3 Leland, ubi modo infr. 5 Multos codices, pulcherrime pictos, ab abbatibus dono accepit.' The Duke wrote in the frontispieces of his books, MoUN BIEN MONDAIN. Leland. Coll. iii. p. 58, edit. ut supr. 6 By the recommendatory letters of duke Humphrey. Registr. Univ. Oxon. F. fol. 75, Epist. 180. 7 Hearne's Append. ad Libr. Nigr. Scaccar. p. 550. And hath joye with clarkes to commune, To study in bokes of antiquitie. Readyng of bokes. Under the wings of his protection, Lowly submittyng, every houre and space, Præfat. p. 34. And no man is more expert in langage, Fol. xxxviii. b. col. 2. Lydgate has an epitaph on the duke, MSS. Ashmol. 59. 2. MSS. Harl. 2251, 6, fol. 7. There is a curious letter of Lydgate, in which he sends for a supply of money to the duke, while he was translating BOCHAS. 'Literra dom. Joh. Lydgate missa ad ducem Glocestrie in tempore translationis Bochasii, pro oportunitate pecunie. MSS ibid. fel. 6. Ibid. 131, fol. 579, b. of the duke's marriage. 9 Leland, Script. p. 442. 10 See MSS. Bodl. D. i. 8, 10. And Leland, Script. p. 443• Plato's REPUBLIC'. An illuminated MSS. of this translation is in the British museum, perhaps the copy presented, with two epistles prefixed, from the duke to Petrus Candidus2. Petrus de Monte, another learned Italian, of Venice, in the dedication of his treatise DE VIRTUTUM ET VITIORUM DIFFERENTIA to the duke of Glocester, mentions the latter's ardent attachment to books of all kinds, and the singular avidity with which he persued every species of literature3. A tract, entitled COMPARATIO STUDIORUM ET ERI MILITARIS, written by Lapus de Castellione, a Florentine civilian, and a great translator into Latin of the Greek classics, is also inscribed to the duke, at the desire of Zeno archbishop of Bayeux. I must not forget, that our illustrious duke invited into England the learned Italian, Tito Livio of Foro-Juli, whom he naturalised, and constituted his poet and orator1. Humphrey also retained learned foreigners in his service, for the purpose of trancribing, and of translating from Greek into Latin. One of these was Antonio de Beccaria, a Veronese, a translator into Latin prose of the Greek poem of Dionysius Aser DE SITU ORBIS: whom the duke employed to translate into Latin six tracts of Athanasius. This translation, inscribed to the duke, is now among the royal MSS. in the British Museum, and at the end, in his own hand-writing, is the following insertion: 'C'est livre est a moi 'Homphrey Duc le Gloucestre: le quel je sis translater de Grec en Latin par un de mes secretaires Antoyne de Beccara, ne de • Verone.' An astronomical tract, entitled by Leland TABULÆ DIRECTIONUM, is falsely supposed to have been written by duke Humphrey'. But it was compiled at the duke's instance, and according to tables which himself had constructed, called by the anonymous author in his preface, Tabulas illustrissimi principis et nobilissimi domini mei Humfredi, &c. In the library of Gresham college, however, there is a scheme of calculations in astronomy, which bear his name9. Astronomy was then a favourite science: nor is to be doubted, that he was intimately acquainted with the politer branches of know1 Leland, Script. p. 442. And Mus. Ashmol. 789, f. 54, 56. Where are also two of the duke's epistles to Petrus Candidus. 2 P. Candidi Decembris, Duci Mediolani a secretis, Translatio POLITIE Platonis,-ad Humfredum Gloucestrie Ducem, &c. Cui præfiguntur duæ Epistolæ Ducis Glocestriæ ad P. Candidum. Most elegantly written. Membran. ad fin. Cest livre est a moy Humfrey Duc de Glocestre du don P. Candidus secretarie du duc de Mylan.' Catal. MSS. Angĺ. tom. ii. pag. 212. Num. 6858. [See MSS. Harl. 1705. fol.] 3 MSS. Nowic. MORE. 257. Bibl. pub. Cantabrig. 4Author of the Vita Henrici quinti, printed by Hearne, Oxon, 1716. And of other pieces. Hollinshed iii. 585. 5 Printed at Venice 1477. Ibid. 1498. Paris 1501. Basil. 1534. 4to. 6 MSS. Reg. 5 F. 4to, ii. In the same library is a fine folio MSS. of 'Chonique des Roys 'de France jusques a la mort de S. Loys, l'an. 1270.' At the end is written with the duke of Gloucester's hand, 'Cest livre est a moy Homfrey duc de Gloucester du don des executeurs 'le Sr de Faunhore.' 16 G. vi. 7 Hollingsh. Chron. sub. ann. 1461. f. 662. col. 2. 8 MSS. More, 820. 9 MSS. Gresh. 66. See MSS. Ashmol. 156. 348 CHAUCER, GOWER AND OCCLEVE INPROVERS OF OUR LANGUAGE. ledge, which now began to acquire estimation, and which his liberal and judicious attention greatly contributed to restore. I close this section with an apology for Chaucer, Gower, and Occleve; who are supposed, by the severer etymologists, to have corrupted the purity of the English language. by affecting to introduce so many foreign words and phrases. But if we attend only to the politics of the times, we shall find these poets, as also some of their successors, much less blameable in this respect, than the critics imagine. Our wars with France, which began in the reign of Edward III., were of long continuance. The principal nobility of England, at this period, resided in France, with their families, for many years. John king of France kept his court in England: to which, exclusive of those French lords who were his fellow-prisoners, or necessary attendants, the chief nobles of his kingdom must have occasionally resorted. Edward the black prince made an expedition into Spain. John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster, and his brother the duke of York, were matched with the daughters of Don Pedro king of Castile. All these circumstances must have concurred to produce a perceptible change in the language of the court. It is rational therefore, and it is equitable to suppose, that instead of coining new words, they only complied with the common and fashionable modes of speech. Would Chaucer's poems have been the delight of those courts in which he lived, had they been filled with unintelligible pedantries? The cotemporaries of these poets never complained of their obscurity. But whether defensible on these principles or not, they much improved the vernacular style by the use of this exotic phraseology. It was thus that our primitive diction was enlarged and enriched. The English language owes its copiousness, elegance, and harmony, to these innovations. I consider Chaucer as a genial day in an English spring. A brilliant snn enlivens the face of nature with an unusual lustre: the sudden appearance of cloudless skies, and the unexpected warmth of a tepid atmosphere, after the gloom and the inclemencies of a tedious winter, fill our hearts with the visionary prospect of a speedy summer: and we fondly anticipate a long continuance of gentle gales and vernal serenity. But winter returns with redoubled horrors: the clouds condense more formidably than before: and those tender buds, and early blossoms, which were called forth by the transient gleam of a temporary sunshine, are nipped by frosts, and torn by tempests. Most of the poets that immediately succeeded Chaucer, seem rather relapsing into barbarism, than availing themselves of those striking ornaments which his judgment and imagination had disclosed. They appear to have been insensible to his vigour of versification, and his flights of fancy. It was not indeed likely that a poet should soon arise equal to Chaucer: and it must be remembered, that the national distractions which ensued, had no small share in obstructing the exercise of those studies which delight in peace and repose. His successors, however, approach him in no degree of proportion. Among these, John Lydgate is the poet who follows him at the shortest interval. I have placed Lydgate in the reign of Henry VI., and he seems to have arrived at his highest point of eminence about the year 14301. Many of his poems, however, appeared before. He was a monk of the Benedictine abbey of Bury in Suffolk, and an uncommon ornament of his profession. Yet his genius was so lively, and his accomplishments so numerous, that I suspect the holy father saint Benedict would hardly have acknowledged him for a genuine disciple. After a short education at Oxford, he travelled into France and Italy2; and returned a complete master of the language and the literature of both countries. He chiefly studied the Italian and French poets, particularly Dante, Boccacio, and Alain Chartier; and became so distinguished a proficient in polite learning, that he opened a school in the monastery, for teaching the sons of the nobility the arts of versification, and the elegancies of composition. Yet although philology was his object, he was not unfamiliar with the fashionable philosophy: he was not only a poet and a rhetorician, but a geometrician, and astronomer, a theologist, and a disputant. On the whole I am of opinion, that Lydgate made considerable additions to those amplications of our language, in which Chaucer, Gower, and Occleve led the way: and that he is the first of our writers whose style is cloathed with that perspicuity in which the English phraseology appears at this day to an English reader. To emunerate Lydgate's pieces, would be to write the catalogue of a little library. No poct seems to have possessed a greater versatility of talents. He moves with equal ease in every mode of composition. His hymns, and his ballads, have the same degree of merit and whether his subject be the life of a hermit or a hero, of saint Austin or 1 IL a copy of Lydgate's Chronicle of English Kings, there is a stanza of Edward IV. MSS. Harl. 2251. 3. In his poem Ab inimicis nostris, &c. Edward IV. his Quene and Medir are remembered, MSS. Harl. ibid. 9, fol. 10. But these pieces could not well be written by And priest, 1397: Lydgate. For he was ordained a subdeacon, 1389. Deacon, 1393. Registr. Gul. Cratfield, abbatis de Bury, MSS. Cott. TIBER. B. ix. fol. 1. 35. 52. Edward came to the crown, 1461. Pitts says, that our author died, 1482. Lydgate, in his PHILOMELA, mentions the death of Henry lord Warwick, who died in 1446. MSS. Harleian ibid. 120. fol. 255 * See one of his DITTIES, MSS. Harl. 2255. 41. fol. 148. I have been offte in dyvers londys, &c. 350 LYDGATE, TIIE UNIVERSALITY OF HIS GENIUS AND WRITINGS. Guy carl of Warwick, ludicrous or legendary, religious or romantic, a history or an allegory, he writes with facility. His transitions were rapid from works of the most serious and laborious kind to sallies of levity and pieces of popular entertainment. His muse was of universal access; and he was not only a poet of his monastery, but of the world in general. If a disguising was intended by the company of goldsmiths, a mask before his majesty at Eltham, a maygame for the sheriffs and aldermen of London, a mumming before the lord mayor, a procession of pageants from the creation for the festival of Corpus Christi, or a carol for the coronation, Lydgate was then consulted and gave the poetry1. About the year 1430, Whethamstede the learned and liberal abbot of saint Albans, being desirous of familiarising the history of his patron saint to the monks of his convent, employed Lydgate, as it should seem then a monk of Bury, to translate the Latin legend of his life in English rhymes. The chronicler who records a part of this anecdote seems to consider Lydgate's translation, as a matter of mere manual mechanism ; for he adds, that Whethamstede paid for the translation, the writing, and illuminations, one hundred shillings. It was placed before the altar of the saint, which Whethamstede afterwards adorned with much magnificence, in the abbey church2. Our author's stanzas, called the DANCE OF DEATH, which he translated from the French, at the request of the chapter of saint Paul's, to be inscribed under the representation of DEATH leading all ranks of men about the cloister of the church in a curious series of paintings, are well known. But their history has not I believe, yet appeared. These verses, founded on a sort of spiritual masquerade, anciently celebrated in churches3, were originally written by one Macaber in German rhymes, and were translated into Latin about the year 1460, by one who calls himself Petrus Defrey Orator. This Latin translation was published by Goldastus, at the end of the SPECULUM OMNIUM STATUUM TOTIUS ORBIS TERRARUM compiled by Rodericus Zamorensis, and printed at Hanau in the year 1613. But a French translation was made much 1 See a variety of his pieces of this kind, MSS. Ashmol. 59. ii. Stowe says, that at the reception of Margaret queen of Henry Ví., several pageants, the verses by Lydgate, were shewn at Paul's gate, in 1445. Hist. p. 385. MSS. Harl. 2251. 118. fol. 250. b. The COVENTRY PLAY for Corpus Christi day, in the Cotton library, was very probably written by our author. VESPAS. D. viii. fol. GEST, Joh. Whethamst. ut supr. p. cxvi. cxxvii. cxxiv. It is added, that Whethamstede expended on the binding, and other exterior ornaments of the manuscript, upwards of three pounds. Bale and Pitts say, that Whethamstede himself made the translation. p. 584. 630. It is in Trinity college at Oxford, MSS. 10. And in Lincoln cathedral, MSS. I. 57. Among Lydgate's works is recited, Vita S. Albana Martyris ad JOH. FRUMENTARIUM (Whethamstede) abbatem. A DANCE OF DEATH seems to be alluded to so early as in Pierce Plowman's VISIONS, written about 1350. 4 In 4to. DEATH came driving after and al to dust pashed KYNGS, and KAISARS, KNIGHTS, and POPES. |