I wis, he neither stint ne ftayd,

Till John o' the Scales house he came neare. 60

And when he came to John o' the Scales,
Up at the speere* then looked hee;
There fate three lords at the bordes end,
Were drinking of the wine fo free.

And then befpake the heire of Linne
To John o' the Scales then louted hee:

I

pray

thee now, good John o' the Scales, One forty pence for to lend mee.

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Away, away, thou thriftless loone;

Away, away, this may not bee:

For Chrifts curfe on my head, he fayd,

If ever I trust thee one pennie.

Then befpake the heire of Linne,

To John o' the Scales wife then spake he:
Madame, fome almes on me bestowe,

I

pray for fweet faint Charitìe.

Away, away, thou thriftlefs loone,

I fwear thou getteft no almes of mee;

K 4

* Perhaps the Hole in the door or window, by which it was fpeered, i. e. sparred, fastened, or shut.—In Bale's 2d Part of the Acts of Eng. Votaries, we bave this phrase, (fo. 38.) "The dore therof oft tymes "opened and Speared agayne."

For if we fheld hang any lofel heere,

The first we wold begin with thee.

Then befpake a good fellowe,

Which fat at John o' the Scales his bord: Sayd, Turn againe, thou heire of Linne; Some time thou waft a well good lord:

Some time a good fellow thou hast been,
And fparedit not thy gold and fee,
Therefore lle lend thee forty pence,

And other forty if need bee.

And ever, I pray thee, John o' the Scales,
To let him fit in thy companee :

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85

90

For well I wot thou hadft his land,

And a good bargain it was to thee.

Up then fpake him John o' the Scales,
All wood he anfwer'd him againe :
Now Chrifts curfe on my head, he sayd,
But I did lofe by that bargaine.

And here I proffer thee, heire of Linne,
Before thefe lords fo faire and free,

95

Thou shalt have it backe again better cheape,
By a hundred markes, than I had it of thee. 100

I drawe you to record, lords, he faid.
With that he gave him a gods pennèe:

Now

Now by my fay, fayd the heire of Linne,
And here, good John, is thy money.

And he pull'd forth three bagges of gold,
And layd them down upon the bord:
All woe begone was John o' the Scales,
Sce fhent he cold fay never a word.

He told him forth the good red gold,
He told it forth with mickle dinne.
The gold is thine, the land is mine,

And now Ime againe the lord of Linne.

Sayes, Have thou here, thou good fellowe,
Forty pence thou didst lend mee:
Now I am againe the lord of Linne,

And forty pounds I will give thee.

Now welladay! fayth Joan o' the Scales:
Now welladay! and woe is my life!
Yesterday I was lady of Linne,

Now Ime but John o' the Scales his wife.

Now fare thee well, fayd the heire of Linne;
Farewell, good John o' the Scales, faid hee:
When next I want to fell my land,

Good John o' the Scales, Ile come to thee.

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110

115

120

VI. GA S

VI.

GASCOIGNE'S PRAISE OF THE FAIR BRIDGES, AFTERWARDS LADY SANDES,

ON HER HAVING A SCAR IN HER FOREHEAD.

George Gafcoigne was a celebrated poet in the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and appears to great advantage among the miscellaneous writers of that age. He was author of three or four plays, and of many smaller poems; one of the most remarkable of which is a fatire in blank verfe, called the STEELE-GLASS, 1576. 4to.

Gafcoigne was born in Effex, educated in both univerfities, whence he removed to Gray's-inn; but, difliking the Study of the law, became firft a dangler at court, and afterwards a foldier in the wars of the Low Countries. He had no great fuccefs in any of these pursuits, as appears from a poem of his, intitled, "Gafcoigne's Wodmanship, written "to lord Gray of Wilton." Many of his epiftles dedicatory are dated in 1575, 1576, from "his poore boufe in Walthamftoe:" where he died a middle-aged man in 1578, according to Anth. Wood: or rather in 1577, if he is the perfon meant in an old tract, intitled, "A remembrance of "the well employed Life and godly End of GEO. GASCOIGNE, Efq; who deceased at Stamford in LincolnShire, Oct. 7. 1577. by Geo. Whetstone, Gent. an eyewitnefs of his godly and charitable end in this world," 4to. no date. From a MS. of Oldys.]

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A very ingenious critic thinks “ Gafcoigne has much ex"ceeded all the poets of his age, in smoothness and harmony of verfification." But the truth is, Scarce any of the earlier poets of Q. Elizabeth's time are found deficient in barmony and smoothness, tho' thofe qualities appear fo rare in the writings of their fucceffors. In the PARADISE OF DAINTY DEVISES, (the DodЛley's Mifcellany of thofe times) will

Obfervations on the Faerie Queen, Vol. II. p. 168. *Printed in 1578, 1596, and perhaps oftener, in 4to, black let.

will hardly be found one rough, or inharmonious line : whereas the numbers of Jonson, Donne, and most of their contemporaries, frequently offend the ear, like the filing of a jaw.-Perhaps this is in fome measure to be accounted for from the growing pedantry of that age, and from the writers affecting to run their lines into one another, after the manner of the Latin and Greek poets.

The following poem (which the elegant writer above quoted bath recommended to notice, as poffeffed of a delicacy rarely to be feen in that early fate of our poetry) properly confifts of alexandrines of 12 and 14 fyllables, and is printed from two quarto black letter collections of Gascoigne's pieces; the firft intitled, "A hundreth fundrie flowres, "bounde up in one fmall pofie, &c. London, imprinted for "Richarde Smith" without date, but from a letter of H. W. (p. 202.) compared with the Printer's epift. to the Reader, it appears to bave been published in 1572, or 3. The other is intitled, "The Pofies of George Gascoigne, Efq; "corrected, perfected, and augmented by the authour; 1575

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-Printed at Lond. for Richard Smith, &c." No year, but the epift. dedicat. is dated 1576.

In the title page of this laft (by way of printer's t, or bookfeller's device) is an ornamental wooden cut, tolerably well executed, wherein time is reprefented drawing the figure of Truth out of a pit or cavern, with this legend, OCCULTA VERITAS TEMPORE PATET [R. S.] This is mentioned because it is not improbable but the accidental fight of this or fome other title page containing the fame device, fuggefted to Rubens that well known defign of a fimilar kind, which be has introduced into the Luxemburg gallery ||, and which has been fo justly cenfured for the unnatural manner of its execution. The device abovementioned being not ill adapted to the fubject of this volume, is with fome small variations eopied in a plate, which to gratify the curiofity of the Reader is prefixed to Book III.

IN

The fame is true of most of the poems in the Mirrour of Magistrates, 1563, 410, and even of Surrey's Poems, 1557.

Henrie Binneman.

LE TEMS DECOUVRE LA VERITE.