John Skelton. BORN CIRC. A. d. 1461.—DIED a. d. 1529. 6 WE have the high authority of Erasmus for regarding this singular man as one of the lights and ornaments of English scholarship' in his day. He was laureated at Oxford, and must have given substantial proofs of proficiency in classical learning before he was chosen to su perintend the studies of Henry VIII. On the accession of that monarch, Skelton was created orator-royal, but his ecclesiastical preferments seem to have been limited to the rectory of Diss, in Norfolk. His propensity to low and scurrilous satire, and the irregularities of his life, were insurmountable obstacles to clerical preferment, and he is even said to have been suspended by the bishop of Norwich. for his unseemly buffooneries in the pulpit. Perhaps he relied on his supposed influence with the king, to protect him against the consequences of these incessant invectives against some of the most potent characters of the day, in which it was his delight to indulge. Cardinal Wolsey and the catholics were the favourite objects of his coarse but pungent invective. The cardinal was at last roused to resentment and despatched his officers to arrest the daring satirist, but Skelton sought protection in the sanctuary of Westminster, where he was received by Abbot Islip, and sheltered till his death, which took place in 1529. Skelton's style is supposed, by Warton, to be an imitation of the Macaronic poetry first brought into fashion by Teofilo Folengo, a Benedictine monk of Casino. It is quite as vulgar, though not so bizarre, as that wretched burlesque of poetry. The subject of the following lines is the illustrious Sir Thomas More. But now we have a knight To put the truth to flight Thus he taketh pain To subvert our nation! &c. &c. As Skelton's poems are in few hands, we shall cite another specimen written in a gentler mood: TO MISTRESS MARGARET HUSSEY. Merry Margaret Or hawk of the tower, With solace and gladness, Much mirth and no madness, All good, and no badness; So joyously, So maidenly, So womanly, Or hawk of the tower; As patient and as still, And as full of good will Coliander, Sweet Pomander, Good Cassander; Stedfast of thought, Well made, well wrought, Or hawk of the tower. Sir John Bourchier, Lord Berners. BORN CIRC. A. D. 1469.-DIED A. d. 1532. THIS distinguished translator of the admirable Froissart, was the grandson and heir of Sir John Bourchier, Lord Berners, Knight of the Garter, and constable of Windsor castle, in the reign of Edward the Fourth. As near as can be determined, he was born about the year 1469, and after finishing his education at Oxford, he proceeded to the continent, where he spent several years, but returned with sufficient reputation to obtain the honour of knighthood at the marriage of the duke of York. The insurrection which took place in Cornwall in 1497, under Michael Joseph, the farrier of Bodmin, afforded him an opportunity of proving his loyalty, and the conduct he displayed on that occasion obtained him the permanent favour of his sovereign. A field more agreeable, however, to his chivalrous character was opened to him in the war which Henry the Eighth, soon after his accession, commenced with France. At the siege of Terouenne-an undertaking as useless to the monarch, as it was fruitful in examples of individual heroism-Lord Berners acted as captain of the pioneers. For the merit he displayed in this and other instances, he was signally rewarded by the monarch, and received an appointment to the office of chancellor of the exchequer for life. Henry rendered him other marks of respect and attachment. When the princess Mary was sent to France to be married to Louis the Twelfth, Lord Berners occupied a chief place in her train, and not long after was appointed to the important post of governor of Calais. It has been remarked by Walpole, that he enjoyed the rare felicity of retaining Henry's favour during the space of eighteen years, that is, from the accession of the monarch till he died. This event happened while he was still governor of Calais, in the year 1532, and in the sixty-third of his age. Lord Berners rendered an important service to English literature by his translation of Froissart,—an undertaking to which he was incited by the judicious advice of Henry VIII. The rich and varied narrative of the chronicler was well-adapted to improve as well as delight the readers of the period, when he made it known in our language. It was the finest example of modern history, the noblest specimen of the genuine historic style of narrative employed to delineate passing events, —that had been produced since the revival of learning, and it could scarcely become popular in the nation without giving rise to a considerable improvement in the taste of both readers and authors. Besides this translation, Lord Berners also gave to his countrymen versions of the History of King Arthur, and of the Life of Marcus Aurelius from the French; and of the Castle of Love from the Spanish. To these, may be added the address which he wrote on the Duties of the Inhabitants of Calais; an Account of the Exploits of Sir Hugh of Bourdeaux, and a comedy, entitled, 'Ite in Vineam,' which, it is reported, was usually acted in the great church of Calais after vespers, according to a custom then prevalent in England as well as on the continent. Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder. BORN A. D. 1503.-DIED A. D. 1542. SIR THOMAS WYATT, descended from an ancient and illustrious family, was born in 1503, at Allington castle in Kent. After completing his education at St John's college, Cambridge,' he obtained a place at court, where his noble person, his polished manners, his skill in feats of arms, and more than all, his commanding talents, fortified by deep learning, and adorned by brilliant wit, soon raised him to a conspicuous elevation, and procured for him the favour and esteem of Henry the Eighth in no stinted measure. His poetic powers early developed themselves in sonnets and odes addressed to the court-beauties, but especially to the unfortunate Anne Boleyn, for whom, both before and after her marriage, he seems-if we may rely on the somewhat doubtful testimony of his poems-to have entertained a warm affection. Though it must have been difficult for any man to gaze unmoved on the attractions of so lovely a being as Anne, and for any woman to receive with indifference the adulation of so gallant and accomplished a cavalier as Wyatt, yet their intercourse cannot have involved any ardent passion, since Wyatt had been married at a very early age to a daughter of Lord Cobham, and his grave religious cast of mind, and irreproachable character, suffice to vindicate him from any charge of criminal feelings, and to warrant the conclusion that his affection for Anne was nothing more than one of the many Platonic attachments which were generated and fostered by the fantastic spirit of the age. He is said to have been greatly instrumental in furthering the Reformation by his private influence over the king's mind, and by the singular wit and subtlety with which he insinuated the readiest means of effecting that mighty change. His abilities were not allowed to waste themselves on the idle fopperies of a court. In 1537 he was sent as ambassador to conduct a very delicate and intricate negotiation with the emperor of Spain, and although trammelled by the caprice of Henry, the insincerity of the Spanish court, and more than all by the jealousy or folly of Bonner and others, who were subsequently appointed his colleagues, he discharged the arduous duties of his office with a skill and boldness which obtained for Antony Wood says that Wyatt after studying at Cambridge went to Oxford, but there does not seem to be any better authority for this than honest Antony's anxiety to trace all eminent men to the banks of the Isis. him the warm and repeated thanks of his sovereign. The chicanery of diplomacy, however, soon disgusted Wyatt's open and manly mind. In his letters to the king and to Cromwell, he made frequent and earnest applications for a recal, but so valuable were his services deemed, that his wishes were not complied with until 1539, and scarcely had he withdrawn to his magnificent seat on the banks of the Medway, there to indulge in the pleasant labours of a literary retirement, when he was again summoned to the ungrateful task of watching the intrigues of the Spanish court. Distasteful as was the employment, he fulfilled the trust reposed in him ably and well, until Henry, though with great reluctance, assented to his entreaties for a recal. New troubles awaited him on his return to England. On the downfall of Cromwell-to whose party he had steadily clung-Wyatt was thrown into prison, on the ground of some obselete charges brought against him by the notorious Bonner, who had now gained the ascendancy, and with the petty malice of his grovelling mind, felt well-disposed to use his power for the destruction of one, before whose intellectual superiority he had cringed into his native nothingness. After a long and severe imprisonment, Wyatt was brought to trial in June 1541. The accusation brought against him was that of treachery to the king's interests in his embassies to Spain, and as he was not allowed either counsel or the right of cross-examining the witnesses, his defence was limited to a single oration. This oration is still extant, and considering the circumstances in which it was made, deserves to rank with our best specimens of judicial pleading. After proving his own innocence, he proceeded in a strain of the most lacerating sarcasm to analyse Bonner's character and motives, and in so clear a light did he represent the compassionable stupidity, and atrocious malice of his accuser, that the jury brought in a verdict of acquittal. Being thus delivered from his enemies, Wyatt retired to Allington castle, 'among the muses, there to read and rhyme,' and soon became the centre of attraction to much of the learning and talents of the country. Mason, Poynet, the learned Leland, and the illustrious Surrey, were his frequent visitors and constant friends. What effects the fruits of Wyatt's leisure, and of the association of so many eminent men might have produced on the literary character of the age, had they not been nipped in the bud, it is impossible with certainty to determine. The experiment was not tried. This ornament of his country, as Leland terms him, was carried off by a malignant fever in the autumn of 1542, in the 39th year of his age. The number of epitaphs written on him, and the unbounded praise of his virtues which they contain, show the high estimation in which he was held by his contemporaries. Leland's Nænia, and Surrey's plaintive strains, would have immortalized him, even had his works perished with him. To Wyatt's merits as a poet the highest praise that can be given is, that he was Surrey's coadjutor in reforming English poetry. He is superior to his illustrious friend in masculine power, in depth of reflection, and in learning; but he wants the graceful fancy, the easy flow, the melancholy sweetness, and above all, the exquisite good taste which characterise Surrey's deathless lay.' Many of his poems are written rhythmically, and still more are prosaic in their conception. They are indeed generally Set high in spirit with the precious taste but they are frequently deficient in Poetry's peculiar food, sacred invention.' His contemporaries regarded the paraphrase of the seven penitential psalms as the work which would have handed down his name to posterity. Surrey asks in one of his most beautiful poems, What holy grave, what worthy sepulture, For Wyatt's psalms shall Christians then purchase? In spite of this commendation, posterity seems to have assigned oblivion as their sepulture, and without injustice. Decidedly the best of his poetical performances is the second satire, which, in addition to the noble sentiments of an exalted and lettered mind, displays a more flowing rhythm and purer poetic diction, than he usually employs. It is much to be lamented that he has left us so few prose compositions. The oration already mentioned, and his letters to the king and to Cromwell on the business of his embassies, were by much the finest prose our language had yet produced. They display here and there an easy fluency, a happiness of expression, a polished keenness of sarcasm, and a nervous eloquence worthy of a more advanced age of literature; nor can we omit to mention his two noble letters to his son, which, as indications of a spirit animated throughout by a sublime morality, and illumined by the purest light of philosophy, we scruple not to compare with any similar compositions in the language. He was, in short, a man of deep learning,' 'in that rude age when knowledge was not rife;' and this learning was applied to use by a mind which united, in no ordinary degree, playful wit and acute shrewdness. with masculine grasp of intellect and profound reflection. His works are generally printed along with those of Surrey. Howard, Earl of Surrey. BORN A. D. 1516.-DIED A. D. 1547. THE history of few would afford richer topics for the pen of the bi ographer than this nobleman, were it not that the age in which he lived, instead of handing down to us a faithful record of his life and actions, has transmitted little more than a fanciful romance, with which we long contented ourselves, though, when the dream passed away before the penetrating light of examination, we found, like the Arabian castlebuilder with his basket of glass, that not only had these airy fictions vanished, but that the less showy, though more substantial reality, also lost. There are still, however, some few traces of the man; and, which is of more importance, his works live after him.' was He was the oldest son of the third duke of Norfolk, and was born in 1516, or 1518, at Kenninghall in Norfolkshire. We have no account of his boyish years on which reliance can be placed, but the known anxiety of the Howard family to procure able instructors for their children, and the literary eminence of many of his relations,' 1 Camden calls him 'splendide doctus.' Parker, Lord Morley, Lord Berners, the well-known translator of Froissart, and Edward Vere, earl of Oxford, a considerable contributor to the Paradise of Dainty Devices,' were among his relations. His father too was a man of letters, and from a poem of Skelton's it appears that his mother honoured the priests of the muses.' |