At our foly, and our vnftedfastnesse,

The tyme whan Mars to warre hym dyd dres,

I, callynge to mynde the great auctoryte
Of poetes olde, whiche full craftely,
Vnder as couerte termes as coulde be,
Can touche a trouth, and cloke fubtylly
With freshe vtteraunce; full fentencyously
Dyuerfe in ayle: fome fpared not vyce to wryte,
Some of mortalitie nobly dyd endyte.

Whereby I rede, theyr renome and theyr fame
May neuer dye, but euermore endure,
I was fore moued to a-forfe the fame :
But IGNORAUNCE full foone dyd me dyfcure,
And fhewed that in this arte I was not fure :
For to illumine fhe fayd I was to dulle,
Aduyfynge me my penne awaye to pulle,

And not to wryte : for he fo wyll atteyne
Excedyng ferther than his connynge is
His head maye be harde, but feeble his brayne;
Yet haue I knowen fuche er this:

But of reproche furely he maye not mys,

That clymmeth hyer than he maye fotinge haue!
What and he flyde downe, who shall hym faue ?

Thus, vp and downe, my mynde was drawen and cast,
That I ne wyfte what to do was befte,
So fore enwered that I was, at the lafte,
Enforfed to flepe, and for to take fome refte,
And to lye downe as foone as I my drefte;
At Harwyche-porte, flumbrynge as I laye
In myne hoftes houfe, called Powers keye!

Me thought I faw a fhyppe, goodly of fayle,
Come fayling forth into that hauen brood,
Her takelyn ryche and and of hye apparyle;
She caft an anker, and there fhe laye at rode
Marchauntes her borded to see what she had;
Therein they founde Royall marchaundyfe,
Fraghted with pleasure of what ye could deuife.

;

But than I thought I wolde not dwell behynde,
Amang all other I put my felfe in prece;
Than there could I none aquentaunce finde;
There was moche noyfe: anone one cryed cefe
Sharpely commaundynge eche man holde his pece!
Mayfters he fayd, the fhyp that ye here fe
The BowGE OF COURTE it hyghte for certeynte.

The Life of ALEXANDER BARCLAY.

I

T is a fubject of difpute, whether this bard was born in England, or in Scotland. According to Dr. Mackenzie, he was a Scotchman; but, according to Pitts and Wood, he was an Englishman; and the latter opinion feems to be, upon the whole, the moft probable (y). And there is alfo fome reason to believe, that he was born in Somersetshire, where there is a village called Barcley, and an antient family of the fame name. There is no account of the exact time of his birth, nor where he received the first part of his education. It appears, however, that he was entered at Oriel College, Oxford, at the time when Thomas Cornish, afterwards Bishop of Tyne, was Provost of that House; which might be about the year 1495.

When he had ftudied for fome time in this Univerfity, and diftinguished himself by his quicknefs of parts, and great affection for literature, he went over into Holland, and from thence travelled into Germany, Italy, and France. He studied the languages of thofe countries with great affiduity, and made a wonderful proficiency in them; which appeared, after his return home, by many excellent tranflations which he published. Upon his return into England, the Provost of Oriel College, who had been his patron at the University, having been promoted to the Bishopric of Tyne, made him his Chaplain, and afterwards appointed him one of the Priests of St. Mary, at Ottery in Devonfhire, a College founded by John Grandifon, Bishop of Exeter. After the death of his patron, Bishop Cornish, he became a Monk of the Order of St. Benedict; and afterwards, according

(y) Dr. Mackenzie is very pofitive that Barclay was a Scot; and, in order to prove it, enters into the genealogical history of the antient family of Berkley in Scotland; which, at the most, it has been obferved, only tends to fhew that he might be of that country. But it is alledged on behalf of the contrary opinion, that it is fomewhat ftrange that, in those days, a Scot (hould obtain fo much reputation in England, and efpecially for enriching and improving the English tongue. That had he written in Latin, or on the fciences, the thing would have been more probable. That it is extraordi

to

nary that Barclay himself, in his several addreffes to his patrons, should take no notice of his being a ftranger; it being cuftomary for the writers of that age to mention their countries, efpecially if they wrote out of their own. And that his patrons and preferments were both in the Weft of England, where it is not probeble that a Scot fhould have fo general an acquaintance, especially confidering he was fome years abroad. Vid. BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA.

Bale, who was his cotemporary, fays, "Some reckon him a Scot, while others believe him to have been born in England."

to fome, a Francifcan. It is, however, certain, that he was a Monk of Ely. And upon the diffolution of the monaftery at Ely, which happened in 1539, he was left to be provided for by his patrons, of which his works, it is faid, had gained him many. On the death of Thomas Eryngton, he had the Vicarage of St. Matthew, at Wokey in Somerfetfhire, bestowed upon him; and on the 7th of February, 1546, being then Doctor in Divinity, he was prefented to the Vicarage of Much-Badew, or BaddowMagna, in the county of Effex. And on the 30th of April, 1552, he was prefented by the Dean and Chapter of London ro the Rectorship of Allhallows, Lombard-ftreet: but he did not enjoy this living above fix weeks; for he died, in a very advanced age, at Croydon in Surrey, in the month of June, 1552, and was interred in the church there.

Bale has treated the memory of Barclay with much indignity; he fays, that he remained a fcandalous adulterer, under the colour of leading a fingle life. Pitts, on the other hand, affures us, that he employed all his ftudy in favour of religion, and in reading and writing the lives of Saints. This, however, is certain, that he was admired in his life-time for his wit and eloquence; and for a particular fluency of writing, in which he was fuperior to any other writer of that age. And he was also a great refiner of the English language.

The writings of Barclay are very numerous, and no perfect catalogue of them is any where to be found; but the following lift contains his principal pieces.

I. ECLOGUES ON THE MISERIES OF COURTIERS. These were printed at London by Richard Pynfon, in Quarto, without any date, under this title: "Here begynneth the Eglogues of Alexander Barclay, Preft, whereof the first three contayneth the myferyes of Courters and Courtes of all Princes in generall the matter whereof was tranflated into Englyfhe by "the faid Alexander, in fourme of dialogues, out of a book in Latin, named MISERIE CURIALIUM, compiled by Eneas "Sylvius, poete and oratour, which after was Pope of Rome,

and named Pius." This volume contains five dialogues; the three firft are on the miseries of Courtiers; the fourth is, "of "the behaviour of riche men anenft poetes ;" and the fifth is, "of the citizen and uplandifhman."

II. The Lives of feveral Saints; particularly St. Margaret, St. Catherine, and St. Ethelreda; and the life of St. George from Baptift Mantuan.

III. Five Eclogues, from the Latin of Mantuan.

IV. A TREATISE AGAINST SKELTON. It is conjectured that one caufe of the animofity between these brother bards, was the ill-will that Skelton bore to thofe of the ecclefiaftical character, V. OF THE FRENCH PRONUNCIATION.

VI. THE BUCOLIC OF CODRUS.

VII. THE CASTLE OF LABOUR. `Tranflated from French into English.

VIII. A

VIII. A TREATISE OF VIRTUES. This was originally written in Latin by D. Mancini.

IX. THE FIGURE OF OUR MOTHER HOLY CHURCH, OP

PRESSED BY THE FRENCH KING.

X. THE HISTORY OF THE JUGURTHINE WAR. Tranflated from the Latin of Salluft. Barclay tranflated this at the defire

of the Duke of Norfolk

XI. NAVIS STULTIFERA, OR THE SHIP OF FOOLS. This is the most celebrated of all our Poet's writings. It expreffes the characters, vices, and follies of all degrees of men. It confifts partly of verfes of his own compofition; and in part of tranflations from the Latin, French, and Dutch. It is, indeed, a kind of verfion of a book written under the fame title by Sebaftian Brantius; but then it is tranflated with great freedom, and with confiderable additions. It is adorned with a great variety of pictures, printed from wooden cuts. It was first printed at London by Richard Pynfon, in 1509, in fmall Folio; again in the fame fize in 1519, and in Quarto in 1570. It was dedicated by our author to his patron, Dr. Thomas Cornish, Bishop of Tyne.

We shall select from his SHIP OF FOOLS, as a fpecimen of
his language and verfification, the character of the HYPOCRITE.
"Here maketh mine authour a speciall mencion
Of YPOCRITES not perfect of beleve,
And fuche as abuseth their religion,
But I fhall not fo fharply them repreve,
I am full lothe religious men to greve,
Or difcontent, for, if I fo do would,
A mighty volume could not their vices holde.
I leaue their pride, I leaue their covetise,
I will not touche their malice nor enuy;
Nor them that Venus toyes exercise,
I will not blame, nor touche openly;
It were but foly fith is no remedy,
But if I fhould vpou me take the payne,
A new labour I should begin agayne.

I them not touche that cunning men difdayne,
There were none ende in blaming all the fooles,
The maners rude, vngodly and vilayne,
And affes eares cloaked vnder coules,
Knowing nothing, contemning yet the fcooles! .
All these to touche and fundry vices mo,
It were to fore a charge and payne to do.

I will not fay that they vfe any finne,
Yet oft forfooth they follow not the way
Of the religion that they haue entred in,
Though they the name and habite not denay;
Yet of their life full harde it is to say,

Bat

But often at ende it proueth euident,
That vnder floures lurketh the ferpent.

The wolfe or foxe is hid within the skin,
Of the fimple fheepe poor and innocent,
Mekenefs without, but pride is hid within,
The wordes faire, but falfe is their intent;
No fort by falfhood or ways fraudulent,
May fooner deceyue good folke by any way,
Than the wicked fort of ypocrites may.

Hang vp the fcapler, the ames-coule and frocke,
Or other habite of eche religion,.

Upon a tree cleane dede or rotten stocke!
Such are thofe fooles that haue profeffion,
Leauing their right rule in eache condition;
They bere the habite, the vefture or the wede,
And eke the name without the thing in deede.
They outwarde in face prefent humilitie,
As if they were holy and perfect of living,
Yet would they not of men defpifed be;
They fayne them poore, yet will they lacke nothing,
Touching their habite, vefture or cloathing,
They will the fame in coftly maner dreffe,
Without all care, thought, trouble or bufynes.

They looke to be fed well and delicioufly,
Without labour, therein is no delite;
Some men they flatter, but other they enuy;
And other fome they cruelly backbite;
Some men to malice by falfhoode they excite :
As dogges they bite fome in playne audience
For finne, though they commit the fame offence.

As foxes full of falfhood and of gile,
By fubtiltie they all their workes gide,
They boldly other for ftatelynes reuile,
Yet as proude lions are they accloyed with pride;
And, while that they in company abide,
They fhew them outward as lambes innocent,
Like rauifhing wolues yet are they of intent.

They will be Judges without authoritie,
And witneffes without knowledge or fight,
They will be doctours of paffing grauitie,
Without proceffe in fludy day and night:
And to be fhort, by judgement vnright
They oft accufe good men, them to oppreffe,
Their felfe yet bare of vertue and goodnes.".

End of the FIRST VOLUME.