1856.] on Chaucer i his Age and Works. 249 



Perhaps to Chaucer not the least interesting result of these wars 

 was the presence of those Proven9al minstrels, who came in the 

 train of the Black Prince. Nor was the reign of Richard II. un- 

 propitious to men of letters. The court was gay, but refined ; the 

 monarch, though unwise, was not unlettered. He patronised 

 Gower, and was not unmindful of Gower*s pupil and friend. There 

 was a rising, too, of the commonalty in this reign, not unmarked 

 by Chaucer, who employs it as an image of rural confusion. There 

 was banding of the country-party against the courtiers : schisms in 

 the country-party itself. Harry of Lancaster's banishment and re- 

 turn, afterwards chronicled by Shakspeare in scenes 



" Sad, high, and working full of state and woe 

 Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow." 



A king discrowned and swiftly or lingeringly murdered, and the 

 seeds sown of the great barons' war, which, before another half century 

 had passed away, convulsed England from the Exe to the Tweed. It 

 was a change not much noted at the time, yet fraught with conse- 

 quences more durable than the humiliation of France, that in 

 Edward's reign the laws began to speak in the English tongue, and 

 the power of the minor barons, afterwards the Commons of England, 

 to be felt in Parliament. It wa^ a movement much noticed at the 

 time, yet without perception of its full results, that Wickliffe was 

 not merely permitted to assail the doctrine and discipline of the 

 church, but was also encouraged in his assault by the first prince 

 of the blood, and by some of the foremost men in the realm. 



Of this period Chaucer was for at least sixty years an attentive 

 observer, and latterly an accurate chronicler. In its movements he 

 took part to a degree unusual with poets : and when not taking part 

 was taking notes of this brave, bustling, and youthful people of 

 England. And his opportunities for observation were most favour- 

 able. Were we to seek for a capable historian of an age we should 

 be inclined to repeat Agur's prayer — " Give him neither poverty 

 nor riches." Too highly placed, the observer is captived by the 

 prejudices of his rank : too lowly, his field of contemplation is 

 narrowed. Chaucer occupied a middle position. He was connected 

 by birth with the middle order; by marriage with the higher; 

 his employments brought him into contact with the people ; his 

 gifts and his learning rendered him an acceptable companion to the 

 most cultivated persons of his age. His occupations, at different 

 periods of his life, were well adapted to his functions as the chroni- 

 cler of manners. As Commissioner of Customs, he was enabled to 

 study the commercial classes ; as Clerk of the Works and Ranger 

 of the Royal Forests, he was familiar with artisans and husbandmen. 

 His military service acquainted him with camps ; his diplomatic 

 missions with cabinets. That he was the most observing of all 

 observers is plain from the Prologue to his " Canterbury Tales." 



