an unworthy and most miserable priest, with the help of God and St. Cuthbert, overglossed it in English ;" and, finally, various miscellaneous treatises, among which the most curious is a Dialogue between Saturn and Solomon. We cannot refrain from giving an extract from this very original and curious document, which bears upon it some of the darkest thumb-marks of the Middle Ages.*

"Here is related, how Saturn and Solomon contended about their Wisdom.

*

"Tell me, whence was Adam's name created?

I say unto thee, from four stars.

Tell me, what were they called?

I tell thee, Arthox, Dux, Arotholem, Minsymbie.

Tell me, from what matter was Adam, the first man, created? I tell thee, from eight pounds weight.

Tell me, what were they?

I tell thee, the first was a pound of earth; of that was his flesh made. The second was a pound of fire; thence was his blood red and hot. The third was a pound of wind; thence was breath given him. The fourth was a pound of cloud; thence was given him the unsteadiness of his mind. The fifth was a pound of grease; thence was given him fat and sinews. The sixth was a pound of [blostnena]; thence was given him his own varieties. The seventh was a pound of dew; thence had he sweat. The eighth was a pound of salt; thence were his salt tears.

Tell me, of what age was Adam when he was created ?

I tell thee, he was thirty winters old.

Tell me, how long was Adam made, in length?

I tell thee, he was six and ninety inches long.

Tell me, how many winters lived Adam in this world?

I tell thee, he lived nine hundred and thirty winters, in toil and misery; and afterwards he went to Hell, and there endured grim torments for five thousand two hundred and eight and twenty winters.

*

Tell me, what was the name of Noah's wife?

I tell thee, her name was Dalila.

And what was Ham's wife called?

She was called Iaítarecta.

And what was the name of Japhet's wife?

* For the original, see Thorpe, Analecta, p. 95.

I tell thee, her name was Catafluvia; and the other three were called Olla, Ollina, and Ollibana.

Tell me, what plant is best and holiest ?

I tell thee, that plant is the lily, because it betokens Christ. Tell me, what bird is the holiest ?

I tell thee, the dove is the holiest, for it betokens the Holy Ghost.

Tell me, whence cometh lightning?

I tell thee, it cometh from wind and from water.

Tell me, what water is the holiest ?

I tell thee, the river Jordan is the holiest, because Christ was baptized therein.

Tell me, what man first spake with a dog?

I tell thee, Saint Peter.

Tell me, what man first ploughed the earth with a plough ? I tell thee, it was Ham, the son of Noah.

Tell me, wherefore stones are barren ?

I tell thee, because Abel's blood fell upon a stone, when Cain his brother slew him with the jaw-bone of an ass.

Tell me, what made the sea salt?

I tell thee, the ten commandments that Moses collected in the old Law, - the commandments of God. He threw the ten commandments into the sea, and he shed tears into the sea, and the sea became salt.

Tell me, what man first built a monastery?

I tell thee, Elias, and Elisha the prophet, and, after baptism, Paul and Anthony, the first anchorites.

Tell me, what were the streams that watered Paradise?

I tell thee, they were four. The first was called Pison; the second Geon; the third Tigris; the fourth Euphrates; that is, milk, and honey, and ale, and wine.

Tell me, why is the sun red at evening?

I tell thee, because he looks into Hell.

Tell me, why shineth he so red in the morning?

I tell thee, because he doubteth whether he shall or shall

not shine upon this earth, as he is commanded.

Tell me, what four waters feed this earth?

I tell thee, they are snow, and rain, and hail, and dew.
Tell me, who first made letters ?

I tell thee, Mercury the Giant."

Hardly less curious and infinitely more valuable, is a Colloquy of Elfric, composed for the purpose of teaching boys to speak Latin. The Saxon is an interlinear translation of the Latin, on the Hamiltonian system!* In this Colloquy various laborers and handicraftsmen are introduced, - ploughmen, herdsmen, huntsmen, shoemakers, and others; and each has his say, even to the blacksmith, who dwells in his smithy amid iron fire-sparks and the sound of beating sledgehammers and blowing bellows, (isenne fyrspearean, and swegincga beatendra slecgea, and blawendra byliga.) We translate the close of this Colloquy, to show our readers what a poor schoolboy had to suffer in the Middle Ages. They will hardly wonder, that Eregina Scot should have been put to death with penknives by his scholars.

"Magister. Well, boy, what hast thou been doing to-day? Discipulus. A great many things have I been doing. Last night, when I heard the knell, I got out of my bed and went into the church, and sang the matin-song with the friars; after that we sang the hymn of All Saints, and the morning songs of praise; after these Prime, and the seven psalms, with the Litanies and the first mass; then the nine o'clock service, and the mass for the day, and after this we sang the service of mid-day, and ate, and drank, and slept, and got up again, and sang Nones, and now are here before thee, ready to hear what thou hast to say to us.

"M. When will you sing Vespers or the Compline ? "D. When it is time.

"M. Hast thou had a whipping to day?

"D. I have not, because I have behaved very warily.

"M. And thy playmates?

"D. Why dost thou ask me about them? I dare not tell thee our secrets. Each one of them knows whether he has been whipped or not.

"M. What dost thou eat every day?

"D. I still eat flesh-meat, because I am a child, living under the rod.

Thus it begins;

"We cildra biddath the, eala Lareow, that thu tæce us sprécan D. Nos pueri rogamus te, Magister, ut doceas nos loqui rihte, fortham ungelærede we syndon, and gewæmmodlice Latialiter recte, quia idiotæ

we sprecath.

loquimur."

sumus,

et

See Thorpe's Analecta, where the whole Colloquy is given.

corrupte

"D. Greens and eggs, fish and cheese, butter and beans, and all clean things, with much thankfulness.

"M. Exceedingly voracious art thou; for thou devourest every thing, that is set before thee.

"D. Not so very voracious either, for I dont eat all kinds of food at one meal.

"M. How then?

"D. Sometimes I eat one kind and sometimes another, with soberness, as becomes a monk, and not with voracity; for I am not a glutton.

"D. Beer, when I can get it, and water when I cannot get beer. "M.

Dost thou not drink wine?

"D. I am not rich enough to buy wine; and wine is not a drink for boys and ignorant people, but for old men and wise. "M. Where dost thou sleep?

"D. In the dormitory, with the friars.

"D. Sometimes I hear the knell and get up; sometimes my master wakes me sternly with a rod.

"M. O, ye good children, and winsome learners! (ge gode cildra, and wynsume leorneras.) Your teacher admonishes you to follow godly lore, and to behave yourselves decently everywhere. Go obediently, when you hear the chapel bell, enter into the chapel, and bow suppliantly at the holy altars, and stand submissive, and sing with one accord, and pray for your sins, and then depart to the cloister or the school-room without levity."

We think this picture of a monk-ling at his catechism is capital. Poor boy! who ate eggs and spinnage with much thankfulness, and sang penitential psalms at midnight with the friars! How stoutly he repels the charge of being voracious over-much! how cunningly insinuates, that he prefers beer to cold water! And then the wise schoolmaster, how magisterially he says, "Well, boy, what hast thou been doing today?" and "hast thou had a whipping to-day?" and then slips in that joke, slyly and with due decorum; "Exceedingly voracious art thou; for thou devourest every thing that is set before thee!" and so dismisses the scare-crow monk, telling him to be a good boy, and keep his hands out of his pockets, and modestly look straight before him. We commend the picture to Cruikshank.

Here we close our sketch of Anglo-Saxon Literature, with the hope, that what we have written may "stir up riper wits than ours to the perfection of this rough-hewn work."

Since the first sheets of this article went to press, we have received, through the kindness of a friend, the second edition of Mr. Kemble's Beowulf, with his English Translation, Glossary, and Notes, forming a second volume. (London. 1837.) The translation is strong and faithful. "I was bound," he says, " to give word for word the original, in all its roughness. I might have made it smoother, but I purposely avoided doing so; because, had the Saxon poet thought as we think, and expressed his thoughts as we express our thoughts, I might have spared myself the trouble of editing and translating his poem.

Altogether, the work is one of great learning and labor, and places Mr. Kemble in the very highest rank of Saxon scholars. We recommend it to all readers of Saxon poetry in this country. They will find it of inestimable value to them in their studies.

ART. V. History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs. Embellished with One Hundred and Twenty Portraits, from the Indian_Gallery in the Department of State at Washington. By THOMAS L. Mc KENNEY, late of the Indian Department at Washington; and JAMES HALL, of Cincinnati. Vol. I. Philadelphia; published by Edward C. Biddle.

For many years it has been the custom of the Indians, residing within the territories of the United States, to send delegates to Washington for the purpose of making treaties respecting their lands, and transacting other affairs, in which they and the United States are mutually concerned. This custom has been encouraged by the government, as affording a favorable opportunity of communicating to the Indians just ideas of the condition, resources, and power of their civilized