Part 6

CAP. XX. Let each man remember what his condition is, and let him repent in time, turning himself to the service of his Creator. Let him submit to punishment in this life, that he may escape that which is eternal: for it is the property of God to forgive and to have mercy.

CAP. XXI. Almost everyone, however, follows the lusts of his flesh and neglects the cause of his soul. The unrighteous have power everywhere, and all vices flourish.

CAP. XXII. The days are coming which Christ foretold, and the signs which he predicted are visible now. God’s sentence is still delayed, in order that the sinner may have room for repentance. Hardly even a few just men are found to save the world from destruction.

CAP. XXIII. Each one of the various degrees of society has departed from its true virtue, and the deadly vices have rule over the whole. Prelates are worldly, priests unchaste, scholars lazy, monks envious and self-indulgent, knights are evil livers, merchants defraud, peasants are disobedient and proud. The enticements of the world have overcome them all.

CAP. XXIV. I love all the realms of Christendom, but most of all I love this land in which I was born. From other lands I stand apart and am not involved in their calamities; but this country of mine, which brought me up from childhood and in which I dwell, cannot suffer evil without affecting me: by its burdens I am weighed down; if it stands, I stand, if it falls, I fall. Therefore it is that I bewail its present divisions.

One thing above all things is needful, and that is justice, with which is associated peace. If in other lands the sins of the flesh prevail, yet there they are to some extent compensated; for there justice prevails and all are equal before the law. Among us, however, not only is there carnal vice, but justice is absent; so that a terrible vengeance is being prepared for us by God.

We, who have always been favoured by fortune, are now brought low; this land, which was once reputed so wealthy, is now poor both in virtue and in possessions; my country, which was so strong, is made feeble by unjust judgements; she who was so fertile, is now sown with salt; she who had Fame for her sister, is now infamous, all her praise is taken away and her glory is departed. Her lords are sunk in sloth, her clergy is dissolute, her cities full of discord, her laws oppressive and without justice, her people discontented.

O land barren of virtue, where is thy past fortune? omens appear which presage thy fate, and all point to thee as an example. It is not by fortune or by chance that this comes about, but by our sins; and the grace of God even now may be found by repentance. I pray that God may show us his mercy and accept our tears. We know that thou, O God, art alone to be worshipped, that thou art the ruler of all things, and not fortune. Show pity therefore, O God!

CAP. XXV. Such were the verses which came to me by inspiration in my sleep. It is not I who speak them, but the common voice of all. Let him who feels himself in fault amend his ways, and he who feels himself free from fault may pass untouched. I accuse no man; let each examine his own conscience.

The world is neither evil nor good: each man may make of it what he will by his own life. [71]But this I say, that sin committed and not purged by repentance receives at length its due reward.

The conclusion of the _Vox Clamantis_, as altered from the first version, is doubtless intended as a fitting form of introduction for the _Cronica Tripertita_, which comes in as an appendix added in later years. It will be noted as regards the prose which forms a transition to this, that Gower has in the end brought himself to think that the misfortunes of the earlier part of Richard’s reign were intended as a special warning to the youthful king, whom he formerly relieved from responsibility on account of his tender age, and that the tyranny of his later time sprang naturally out of his disregard of this preliminary chastisement. This change of view is also to be traced in the successive forms assumed by the paragraph relating to the _Vox Clamantis_ in the author’s account of his books (‘Quia vnusquisque,’ &c.).

Of the contents of the _Cronica Tripertita_ it is unnecessary that more should be said than is contained in the Notes to this edition. Of the remaining pieces the _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_ is dated by the author as belonging to the twentieth year of Richard II. The _Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_ is probably somewhat later, and the poem ‘O deus immense,’ &c., is said in one of the titles prefixed to have been composed near the end of Richard’s reign. Besides these there is a group of Latin poems referring to the accession of Henry IV, ‘Rex celi, deus,’ &c. adapted from the _Vox Clamantis_, ‘H. aquile pullus,’ and ‘O recolende, bone,’ with several short occasional pieces belonging to the last years of the author’s life. One of these has reference to his blindness and to the end of his activity as an author which was caused by it, and in connexion with this we have also the epistle to Archbishop Arundel prefixed to the All Souls MS. of the _Vox Clamantis_ and other Latin poems, and apparently meant to accompany the presentation of this particular copy. To Arundel also is addressed the short piece referring to the comet of March 1402, and finally we have the lines in which allusion is made to the short-comings of executors. It is probable also that the four lines which afterwards appeared upon the poet’s tomb, ‘Armigeri scutum,’ &c., and which are given by the Glasgow MS., were written by Gower himself.

Some reference ought perhaps to be made in conclusion to the list of Gower’s works given by Bale and copied by others, with a view to the question whether he was acquainted with any works of Gower which are not known to us. In his _Scriptorum Illustrium Catalogus_, p. 524 (ed. 1559) he says that Gower wrote

‘_Speculum Meditantis_, Gallice, Lib. 10.

‘_Confessionem Amantis_, Anglice, Lib. 8, “Eorum qui ante nos scripserunt.”

‘_Vocem Clamantis_, Latine, Lib. 7, “Scripture veteris capiunt exempla.”

‘_De compunctione cordis_, Lib. 1.

‘_Chronicon Ricardi Secundi_, Lib. 3, “Opus humanum est inquirere.”

‘_Chronicon tripertitum_, Lib. 3, “Tolle caput mundi C. ter et sex.”

‘_Ad Henricum quartum_, Lib. 1, “Nobilis ac digne rex Henrice.”

‘_De eodem rege Henrico_, Lib. 1, “Rex celi deus et dominus.”

‘_De peste vitiorum_, Lib. 1, “Non excusatur qui verum non fateatur.”

‘_Scrutinium lucis_, Lib. 1, “Heu quia per crebras humus est.”

‘_De coniugii dignitate_, Lib. 1, “Qualiter creator omnium rerum Deus.”

‘_De regimine principum_, “O deus immense, sub quo dominatur.”

‘_Epigrammata quaedam_, Lib. 1, “Alta petens aquila volat alitque.”

‘_De amoris varietate_, Lib. 1, “Est amor in glosa pax bellica.”

‘_Carmina diuersa_, Lib. 1, et alia plura.’

In regard to this list it may be observed first that in the two cases where the beginning of the book or piece in question is not cited, we may safely assume that Bale had not seen it. This applies to the _Speculum Meditantis_ and the supposed piece _De compunctione cordis_, of which I can give no account. It will be observed that he makes the short prose preface to the _Cronica Tripertita_, ‘Opus humanum est inquirere’ &c., into a separate work in three books. The other items are all recognizable, except ‘Epigrammata quaedam, Lib. 1, “Alta petens aquila volat alitque.”’ Here we may observe that the quotation is from _Vox Clamantis_ vi. 985, ‘Alta petens aquila volat alite celsius omni,’ &c. (a passage taken from the _Aurora_); and on referring to Bale’s unpublished papers[72] we find the description of this supposed book of epigrams in the following form, ‘Ex suo libro et sanctifidensi chron. Epigrammata edidit, li. 1, “Alta petens aquila volat alite,”’ whence we should gather that the book referred to was a collection of quotations. It is probable that Bale may have seen in some Gower MS. a selection of sententious passages from the _Vox Clamantis_ and other places, such as we actually have on one of the blank leaves of the Digby MS. (f. 160), beginning ‘Vulturis est hominum natura cadauera velle,’ again one of those allegories of bird nature which were borrowed by Gower from the _Aurora_.

It may be noted here that in the same passage of Bale’s unpublished papers we have the following statement:

‘De triplici opere hoc carmen est super eius tumbam editum, Quos viuens legi libro nunc offero regi, Cuius habent legi secula cuncta regi.’

Also the following is given as the epitaph of his wife,

‘Quam bonitas, pietas, elemosina, casta voluntas, Sobrietas que fides coluerunt, hic iacet Agnes. Vxor amans, humilis Gower fuit illa Ioannis: Donet ei summus celica regna Deus.’

These statements seem to be given by Bale on the authority of Nicholas Brigham, to whom we owe the tomb of Chaucer in Westminster Abbey.

THE TEXT AND THE MANUSCRIPTS.

Gower’s principal Latin work, the _Vox Clamantis_, is found in ten manuscripts altogether. Of these four are evidently contemporary with the author and contain also the _Cronica Tripertita_ and most of the other Latin poems printed in this volume. Some of these last are found also in other MSS. of the _Vox Clamantis_, some Latin pieces are contained in the Trentham MS. of the _Praise of Peace_ and the _Cinkante Balades_ (described in vol. i. p. lxxix), and the _Cronica Tripertita_ occurs separately in the Bodleian MS. Hatton 92. Copies of the _Carmen de multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_ are contained in some MSS. of the _Confessio Amantis_, viz. TBAP₂ of the second recension, and FH₂K of the third, and with regard to these the reader is referred to the account given of the manuscripts in the Introduction to the second volume of this edition.

Of the four manuscripts of the _Vox Clamantis_ with other Latin poems, which have been referred to as contemporary with the author, one is at Oxford, in the library of All Souls College, one at Glasgow in the Hunterian Museum, and two in London. They are proved to be original copies, not only by the handwriting of the text, which in each case is distinctly of the fourteenth century, but also by the fact that they all have author’s corrections written over erasure, and in several cases the same hand is recognizable throughout. The original text of the _Vox Clamantis_ seems to be written in one and the same hand in the All Souls and Glasgow MSS. and this hand is also that of the lines supplied occasionally in the margin of the Harleian: the hand in which the text of the _Cronica Tripertita_ is written in the All Souls MS. appears also in all the other three, and the same is the case with some of the correctors’ hands, as will be seen in the detailed accounts which follow. Of the other manuscripts of the _Vox Clamantis_ two, which are not themselves original copies, give the text in its first (unrevised) form, the rest are more or less in agreement with the revised text, but give it at second or third hand, with no alterations made over erasure.

S. ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXF. 98. Contains, f. 1 v^o, Epistle to Archbishop Arundel, ff. 2-116, _Vox Clamantis_, ff. 116-126 v^o, _Cronica Tripertita_, ff. 126 v^o-127 v^o, ‘Rex celi deus,’ ‘H. aquile pullus,’ ‘O recolende bone,’ ff. 127 v^o-131, _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_, f. 131, _Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_ (imperfect at the end owing to the loss of a leaf), ff. 132-135, _Traitié pour ensampler les Amantz marietz_, (imperfect at the beginning), f. 135 v^o, ‘Quia vnusquisque,’ ff. 136, 137, ‘Eneidos Bucolis,’ ‘O deus immense,’ ‘Quicquid homo scribat’ (f. 137 v^o blank). Parchment, ff. 137 as numbered (and in addition several blank at the beginning and end) measuring 12½ x 8¼ in. Well and regularly written in single column, the _Vox Clamantis_ 48 lines on a page and the succeeding poems 52. The original first quire begins with f. 2, but before this a quire of four leaves (probably) was inserted, of which the first two are blank, the third is cut away, and the fourth has on its verso the Epistle to the Archbishop. The quire which ends with f. 116 has seven leaves only, and that ending with f. 137 six. After this several leaves have been inserted, which remain blank. The book has on f. 1 an ornamental initial S containing a miniature of Abp. Arundel in his robes and mitre, and there are large coloured and gilt capitals at the beginning of each book of the _Vox Clamantis_, and coloured initials of various sizes for chapters and paragraphs. Original oak binding.

Five leaves are lost (apart from blanks at the beginning and end), as follows.

After f. 2 one leaf containing chapter-headings of _Vox Clamantis_ Lib. ii. cap. ii-Lib. iii. cap. xxii. After f. 5 two leaves, containing chapter-headings Lib. vii. cap. xix to the end, the lines ‘Ad mundum mitto,’ probably with a picture of the author, and _Vox Clamantis_ Lib. i. Prologus, ll. 1-18. After f. 13 one leaf (_Vox Clamantis_ i. 766-856). After f. 131 one leaf (_De Lucis Scrutinio_ 93-103; probably some other short piece, and the French _Traitié_, to iii. 3).

This MS. was certainly written and corrected under the direction of the author, and remained for some time in his hands, receiving addition from time to time. From the _Epistola_ at the beginning, which occurs here only and seems to relate to this volume in particular, we may gather that it was eventually presented to Abp. Arundel. It is possible that it passed from him to his successor Chichele, and so to the College of All Souls, where it now is, but there seems to be no definite evidence to confirm this suggestion.

The text of S in the _Vox Clamantis_ agrees in the main as regards revised passages with that of the other original manuscripts C, H and G, but in some respects it is peculiar. In Lib. iii. cap. i. S has a rewritten version which differs from that of the other revised copies, and the same is the case with regard to the lines ‘Quicquid homo scribat’ (p. 365). There are also some places, as iv. 1072, 1197-1232, v. 450, where S retains the original text in company with TH₂ or even with H₂ alone. A few possibly right readings are peculiar to S, as in i. 1788, 2073, ii. 300, iii. 380 (margin), 1642, v. 325, vi. 555, while some others are common to S with G alone, some few small mistakes remain uncorrected, as in i. 106, 953, 1212, 1591, 1662, iii. 176, 989, 1214, 1541, 1695, iv. 273, 336 &c., and in some cases, where the headings of chapters have been rewritten, as vi. cap. xviii, xix, the original headings are left standing in the Table of Chapters at the beginning.

At least five hands are distinguishable, as follows:

(1) the original text of the _Vox Clamantis_.

(2) the original text of the succeeding poems, French and Latin, and the rewritten text or corrections on ff. 15 v^o (i. 1019), 90 v^o (vi. 545), 97 (vi. 1159), 115 v^o (vii. 1454 f., 1469 f.), 116 (last lines of _Vox Clamantis_).

(3) the original text and (probably) the corrections of the _Epistola_, f. i, and the corrections or rewritten text on ff. 36 v^o (iii. 2 ff.), 39 (iii. cap. iv. heading), 97 v^o (vi. 1189), 98 (vi. 1219 ff.), 115 r^o (vii. 1409 ff.), 116 (first lines of _Cron. Trip._), 126 v^o, 127 v^o, and the text of ‘Quicquid homo scribat.’

(4) marginal note on f. 40 v^o, ‘Nota de bello Cleri’ &c. (iii. 375).

(5) marginal note on f. 66, ‘Nota quod Genius’ &c. (iv. 587).

In addition there are some marginal notes which are not quite contemporary, as those on ff. 51 v^o, 52, 76 v^o, 77 (‘Contra rectores Oxon.’ &c., ‘Nota de muliere bona’ &c.), and the heading of the last piece on f. 137 seems to have been rewritten over a hand different from any of the above, of which some words remain. A few corrections are in doubtful hands, as vi. 1208.

Of the above hands the first, very regularly written in a fourteenth century character, in brown ink, probably the same as that of the _Vox Clamantis_ in G, and the same scribe apparently wrote the lines which are supplied sometimes in the margin of H, having been dropped out of the text by the first copyist. The second (2) is also a very neat and regular hand, but of a somewhat later type. It appears in the French and Latin poems of MS. Fairfax 3, as well as in the substituted leaf at the beginning of the _Confessio Amantis_ in that manuscript. It is also used for the _Cronica Tripertita_, _Traitié_ and other pieces in the Glasgow MS. (G), for the _Cron. Tripertita_ and other Latin pieces in H, and for some of the rewritten passages of the _Vox Clamantis_ in G, H, and C. The third (3) is a rather rough hand, found also occasionally in corrections of G and H. The fourth (4) is that in which the same marginal note is written also in C, H and G.

G. GLASGOW HUNTERIAN MUSEUM T. 2, 17. Contains, ff. 1-108, _Vox Clamantis_ preceded by the Table of Chapters, ff. 109-119, _Cronica Tripertita_, ff. 119, 120, ‘H. aquile pullus,’ ‘O recolende,’ ‘Quia vnusquisque,’ ‘Eneidos Bucolis,’ ff. 120 v^o-122, _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_, ff. 123, 124, _Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_, f. 124 v^o, _Traitié pour ensampler les Amantz marietz_ followed by _Carmen de variis in amore passionibus_, f. 129, ‘Orantibus pro anima,’ with shield of arms and the lines ‘Armigeri scutum,’ and below this a bier with candle at head and foot, f. 129 v^o, ‘Epistola quam Iohannes Gower in laudem ... Henrici quarti statim post coronacionem ... deuote composuit,’ f. 130 v^o, ‘O deus immense,’ f. 131 v^o, ‘Henrici regis,’ ‘Vnanimes esse,’ f. 132, ‘Presul, ouile regis,’ ‘Cultor in ecclesia,’ ‘Dicunt scripture,’ f. 132 v^o blank.

Parchment, ff. 132 in quires of eight leaves (except the first, which has six) with catchwords, measuring 11¾ x 7¾ in., 53 lines to the page in the _Vox Clamantis_, then 52 or 51, regularly and well written with passages erased and rewritten as in CH. On f. 6 v^o is a painting like that in the Cotton MS. of a man in a brown hat, a blue coat with brown lining, and with three arrows in his belt, shooting an arrow at the globe (which has a threefold division corresponding to the three elements of air, earth, and water), with the lines ‘Ad mundum mitto mea iacula’ &c. There is a floreated page at the beginning of Lib. i. (after the Prologue) and illuminated initials with decoration at the beginning of the other books; large and small coloured capitals for chapters and paragraphs.

I have to thank Dr. Young the Librarian of the Hunterian Museum, for facilities given to me in using this MS. and for his kind help in collating and describing it.

The text of G has, as might be expected, a close affinity with that of S, but the peculiarities of S as regards revision in certain passages, e.g. iii. 1 ff., iv. 1197 ff., are not shared by this MS., which goes here with the other revised copies, C and H. In one place at least G has a further touch of revision, viz. in the heading of vi. cap. vii., where its reading is shared by D. In a good many instances, however, G stands with S (sometimes in company with D or L) in support of a probably true reading which is not given by other MSS., as i. 465, 468, 979, 1454, iv. 72, v. 789, vii. 684, 1342, or of an error, as i. 1525, 1870, iii. 1863, iv. 799. It may be noted that sometimes in G an erasure has been made without the correction being supplied.

The following are some of the hands that may be distinguished in this manuscript:

(1) Text of the _Vox Clamantis_. This seems to be the same as S (1), H (2).

(2) Text of the _Cronica Tripertita_ and succeeding pieces to f. 131 r^o., passages rewritten over erasure in vi. 545 ff., 1159 ff. and in the conclusion of the _Vox Clamantis_. This is the same as S (2), C (3), H (3).

(3) Corrections in vi. cap. xix., vii. cap. iii. and xxiv, rewritten lines at the beginning and near the end of the _Cronica Tripertita_, text of the poem ‘Henrici Regis’ with its heading, f. 131. Perhaps the same as S (3).

(4) The marginal note at iii. 375: the same as S (4), C (6), H (6).

(5) The text of ‘Vnanimes esse’ and the succeeding poems on ff. 131 v^o, 132.

C. COTTON. TIB. A. iv, British Museum. Contains, ff. 2-152 v^o, _Vox Clamantis_, ff. 153-167 r^o, ‘Explicit libellus’ &c. and _Cronica Tripertita_, f. 167, ‘Rex celi deus,’ ‘H. aquile pullus,’ ‘O recolende bone,’ ff. 168-172, _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_, ff. 172 v^o-174, _Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_, ff. 174 v^o, 175, ‘Quia vnusquisque,’ ‘Eneidos Bucolis,’ ‘Orate pro anima,’ ‘O deus immense,’ ff. 176, 177, ‘Henrici regis,’ ‘Vnanimes esse,’ ‘Presul, ouile regis,’ ‘Cultor in ecclesia,’ ‘Dicunt scripture.’ Ends on 177 r^o. Parchment, ff. 178, that is, 176 leaves of original text, preceded by two blanks, on the second of which is Sir Robert Cotton’s Table of Contents, ending ‘Liber vt videtur ipsius autoris,’ the first leaf of the text being now numbered f. 2. In quires of eight with catchwords, signed _a_, _b_, _c_, &c. from f. 10 (where the text of the _Vox Clamantis_ begins) the first quire, containing the chapter-headings &c., written in a hand different from that of the main part of the text. Leaves measure about 10 x 6½ in. Written in single column, 38 lines to the page in the _Vox Clamantis_, 40 or more in the _Cronica Tripertita_. The MS. has been carefully corrected, and revised passages appear written over erasure as in SGH. Capitals coloured and gilded at the beginning of the books, coloured blue and red at the beginning of chapters and paragraphs. On f. 9, the last of the first quire, a picture like that in the Glasgow MS., of the author shooting at the world, as shown in the frontispiece of this volume.

On f. 2 is written ‘Roberti Cotton liber ex dono doctissimi Patricii Youngi generosi.’ The book suffered somewhat in the fire of 1731, but it has been carefully and skilfully repaired, and though the writing at the top of each page shows traces of the heat, no part of it is illegible. The effect produced is clearly visible on the page of which a facsimile is given.

The text of C is a very good one and unquestionably independent. In regard to spelling it may be observed that the copyist of the _Vox Clamantis_ frequently gives ‘u’ for ‘v’ at the beginning of words, he writes ‘sed’ almost always for ‘set,’ and often ‘ti’ for ‘ci’ in words like ‘etiam,’ ‘ratio,’ ‘patiens’ and even ‘fatie’ (ii. 57), but also ‘eciam,’ ‘ambicio,’ ‘precium,’ &c.

The following are the hands, so far as they can be distinguished:

(1) Text of the _Vox Clamantis_, a small and somewhat irregular but clear hand, of the fourteenth century.

(2) The eight leaves preceding this (containing the chapter-headings), and also ff. 96, 97 and part of 140. This hand has made corrections throughout, not revising the text, as the author might, but setting right the mistakes of the scribe.

The (3) following passages as rewritten over erasure: i. 1019 ff., vi. 545-554, and also the prose heading of the first part of the _Cronica Tripertita_. This is the ‘second hand’ of the Fairfax MS., the same as S (2), G (2), H (3).

(4) The passage rewritten over erasure in iii. 1 ff., also the heading of iii, cap. iv., corrections in iv. 1198 ff., and iv. 1221*-1232* rewritten over erasure. This is a neat round hand used also in the same places of the Harleian MS.

(5) The passage ‘Rex puer,’ &c., vi. 555-580, and vi. cap. xviii, with the heading of cap. xix., over erasure, a hand which resembles (3), but does not seem to be identical with it.