The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-07 00:00:00

HE PRESS, AUGUST 7, 1858.

the whole poem was translated by Lydgate
in the succeeding century (1426) under the
patronage of Thomas Montacute, Earl of
Salisbury. This version now only exists in
two MSS. on vellum in the British Museum,
one of which is imperfect at the end, while
the other, of which the beginning is wanting,
supplies the missing portion. The editors have
printed a great portion of it in an appendix,
adding parallel passages from the original, with
connecting remarks and an analysis of such parts
as are too long for textual quotation. A trans-
lation appears also to have been made by John
Skelton in the time of Henry VIII. ; there is a
Dutch version in the Library at the Hague ;
and various other editions appear in the list
which the editors have supplied. For this popu-
larity it is not perhaps difficult to account. As
long as human nature continues, it will doubtless
always be interested in that which comes to it
in the guise of a story ; and when to this is
added the contemplation of familiar ethical
notions under a new aspect, the mild excitement
of making out a tolerably easy allegory, and the
conscious meritoriousness of reading what was
religious and improving, it is obvious that any
composition uniting these qualities would, in
most ages, find a large class of persons disposed
to welcome it favourably. We should not,
perhaps, be far wrong in supposing that such
works were to their epoch a sort of " Proverbial
Philosophy," and that they addressed themselves
with success to the same sort of minds as those
which enjoy our Tupper at the present day.
They do not rise to the height of epic dignity or
lyric sweetness, and the only character they
display is, perhaps unconsciously, that of the
man who wrote them ; but they have their
place, and, while we indulge our curiosity by
dwelling on their quaintness, and elucidating
their obscurity, we may, in the midst of the rich
banquet of literature which often lies untasted
around us, afford to bestow a little of our
sympathy on those who were forced to content
themselves with so comparatively meagre an
intellectual diet.

The resemblances in the poem of De Guileville
to Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" are such as to
strike every reader, and some of them have
already occurred in our analysis. We find in
the former the prototypes of the " wicket-gate,"
of the " burden," of the " Interpreter's house,"
of the " roll with the seal upon it," of " Mr.
Legality," and of the " furniture which the Lord
" has provided for pilgrims," stored up in the
Interpreter's house. In the older narrative
Gracedieu presents the Pilgrim " with the iden-
tical pebbles that David had in his scrip when
"he fought against Goliath." In Bunyan, the
damsels at the House Beautiful show Christian
" the sling and stone with which David slew
" Goliath of Gath." Perhaps the most curious
parallel is that of the " bysme " (besom) with
which, in De Guileville, Repentance sweeps out
the sins from the heart of man, and which
Bunyan has adopted, and worked up into the
scene in the " dusty parlour " at the Interpreter's
house, where the diverse effects of the Law and
the Gospel are contrasted with each other.
Finally, De Guileville's envoy to the reader,
which we have extracted above, is in substance
identical with the lines which Bunyan has sub-
j,ined to the conclusion of his work. There are
other instances, to which we want space to
refer ; but our general impression from the work
before us is that Bunyan was really indebted to
it fur a good many hints, which, however, he
has used in a manner which makes them alto-
gether his own.
We have left ourselves no room to mention
the illustrations, which are extremely curious,
but which will speak for themselves to any one
who may chance to open the book. The attitudes
are out of drawing, and the laws of perspective
not rigidly adhered to, but there is an expression
about the faces which is highly characteristic and
often very entertaining. Another kind of merit
is possessed by the engraving of " The Christian
Warrior's Spiritual Combat,' at page 34, which
belongs to the sixteenth century, and which,
independently of its allegorical ingenuity, is
remarkably good as a work of arts. In taking

* We venture to suggest chat the convenience of the work
would be enhanced by a complete net of the illustrations, with
some explanation appended to each title. The cross references
to them from the text are at present a little embarrassing. This
addition might easily be comprehended in one or two pages
which might be issued to purchasers and could easily be inserted
in their proper place.

leave of the editors and thanking them for the
industry and ability with which they have per.
formed their task, we hope that this is not the
last time that we shall meet with such zeal"
labourers in so interesting a field of research.
There are numerous inedited MSS. in the British
Museum which would well repay even a less
amount of toil and care than that which they
have bestowed on this elegant monument of their
studies.