The heapes of people, thronging in the hall, Doe ride each other, upon her to gaze : Her glorious glitterand light doth all mens eies

amaze.

XVII.

So forth fhe comes, and to her coche does

clyme,

Adorned all with gold and girlonds gay, That feemd as fresh as Flora in her prime; And ftrove to match, in roiall rich array, Great Iunoes golden chayre; the which, they fay,

The gods ftand gazing on, when she does ride

To loves high hous through heavens braspaved way,

Drawne of fayre pecocks, that excell in

pride,

And full of Argus eyes their tayles difpredden

wide,

XVII. 5, Great Iunoes golden chayre;] The chaire or chariot of Juno, was famous among poets: hence Virgil, En. i. 21. Hic currus fuit, here at Carthage was her chaire. Spenfer fays golden chaire: Homer describes it chiefly of gold, Il. i. 720. The which chayre, the gods ftand gazing on; he alludes perhaps to Homer's expreffion, Saupa idiotas.

UPTON.

XVII. 7. through heavens bras-paved way,] Bras-paved, i. e. firm and durable as brass. Homer, Il. á. 426. '. 173.

Καὶ τότ ̓ ἔπειτά τοι ἔιμι Διὸς ποτὶ χαλκοβατὲς δῶο And nearer still to Spenfer is the expreffion of Pindar, Ifth Od. vii. 62. χαλκόπεδον θεῶν ἔδραν. UPTON,

XVIII.

But this was drawne of fix unequall beafts,
On which her fix fage counsellours did ryde,
Taught to obay their bestiall beheasts,

With like conditions to their kindes applyde:
Of which the first, that all the rest did guyde,
Was fluggish Idleneffe, the nourfe of fin;
Upon a flouthfull affe he chofe to ryde,
Arayd in habit blacke, and amis thin;
Like to an holy monck, the fervice to begin.

XIX.

And in his hand his porteffe ftill he bare,

XVIII. 2. On which her fix fage counsellours did ryde,] The moral allegory hints at the Seven deadly Sins, as they are called. The chief of all is Pride. She with her fix fage counsellours make up the number. See the Parfon's Tale, (or rather Sermon) in Chaucer, p. 197. edit. Urr. UPTON.

XVIII. 6. Idleneffe,] He calls Idleneffe, the nourse of Sin, and fo Chaucer, in the Second Nonnes prologue, v. 1.

"The minifter and norice unto vices

He is pictured as an idle monk, arrayed in a black gown and amis; in his hand he has his porteffe: Scarce could he once uphold his heavy head-So Chaucer in the character of the monk, v. 200.

"He was a lord full fat, and in gode point:
"His eyin stepe, and rolling in his hed,
"That itemid as a furneis of led." UPTON.

XVIII. 8. amis thin;] Amis, Fr. And thus, in the Roman ritual, Graius amictus, whence Mr. Warton deduces the amice gray of Milton, Par. Reg. B. iv. 427. I have hown, in a note on that paffage, that gray amis was anciently the dress of the Lord Mayor of London, and of thofe knights who had ferved that office. The amifes of the monks appear to have been alfo decorated with fur: "Thefe myters, typpetes, furred amyfes, and fhauen crownes." Yet a courfe at the Romyhe foxe, 12mo. Zurik, 1543, p. 8. b. TODD.

XIX. 1.

his porteffe] Breciary. Harington tranflates Ariofto, B. xxvii. 37, "i breviali," the portefjes. Chaucer,

That much was worne, but therein little redd; For of devotion he had little care,

Still drownd in fleepe, and most of his daies dedd:

Scarfe could he once uphold his heavie hedd, To looken whether it were night or day. May feeme the wayne was very evil ledd, When fuch an one had guiding of the way, That knew not, whether right he went or else astray.

XX.

From worldly cares himselfe he did esloyne,
And greatly fhunned manly exercise ;
From everie worke he chalenged effoyne,
For contemplation fake: yet otherwise

in the Shipmans Tale, 2639. “On my porthose I makin an othe" i. e. the breviary or prayer-book; fo named from porter and hofe, because carried about with them in their pockets or hofe. UPTON.

XX. 1. did efloyne,] Withdraw. A Gallicifm. See Cotgrave, "S' eloigner de, to get him farre from." We have a kindred word, F. Q. iv. x. 24. "Difloign'd from common gaze," that is, far, or remote. TODD.

XX. 3.

he chalenged effoyne,] Excufe. This is a law phrase. See Cowell's Law Dict. Art. Effoine. Our old poets fet the example to Spenfer of applying this legal expreffion: Thus Gower, Confeff. Amant.

"But yet, for strength of matrimonie,
"He might make none effonie

"That he ne might algates plie

"To go to bed of company."

And Chaucer, The Parfon's Tale, p. 192. edit. Urr. "He," fpeaking of Chrift, "fhall make a general congregacion, where as no man may be abfent; for certes there avayleth none ejoyne ne excufation." TODD.

His life he led in lawleffe riotife;

By which he grew to grievous malady: For in his luftleffe limbs, through evill guife, A fhaking fever raignd continually: Such one was Idleneffe, first of this company.

XXI.

And by his fide rode loathfome Gluttony,
Deformed creature, on a filthie fwyne;
His belly was upblowne with luxury,
And eke with fatneffe fwollen were his eyne;

XX. 7.

his luftleffe limbs,] His languid limbs. See the note on the Shep. Cal. Feb. v. 85. TODD.

XXI. 1. Gluttony,] Gluttony is one of the seven deadly Sins, and here introduced as a Perfon, resembling the old drunken god Silenus: "His belly was upblowne with luxury;" "Inflatum hefterno venas, ut femper, Jaccho." "And on his head an yvie girland had;" Virgil fuppofes this girland juft fallen off, whilft he flept,

"Serta procul tantum capiti delapsa jacebant.” "The bouzing can," likewife, is his never failing companion, "Et gravis attritâ pendebat cantharus ansâ." "Of which he fupt so oft, that on his feat "His dronken corfe he fcarfe upholden can :" This is old Silenus' picture in Ovid. Met. iv. 26.

66

Quíque fenex ferulâ titubantes ebrius artus "Suftinet, et pando non fortiter hæret afello :" Excepting that he here rides on a filthie fwine; a fit emblem of his hoggifh qualities, and his uncleannefs, and of his frequent relapfing into his vices, like the fow that is washed, which goes again to wallow in the mire, II. Pet. ii. 22. And, as Spenfer never looses fight of the Scripture in all this first book, so likewife is that very picturefque image "And eke with fatneffe fwollen were his eyne," taken from Pf. lxxiii. 7. "Their eyes fwell with fatneffe." But the image, which follows," And like a crane his necke was long," is from the account which Ariftotle, in his Ethicks, has given of one Philoxenus, who wished that he had the neck of a crane, is diμevos tỹ áQã, L. iii. C. 10. The fame ftory is mentioned by Athenæus, L. i. C. 6. UPTON.

And like a crane his necke was long and fyne, With which he fwallowed up exceffive feast, For want whereof poore people oft did pyne: And all the way, most like a brutish beast, He fpued up his gorge, that all did him deteaft.

In

XXII.

greene vine leaves he was right fitly clad ; For other clothes he could not wear for heate: And on his head an yvie girland had,

From under which faft trickled downe the
fweat:

Still as he rode, he fomewhat still did eat,
And in his hand did beare a bouzing can,

Of which he fupt fo oft, that on his feat

XXI. 5.

long and fyne,] Thin, taper. Fr. CHURCH.

fin. See alfo F. Q. ii. xii. 56. XXI. 9. his gorge,] Gorge, Fr. the throat. Here it means that which was fwallowed. In Cotgrave's Dictionary, it is tranflated, among other interpretations, " a meale, or gorgefull given unto birds, especially hawks." In other places of this poem it means fimply the throat or swallow. See i. i. 19, i. xi. 13. So, in Hall's Virgidemiarum, edit. 1597, "The p. 51. gorge of greedy man." TODD. XXII. 6. a bouzing can,] A drinking can. Buyzen, to boufe. Sewel's Dutch and Eng. Dict. 1691. See alfo Cotgrave's Fr. Dict. in which Boire is tranflated "To drinke, bouse, bib, fwill, &c." I know not why Minfheu should have written the following article in his Guide into Tongues, edit. 1627. No. 1686-2. "A bowfer, boufer, or bourfer of a colledge." For bourfer or burfar, the college-treasurer, is evidently derived from bourfe, Fr. a purse. And what analogy is there between the derivatives buyzen and bourfe? Perhaps boufer might be the corrupt way of pronouncing bourfer. I prefer refcuing the burfars, however, from any affociation whatever with boufers. TODD.