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deserve; JOHN BALE, the biographer; BRIAN ANSLAY, author of "The boke of the Cyte of Ladyes," 1521 (probably a translation of the “Tresor de la "cité des dames" by Christian of Pisa); ANDREW CHERTESEY, another translator; WILFRIDE HOLME, author of "The fall and evill successe of "Rebellion ;"* (1572, 4to.) CHARLES BANSLEY, a rhyming satirist; CHRISTOPHER GOODWIN, author of "The Mayden's Dreme" (1542, 4to.); THOMAS FEYLDE, author of "A lytel treatyse "called the Contraverse betwene a Lover and a "Jaye," in six-line stanzas (4to. W. de Worde, n. d.); and WILLIAM BLOOMFIELD, a monk of Bury, and chemical writer. These deserve no farther notice: but it would be unpardonable to omit the mention of two anonymous compositions, THE TOURNAMENT OF TOTTENHAM, and THE NUTBROWN MAID; both of which are, by Mr. Warton, ascribed to this reign. By referring to the second volume of Percy's Reliques (p. 13 and 29), where they are inserted, the reader will perceive that the first is anterior to the accession of Henry VIII. by at least half a century, and that the date of the second is still uncertain, though the circumstance of its having originally appeared in Arnold's chronicle (first printed about 1521) is favourable to the conjecture of Warton and Capell. The poetical merit of both pieces is unquestionable.

*Written in 1537.

At the head of the Scotish poets of this period stands SIR DAVID LINDSAY, of the Mount, near Coupar, in Fife; born, as Mr. Pinkerton supposes, about the year 1490. He was (says this editor), descended of an ancient family; was educated at St. Andrew's; afterwards travelled through England, France, Italy, and Germany, and returned to Scotland about 1514. Soon after his return he became one of the gentlemen of the king's chamber, and had the charge of superintending the education of the young prince, afterwards king James V. In 1536 he was employed by that monarch as his embassador to the emperor Charles V. and also to France, to negotiate the king's marriage: a proof that he possessed much of his master's confidence; which, indeed, he seems to have merited by the affection with which he served him, and by the honest and wise counsels which he never failed to offer. But the only permanent establishment which he ever gained at court was the post of lion king at arms; an office of more honour than emolument. After the death of James V. in 1542, he is said to have enjoyed a degree of favour with the earl of Arran; but having been deprived of this by means of a court intrigue, he retired to his country seat, where he lived tranquil and respected till the end of 1553, when he died.

In the works of Sir David Lindsay we do not often find either the splendid diction of Dunbar, or the prolific imagination of Gawin Douglas. Perhaps, indeed, the Dream is his only composition which can be cited as uniformly poetical: but his various learning, his good sense, his perfect knowledge of courts and of the world, the facility of his versification, and, above all, his peculiar talent of adapting himself to readers of all denominations, will continue to secure to him a considerable share of that popularity, for which he was originally indebted to the opinions he professed, no less than to his poetical merit. "In fact," says Mr. Pinkerton, "Sir David was more the reformer "of Scotland than John Knox; for he had pre"pared the ground, and John only sowed the "seed." This, though it has greatly increased his posthumous reputation, was a considerable impediment to his advancement during life, as it was not till 1560 that the reformation was established in Scotland; and his works being so odious to the clergy that, by an act of assembly in 1558, they were ordered to be publicly burned, there is perhaps not one of the numerous editions through which they have passed that preserves the genuine. text of the author. The earliest, and probably the best of these, is that of 1568; the last (which is very paltry and incorrect) is that of 1776.

The most important pieces in this volume are the Dream, addressed to king James V. and the Dialogue of the miserable Estate of this World, betwixt Experience and a Courtier, commonly called the Book of the Monarchy.

The first of these is a vision, in which an allegorical lady, called Remembrance, transports the poet to the infernal regions, situated in the centre of the earth she then gives him a view of purgatory; opens to his view all the riches of our planet ; transports him through the three elements of water, air, and fire; visits with him the seven planets; passes to the chrystalline and empyreal heavens, where he contemplates the throne of God; shews him the three quarters of the earth; and gives him a prospect of Paradise. As a contrast to these scenes of splendour, she next exhibits to him his native country, the misery of which (at that time governed in subserviency to the policy of France) the poet very feelingly describes. Remembrance then carries him back to the cavern where he had fallen asleep, and he is awakened by the noise of a ship firing a broadside.

The following few lines, extracted from the prologue, will shew that Sir David Lindsay's talents were by no means ill suited to descriptive poetry.

1

I met dame Flora in dule weed disagysit;

2

(Which, into May, was dulce and delectable,) With stalwart storms her sweetness was surprisit;

Her heavenly hues were turnit into sable, Which, onewhile, were to lovers amiáble: Fled from the frost the tender flowers I saw Under dame Nature's mantle lurking law. 4

But these beauties are merely incidental; the poet's principal object being to instruct the king in the philosophy of that age, and above all to inspire him with a just sense of his regal duties. This fine poem is preceded by an epistle, in which the author reminds his pupil of the tenderness with which he had watched over his childhood, and of the amusements with which he had blended his instruction; and the work concludes with " the ex"hortation to the king's grace," in ten stanzas, filled with excellent advice, but delivered with a freedom and severity of language, which might possibly render it rather unpalatable. The preceptor, indeed, never quite forgot his authority, as will appear from the following five lines of "the Complaint of "the Papingo," which may be considered as presenting a' summary of all our author's counsels.

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