Note 1. XVII. Anonymous.—In the “Catalogue of the Collection of MSS. formed by the late Benjamin Heywood Bright, Esq.,” sold in June 1844 by Messrs. S. Leigh Sotheby, and Co., the article No. 186 is thus described: “Poems of the time of Queen Elizabeth, written in a beautiful clear hand on vellum; they are of a religious character, and appear not to have been printed.” This MS. subsequently came into the possession of Mr. Rodd of Newport Street, from whom it was purchased by George Stokes, Esq., of Tyndale House, Cheltenham. Since it came into the possession of Mr. Stokes, the volume has been printed and published by the Religious Tract Society; the contents being of such a devotional character as forcibly to illustrate the principles of the immediate successors of the English Reformers. In the whole there are one hundred and six poems in the volume, chiefly sonnets of fourteen lines each; and specimens of them are given in connection with this article. The Editor of it—Mr. Stokes—justly remarks concerning them: “The general tone of doctrine, with the sentiments pervading the whole, will, it is trusted, amply satisfy the reader, if any part should not fully meet his wishes, either as to the matter or the manner in which they are set forth. The rhythm is often rugged, as is usual in other poetry of that day; but it is free from the false glitter, affected antithesis, and laborious pedantry, which characterize most of the contemporaneous versification, while the force, beauty, and simplicity of many expressions, give this little work a high place among ancient English poetry.” [back]
