With that she dasht her on the lippes 66 The edition of "Albion's England" here followed was printed in 4to., 1602; said in the title page to have been "first penned and published by William Warner, and now revised and newly enlarged by the same author." The story of " Argentile and Curan" is, I believe, the poet's own invention; it is not mentioned in any of our chronicles. It was, however, so much admired, that not many years after he published it, came out a larger poem on the same subject in stanzas of six lines, entitled, "The most pleasant and delightful historie of Curan a prince of Danske, and the fayre princesse Argentile, daughter and heyre to Adelbright, sometime King of Northumberland, &c., by William Webster, London, 1617," in eight sheets 4to. An indifferent paraphrase of the following poem. This episode of Warner's has also been altered into the common Ballad, "of the two young Princes on Salisbury Plain,” which is chiefly composed of Warner's lines, with a few contractions and interpolations, but all greatly for the worse. See the collection of Historical Ballads, 1727, 3 vols., 12mo. Though here subdivided into stanzas, Warner's metre is the old-fashioned alexandrine of fourteen syllables. The reader therefore must not expect to find the close of the stanzas consulted in the pauses. Imbased him from lordlines Into a kitchen drudge, 40 45 50 When Adelbright should leave his life, By our by-parted crowne, of which The moyetie is mine; 10 That so at least of life or death She might become his judge. By God, to whom my soule must passe, 15 And so in time may thine; when he had a while laide unto her, for the manner sake that she went about to bewitch him, and that she was of counsel with the lord chamberlein to destroy him in conclusion, when that no colour could fasten upon these matters, then he layd heinously to her charge the thing that herselfe could not deny, that al the world wist was true, and that natheless every man laughed at to here it then so sodainly so highly taken,--that she was naught of her body. And for thys cause, (as THOUGH SO many vulgar errors have prevailed concerning this celebrated courtesan, no character in history has been more perfectly handed down to us. We have her portrait drawn by two masterly pens; the one has delineated the features of her person, the other those of her character and story. Sir Thomas More drew from the life, and Drayton has copied an original picture of her. The reader will pardon the length of the quotations, as they serve to correct many | popular mistakes relating to her catastrophe. a goodly continent prince, clene and fautless The first is from Sir Thomas More's History of Richard III. written in 1513, about thirty years after the death of Edward IV. of himself, sent out of heaven into this vicious world for the amendment of mens manners), he caused the bishop of London to put her to open pennance, going before the crosse in procession upon a sonday with a taper in her hand. In which she went in countenance and pace demure so womanly; and albeit she was out of al array save her kyrtle only, yet went she "Now then by and by, as it wer for anger, not for covetise, the protector sent into the house of Shores wife (for her husband dwelled not with her) and spoiled her of al that ever she had (above the value of 2 or 3 thousand marks), and sent her body to prison. And so fair and lovely, namelye, while the won |