himself; is generally too much for him who has a real attachment; and he, at length, yields to gracing our pages with as accurate a portrait as his art and zeal will permit him to take. In this kind we may instance the papers on the Memoirs of a Cavalier, by Defoe; and the Arcadia of Sir Philip Sidney; which never could have been written without a sincere and ardent love of the subject, which a wading and plodding up to them in regular succession must have damped or destroyed. Besides, we have long tasks in the performance of our duty, which cannot fail to be attended with some portion of weariness and disgust; so that, unless we were privileged to light now and then upon a flower, though not in the beaten path, we should be inclined to throw up our labours at once. We may add, that an attention to chronological order would have filled our earlier numbers with such authors as we are at present about to review; an argument which may be more forcibly felt at the end than at the beginning of this article we well know that such an arrangement would have conferred as little pleasure upon our readers as profit upon ourselves. While, however, Skelton is not exactly of our choice, he is yet a curious, able, and remarkable writer, and one who was styled, in his turn, by as great a scholar as ever lived, the light and ornament of Britain. And as he doubtless produced a considerable effect upon English poetry and the English language, he is well worthy of a notice here. Very little is known of the life of John Skelton, and that little to be got from the Athena Oxonienses. He passed through Oxford with a high reputation, and became rector of Dysse, in Norfolk, when he fell under the displeasure of Nykke, bishop of Norwich. Not only because he " was esteemed more fit for the stage than the pew or pulpit," but because he indulged too freely in his writings, in censures on the Monks and Dominicans; and, moreover, had the hardihood to reflect, in no very mild terms, on the manners and life of Cardinal Wolsey. For which last offence he was so closely pursued by the cardinal's officers, that he was obliged to take sanctuary at Westminster, where he was kindly entertained by John Islip, the abbot, and continued there till the time of his death. Anthony Wood adds, that "Erasmus, in an epistle to King Henry VIII., stiles this poet Britannicarum Literarum Lumen et Decus, and of the like opinion were many of his time. Yet the generality said, that his witty discourses were biting; his laughter opprobrious and scornful; and his jokes commonly sharp and reflecting." Skelton's reputation was undoubtedly high among his cotemporaries; and we cannot give a better evidence of it, nor, at the same time, introduce Skelton better to the notice of our readers, than by the praises of his friend Thomas Churchyard, who is, at the same time, recommending the early English poets in general. "Nor scorne your mother-tongue, I have of other language seen Did ever yet beholde with In any foraigne tongue, eye, A higher verse, a statelyer style, That may be read or sung, Than is this day, indeed, Our English verse and rhyme, The grace whereof doth touch the Gods, And reach the cloudes sometime! Thro' earth and waters deepe The pen by skill doth passe, The vertue and the vice The hony-combe that bee doth make Is not so sweet in hive, As are the golden leaves That drop from poets' head, Which do surmount our common talke As far as gold doth lead. The flour is sifted cleane, The bran is cast aside, And so good corne is known from chaffe, Piers Ploughman was full plaine, Oh! shall I leave out Skelton's name, My branches all might grow : Whose judgement sure was high, Full quick of wit, right sharp of wordes, And skilful of the state; Of reason ripe and good, And to the hateful minde, That did disdaine his doings still, A scorner of his kinde; Most pleasant every waye, And seldom out of princes' grace, And great with each degree: What Skelton was, indeed; A further knowledge shall you have If These verses written here, And make his fame appear; Of laurel leaves but late, Small is my pain, great is his praise, That thus such honour gate." The contents of this book appear to have been printed separately in small pamphlets, and afterwards collected by Skelton himself; at least they are preceded by an introduction from the hand of the poet himself, in which he, however, in enumerating his works, speaks of many which are not to be found here. This introduction is an allegorical piece, in which the Queen of Fame and Dame Pallas are personages, who at length hand the poet over to Occupation, who gives him employment, and sets certain fair ladies about composing him a laurel. To each of them, Skelton addresses copies of verses. One set, to Mistress Margaret Hussey, is beautiful, and gives one an idea of a most amiable character. In this instance we will modernize the spelling. "To Mistress Margaret Hussey. Merry Margaret As midsummer flower, Gentle as falcon, Or hawk of the tower, So joyously, So maidenly, Or hawk of the tower; Sweet Pomander, Good Cassander; Stedfast of thought, Well made, well wrought, Erst you can find So courteouse, so kind, Gentle as falcon, Or hawk of the tower." After the introduction, which is styled the Crown of Laurel, the different pieces follow; the principal of which, are The Bouge of the Court, an allegorical poem on the vices of a court; The Duke of Albany, full of virulent abuse of the Scots; Ware the Hawk, against the vices of the clergy; The Tunning of Eleanor Rumming, a very singular and humorous but very coarse description of an old ale-woman, and her female customer. Why come ye not to court, a satire on Cardinal Wolsey; with various others. In the Bouge of Court there are some striking short passages out of the usual style of Skelton, such as this personification of Suspicion. "And when he came walking soberly With hum, and hah, and with a crooked look, And this, of Riot. "With that came Riot rushing all at once, Then I beheld how he disguised was, His green, Yet at the knee they were broken, I ween. His coat was checker'd with patches red and blue, Of Kirkby Kendal was his short demy; And aye he sang in faith decon thou crew; crouch." And also the following, of Dissimulation. "Disdain I saw with Dissimulation, But there was pointing and nodding with the head, |