At this time three fects began to be confpicuous; thé Meletians, who were Arians, the Donatifts, who were generally Unitarians, and the Manichæans, who revived chiefly the fancies of the Gnoftics. The diftinction of the two first arofe not from their peculiar fyftems, but from fome difputes refpecting the internal government of the church; and the last it is unneceffary to explain. The conftitution of the Chriftian church before the time of Conftantine is next detailed; but on this fubject we meet with little that is new; much is confeffedly taken from lord chancellor King's treatise: and the volume concludes with the doctrines of this period. Dr. Pricfley afferts, that the common people were, in general, Unitarians; but without adding a fingle argument in favour of this opinion, which his former narrative does not fupport. The idea that Chrift died a ransom for us, was, he observes, • an obscure notion,' which began to prevail; but as this was expanded in a later period, and as it is in this volume cursorily mentioned, we shall not enlarge on it. We must again, we perceive, return to this Hiftory, as tracing minutely Dr. Priestley's fteps with a view to enquire how far his peculiar opinions are fupported by the belief of antiquity, has led us to be more diffufe than we intended in our examination of his work. [To be continued.] The Bruces or, the History of Robert I. King of Scotland. Written in Scotish Verse, by John Barbour. The first genuine Edition, published from a MS. dated 1498; with Notes and a Gloffary. By J. Pinkerton, 3 Vols. Small 8vo. 125. Boards. Nicol. WHATEVER allowance we make for the partiality of the Scottish historians, the spirit and talents of Robert Bruce, the firft Robert, will be always confpicuous. His political abilities must have been confiderable, when, after the death of Wallace, though only a private nobleman, and in the suspected character of being the defcendant of an unfortunate pretender to the crown, he could establish himself on the throne, fubjugate the whole kingdom, and reign for near thirty years, undifturbed by infurrections or rebellions at home, victorious on the borders against all the efforts of two fucceffive Edwards. His life ended by establishing the independence of his country. Actions fo brilliant and important could not fail to animate the bards of Caledonia, and to infpire them with ftrains fuperior to thofe of the metrical romances of that æra. John Barbour, who preceded Gawin Douglas, by more than a century, is by no means far diftant from him. He was archdeacon of Aberdeen, born perhaps in 1326, and closing his life nearly with the cen tury. tery. He might therefore be almoft ftyled a cotemporary with Robert, who died in 1329; and, if the poem, as he tells us, was written in 1375, it probably was the refult of informa tion which he received from fome of the chief affiflants of Robert in his most arduous undertakings; for our poet had obtained no inconfiderable rank in the political department of the ftate, fince he was appointed one of the commiffioners to meet at Edinburgh, concerning the ranfom of David II. king of Scotland, then a prisoner in England. When we raise Barbour above the rank of the metrical romances, it is not to establish his character as an epic poet. His poem is a continued narrative, but told with ease and spirit; enlivened by little digreffions, numerous incidents, and a faithful picture of life and manners. If our author is lefs poetical than Gawin Douglas, if his vein of poetry is lefs rich, his defcriptions lefs luxuriant, and his words lefs carefully chofen, he excels the bishop in animation, in naivetè (why have we no adequate English word ?) and in the accuracy of his delineation of the national manners. To which may be added, though perhaps it is feldom a poetical merit, that his defcription agrees with the accounts of the beft hiftorians, and is particularly fupported by the diligent enquiries of the very attentive and accurate lord Hailes. This poem was first published at Edinburgh in 1616, and has already gone through twenty editions, but in each the language is modernised. The editor, zealous to give an edition of this interefting work, the most ancient production of the Scottish Mufe extant, in the very language and orthography of its author, had recourse to a manufcript written in the year 1489, preserved in the Advocates Library at Edinburgh.' This was copied, and the copy compared with the original, by the earl of Buchan: it is printed exactly from the copy, only that it is divided into twenty books, to which arguments are prefixed, Above a century had elapfed from the era of the compofition to the date of this manufcript; but, as writing was not at that time a very uncommon acquifition, the copy cannot be fufpected on this account; the fpelling feems indeed to be that of the age of the author, copied probably from a coeval manufcript. Before we give any specimens of the poem, we must attend a little to Mr. Pinkerton's introduction. Our Editor begins with tracing, in different kingdoms, the publication of their old poetry, and the first object of his attention is France. The firft poetry of that nation is attributed to Raoul de Coucy, who compofed his fongs near the end of the 12th century. He was fucceeded by Thibaut, king of Navarre, and by the au thor of the Roman de la Rofe, a work which was completed about the end of the 13th century. That æra was, however, followed by an age of darkness and filence, for we find only Froiffart in the 14th century, whofe poems have never been publifhed; but, in the 15th, we perceive the names of Villon, Pathelin, Chartier Coquillart, and Martial d'Auvergne; and, in the 16th, Marot Cretin and Bordigue: the poets of these two centuries were published together in Paris, in the year 1723. Their works chiefly confift of tales (fabliaux), and dif-. fer in spirit and poetry from the love-fongs of the Provençal troubadours, whofe Mufe is ftyled the lifelefs daughter of metaphyfical love.' Spain has lately acquired an edition of the Caftilian writers, antecedent to the 15th century, concluded in 3 vols. 8vo. 1782. In Denmark we have lately, seen the poetical Edda, the oldest Icelandic poetry that has yet appeared in print; nor has England neglected this ftudy, as the Reliques of Ancient Poetry, the late excellent editions of Chaucer's Tales, &c. may testify.', We may add, however, that she has not greatly cultivated it,, and that Gower, and many other of our most elegant moralpoets are little known. The earliest rhyming poet, it is agreed, was Otfrid, a German, about the end of the 9th century (870), and, after that period, there are numerous instances of German poetry: from 1100 to 1330, we have received a regular feries from the baron Zurlauben. The Edda, compiled in the 13th century, is faid to contain fome pieces as old as the 9th; and, of Anglo-Saxon poetry, the earliest specimen is faid to be of the 8th century. Rhyme only occurs in the Anglo-Saxon poetry in the 11th century, and in the Scandinavian in the 12th. Rhyme, we fufpect, for many reafons, began among the monks of Italy, though fome authors, as Mr. Pinkerton obferves, attribute it to the Arabs. But thofe, who hold the latter opinion, should fhow that rhyme was common in Arabic poetry, and that it followed the Arabs foon after their conquefts in Europe. The poetry of France, Spain, and Italy was derived with their language from the Latin, and was not brought to fuch early perfection as in those languages derived from the Gothic. The earliest poetry of the two first appears to be of the 12th century, and of the last in the 13th. In most countries, adds our author, hiftory has first been written in verse. In all countries memory is more ancient than writing; and poetry than profe. Greece, as is well known, had early poetical hiftorians. The poem of Nævius on the first Punic war, written about 238 years before Chrift, was the ear liet hest known among the Romans; and the beginning of it puts us in mind of the harsh orthography of Barbour; Quei terrai Latiai hemones tuferunt Vires frudefque Poinicas fabor. The next poet was Ennius, who about thirty years after wrote in heroic verfe, (not in the Saturnius, or a kind of iambic, as Nævius did, refembling the fhort quick verfe of our Barbour) the annals of Rome; and afterward the acts of Scipio Africanus. In modern Europe, the Saxon poet of the life of Charlemagne is well known, and the history of the Britons was tranflated into French verse from, Geoffrey of Monmouth, by Wace, in the twelfth century; and a history of Normandy was given by the fame writer, in the fame style. Not to mention the hiftory of France, in French rime, of the thirteenth century; nor the English hiftories of Robert of Glocefter, Robert de Brunne, &c. The earliest native historian of Sweden, is a chronicler in rime, about the year 1360. Our Winton wrote a vast history of the world, with Scotifh affairs intermixt, about the year 1420, but is a bad Ennius after our excellent Nævius Barbour: tho' it be remarkable, that as Ennius omitted the first Punic war because Nævius had written it, fo Winton does the life of Robert I.' The story of the poem we need not abridge, as we have faid that it differs little from the narrative of historians; so that it will be fafficient to felect a paffage or two as fpecimens of the péculiar merit of Barbour. The following digreffion, in favour of liberty fhows, that the rights of mankind were not univerfally difregarded, even at that time, in Scotland: it is bold, animated, and noble.. A! fredome is a nobill thing! Fredome mayfe (makes) man to haiff liking; That is cowplyt (joined) to foule thyrldome. Bot gyff he had affayit it, Than all perquer (perfectly) he fuld it wyt ; And fuld think fredome mar to pryse, Than all the gold in warld that is. Thus contrar things evirmar, Difcoweryngs off the tothir ar. And he that thryll (a flive) is has not his ; - 8 Till Till hys lord, quhatevir he be. That at hys hart hym draws to dre (fuffer). That gyff man bad hys thryll oucht do, Till thaim that ar off mar renoun. And thryldom is weill wer than deid, For quhill a thryll his lyff may leid, It mervys (mars, ruins) him, body and banys (bones), Schortly to say is mane can tell The halle (whole) conditioun off a thryll.' The death of Edward I. is described with the circumstances which attended that of our fourth Henry: it was foretold by fiends, who palter in a double fenfe.' The fubfequent reflections are equally juft and proper. And as intill Northummyrland He wis, with hys gret rowt, rydand (company riding), And put hym to fa hard affay, That he mycht nocht ga (go), na ryd: Hym worthit (forced), magre hys, abid (stay) Intill an hamillet tharby, A litill town, and unworthy. With great payne thyddir thai hym broucht, He wis fa ftad (circumftanced), that he ne mocht • Schyr,' |