J 52 CRITICAL NOTICES OP NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



" For als moche as it is longe tyme passed that there was no generallo 

 Passage iie "Vvage over the See ; and many JMen desiren for to here speke of 

 the holy Lon^, and han thereof gret solace and comfort ; I John Maunde- 

 vylle, Knyght, alle be it I be not worthi, that was born in Englond, in the 

 Town of Seynt Albones, passed the See, in the Zeer of our Lord Jesu Crist 

 Mcccxxii, in the Day of Seynt Michelle : and hidre to have ben longe tyme 

 over the See, and have seyn and gon thorghe manye diverse Londes, and 

 many Provynces and Kingdomes and lies, and have passed thorghe Tarta- 

 rye, Percye, Ermon^^e, the litylle and the grete ; thorghe Lybye, Caldee, 

 and a gret partie of Ethiope ; thorghe Amazoyne, Inde the lasse and the 

 more, a gret partie; and thorghe out manye othere lies that ben abouten 

 Inde , where dwellen many dy verse Folkes, and of dy verse Maneres and 

 Lawes, and of dyverse Schappes of Men. Of whiche Londes and lies, I 

 schalle speke more playnly hereaftre. And I schalle devise zou sum j)artie 

 of thinges that there ben, whan time schalle ben, aftre it may best come to 

 my minde; and specyally for hem that wylle and are in purpos for to visit 

 the Holy Citee of Jerusalem and the holy Places that are thereaboute. 

 And I schalle telle the Weye that thei schulle holden thidre. For I have 

 often tymes passed and ryden the way, with godeCompanye of many Lordes: 

 God be thonked. And zee schulle undirstonde, that I have put this Boke 

 out of Latyn into Frensche, and translated it azen out of Frenche into En- 

 glyssche, that every man of my Nacioun may undirstonde it. But Lordes 

 and knyghtes and othere noble and worthi Men that conne Latyn but litylle, 

 and have been bezonde the See, knowen and undirstonden, zif I erre in de- 

 visynge, for forzetynge, or elles ; that thei mowe redresse it and amende it. 

 For things passed out of longe tyme from a Mannes mynde or from his 

 syght, turnen sone into forzetynge : Because that Mynde of Man ne may 

 not ben comprehended ne witheholden, for the Freeltee of Mankynde." 



With the enthusiasm and devotion of an unsophisticated papist, Sir 

 John proceeds to " teche zou the Weye out of Englond to Costanti- 

 noble," and his itinerary is sufficiently precise, if not entertaining ; it 

 finishes with an account of the ^' Yraage of Justynyan the Empe- 

 rour," accompanied with a lively graphic illustration. The travel- 

 ler's next theme is " the Crosse and the Croune of oure Lord Jesu 

 Crist, and his Cote withouten Semes, and the Spounge, and the Reed, 

 of the which the Jewes zaven our Lord Eyselle and Galle ;" and, on 

 each of these venerable articles, he discourses with pathetic and cir- 

 cumstantial eloquence. His description of " the Cytee of Costanty- 

 noble and of the Feithe of the Grekis," evinces the closeness of his 

 observation, and the extent of his acquaintance with the practices of 

 the Greek church. He allows that " Men of Grece ben Cristene, 

 zit they varien from oure Feithe ;" and for this distinction, he ad- 

 duces very copious and abundantly cogent reasons. For, he says, 



" Thei are not obedyent to the Chirche of Rome, ne to the Pope. And 

 thei seyn that here Patriark hath as meche Power over the See as the Pope 

 hathe on this syde the See. And therfore Pope Johne the 22nd sende Let- 

 tres to hem, how Cristene Feithe scholde ben alle on ; and that thei scholde 

 ben obedyent to the Pope that is Goddis Vacrie on Erthe, to whom God 

 zaf his pleyn Power for to bynde and to assoill. And thei senten azen 

 dyverse Answeres ; and amonges othere, thei seyden thus — ' We trowe wcl 

 that thi Power is gret upon the Suhgettes. We mai not suffre thin highc Pryde. 

 We ben not in purpos tofulfille thi great Covetyse. Lord be with The; For oure 

 Lord is unth us. Fare WdleJ' " 



