Notes Queries No. 29, Saturday, May 18, 1850 | Page 8

Dr. Percy, and the object at which he had all along aimed: it runs thus:--"Poems in Bland Verse (not Dramatique) prior to Milton's _Paradise Lost._ Subsequent to Lord Surrey's in this Volume, and to N.G.'s in the preceding." In truth, Dr. Percy was making a collection in the two volumes of all the English undramatic blank verse he could discover, prior to the publication of Milton's great poem. He was guilty of some important omissions, because bibliographical knowledge was not then as far advanced as at present, but he performed good service to letters as far as he was able to go; and the blank verse productions he subjoins are by George Tubervile, George Gascoigne, Barnabie Riche, George Peele, James Aske, William Vallans, Nicholas Breton, George Chapman, and Christopher Marlow. These occupy from p. 342. of vol. ii.
This list might now be considerably increased; but my present business is only to answer the Query of "G.," as to the nature and contents of the work. It has been said, I know not on what authority, that Steevens assisted Percy in preparing and printing it. I apprehend that the aid given by Steevens consisted solely in recommending the Bishop to procure certain rare productions which would contribute to the purpose.
J. PAYNE COLLIER.
May 7, 1850.
[To this we may add, that about 1767, when Bishop Percy printed these twenty-five sheets of poems of Lord Surrey and the Duke of Buckingham, it appears by a letter of the Bishop to Horace Walpole, that he presented a copy of them to Walpole, with a request for information about Lord Surrey. The Bishop never wrote the Life of Surrey; and in 1808 the whole impression was burnt, with the exception of a copy or two that the Bishop had given to his friends. In the letter to Walpole the Bishop says, "A few more leaves will complete that book, which with the second and Dr. Surrey's Songs and Sonnets, &c. will be sufficient for the book."]
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SYMBOLS OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS.
Horne, in his _Introduction_, vol. iv. p. 254., says that Iren?us was the first to discover the analogy between the four animals mentioned by Ezekiel (i. 5. 10.) and the four Evangelists, which gave rise to the well-known paintings of these latter. He quotes from _Iren. adv. Hoer._ lib. iii. cap. 11.:--
"The first living creature, which is like a lion, signifies Christ's efficacy, principality, and regality, viz. John; the second, like a calf, denotes His sacerdotal order, viz. Luke; the third, having as it were, a man's face, describes His coming in the flesh as man, viz. Matthew; and the fourth, like a flying eagle, manifests the grace of the Spirit flying into the Church, viz. Mark." There is also an interesting passage in _Dionys Carthus. in Apocal. Enarr._ iv. 7., from which the following is an extract:--
"Although the above exposition of Gregorius, in which by the man in meant Matthew, by the calf Luke, &c., be the common one, yet other holy men have held a different opinion, for as Bede relates on this point, Augustine understood by the lion Matthew, because in the beginning of his Gospel he describes the royal descent of Christ; by the calf he also understood Luke, because he wrote of the priestly descent of Our Lord; by the man Mark, because he omits the question of Christ's birth, and confines himself more especially to describing His acts as a _man_; by the eagle, all understand John, on account of the sublimity to which his Gospel soars. Others again understand by the lion Matthew; by the calf Mark, on account of the simplicity of his style; and by the man Luke, because he has more fully treated of Christ's human generation."
Would "JARLZBERG" kindly favour me with a reference to his interesting anecdote of the lion's whelps?
J. EASTWOOD.
Ecclesfield, May 9. 1850.
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Your correspondent "JARLZBERG" (No. 24. p. 385.) inquires for the origin of the Evangelistic symbols. The four living creatures, in Ezekiel, i. 10., and Revelations, iv. 7., were interpreted from the earliest times to represent the four Gospels. Why the angel is attributed to St. Matthew, the lion to St. Mark, and so on, is another question: but their order in Ezekiel corresponds with the order of the Gospels as we have them. Durandus would probably furnish some information. The fabulous legend of the lion savours of a later origin. Some valuable remarks on the subject, and a list of references to early writers, will be found in Dr. Wordsworth's Lectures on the Canon of Scripture (Lect. VI. p. 151.), and his Lectures on the Apocalypse (Lect. IV. pp. 116, 117.)
C.R.M.
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Symbols of the Evangelists (No. 24. p. 385.).--The symbols of the four Evangelists are treated of by J. Williams, _Thoughts