give us ample assurance that he was supplied with every aid and incentive to the study of letters, and his writings show that they were not supplied in vain. His education was probably completed in 1531 or 1532, for in one of these years he was affianced, and soon afterwards married to the Lady Frances Vere, daughter to the earl of Oxford. In 1532, as we are informed by Holinshed, Surrey was one of those who attended Henry the Eighth into France, to the Field of the Cloth of Gold.' After witnessing this gorgeous spectacle, he is said to have accompanied his young friend, the duke of Richmond, a natural son of the king, to study in the university of Paris; but if he went there at all, his stay must have been short, as we find him, in the commencement of the ensuing year, bearing a part in the coronation of his cousin, Anne Boleyn. It is not a little striking, that one of the next notices of his life we meet with, is that he sat, in 1536, as earl-marshal, in his father's stead, at the trial and condemnation of this unhappy queen, whose elevation to the highest of earthly dignities, in all the pride of beauty and power, he had witnessed so shortly before. The lesson was instructive and ominous. His eldest son, Thomas, afterwards duke of Norfolk, was born in this year. It is a curious proof of the power of superstition in that age over the wisest and best-educated, that Surrey had his son's nativity cast. If we may rely on the account given in the Ashmole MSS., the prophecy coincided most singularly with the event, since it predicted to the child a life of sorrow and misfortune, and to the father an untimely death.

It is in the following year, 1537, that Surrey's romantic tour through Italy is said to have been made. The current account of this adventure is, that Surrey, being smitten with love of the Lady Geraldine, went on a knight-errant expedition to maintain her beauty in the principal cities of Italy, but especially in Florence, where he was proclaimed victor at a tournament held in her honour, and where, too, he met with Cornelius Agrippa, who showed him the Lady Geraldine in a magic mirror. The lovers of the marvellous will not be ready to believe, that the whole of this wild story is founded on an extravagant romance of Nash's, entitled the History of Jack Wilton,' in which, among other edifying scenes, Cornelius Agrippa, at the request of Erasmus, summons up the ghost of Cicero, which pronounces the Roscian oration before the doctors and scholars, among whom was Luther of the university of Wittenberg. Drayton took hold of this story as the foundation for one of England's heroical epistles,' and from him it was copied with even more than his usual simplicity, by Anthony Wood. But had the tale a better foundation than Nash's romance, it could be easily disproved otherwise: for not to mention the extreme improbability of Surrey's having ever visited Italy-of which we have no mention in his writings-there is indisputable evidence of his having been in England during the years 1636-37-38, and moreover the Lady Geraldine, in whose honour these feats of arms are said to have been performed, was at this period not more than ten or eleven years of age. To this it may be added, as decisive of the point at issue, though no one has hitherto noticed it in confuting this absurd fiction, that not a single line in any of the poems Surrey addressed to Geraldine, mentions his having tilted in her honour, or visited foreign lands to celebrate her beauty. There was, however, some slight foundation

for this story in the attachment Surrey unquestionably bore to Geraldine. This lady, the English Laura, was a daughter of the earl of Kildare, and is said to have been the greatest beauty of her time. That she was no mean adept in coquetry, appears from her lover's poems, and so cruel did she at length become, that he renounced all affection for her, who had alway been cause of his misease,' and plunging into public life, soon forgot his tormentress. It has been deemed a stain on Surrey's reputation, that he was at the period of this attachment a married man; but when it is remembered that he was living in perfect harmony with his wife, and always sustained a high moral character, it will not be difficult to reconcile the warmth of affection portrayed in his poems with a mere Platonic attachment, a species of romantic gallantry peculiarly suited to his speculative mind, and no ways uncommon in that singular age, when the spirit of chivalry, as yet unbroken, though purified and exalted by learning, combined with the vigour of fancy peculiar to the dawn of a national literature, to produce those wide variations from ordinary habits and char acters which afforded such ample materials to the dramatists of the ensuing age.

From this period, the events of Surrey's life are better ascertained. In 1540 he was the foremost of the defendants at a tournament given by Henry in honour of his marriage with the Lady Anne of Cleves, and acquitted himself with marked distinction. At the close of this year he was sent into France to examine the state of the defences within the English pale, a charge which he executed, we are told, "entirely to the king's satisfaction." In the autumn of the following year he was made steward of the university of Cambridge, and not long after, a knight of the garter. In 1543 he went as a volunteer in the armament sent against France, under the command of Sir John Wallop, and by his conduct gained so much reputation, that, in 1544, he was appointed marshal of the army at the head of which Henry invaded France in person. While the king and one part of the army laid siege to Boulogne, Norfolk and Surrey with the remaining forces encamped before Montreuil, but, being ill supplied with provisions and ammunition, in consequence, it is said, of the intrigues of the earl of Hertford, the ruling favourite, who looked with a jealous eye on the power of the Howards, they failed in their efforts to reduce the place, though all was done that skill could devise or valour accomplish. Surrey ably seconded his father, distinguishing himself repeatedly by his chivalrous courage, and on one occasion was dangerously wounded in a daring attempt to take the town by storm. On the approach of the dauphin, they were compelled to raise the siege, and returned in unmerited disgrace to England. It is probable that from this period we are to date Henry's dislike to the Howards, though it was not manifested at the time, since Surrey, in 1545, was appointed to the command of Boulogne, then the most important station in our French dominions. During the short period of his command, he displayed so much courage, energy, and military skill, as to gain him the reputation of being one of the most distinguished soldiers of the day. He several times, with inferior forces, signally defeated the French; but being slightly worsted Vide the conclusion of that commencing, Wrapt in my careless cloak, as I walk to and fro,'

on one occasion, he was recalled in April, 1546, by his capricious sovereign. He was committed to the Tower soon after his return, in consequence of his having uttered some vague threats against the allpowerful favourite, the earl of Hertford, to whom, probably with justice, he ascribed his undeserved disgrace. His confinement cannot have been of long duration, for in the following October he took part in the magnificent reception given to the French ambassador when he came over to negotiate a peace. This was the closing scene of Surrey's prosperity. On the ensuing 12th of December he was committed to the Tower, at the instigation, in all probability, of the earl of Hertford, who, as the king evidently drew near his end, was anxious to secure to himself the possession of the protectorate after Henry's death, and saw a dangerous obstacle in the power of the Howard family. The charges brought against him were the most inane and trivial on which a man's life was ever sworn away, amounting to nothing more than that he had quartered with his own the arms of Edward the Confessor, and therefore, it was argued, aspired to the crown.3 On his trial, Surrey showed that he had the authority of the herald's college for wearing these arms, and that he had frequently worn them without reprimand in the presence of Henry himself. We have little or no account of the trial, or of Surrey's behaviour during it, save the general statement of Lord Herbert,-that "the earl, as he was a man of a deep understanding, sharp wit, and deep courage, defended himself many ways; sometimes denying their accusations as false, and together weakening the credit of his adversaries; sometimes interpreting the words he said in a far other sense than they were represented." "4 In spite of the palpable absurdity of the charges, the jury were base enough to find him guilty of high treason, in compliance with the known wish of the court; and the chancellor, Wriotheseley, pronounced on him sentence of death. He was, in consequence, beheaded on Tower Hill, on the 19th of January, 1547, in the thirtieth year of his age. In a very few days after, he was followed to the tomb by the ferocious bigot and merciless sensualist whose tyranny had consigned to an early grave the most gallant and accomplished gentleman of the age.

Time, which is the parent of truth, in no way more shows its power, than in the silent speed with which it reduces to their inherent nothingness the accidental splendours of external greatness. The earl of Surrey, though descended from England's proudest and most powerful peers, and possessed of every honour which wealth, title, or royal favour could heap upon him, would now be immortal only in genealogical charts, or in the records of the Herald's college, were it not that nature and study had endowed him with a genius which needed no fortuitous advantages to win a lasting renown. The high-born earl,-the successful soldier,— the all-accomplished courtier,-are forgotten, and men remember 'the gentle Surrey' only as a poet. His poems are formed on the model of Petrarch and Chaucer combined, and, though rarely soaring so high as their originals, are free from some of the faults of both. They are not characterised by much masculine power, sublimity of conception, or brilliancy of imagery; the charm lies in their sweetness of thought, their

3

Among the deponents against him, it is melancholy to find his sister, the duchess of Richmond, the most prominent. Lord Herbert's reign of Henry VIII.

graceful fancy, their happiness of expression, their exquisite good taste, and, above all, in their evidently emanating from nature and feeling. Nor is it their least merit, that, though written in a rude age, they contain not a single expression which could shock the nicest delicacy. When regarded in connection with the times in which they were produced, they claim a much higher rank. Surrey was the great reformer of English poetry. Previous to his time all our poetry, even Chaucer's,3 had been written rythmically, not metrically, and, by consequence, the language had been wrenched from its natural pronunciation to suit the difficulties of rythmical verse. Nor was this the worst feature. After Chaucer, a race of poets had sprung up, who, unable to cope with, or imitate their great predecessor, attempted to eke out a beggarly meagreness of thought and invention, by a high-sounding Thrasonical and pedantic phraseology, which ought to have secured them a whipping for o'er-doing Termagant. Surrey's fine mind perceived these faults, and his intimate acquaintance with the poets of ancient and modern Italy enabled him to apply the remedies. He reduced our poetry to metrical rules, thereby establishing a true standard of pronunciation; and, disdaining to interweave absurd Latinisms with our native tongue, he resorted to the 'pure wells of English undefiled,' and gave us a poetic diction suited to metrical verse in our naturalized Saxon dialect. This, however, is not his only excellence. He introduced into our language blank verse. All writers agree, that his translation of the second and fourth books of the Æneid is the first specimen of this species of verse in our language. He saw, with the intuitive perception of a refined and cultivated mind, that, in the English tongue, rhyme trammelled sublimity of thought, and the expression of deep and commanding passion, and he supplied the defect by introducing the metre which has since been hallowed by the more than mortal imagination of Shakspeare, and the unmatched grandeur of Milton.

Of Surrey's character, it is difficult to speak in too high terms of commendation. The very pride of ancestry, which in most men is folly, appeared in him a virtue, since it inspired him with the noble ambition of doing something, such that after ages should not willingly let it die.' Amiable in his family,-steady and ardent in his friendships,-endowed with more than the hereditary valour of the Howards, steadfast in adhering to truth,-moral in a licentious age,-lofty, but not grasping, in his ambition,-learned in all the wisdom of the times, without being pedantic, we may justly apply to him what Ford says of one of his

heroes:

One so young and goodly,
So sweet in his nature, any story
Hath seldom mentioned.

Surrey's works were frequently reprinted in the reign of Elizabeth and James, but of late years they have been in a great measure forgotten. The more modern editions are,- Poems of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Sir Thomas Wyatt; London, 1717, 8vo.; with a preface by Dr Jewel.' This is in almost every respect an execrable edition. The Works of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Sir Thomas Wyatt the elder; London, 1824, 2 vols. 4to.; edited by G. F. Nott.' This is a

Mr Tyrrwhit, in his edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, disputes this; his reasoning is ingenious, but, we apprehend, unsatisfactory.

work of great research, and, in some respects, invaluable, though the poems are almost overwhelmed by a mass of notes, lives, dissertations, appendices, &c. Surrey and Wyatt's Poems, in Pickering's Aldine Poets; 1832.'

John Leland.

DIED A. D. 1552.

THIS industrious antiquary was born in London, early in the 16th century, and was educated at St Paul's school, under that prince of pedagogues, William Lily. He studied first at Cambridge, and subsequently at Oxford. On quitting the latter university, he went, for fur ther improvement, to Paris, where in the society of such men as Budæus, Faber, Paulus Æmilius, and Francis Sylvius, he not only perfected himself in the classical languages, but also acquired very considerable proficiency in French, Italian, and Spanish. He had previously, while at Oxford, paid considerable attention to the ancient tongues of his own country.

On his return home, he entered into orders, and was appointed one, of the king's chaplains. Henry also appointed him his librarian, and, by a commission, dated in 1533, dignified him with the title of king's antiquary, with authority to search after "England's antiquities, and peruse the libraries of all cathedrals, abbeys, priories, colleges, &c., and places where records, writings, and secrets of antiquity, were deposited," for the purpose of illustrating the ancient history and the antiquities of the realm. This appointment exactly suited Leland's genius; and a handsome salary being annexed to it, our antiquary was left at full liberty to devote himself entirely to the duties of his office. He entered upon them with the greatest eagerness, and immediately undertook a tour throughout the kingdom, for the purpose of carrying his plans into full effect. Gifted with a sound constitution, with indefatigable perseverance, with the true staunch scent of an antiquary, and armed with the potent authority of a royal commission, Leland set out on his travels throughout England and Wales, with the determination to traverse the length and breadth of the land, until he had put himself in possession of every fact which could aid him in his task of elucidating the antiquities of Britain. Not contented with ransacking the archives and libraries of every church, and monastery, and cathedral, in the kingdom, he wandered from house to house, poking and prying into every corner in which his lively fancy suggested some precious relic of ancient times might be sheltered. Not a district, however remote,scarcely a single spot,-escaped his scrutiny. At last, after six long years of toil and travel, he returned to the metropolis, laden with the spolia opima' of his arduous enterprise. The king was pleased to commend his antiquary's industry and zeal, and, as a mark of his approbation, bestowed on him the rich living of Hasely, in Oxfordshire, together with a prebendary in the cathedral church of Sarum.

In 1545, he presented his majesty with the first-fruits of his antiquarian toils, as a new year's gift. It was a digest of that part of his collections which related to the principal authors of the kingdom. Im4 Ꮓ

1.