plenished the hearts of the nearest unto them with words of memorable consolation; strengthened men in the fear of God; gave them wholesome instructions of life, and confirmed them in true religion; in sum, taught the world no less virtuously how to die, than they had done before how to live.1 THE EXCELLENCY OF THE PSALMS. The choice and flower of all things profitable in other books, the Psalms do both more briefly contain, and more movingly also express, by reason of that poetical form wherewith they are written. The ancients, when they speak of the Book of Psalms, used to fall into large discourses, showing how this part above the rest doth of purpose set forth and celebrate all the considerations and operations which belong to God; it magnifieth the holy meditations and actions of divine men; it is of things heavenly an universal declaration, working in them whose hearts God inspireth with the due consideration thereof, an habit or disposition of mind whereby they are made fit vessels, both for receipt and for delivery of whatsoever spiritual perfection. What is there necessary for man to know which the Psalms are not able to teach? They are to beginners an easy and familiar introduction, a mighty augmentation of all virtue and knowledge in such as are entered before, a strong confirmation to the most perfect amongst others. Heroical magnanimity, exquisite justice, grave moderation, exact wisdom, repentance unfeigned, unwearied patience, the mysteries of God, the sufferings of Christ, the terrors of wrath, the comforts of Grace, the works of Providence over this world, and the promised joys of that world which is to come, all good necessarily to be either known, or done, or had, this one celestial fountain yieldeth. Let there be any grief or disease incident unto the soul of man, any wound or sickness named, for which there is not in this treasure-house a present comfortable remedy at all times ready to be found. Hereof it is, that we covet to make the Psalms especially familiar unto all. This is the very cause why we iterate the Psalmis oftener than any other part of Scripture besides; the cause wherefore we inure the people together with their minister, and not the minister alone, to read them as other parts of Scripture he doth.2 1 The reader here is reminded of the lines of Tickell on the death of Addison "He taught us how to live, and O! too high The price of knowledge, taught us how to die." 2 The best edition of Hooker's works is that by Keble, 2 vols., the author of the "Christian Year,' und the writer of a valuable article on sacred poetry in the 32d vol. of the Quarterly Review. For un account of the tracts which gave rise to Hooker's great work-his Ecclesiastical Polity--see Beloe's "Anecdotes of Literature," i. 19-23. ENGLISH MINSTRELSY.! THE Minstrels were a class of men in the middle ages, who subsisted by the arts of poetry and music; who went about from place to place, and offered their poetical and musical wares wherever they could find a market. They appear to have accompanied their songs with mimicry and action, and in short to have practised such various means of diverting, as were much admired in those rude times, and supplied the want of more refined entertainment. These arts rendered them extremely popular and acceptable wherever they went. No great scene of festivity was considered complete that was not set off with the exercise of their talents; and so long as the spirit of chivalry existed, with which their songs were so much in keeping, they were protected and caressed. Of the origin of the Minstrels, it is difficult to find any thing satisfactory. The term seems to be derived from the Latin minister or ministellus, “an attendant," "an assistant," as the Minstrels were attendant upon persons of rank, and assistants at their entertainments. But whatever may be said of their origin, the Minstrels continued a distinct order of men till centuries after the Norman conquest, and there is but little doubt that most of the fine old ballads in English Literature, were not only sung, but in many cases written by the professed Minstrel. There are many incidents in early English history which show how numerous was this body of men, and in what high estimation they were held, The one most familiar, is that of King Alfred's entering the Danish camp, in the disguise of a harper. Though known by his dialect to be a Saxon, the character he assumed procured him a hospitable reception. He was admitted to entertain the Danish princes at their table, and stayed among them long enough to observe all their movements, and to plan that assault which resulted in their overthrow. So also the story of Blondell's going unharmed over Europe, in search of Richard I., goes to prove the same fact-the high estimation in which the Minstrel in early times was held. In the reign of Edward II. (1307-1327) such extensive privileges were claimed by Minstrels, and by dissolute persons assuming their character, that they became a public grievance, and their liberties were restricted by express statute. Finally, in the 39th year of the reign of Elizabeth, (1597,) this class of persons had so sunk in public estimation, that a statute was passed by which "Minstrels, wandering abroad, were included among rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars," and were adjudged to be punished as such. SIR PATRICK SPENS. This ballad lays claim to a high and remote antiquity. There are different opinions as to its origin, which the reader may see stated in Sir Walter Scott's "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border." The probability is, that it is founded on authentic history, and that it records the melancholy and disastrous fate of that gallant band which, about the year 1280, followed in the suite of Margaret, daughter of Alexander the Third of Scotland, when she was espoused 1 Read-Percy's "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry"-Motherwell's "Ancient and Modern Minstrelsy"-Sir Walter Scott's "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border"-The "Book of the British Ballads" -Herd's "Collection of Songs and Ballads." to Eric of Norway. According to Fordun, the old Scottish historian, many distinguished nobles accompanied her in this expedition to Norway, to grace her nuptials, several of whom perished in a storm while on their return to Scotland. "For I hae brought as much white monie As gane1 my men and me, And I hae brought a half-fou2 o' gude red gowd "Make ready, make ready, my merrymen a'! Our gude ship sails the morn." "Now, ever alake! my master dear, "I saw the new moon, late yestreen, They hadna sailed a league, a league, A league, but barely three, When the lift3 grew dark, and the wind blew loud, And gurly grew the sea. The ankers brak, and the topmasts lap,4 It was sic a deadly storm; And the waves came o'er the broken ship "O where will I get a gude sailor "O here am I, a sailor gude, He hadna gane a step, a step, A step, but barely ane, When a boult5 flew out of our goodly ship, And the salt sea it came in. "Gae fetch a web o' the silken claith, Another o' the twine, And wap them into our ship's side, And letna the sea come in.”6 They fetched a web o' the silken claith, Another o' the twine, And they wapped them roun' that gude ship's side, -But still the sea came in, 1 Suffice. 2 The eighth part of a peck. 5 If a "bolt flew out," of course a plank must have started. 3 Sky. Sprang. 6 In one of Cook's voyages, when a leak could not be got at inside, a sail was brought under tne vessel, which by the pressure of the sea was forced into the hole, and prevented the entry of more water, O laith1 laith were our gude Scots lords And mony was the feather-bed The ladyes wrang their fingers white,- A' for the sake of their true loves,- O lang lang may the ladyes sit, Wi' their fans into their hand, And lang lang may the maidens sit, O forty miles off Aberdeen 'Tis fifty fathoms deep, And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens Wi' the Scots lords at his feet. CHEVY-CHASE. One of the most celebrated of the English Ballads, is that of "Chevy-Chase." Like one of the paintings of the old masters, the more it is read the more it is admired. Sir Philip Sidney, in his "Defence of Poesy," says, “I never heard the old song of Percy and Douglas, that I found not my heart more moved than with a trumpet. 114 Its subject is this. It was a regulation between those who lived near the borders of England and Scotland, that neither party should hunt in the other's domains without leave. There had long been a rivalship between the two martial families, Percy of Northumberland and Douglas of Scotland, and the former had vowed to hunt for three days in the Scottish border, without asking leave of Earl Douglas, who was lord of the soil. Douglas did not fail to resent the insult, and endeavor to repel the intruders by force, which brought on the sharp conflict which the ballad so graphically describes. It took place in the region of the Cheviot Hills, whence its name. 1 Loath. 2 Shoes. 8 Another reading is-"Their hair was wat aboon;" that is, they who were at first loath to wet their shoes, were entirely immersed in the sea and drowned. 4 The ballad of which Sidney here speaks is the ancient one, beginning The Persè owt of Northombarlande, And a vowe to God mayd he. But the spelling is so very antiquated that I have given the more modern one, the same that Addison has criticised in numbers 70 and 74 of the Spectator. |