i cam fra. "-p. 65. Lindsay's Dream, in like manner, And sine did slaik hir saillis, and gan to creip All her canniounis scho let crak at anis, That haistelie I stert out of my dreme. Lindesay's Works, p. 257. The astronomical system detailed by Lindsay in his Dream, differs not essentially from that which the principal shepherd in the Complaynt delivers to his companions; but this coincidence is of slight importance, since the same system is common to all the writers of the middle ages. A coincidence of a much more important nature, is that which may be traced between the allegorical character, Johne the Commounweill, in the Dream; and the third and youngest sone of Dame Scotia, in the Complaynt. Johne the Commounweill appears to Lindsay, "but hors, on fute, with a richt mélancolious countenance. " "Quhais raiment was al raggit, reuin, and rent, With visage lene as he had fastit Lent With scrip on hip, and pykestaff in his hand.” The youngest son of Dame Scotia "vas lyand plat on his syde on the cald eird, ande al his clathis var re uyn and raggit, makand ane dolorus lamentatione ande ane piteouse complaynt. The import of his com plaint is the same with that of Johne the Commounweill; the same disorders in Church and State are reprehended; the same miseries of the Commons lamented; and the same vices stigmatized in the Nobility and Clergy. But this allegorical character, " Johnie the Commoun Weill of Fair Scotland," likewise appears' in Lindsay's "Satire on the Thre Estaitis," Interlude VII; and here, his complaints are much louder than in the Dream, and have a ftill clearer analogy to those of the youngest son of Dame Scotia in the Complaynt. He is thus introduced KING. "The Commoun Weill has bene amang his fais. JOHNIE. Ye, that, syr, garris the Commoun weill want clais. CORRECTIOUN. Quhome upon complene ye, or quho maks you debaitis? JOHNIE. Syr, I complene upoun the KING, and all the THRE ESTAITIS. As for our reverend faders of Spiritualitie, Ar led be Covetyce, this carle, and Temporalitie; And als ye se, Temporalitie hes need of correctioun, Quhilk hes lang tyme bene led be publick oppressioun." Lindesay's Interludes, ap. Pinkerton's Scotish Poems, vol. ii. p. 159. In like manner, the younger son of Dame Scotia, who represents the Commons of Scotland, "compleins and murmyrs the crualte of his tua brethir, THE NOBILLIS & CLERrgie, who were "ambitius in ther stait, and couetuse of gudis;" and declares that he is "left ❝left desolat in the handis of vrangus oppresseurs, " p. 193-5. "Thir peur Commounis daylie as ye may sie, For some ar heichtit so into thair maill, Thair wynning will nocht find thame water caill. How kirkmen heicht thair teindis it is weill knawin, That husbandmen noways may hald thair awin. And now begynnis a plaig upoun thame new, That Gentellmen thair steadings takkis in few. Thus mon thai pay grit fairm, or leiff the stad, And sum are planelie hurlit out be the had, That ar destroyit, without God on thame rew. Lindesay's Interludes, p. 161-2. "I dee daly, trocht the necessite that I hef of the gudis that I van vitht my laubyrs. My cornis and my cattell ar reft fra me. I am exilit fra my takkis and fra my steddyngis. The malis and fermis of the grond that I laubyr, is hychtit to sic ane price, that it is fors to me and vyf and bayrns to drynk vattir. The teyndis of my cornis ar nocht alanerly hychtit abufe the fertilite that the grond maye bayr, bot as veil thai ar tane furtht of my handis by my tua tirran brethir," p. 191-2. A parallel passage likewise occurs in the fourth book. of the Monarchy. "Ze Lordis and Barronis mair and les, That zour pure tennantis dois opres, Be Be they haue payit to zou thair mail, p. 165. These coincidences, so minute and particular, must be admitted to be the more important, because, it was characteristic of Lindsay, above all men of his age, to have assiduously laboured to procure the redress of the abuses to which they allude. "Quhat labouris tuik he," says his editor, Charteris, " that the landis of this cuntrie micht be set out in fewis, efter the fassoun of sindry vther realmis, for the incres of policie and riches? Bot, quhat hes he profitit? Quhen ane pure man, with his haill race and ofspring, hes labourit out thair lyfis on ane litel peice of ground, and brocht it to sum point and perfectioun, then must the lairdis brother, kinsman, or surname, haue it, and the pure man, with his wyfe and bairnis, schot out to beg thair meit. He that tuik lytill labouris on it, man enjoy the frutes and commoditeis of it; he man eit up the sweit and labouris of the pure man's browis. Thus the pure dar mak na policie nor bigging, in cais thay big themselfis out. Bot althocht men wink at this, and ouirluik it, zit he sittis abone that seis it, and sall judge it. He that heiris the sichis and complaints of the pure opressit, sal not for euer suffer it unpunischit. Quhat hes he writtin alswa aganis this heriald hors, deuisit for manie pure mannis hurt? bot quha hes demittit it? Finallie, quhat oppressioun or vice hes he not repreuit?" This discussion, which, from the very nature of the investigation, is dry and repulsive, would, by a farther prosecution of the inquiry, only become equally tire some some and tedious. But the same similarity which I have noticed, might be traced between various passages of the Satire and of the Complaynt, which stigmatize the same vices, lament the same abuses, and regret the same discords of the three Estates; particucularly, where the insolence of the Nobility, the indolence of the Clergy, and the disaffection of the Borderers, are mentioned. Such are those parti cular coincidences, which, combining with the general impression produced by the work, induce me to ascribe the Complaynt of Scotland to Sir David Lindsay of the Mount. In the course of the investigation, I have frequently found myself in the situation of a modern botanist, who attempts to reduce the plants, described in such a vague and unscientific manner by Dioscorides and Pliny, to the accurate classifi cation of Linnæus. The foliage of the plant, in these ancient authors, is often very accurately characterized; but the minuteness of the description of the leaves, does not compensate the defective delineation of the flower, upon which the modern classification depends. The investigation which I have attempted, is not only one of the most difficult which is comprehended in the art of Criticism, but the charge of futility is always incident to researches of this kind. I fear it must be admitted, that the difficulty of an investigation, is of ten no criterion of its utility. The same acuteness has been exhausted, in numbering the grains of sand contained in the universe, which might have invented the logarithmic calculus; the same dexterity has been wasted in constructing the automaton of a fly, which might have perfected the steam engine; the same ingenuity has been lavished in determining the Immacu late |