Sun to appear upon the mountain at midnight. The consequence is, that the healing virtue of the herbs is neutralized; and Hanuman, on his arrival, is completely disappointed in his hope of obtaining them. In his exasperation, he seizes the luminary, puts him under his arm, so as to restore the darkness, and does not suffer him to continue his course, till the medicinal leaves are found, and the wound is healed.* The substance of this story is, that daylight encroaches upon the regular return of night, which would be the case in India; all the rest is poetical addition and embellishment. The Ramayana, whence this legend is taken, is an ancient Indian epic poem, composed by Valmic, who is placed at least as early as B. C. 1300.† The event itself, according to Blayney's Chronology, happened about B. C. 1451, no very wide distance in times of tradition, so that this may be considered as the oldest record on the subject, next to that of Scripture. And what is scarcely less remarkable, the suspension of the Moon's progress, which forms the other part of the miracle, is recorded in the Hindoo mythology. The same interference which suspended the apparent motion of the Sun, must of course have prevented the nocturnal appearance of the Moon; or, in other words, the arrestation of the earth's motion must have kept the Sun at the point it was then occupying, and the Moon nearly so, as her motion is not great. According to the Hindoos, the giants having conceived that the shining parts of the Moon contained the precious fluid which would confer immortality, carried it off, by means of Garura, the bird of Vishnu, which answers to the eagle of Jupiter. But just as they were on the point of extracting the celestial beverage, they were attacked and put to the rout by Indra, the god of heaven. Here, then, we have a disfigured account of the Moon having once disappeared, a s De Marlés, Hist. de l'Inde, vol. II. p. 127. Ibid. vol. I. p. 333, vol. III. pp. 38, 51. The computation is that of Colebrooke. Ibid. vol. II. P. 128. it must have seemed to do on that occasion to the Hindoos. This tradition decidedly confirms the Scriptural narrative, and obviates the objection which is grounded upon the arrestation of both luminaries, though the suspension of the one without interrupting the other, would present a far greater difficulty. Thus has the terrestrial globe been travelled round, in search of coincident traditions, and they are found not only in sufficient number, but they also form a connected chain. It seems impossible that such a combination could be fortuitous; indeed, we might fairly challenge any historical event (the Deluge excepted) to produce as many testimonies, from different parts of the world. There is another set of passages in the Greek and Latin writers, concerning the Sun's withdrawal at the sight of the unnatural banquet of Atreus. In point of chronology, they coincide with the æra of Hercules, and thus might fairly be taken as an additional corroboration of the Scriptural narrative. But we forbear to press them, since they are not needed, and the language in which they are expressed is so peculiar, as to have given rise to a variety of opinions. Nor do we lay any stress on the account which Herodotus learned in Egypt, concerning the changes of the Sun's course; yet we would observe, that we attach no importance to the explanations which have been devised, for, as a general principle, we prefer illustrating fact by fact, to resolving fact into theory. With regard to the suppositions, by which sceptical reasoners have endeavoured to set aside the idea of miracle in this case, we need only adduce a passage from a distinguished writer, the authoress of the "Mechanism of the Heavens:" § "Neither mutation, precession, nor any of the disturbing forces which affect the system, have the smallest influence on the axis of rotation. Amidst the mighty revolutions which have swept innumerable races of organized beings from the earth, which have elevated plains, and buried mountains in the ocean, the rotation of the earth, and the position of the axis on its surface, have undergone but slight variations." § Mrs. Somerville. There can be no doubt, from the recorded testimony of nations, that the event recorded in Scripture did really happen, and that it was everywhere regarded as stupendous. If such a concurrence of testimonies is disbelieved, where the parties have no common object, but are divided from each other by mountains and oceans, all testimony is annihilated, and all confidence must receive a shock. For the sake of human interests in general, we are concerned to guard against so injurious a moral consequence. On the other hand, admitting the united testimony of nations to this event, it is clear that none of the usual forces could have produced it, and miracle is positively called for, in order to account for it. The only reasonable account which we find of the miracle, is that which is dated from the spot where it began to operate. In a word, if the testimony of nations is competent to establish a fact, the miracle of Joshua is established. The idea of making such an appeal originated with M. Chaubard, who pointed out the coincidence between this phenomenon and the double night of Hercules. All that we can pretend to have done, is to have improved upon his idea. Yours, &c. J. T. M. MR. URBAN, ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER'S CHRONICLE.-No. I. "And slake our thirst At the pure well of English undefiled." THE rhyming chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, uninteresting and uncouth as it must appear to the general reader, with its black-letter type, and occasional Saxon characters, is a work in many respects deserving far more attention than has hitherto been bestowed upon it. Independently of other considerations, the mere circumstance of its being the earliest metrical chronicle extant in our vernacular tongue, is sufficient to give it an importance in the estimation of the English reader, which might scarcely be conceded to works far superior both in style and execution. But in addition to the claim of being the first English writer who sought to present to his countrymen the annals of their land, Robert of Gloucester has historian, and antiquary particularly, for the numerous other claims on the attention of the curious notices, slight though they often are, of the manners and feelings of our forefathers, at a period of which we have but few remaining notices. This will particularly apply to the latter, and by far the most copious part of his work, which is invested, we think we may venture to say, with no slight degree of historical importance, as the narrative of a contemporary, and not improbably an eyewitness of that struggle, so mighty its after results, the contests be tween the Barons and the weak and vacillating third Henry. As there is little probability of this curious work ever appearing before the eye of the general reader, divested of the almost unintelligible garb in which Hearne, with a laudable attention to correctness, has printed it, we shall endeavour to do for this ancient chronicle what the late Mr. G. Ellis so successfully did for the more lengthened ancient metrical romances; and while we give a general view of the work, and select the more interesting passages, illustrate them from time to time by the light which more extended modern researches have cast upon many a subject connected with our early literature. Of the "birth, parentage, and education," of this "British Ennius," as Hearne not inaptly terms him, nothing has been recorded. From many provincialisms in his work, he is considered to have been of west-country origin, and not improbably of that county from whence his name is derived. It may, however, be remarked, that although west-country forms of expression may, in the present day, afford sufficient proof of a writer's place of birth, supposing him so uneducated as to use provincialisms, it is very questionable whether that could be the case in the 13th century—most of these are pure Saxon forms of expression, and therefore in all proba bility common to every part of the land where that language was spoken, which indeed was the whole land. Of the circumstances of Robert of Gloucester's life we are equally ignorant-he is generally supposed to have been a monk in the Abbey of Gloucester, during the middle, and probably the latter part of the 13th century. The period at which he flourished is distinctly ascertained, by his mention of the singular, and as was then believed, supernatural darkness which overspread the land on the day of the battle of Eversham, August, 1265; for, after giving a minute description of it, he adds, "This sawe I Robert, and was full sore afeard." Of the date of his death, and place of burial, we are also unacquainted. As the chronicle closes with the flight of the young de Montfert, it is probable that the venerable chronicler did not die until near the close of that century. This curious metrical history, which we will now examine, commences with a general description of England; it then proceeds to give an account of its colonization by Brute, which, with the subsequent history, is in most part a transcription of Geffrey of Monmouth's very celebrated "British history." In his account of the later Saxon Kings, he seems to follow in a great measure Malmsbury; while many circumstances relating to the Conquest, and the reigns of the two subsequent Kings, have been unquestionably derived from Ware. The latter portion of his work he seems certainly to have derived from oral testimony. It may be remarked, that much of the contempt which it has been the lot of this neglected Chronicler to experience, has arisen from the circumstance of his name being placed among those of the early English Poets. Now to the character of a Poet he certainly has no claim-he never goes out of the way in search of images to illustrate, or choice expressions to point his meaning, but proceeds straight forward with his homely rhymes, as though wholly careless, or unconscious of the charms of a poetical diction. This carelessness of poetic ornament is, however, a general characteristic of the metrical chroniclers of the 12th and 13th centuries, whether compiling their narratives in Latin, Norman French, or the more rude and unformed dialect of England. Even the Norman metrical chronicles of Beneit, St. Maur, and Wace, interesting as they are from the peculiarly naïve style of narration, and the often vivid pictures which they, particularly Wace, present to us, are by no means distinguished by a poetical phraseology, far less by the introduction of set poetical imagery. If indeed a figure come, as it were, in their way, they admit it, and pass on; if a moral sentiment arise, they place it almost in a parenthesis, and proceed onward with the story. Although living a century later than these two Norman chroniclers, and at a period too when the Troubadours had afforded abundant examples of a highly poetical, and even fanciful style of composition, even Marie of France, in her elegant lays, very seldom admits poetical embellishment. It is necessary therefore to bear in mind, that Robert of Gloucester must be viewed as a mere chronicler, and that if, even as a chronicler, we cannot claim for him that spirited style of narration, that naïve simplicity and grace, that so frequently characterise the Roman de Rou," of Wace, we must remember that the language in which he wrote, rude, unformed, absolutely in its transition state from Saxon to English, presented far greater difficulties to him who sought to subject it to the trammels of verse, than the flowing and more refined "Langue d'Oie," to whose easy, natural, and unaffected order of phraseology, in the opinion of a competent judge, the English language itself is so much indebted. "Addressing himself to his illiterate countrymen," says Mr. Ellis, "he employed the vulgar language as he found it, without any attempt at embellishment or refinement, and perhaps wrote in rhyme, only because it was found to be an useful help to the memory, and gave his work a chance of being recited in companies where it could not be read." The work commences thus, and the reader will perceive, amid the homeliness of the rhyme, a heartiness of feeling, with which he celebrates the “wel god lande," and shews forth her praises: "Engelonde is a wel god londe, I wene of eche londe best, Her fon (foes) hee durre the lasse doubt, but hit be thorw gyle. For Engelond ys ful ynow of fruyt, and of tren (trees) Of foules, and of bestes, of wylde and tame also, Of salt fysch and eke fresch, and fayre riveres ther to, Of welles swete, and colde ynow, of lesen (leas) and of mede, Of selver or (ore) and of golde, of tyn, and of lede, Of stel, of yrn (iron), and of bras, of god corn grete won (store), Of whyte (wheat) and of wolle (wool) god, betere ne may be non." He next proceeds to tell us that the grete yle of Orkenye," beyond Scot principal rivers are the "Severne, land, and the Isle of Wight, “toward Temese, and Homber," rather a scanty Normandie." The most ancient towns, list, and that the dependent islands are having been built by the "fyrst lords "Man, 'twene us and Irlande," "the and maysteres," are: London and Euerwick, Lyncolne and Leycestre, Colchester and Canterbury, Bristow and Wircestre, Chichestre and Grauntebrigge, and thanne Cirencestre, Derchestre and Wyncestre, and sethe Gloucestre. The reader will observe that all Rome;" then by the Picts, whom he these were Roman towns. He then terms " Picards;" and Scots; then by alludes to the different nations by which the "Englische and Saxones," the the land had been subjugated-first, fole of Danemarke; and finally by "by the grete lordes and empereurs of "the fole of Normandie That among us woneth yet, and schulleth evermo We schul here after in this boke, telle of al this wo." He now proceeds to acquaint his readers (hearers, most probably, in the first instance), how England was divided into 35 counties, and he gives their names. It is worthy of remark, that in this list, Rutlandshire and Monmouthshire are both omitted, although Shropshire finds a place; Yorkshire is called Everwick, and under the name of Cardoel, a name rich in recollections of romance, he includes both Cumberland and Westmorland, perhaps even Durham, since the Bishopric is mentioned in the succeeding list of English sees. to 17, including the two archbishop- These he represents as amounting This is not Warwick, as might at first be supposed, but York, which in another lace is termed Everwik, both corruptions of Eborac, the name of the pretended founder. Of the remaining counties he says nothing. On the foregoing list we may remark that a writer in the Archæologia has grounded some of his arguments, that wine was formerly made in England, on this notice of Winchester being celebrated for the abundance of wine. Now when we remember that the wines of this period were almost wholly brought from Guienne, it appears far more likely that foreign wine is meant; which, brought to the neighbouring port of Southampton, would most readily find a market at Winchester, at a far cheaper rate than the "merchant wine tunner" of London, subjected to the charges of a voyage twice as long, could afford to sell it. The rising importance of London is indeed hinted at, in her numerous ships; would that we had had a few lines of description of her ancient glories from his pen! The peculiar commendation of the Lincoln men, and the celebration of fertile Kent, for its abundance of fish, seems rather singular, and so at first sight appears the remark that Salisbury was most celebrated for the "chase." A various reading had "calke" instead. Its vicinity to the new forest was probably the reason; still, it is remarkable that the new and well-built city, with its cathedral of surpassing beauty, which we know at the period of its erection (1220) excited the admiration of all the country round, should not have received some slight passing eulogy, especially as the beauty of Ely is recorded. " Our worthy Chronicler next informs us, that there are three wonders in Britain, the Bath waters, Stonhyngel, and the Peak. He terms the Roman roads "four fayre wayes," and tells us they were made, by the olde kinges;" they are Eninge-street, Ikenilde-street, Watlinge-street, and the Fosseway. He then gives this curious eulogy on the climate; and it may be remarked that his boast of the brilliant complexions of the English, is corroborated by many ancient writers. "So clene a lond is Engelond, and so pur withouten ore (denial) So clene, and fair, and pur wyte (pure white) among other men heo (they) be So clene also is that lond, and monnes blod so pure That the gret anel (disease) cometh not there, that me cleputh tho 'holy fur' and with another eulogy the first The commencement of the second chapter begins the chronicle, strictly so termed; and we are informed that it is the seventh age of the world, but that England was peopled in the third age, the era of Abraham. We have a short episode of the Trojan War, which our worthy Chronicler tells us took place in the "country of Rome!" A woeful battle it was, for he remarks that there was neither knight nor "staleward man," but took part in the contest, though, as he very un "al for a chivalrously says, it was "Goggomagog was a geand, swithe grete and strong, A grete ok he wolde breide (break) adoun, as it a smal yerde (switch) were, Four and twenty feet seems to be the regulation standard of giants in legend and romance. St. Christopher, that mountain of a saint, was just that GENT. MAG. VOL. II. height, and so was Escapart, whose "lively effigies" grace, or did grace until lately, the gate at Southampton. This gentleman just mentioned, with 30 |