If I might be pardoned a digression, it should be on the elegance of the numbers by which this unfortunate part of the tale is introduced. Addit tristia fata, et te, quem luget ademptum Italia, &c. The omission of the usual cæsura, in the first of these verses, naturally throws it into that anapæstic rhythm, so finely suited to solemn subjects. Addit-tristia fata et-te quem, &c.1 It may be observed, also, in how pathetic, and yet, withal, in how manly a way Sannazarius concludes. Frederic died in a remote region, and was buried where he died. "It is pleasing," says Proteus, "for a man's remains to rest in his own country, and yet for a tomb every land suffices." Grata quies patriæ, sed et omnis terra sepulcrum. Those who know how much sooner Italy emerged from barbarity than the rest of Europe, may choose to place Sannazarius rather at the beginning of a good age, than at the conclusion of a bad one. Their opinion, perhaps, is not without foundation, and may be extended to Fracastorius, Politian, Poggius, and many other eloquent authors, which that century then produced, when eloquence was little known elsewhere. Before we quit poetry, we shall say something upon its lowest species, upon acrostics, chronograms, wings, altars, eggs, axes, &c. These were the poor inventions of men devoid of taste, and yet absurdly aiming at fame by these despicable whims. Quitting the paths of simplicity and truth, (of which it is probable they were wholly ignorant,) they aspired, like rope-dancers, to merit, which only lay in the difficulty. The wings, the axes, the altars, &c. were wretched forms into which they tortured poor words, just as poor trees in our gardens were formerly mangled into giants, flower-pots, peacocks, obelisks, &c. Whoever remembers that acrostics, in versification, are formed from the initial letter of every verse, will see the force and ingenuity of the following description. Firm and compact, in three fair columns wove, Chronograms, by a different conceit, were not confined to initial letters, but, as they were to describe dates, the numeral letters, in whatever part of the word they stood, were distinguished from other letters by being written in capitals. : Πότνια θέα μὴμοί τόδε—χώεο. Ηom. Οdyss. Ε. 215. For example: I would mark by a chronogram the date 1506. I take for the purpose the following words, Feriam sidera vertice; and by a strange elevation of capitals, I compel even Horace to give me the date required. FeriaM siDera VertIce-MDVI. The ingenious author, whom I have quoted before, thus admirably describes this second species of folly. Not thus the looser chronograms prepare; If I have dwelt too long on these trifles, it is not so much for their merit, (of which they have none,) as for those elegant lines in which they are so well described. On the same motive I conclude this chapter with selecting a few more lines from the same ingenious poem. To join these squadrons, o'er the champain came A numerous race, of no ignoble name; Riddle, and rebus, riddle's dearest son, And false conundrum, and insidious pun; On their fair standards, by the winds display'd, CHAPTER XII. PAUL THE VENETIAN, AND SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE, GREAT TRAVELLERS -SIR JOHN FORTESCUE, A GREAT LAWYER-HIS VALUABLE BOOK ADDRESSED TO HIS PUPIL THE PRINCE OF WALES- -KING'S COLLEGE IN CAMBRIDGE FOUNDED BY HENRY THE SIXTH. It was during this middle period lived those celebrated travellers, Paul the Venetian, and our countryman, sir John Mandeville. We have mentioned Chaucer before them, though he flourished after both; for Chaucer lived till past the year 1400, Paul began his travels in the year 1272, and Mandeville began his in the year 1322. The reason is, Chaucer has been arranged with the poets already spoken of. Marc Paul, who is the first writer of any note concerning the Eastern countries, travelled into those remote regions as far as j See the Scribleriad (book ii. 151, &c.) of my valuable friend, Mr. Cambridge of Twickenham. the capital and court of Cublai Chan, the sixth from that tremendous conqueror, Jingiz Chan. Paul is a curious and minute relator of what he saw there. He describes the capital, Cambalu, to be a square, walled in, of six miles on every side, having to each side three gates, and the several streets rectilinear, and crossing at right angles. The imperial palace, he tells us, was inclosed within a square wall of a mile on every side, and was magnificently adorned with gilding and pictures. It was a piece of state, that through the grand or principal gate no one could enter but the emperor himself. Within the walls of this square there were extensive lawns, adorned with trees, and stocked with wild animals, stags, goats, fallow deer, &c. not to mention a river, which formed a lake, filled with the finest fish. Besides this, at a league's distance from the palace, he describes a small mountain, or hill, planted with evergreens, in circumference about a mile. "Here (he tells us) the emperor had all the finest trees that could be procured brought to him, employing his elephants for that purpose, as the trees were extracted with their roots. "The mountain, from its verdure, was called the Green Mountain. On its summit stood a fine palace, distinguished also by its green colour, where he (the great Chan) often retired to enjoy himself." Speaking of the person of Cublai, the then monarch, he thus describes him. "He is remarkably handsome; of a moderate stature; neither too corpulent, nor too lean; having a countenance ruddy and fair; large eyes; a beautiful nose; and all the lineaments of his body formed in due proportion." m י We here quit our traveller, only observing, as we conclude, that learned men have imagined this Cambalu to be Pekin in China, founded there by Jingiz Chan, soon after he had conquered it. When we consider the immense power of this mighty conqueror, who in a manner subdued the vast tract of Asia, we are the less difficult in believing such marvellous relations. The city, the palace, and the territory around, teach us what was See Abulpharagius, from p. 281 to 306. The preceding extracts are taken from a Latin edition of Paulus Venetus, published, in a small quarto, Coloniæ Brandenburgicæ, ex officina Georgii Schulzii, anno 1679. As the book is not rare, nor the style curious, we have only given the several pages by way of reference. For the capital, Cambalu, see p. 68. l. ii. For the imperial palace, lawns adjoining, and the Green Mountain, see p. 66, 67. L ii. c. 9. m Rex Cublai est homo admodum pulcher, statura mediocri, non nimis pinguis, nec nimis macilentus, faciem habens rubicundam atque candidam, oculos magnos, nasum pulchrum, et omnia corporis lineamenta debita proportione consistentia. Mar. Pauli, 1. ii. c. 8. p. 65. the taste of him and his family, whose boundless empire could admit of nothing minute. It is, too, an additional argument for credibility, that though the whole is vast, yet nothing appears either foolish, or impossible. One thing is worthy of notice, that though Paul resided in China so long, he makes no mention of the celebrated wall. Was this forgetfulness? or was it not then erected? As to our countryman, sir John Mandeville, though he did not travel so far as Marc Paul, he travelled into many parts of Asia and Africa; and, after having lived in those countries for thirty-three years, died at Liege, in the year 1371. He wrote his travels in three languages, Latin, French, and English; from the last of which languages we quote, taking the liberty, in a few instances, to modernise the words, though not in the minutest degree to change the meaning. We confine ourselves, for brevity, to a single fact. Travelling through Macedonia, he tells us as follows: "In this country was Aristotle born; in a city that men call Strageris," a little from the city of Tragie, or Trakys; and at Strageris is Aristotle buried; and there is an altar at his tomb, where they make a great feast every year, as though he was a saint. Upon this altar the lords (or rulers) hold their great councils and assemblies, for they hope, that, through the inspiration of God and of him, they shall have the better counsel." Such was the veneration (for it was more than honour) paid by the Stagirites to their countryman, more than eighteen hundred years after his death.P From these times we pass over the triumphant reign of Henry the Fifth (a reign rather of action than of letters) to that of his unfortunate son. This was a period disgraced by unsuccessful wars abroad, and by sanguinary disorders at home. The king himself met an untimely end, and so did his hopeful and highspirited son, the prince of Wales. Yet did not even these times keep one genius from emerging, though plunged by his rank into their most tempestuous part. By this I mean sir John Fortescue, chancellor of England, and tutor to the young prince, just mentioned. As this last office was a trust of the greatest importance, so he discharged it not only with consummate wisdom, but (what was more) with consummate virtue. His tract in praise of the laws of England," is written with " Its ancient name in Greek was ráyepa, whence Aristotle was often called, by way of eminence, the Stagirite, as being a citizen there. • See Mandeville's Voyages, chap. 2. P Those who desire a taste of this great man's philosophy in English, may find their curiosity amply gratified in the last work of that learned and acute Grecian, lord Monboddo, which work he styles Ancient Metaphysics, published in quarto at Edinburg, 1779. 9 This book, which he styles De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, is written in dialogue, between himself and the young prince his pupil, and was originally in Latin. The great Selden thought it worthy of a commentary; and since that it has been pub the noblest view that man ever wrote; written to inspire his pupil with a love of the country he was to govern, by shewing him, that to govern by those admirable laws, would make him a far greater prince than the most unlimited despotism. This he does not only prove by a detail of particular laws, but by an accurate comparison between the state of England and France, one of which he makes a land of liberty, the other of servitude. His thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth chapters upon this subject are invaluable, and should be read by every Englishman, who honours that name. Through these and the other chapters, we perceive an interesting truth, which is, that the capital parts of our constitu tion, the trial by juries, the abhorrence of tortures, the sovereignty of parliament as well in the granting of money as in the making and repealing of laws; I say, that all these, and many other inestimable privileges, existed then, as they do now; were not new projects of the day, but sacred forms, to which ages had given a venerable sanction." As for the literature of this great man, (which is more immediately to our purpose,) he appears to have been a reader of Aristotle, Diodorus Siculus, Cicero, Quinctilian, Seneca, Vegetius, Boethius, and many other ancients; to have been not uninformed in the authors and history of later ages; to have been deeply knowing, not only in the laws of his own country, (where he attained the highest dignity they could bestow,) but in the Roman, or civil law, which he holds to be far inferior; we must add to this, a masterly insight into the state and policy of the neighbouring nations. Perhaps a person of rank, even at present, need not wish to be better instituted, if he had an ambition to soar above the fashionable polish. We must not conclude without observing, that the taste for gothic architecture seems never to have been so elegant as during this period: witness that exquisite structure, built by Henry the Sixth; I mean, the chapel of King's college in Cambridge. lished and enriched with additional notes by Mr. Gregor. A new edition was given ann. 1775, and the Latin text subjoined. See of Fortescue's work, chap. ix. and xiii. and, above all, chap. xiv. where he tells us, the possibility of doing amiss (which is the only privilege an absolute prince enjoys above a limited one) can be called an addition of power, no other, than we so call a possibility to decay, or to die. See p. 41 of the English version. It is worth observing that Fortescue, in his dialogue, gives these fine sentiments to the young prince, after he has heard much and due reasoning upon the excellence of our constitution. See chap. xxxiv. p. 119. For trial by juries, see of this author chap. xx. xxi. xxii. For his abhorrence of torture, see chap. xxiii. For the sovereignty of parliament, see chap. ix. xiii. xviiii. xxxvi. particularly p. 118 of the English version. For the high antiquity of our laws and constitution, see chap. xvii. The inferiority of the Roman law to our own, is a doctrine he strongly inculcates. See, above all, chap. ix. xix, &c., also chap. xxxiv. where he nobly reprobates, as he had done before in chap. ix, that infamous maxim, Quod principi placuit, legis habet vigorem; a maxim well becoming an Oriental caliph, but hardly decent even in a degenerate Roman lawgiver. |