Chapter XIII: Appendix: , &c

When these Poems were first printed, it was thought best to leave the question of their authenticity to the determination of the impartial Public. The Editor contented himself with intimating his opinion, [Pref. p. xii, xiii.] that the external evidence on both sides was so defective as to deserve but little attention, and that the final decision of the question must depend upon the internal evidence. To shew that this opinion was not thrown out in order to mislead the enquiries and judgements of the readers, I have here drawn together _some observations upon_ THE LANGUAGE[1] _of the poems attributed to Rowley_, which, I think, will be sufficient to prove, 1st, that they were not written in the XV Century; and 2dly, that they were written entirely by Thomas Chatterton.

The proof of the second proposition would in effect carry with it that of the first; but, notwithstanding. I choose to treat them separately and to begin with the first.

I shall premise only one _postulatum_, which is, that Poets of the same age and country use the same language, allowances being made for certain varieties, which may arise from the local situation, the rank in life, the learning, the affectation of the writers, and from the different subjects and forms of their compositions [2].

This being granted, I have nothing to do but to prove, that the language of the poems attributed to Rowley (when every proper allowance has been made) is totally different from that of the other English writers of the XV Century, in many material particulars. It would be too tedious to go through them all; and therefore I shall only take notice of such as can be referred to three general heads; the _first_ consisting of words not used by any other writer; the _second_, of words used by other writers, but in a different sense; and the _third_, of words inflected in a manner contrary to grammar and custom.

Under the _first_ head I would recommend the following words to the reader's consideration.

1. ABESSIE. E. III. 89.
Whylest the congeon flowrette _abessie_ dyghte.

2. ABORNE. T. 45.
Snett oppe hys long strunge bowe and sheelde _aborne_.

3. ABREDYNGE. Æ 334.
Agylted Ælla, thie _abredynge_ blynge.

4. ACROOLE. El. 6.
Didde speke _acroole_, wythe languishment of eyne.

5. ADAVE. H. 2. 392.
The fynest dame the Sun or moon _adave_.

6. ADENTE. Æ 396. ADENTED. G. 32.
Ontoe thie veste the rodde sonne ys _adente_.
_Adented_ prowess to the gite of witte.

7. ADRAMES. Ep. 27.
Loughe loudlie dynneth from the dolte _adrames_.

8. ALATCHE. Æ 117.
Leave me swythe or I'lle _alatche_.

9. ALMER. Ch. 20.
Where from the hail-stone coulde the _almer_ flie?

10. ALUSTE. H. 1. 88.
That Alured coulde not hymself _aluste_.

11. ALYNE. T. 79.
Wythe murther tyred he flynges hys bowe _alyne_.

12. ALYSE. Le. 29.--G. 180.
Somme dryblette share you shoulde to that _alyse_.
Fulle twentie mancas I wylle thee _alise_.

13. ANERE. Æ 15.--Ep. 48.
And cann I lyve to see herr wythe _anere_?
----Adieu untylle _anere_.

14. ANETE. p. 281. 64.
Whych yn the blosom woulde such sins _anete_.

15. APPLINGS. E. I. 33.
Mie tendre _applynges_ and embodyde trees.

16. ARROW-LEDE. H. 1. 74.
Han by his soundynge _arrowe-lede_ bene sleyne.

17. ASENGLAVE. H. 1. 117.
But Harold's _asenglave_ stopp'd it as it flewe.

18. ASLEE. Æ 504.
That doest _aslee_ alonge ynn doled dystresse.

19. ASSWAIE. Æ 352.
Botte thos to leave thee, Birtha, dothe _asswaie_
Moe torturynge peynes, &c.

20. ASTENDE. G. 47.
Acheke the mokie aire and heaven _astende_.

I stop here, not because the other Letters of the alphabet would not afford a proportionable number of words which might be referred to this head, but because I think these sufficient for my purpose. I proceed therefore to set down an equal number of words under the _second_ general head.

1. ABOUNDE. H. 1. 55.

His cristede beaver dyd him smalle _abounde_.

The common sense of _Abound_, a verb, is well known; but what can be the meaning of it here?

2. ALEDGE. G. 5.

Lette notte thie agreme blyn ne _aledge_ stonde.

_Aledge_, or _Alege_, v. Fr. in Chaucer signifies _to alleviate_. It is here used either as an adjective or as an adverb. Chatterton interprets it to mean _idly_; upon what ground I cannot guess.

3. ALL A BOON. E. III. 41.--p. 23. l. 4.

_All-a-boon_, fyr Priest, _all-a-boon_.
Thys ys the onelie _all-a-boone_ I crave.

Here are three English words, the sense of which, taken separately, is clear. As joined together in this passage they are quite unintelligible.

4. ALLEYN. E. I. 52.

Mie sonne, mie sonne _alleyn_ ystorven ys.

Granting _alleyn_ to be rightly put for alone, no ancient writer, I apprehend, ever used such a phrase as this; any more than we should now say--_my son alone_ for _my only son_. 5. ASCAUNCE. E. III. 52.

Lokeynge _ascaunce_ upon the naighboure greene.

The usual sense of _ascaunce_ in Chaucer, and other old writers, has been explained in a note on ver. 7327. of the Canterbury Tales. It is used in the same sense by Gascoigne. The more modern adverb _ascaunce_, signifying _sideways, obliquely_, is derived from the Italian _a schiancio_, and I doubt very much whether it had been introduced into the English language in the time of the supposed Rowley.

6. ASTERTE. G. 137.

----You have theyr worthe _asterte_.

I despair of finding any authorized sense of the word _asterte_, that will suit this passage. It cannot, I think, signifie _neglected or passed by_, as Chatterton has rendered it.

7. AUMERE. Æ. 398.--Ch. 7. AUMERES. E. III. 25.

Depycte wyth skylled honde upponn thie wyde _aumere_.
And eke the grounde was dighte in its mose deste _aumere_.
Wythe gelten _aumeres_ stronge ontolde.

The only place in which I remember to have met with this word is in Chaucer's Romant of the Rose, ver. 2271. and there it undoubtedly signifies _a purse_; probably from the Fr. _Aumoniere. Aumere of silk_ is Chaucer's translation of _Bourse de foye_. In another place of the same poem, ver. 2087. he uses _aumener_ in the same sense. The interpretations given of this word by Chatterton will be considered below.

8. BARBED. Æ 27. 219.

Nott, whan from the _barbed_ horse, &c.
Mie lord fadre's _barbde_ halle han ne wynnynge.

Let it be allowed, that _barbed horse_ was a proper expression, in the XV Century, for _a horse covered with armour_, can any one conceive that _barbed hall_ signified _a hall in which armour was hung_? or what other sense can _barbde_ have in this passage?

9. BLAKE. Æ 178. 407.

Whanne Autumpne _blake_ and sonne-brente doe appere.
_Blake_ stondeth future doome, and joie doth mee alyse.

_Blake_, in old English, may signifie either _black_, or _bleak_. Chatterton, in both these passages, renders it _naked_; and, in the latter, some such signification seems absolutely necessary to make any sense.

10. BODYKIN. Æ 265.

And for a _bodykin_ a _swarthe_ obteyne.

_Bodekin_ is used by Chaucer more than once to signifie a _bodkin_ or _dagger_. I know not that it had any other signification in his time. _Swarthe_, used as a noun, has no sense that I am acquainted with.

11. BORDEL. E. III. 2.--Æ 147. BORDELIER. Æ 410.

Goe serche the logges and _bordels_ of the hynde.
We wylle in a _bordelle_ lyve.
Hailie the robber and the _bordelyer_.

Though _bordel_, in very old French, signifies a _cottage_, and _bordelier_ a _cottager_, Chaucer uses the first word in no other sense than that of _brothel_ or _bawdy-house_; and _bordeller_ with him means the keeper of such a house. After this usage of these words was so established, it is not easy to believe that any later writer would hazard them in their primitive sense.

12. BYSMARE. M. 95.

Roaringe and rolleyng on yn course _bysmare_.

_Bismare_, in Chaucer, signifies _abusive speech_; nor do I believe that it ever had any other signification.

13. CHAMPYON, V. PG. 12.

Wee better for to doe do _champyon_ anie onne.

I do not believe that _champion_ was used as a verb by any writer much earlier than Shakespeare.

14. CONTAKE. T. 87. CONTEKE. E. II. 10.

----I _contake_ thie waie.
_Conteke_ the dynnynge ayre and reche the skies.

_Conteke_ is used by Chaucer, as a _noun_, for _Contention_. I know no instance of its being used as a _verb_.

15. DERNE. Æ 582. DERNIE. E. I. 19. El. 8. M. 106.

Whan thou didst boaste soe moche of actyon _derne_.
Oh Raufe, comme lyste and hear mie _dernie_ tale.
O gentle Juga, beare mie _dernie_ plainte.
He wrythde arounde yn drearie _dernie_ payne.

_Derne_ is a Saxon adj. signifying _secret, private_, in which sense it is used more than once by Chaucer, and in no other.

16. DROORIE. Ep. 47.

Botte lette ne wordes, whiche _droorie_ mote ne heare,
Bee placed in the same ----.

The only sense that I know of _druerie_ is _courtship, gallantry_, which will not suit with this passage.

17. FONNES. E. II. 14. Æ 421. FONS. T. 4.

Decorn wyth _fonnes_ rare ----
On of the _fonnis_ whych the clerche have made.
Quayntyssed _fons_ depictedd on eche sheelde.

A _fonne_ in Chaucer signifies a _fool_, and _fonnes--fools_; and Spenser uses _fon_ in the same sense; nor do I believe that it ever had any other meaning.

18. KNOPPED. M. 14.

Theyre myghte ys _knopped_ ynne the froste of fere.

_Knopped_ is used by Chaucer to signifie _fastened_ with a button, from _knoppe_, a button; but what poet, that knew the meaning of his words, would say that any thing was buttoned with _frost_?

19. LECTURN. Le. 46.

An onlist _lecturn_ and a songe adygne.

I do not see that _lecturn_ can possibly signifie any thing but _a reading-desk_, in which sense it is used by Chaucer.

20. LITHIE. Ep. 10.

Inne _lithie_ moncke apperes the barronnes pryde.

If there be any such word as this, we should naturally expect it to follow the signification of _lithe_; soft, limber: which will not suit with this passage.

* * * * *

I go on to the _third_ general head of words inflected contrary to grammar and custom. In a language like ours, in which the inflections are so few and so simple, it is not to be supposed that a writer, even of the lowest class, would commit very frequent offences of this sort. I shall take notice of some, which I think impossible to have fallen from a genuine Rowley.

1. CLEVIS. H. 2. 46.

Fierce as a _clevis_ from a rocke ytorne.

_Clevis_ or _cleves_ is the plural number of _Cleve_, a cliff. It is so used by Chaucer. I cannot believe that it was ever used as a singular noun.

EYNE. E. II. 79. T. 169. See also Æ 681.

In everich _eyne_ aredynge nete of wyere.
Wythe syke an _eyne_ shee swotelie hymm dydd view.

_Eyne_, a contraction of _eyen_, is the plural number of _eye_. It is not more probable that an ancient writer should have used the expressions here quoted, than that any one now should say--In _every eyes_;--_With such an eyes_.

HEIE. E. II. 15. T. 123. Le. 5. 9. Ent. 2. Æ 355.

_Heie_, the old plural of _He_, was obsolete, I apprehend, in the time of the supposed Rowley. At least it is very improbable that the same writer, at any time, should use _heie_ and _theie_ indifferently, as in these poems.

THYSSEN. E. II. 87.

Lette _thyssen_ menne, who haveth sprite of love.

I cannot believe that _thyssen_ was ever in use as the plural number of _this_. The termination seems to have been added, for the sake of the metre, by one who knew that many words formerly ended in _en_, but was quite ignorant of what particular sorts they were. In the same manner _coyen_, Æ. 125. and _sothen_, Æ. 227. are put for _coy_ and _sothe_, contrary to all usage or analogy.

And this leads me to the capital blunder, which runs through all these poems, and would alone be sufficient to destroy their credit; I mean, the termination of _verbs in the singular number_ in _n_[3]. I will set down a number of instances, in which _han_ is used for the present or past time _singular_ of the v. _Have_; only premising, that _han_, being an abbreviation of _haven_, is never used by any ancient writer except in the present time _plural_ and the infinitive mode.

P. 26. v. 9. The Brytish Merlyn oftenne _hanne_
The gyfte of inspyration.

Ba. 2. The featherd songster chaunticleer
_Han_ wounde hys bugle horne.

Æ. 685. Echone wylle wyssen hee _hanne_ seene the daie.

734. Bryghte sonne _han_ ynne hys roddie robes byn dyghte.

650. Whanne Englonde _han_ her foemenn.

1137. ----Mie stede _han_ notte mie love.

1184. _Hanne_ alle the fuirie of mysfortunes wylle
Fallen onne mie benned headde I _hanne_ been Ælla stylle.

G. 20. _Hane_ Englonde thenne a tongue butte notte a stynge?

M. 61. A tye of love a dawter faire she _hanne_.

H. 1. 74. Ne doubting but the bravest in the londe
_Han_ by his foundynge arrowe-lede bene sleyne.

182. Where he by chance _han_ slayne a noble's son.

184. And in the battel he much goode _han_ done.

188. He of his boddie _han_ kepte watch and ward.

207. His chaunce in warr he ne before _han_ tryde.

281. The erlie felt de Torcies trecherous knyfe
_Han_ made his crymson bloude and spirits floe.

319. O Hengist, _han_ thy cause bin good and true!

321. The erlie was a manne of hie degree.
And _han_ that daie full manie Normannes sleine.

337. But better _han_ it bin to lett alone.

If more instances should be wanted, see H. 1. 396. 429. 455. H. 2. 306. 703.--p. 275. ver. 4.--p. 281. ver. 63.--p. 288. ver. 1.

In the same irregular manner the following verbs are used _singularly_.

E. I. 10. Then _fellen_ on the grounde and thus yspoke.

H. 2. 665. Bewopen Alfwoulde _fellen_ on his knee.

P. 287. ver. 17. For thee I _gotten_ or bie wiles or breme.

H. 1. 252. He turned aboute and vilely _souten_ flie.

H. 2. 339. Fallyng he _shooken_ out his smokyng braine.

H. 2. 334. His sprite--Ne _shoulden_ find a place in anie songe.

Æ. 172. So Adam _thoughtenne_ when ynn paradyse----

1136. Tys now fulle morne; I _thoughten_, bie laste nyghte--

Ch. 54. Full well it _shewn_, he _thoughten_ coste no sinne.

See also H. 2. 366. where _thoughten_, with the additional syllable, not being quite long enough for the verse, has had another syllable added at the beginning.

Ne onne abash'd _enthoughten_ for to flee.

And (what is still more curious) we have a participle of the present tense formed from this fictitious past time, in Æ. 704.

_Enthoughteyng_ for to scape the _brondeynge_ foe--

Which would not have been a bit more intelligible in the XV Century than it would be now. _Brondeynge_ will be taken notice of below.

Many other instances of the most unwarrantable anomalies might be produced under this head; but I think I have said enough to prove, that the language of these poems is totally different from that of the other English writers of the XV Century; and consequently that they were not written in that century; which was my first, proposition. I shall now endeavour to prove, from the same internal evidence of the language, that they were written entirely by Thomas Chatterton.

For this purpose it will only be necessary to have recourse to those interpretations of words by way of Glossary, which were confessedly written by him[4]. It will soon appear, if I am not much mistaken, that the author of the Glossary was the author of the Poems.

Whoever will take the pains to examine these interpretations will find, that they are almost all taken from SKINNER'S _Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicanæ_[5]. In many cases, where the words are really ancient, the interpretations are perfectly right; and so far Chatterton can only be considered in the light of a commentator, who avails himself of the best assistances to explane any genuine author. But in many other instances, where the words are either not ancient or not used in their ancient sense, the interpretations are totally unfounded and fantastical; and at the same time the words cannot be altered or amended consistently with any rules of criticism, nor can the interpretations be varied without destroying the sense of the passage. In these cases, I think, there is a just ground for believing, that the words as well as their interpretations came from the hand of Chatterton, especially as they may be proved very often to have taken their rise either from blunders of Skinner himself, or from such mistakes and misapprehensions of his meaning as Chatterton, from haste and ignorance, was very likely to fall into.

I will state first some instances of words and interpretations which have evidently been derived from blunders of Skinner.

ALL A BOON. E. III. 41. See before, p. 315. _A manner of asking a favour_, says Chatterton.

Now let us hear Skinner.

"=All a bone=, exp. Preces, Supplex Libellus, Supplicatio, vel ut jam loquimur Petitio viro Principi exhibita, ni fallor ab AS. Bene, unde nostrum _Boon_ additis particulis Fr. G. A _la_. Ch. Fab. Mercatoris fol. 30. p. i. Col. 2."

The passage of Chaucer which is referred to, as an authority for this word, is the following, Canterb. Tales, ver. 9492.

"And alderfirst he bade them _all a bone_," i.e. he made a request to them all. So that Skinner is entirely mistaken in making one phrase of these three words; and it is surely more probable that the author of the poems was misled by him, than that a really ancient writer mould have been guilty of so egregious a blunder.

AUMERES. E. III. 25. is explained by Chatterton to mean _Borders of gold and silver_, &c. And AUMERE in Æ. 398, and Ch. 7. seems to be used in the same sense of _a border of a garment_. And so Skinner has by mistake explained the word, in that passage of Chaucer which has been mentioned above [See p. 316, where the true meaning of _Aumere_ is given].

"=Aumere= ex contextu videtur _Fimbria_ vel _Instita_, nescio an a Teut. =Umbher=, Circum, Circa, q. d. Circuitus seu ambitus. _Ch_. f. 119. p. I.C. I."

BAWSIN. Æ. 57. _Large_. Chatterton. M. 101. _Huge, bulky_. Chatterton.

Without pretending to determine the precise meaning of Bawsin, I think I may venture to say that there is no older or better authority for rendering it large, than Skinner. "=Bawsin=, exp. _Magnus, Grandis_, &c."

BRONDEOUS. E. II. 24. _Furious_. Chatterton. BRONDED. H. 2. 558. BRONDEYNGE. Æ. 704. BURLIE BRONDE. G. 7. _Fury, anger_. Chatterton. See also H. 2. 664. All these uses of _Bronde_, and its supposed derivatives, are taken from Skinner. "Bronde, exp. _Furia_, &c." though in another place he explains Burly brand (I believe, rightly) to mean _Magnus ensis_. It should be observed, that the phrase _Burly brand_, if used in its true sense, would still have been liable to suspicion, as it does not appear in any work, that I am acquainted with, prior to the _Testament of Creseide_, a Scottish composition, written many years after the time of the supposed Rowley.

BURLED. M. 20. _Armed_. Chatterton. So Skinner, "Burled, exp. _Armatus_, &c."

BYSMARE. M. 95. _Bewildered, curious_. Chatterton. BYSMARELIE. Le. 26. _Curiously_. Chatterton. See also p. 285. ver. 141. BISMARDE.

It is evident, I think, that all these words are originally derived from Skinner, who has very absurdly explained Bismare to mean Curiosity. The true meaning has been stated above, p. 318.

CALKE. G. 25. _Cast_. Chatterton. CALKED. E. I. 49. _Cast out, ejected_. Chatterton. This word appears to have been formed upon a misapprehension of the following article in Skinner. "Calked, exp. Cast, credo Cast up." Chatterton did not attend to the difference between _casting out_ and _casting up_, i.e. _casting up figures in calculation_. That the latter was Skinner's meaning may be collected from his next article. "Calked for Calculated. Ch. the Frankeleynes tale." It is probable too, I think, that in both articles Skinner refers, by mistake, to a line of _the Frankelein's tale_, which in the common editions stands thus:

"Ful subtelly he had _calked_ al this."

Where _calked_ is a mere misprint for _calculed_, the reading of the MSS. See the late Edit. ver. 11596.

It would be easy to add many more instances of words, _either not ancient or not used in their ancient sense_, which repeatedly occur in these poems, and must be construed according to those fanciful significations which Skinner has ascribed to them. How that should have happened, unless either Skinner had read the Poems (which, I presume, nobody can suppose,) or the author of the Poems had read Skinner, I cannot see. It is against all odds, that two men, living at the distance of two hundred years one from the other, should accidentally agree in coining the same words, and in affixing to them exactly the same meaning.

I proceed to state some instances of words and interpretations which are evidently founded upon misapprehensions of passages in Skinner.

ALYSE. Le. 29. G. 180. _Allow_. Chatterton. See before, p. 314.

Till I meet with this word, in this sense, in some approved author, I shall be of opinion that it has been formed from a mistaken reading of the following article in Skinner. "Alised, Authori Dict. Angl. apud quem folum occurrit, exp. Allowed, ab AS. Alised, &c." In the Gothic types used by Skinner f might be easily mistaken for a long s.

BESTOIKER. Æ. 91. _Deceiver_. Chatterton. See also Æ. 1064.

This word also seems plainly to have originated from a mistake in reading Skinner. "Bestwike, ab AS. Berpican, Spican, _Decipere_, Fallere, Prodere, Spica, Proditor, _Deceptor_." Chatterton in his hurry read this as Bestoike, and formed a noun from it accordingly.

BLAKE. Æ. 178. 407. _Naked_. Chatterton. BLAKIED. E. III. 4. _Naked, original_. Chatterton. See before, p. 317.

Skinner has the following article. "Blake _and_ bare, videtur ex contextu prorsus _Nuda_, sort. q. d. Bleak _and_ Bare, dum enim nudi fumus eóque aeri expositi, præ frigore pallescimus. Ch. sol. 184. p. i. Col. i."

Chatterton has caught hold of _Nuda_, which in Skinner is the exposition of _Bare_, as if it belonged to _Blake_.

HANCELLED. G. 49. _Cut off, destroyed_. Chatterton. _Hancelled_ from erthe these Normanne hyndes shalle bee.

Skinner has the same word, which he thus explains. "Hanceled, exp. Cut off, credo dici proprie, vel primario faltem, tantum de prima portione feu segmento quod ad tentandam feu explorandam rem abscindimus, ut ubi dicimus, _to_ Hansell _a pasty or a gammon of bacon_." Chatterton, who had neither inclination nor perhaps ability to make himself master of so long a piece of Latin, appears to have looked no further than the two English words at the beginning of this explanation; and understanding _Cut off_ to mean _Destroyed_, he has used _Hancelled_ in the same sense.

SHAP. Æ. 34. G. 18. _Fate_. Chatterton. SHAP-SCURGED. Æ. 603. _Fate-scourged_. Chatterton.

_Shap_ haveth nowe ymade hys woes for to emmate. Stylle mormorynge atte yer _shap_.----There ys ne house athrow thys _shap-scurged_ isle.

I never was able to conceive how _Shap_ should have been used in the English language to signifie _Fate_, till I observed the following article in Skinner, "Shap, _now is my_ Shap, nunc mihi _Fato_ præstitutum est (i.e.) _now is it_ shapen _to me_, ab AS. Sceapan, &c." I suppose that the word _Fato_, in the Latin, led Chatterton to understand _now is my shap_ to mean _now is my fate_.

The passage, to which Skinner refers, is in the Knight's tale of Chaucer, ver. 1227.

_Now is me shape_ eternally to dwelle
Not only in purgatorie but in helle.

But in the Edit. of 1602, which Skinner appears to have made use of, it is written _Now is me shap_. The putting of _my_ for _me_ was probably a mistake of the Printer, as Skinner's explanation shews that he read _me_. I fancy the generality of readers will be satisfied by the foregoing quotations, that the Author of these poems had not only read Skinner, but has also misapprehended and misapplied what he found in him. If more instances should be wanted, a comparison of the words explained by Chatterton with the same or similar words as explained by Skinner, will furnish them in abundance[6]. I shall therefore conclude this Appendix with a short view of the preceding argument. It has been proved, that the poems attributed to Rowley were not written in the XV Century; and it follows of course, that they were written, at a subsequent period, by some impostor, who endeavoured to counterfeit an author of that century.

It has been proved, that this impostor lived since Skinner, and that the same person wrote the interpretations of words by way of Glossary, which are subjoined to most of the poems.

It has also been proved, that Chatterton wrote those interpretations of words.

Whether any thing further be necessary to prove, that the poems were entirely written by Chatterton, is left to the reader's judgement. If he should stick at the word _entirely_, which may possibly seem to carry the conclusion a little beyond the premisses, he is desired to reflect, that, the poems having been proved to be a forgery since the time of Skinner, and to have been written in great part by Chatterton, it is infinitely more probable that the remainder was also written by him than by any other person. The great difficulty is to conceive that a youth, like Chatterton, should ever have formed the plan of such an imposture, and should have executed it with so much perseverance and ingenuity; but if we allow (as I think we must) that he was the author of those pieces to which he subjoined his interpretations, I can see no reason whatever for supposing that he had any assistance in the rest. The internal evidence is strong that they are all from one hand; and external evidence there is none, that I have been able to meet with, which ought to persuade us, that a single line, of verse or prose, purporting to be the work of ROWLEY, existed before the time of CHATTERTON.

[Footnote 1: I have chosen this _part_ of the internal evidence, because the arguments, which it furnishes, are not only very decisive, but also lie within a moderate compass. For the same reason of brevity, I have confined my observations to a _part_ only of this _part_, viz. to _words_, considered with respect to their _significations_ and _inflexions_. A complete examination of this subject _in all its parts_ would be a work of length.]

[Footnote 2: Of these varieties all, except the first, are more properly varieties of _style_ than of _language_. The _local situation_ of a writer may certainly produce a _provincial dialect_, which will often differ essentially from the language used at the same time in other parts of the same country. But this can only happen in the case of persons of no education and totally illiterate; and such persons seldom write. It is unnecessary however to discuss this point very accurately, as nobody, I believe, will contend, that the poems attributed to Rowley are written in any _provincial dialect_. If there should be a few words in them, which are now more common at Bristol than at London, it should be remembered that Chatterton was of Bristol.]

[Footnote 3: It is not surprizing that Chatterton should have been ignorant of a peculiarity of the English language, which appears to have escaped the observation of a professed editor of Chaucer. Mr. Urry has very frequently lengthened _verbs in the singular number_, by adding _n_ to them, without any authority, I am persuaded, even from the errors of former Editions or MSS. It might seem invidious to point out living writers, of acknowledged learning, who have slipped into the same mistake in their imitations of Chaucer and Spenser.]

[Footnote 4: This is a point so material to the following argument, that, though it has never hitherto, I believe, been made a question, it ought not perhaps to be assumed without some proof. It may be said, that Chatterton was only the _transcriber_ of the Glossary as well as of the Poems. If to such an attention we were to answer, that Chatterton always declared himself the _author_ of the Glossaries, we should be told perhaps, that with equal truth he always declared Rowley to have been the author of the Poems. But (not to insist upon the very different weight, which the same testimony might be allowed to have in the two cases) it has happened luckily, that the Glossary to the Poem, entitled "_Englysh Metamorphosis_," [See p. 196.] was written down by Chatterton extemporally, without the assistance of any book, at the desire and in the presence of Mr. Barrett. Whoever will compare that Glossary with the others, will have no doubt of their being all from the same hand.]

[Footnote 5: Printed at London, MDCLXXI. The part, which Chatterton seems to have chiefly consulted, is that, which begins at Sign. U u u u, and is entitled "_Etymologicon vocum omnium antiquarum Anglicarum, quæ usque a Wilhelmo Victore invaluerunt, &c._"]

[Footnote 6: I will state shortly some of those words, which have been cited above, p. 313. as _either not ancient or not used in their ancient sense_, with their corresponding articles in Skinner.

ABESSIE; _Humility_. C.--Abessed;--_Humiliatus_. Sk.

ABORNE; _Burnished_, C.--Borne; _Burnish_. Sk. It was usual with Chatterton to prefix _a_ to words of all sorts, without any regard to custom or propriety. See in the Alphabetical Gloss. _Aboune, Abreave, Acome, Aderne, Adygne, Agrame, Agreme, Alest_, &c.

ABOUNDE. This word Chatterton has not interpreted, but the context shews that it is used in the sense of _good_. So that I suspect it was taken from the following article in Skinner. Abone,--a Fr. G. Abonnir; _Bonum_ facere.

ABREDYNGE: _Upbraiding_. C.--Abrede, exp. _Upbraid_. Sk.

ACROOL; _Faintly_. C.--Crool, exp. _Murmurare_. Sk. See the remark upon ABORNE.

ADENTE, ADENTED: _Fastened, annexed_. C.--Adent;--_Configere, Conjungere_. Sk.

ALUSTE has no interpretation: but it is used in the sense of _raise_. Perhaps it may have been derived from a mistaken reading of Alust, which is explained by Skinner to mean _Tollere_. See the remarks upon _Alyse_ and _Bestoiker_, p. 328, 329.

DERNE, DERNIE; _Woeful, lamentable, cruel_. C.--Derne; _Dirus, crudelis_. Sk.

DROORIE; _Modesty_. C.--Drury; _Modestia_. Sk.

FONS, FONNES; _Fancys, Devices_. C.--Fonnes; _Devises_. Sk.

KNOPPED; _Fastened, chained, congealed_. C.--Knopped; _Tied_. Sk.

LITHIE: _Humble_. C.--Lithy; _Humble_. Sk. But in truth I do not believe that there is any such word. Skinner probably found it in his edition of Chaucer's _Cuckow and Nightingale_, ver. 14. where the MSS. have LITHER (_wicked_), which is undoubtedly the right reading.]