GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. 



GARDINER, STEPHEN. 



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y-, 

 ...' 



proved however a failure ; not indeed from auy lack of ingenuity on 

 his part, but owing to the similarity and slight difference between long 

 and short syllables, and the want of a dactylic copiousness which 

 characterise modern languages, in even southern Europe. Garcao's 

 odes, which are clothed in the diction of the 16th century, soar above 

 the wearisome sameness of the sonnet and the eclogue of many a 

 distinguished poet. His satires and epistles may be reckoned among 

 the best in modern literature, and are decidedly more Horatian than 

 Ferreira's. His simple drama in iambics, the ' Theatro Novo,' was 

 evidently intended to counteract the passion for the operatic pomp of 

 the Portuguese stage. The ' Assembles, ou Partida," another speci- 

 men of his plays, in the manner of Terence, is of the same kind as 

 the ' Cecile ' of Poinsinet, a satire on the fashionable world, not 

 merely a picture of fashionable manners, as Bouterwek calls it. The 

 ' Obras poeticas de P. A. C. Garciio,' in 8vo, were first published at 

 Lisbon in 1773. Gar5o died about 1775. (Bouterwek ; and Siamoadi, 

 Uttcraturc du Midi de I 'Europe, or its translation by Roscoe.) 



OARCILA'SO DE LA VEGA, the intimate friend and associate 

 of Boscan in the radical and successful reformation of Spanish poetry, 

 was born at Toledo in 1500, or, according to some biographers, in 

 1503. His family enjoyed great consideration and military reputation; 



id Garcilaso himself from the age of eighteen followed Charles V. 

 over Europe and in his expeditions to Africa till the disastrous retreat 

 of the Imperialists from Marseille in 1536, when, being the first to 

 mount the breach of a tower, which he was ordered to carry by 

 assault, he lost his life in the attempt. 



Despfc-ing the clamour raised against introducing into a brave nation 

 the effeminate taste (as his opponents called it) of the conquered 

 Italians, Garcilaso, with equal boldness but greater skill than Boscan, 

 sub.-tituted the modern Sapphic or Italian hendecasyllabic verse, both 

 for the short metre of the ancient romances and redondillas, and for 

 the heroic Alexandrine and all the verses of arte mayor. The sweet- 

 ness of many of his thirty-seven sonnets captivates the ear, while the 

 contrast of fear and desire, of sorrow and love, which they express, 

 touches the sympathies of his readers. His odes are still more uni- 

 formly excellent; and his last is much praised by Muratori, as his 

 'Flor de Gnido' is by PaulJovius and Sir William Jones. But his 

 masterpiece is the first of his three eclogues, which has never been 

 equalled by any of the numerous imitations of it. Garcilaso wrote it 

 at Naples under the inspiration of Virgil's tomb, and stimulated 

 by Sanazzaro's reputation. It is to be regretted that in this piece, as 

 in others, his facility and copiousness of expression betrayed him into 

 diffusenesg and over-refinement. Nevertheless he is at the head of 

 the pastoral poets of Spain, and he would perhaps have been the first 

 of her lyric poetg if he had lived longer, or if Herrera in the following 

 century had not gained that title for himself. 



Garcilaso's poems have been printed very often, and commented 

 upon by Herrera, Sancho de lag Brozas, Tamaio Vargas and Azara, 

 the elegant translator of MMdleton's * Life of Cicero,' and they have 

 been excellently translated into English by the lute G. H. Wiffen. 



GAUCILA'SO, the Inca, as he styled himself, was born at Cuzco, in 

 P. ru, towards the middle of the 16th century, after the conquest of 

 that country by the Spaniards. His father, Garcilaso de la Vega, 

 allied by blood to the noble house* of Feria and Infantado, served 

 under the Pizarros in that expedition. He married, at Cuzco, 

 Elizabeth Palla of the race of the Incas, who is stated in her son's 

 epitaph at Cordova to have been sister to Huayna Capac, the last 

 emperor of Peru. Young Garcilaso proceeded to Spain at an early 

 age, about 1560; he obtained the rank of captain in the Spanish 

 Hen-ice, but he seems to have lived the greater part of his life at 

 Cordova, where he died in April 1616. His contemporary, Father 

 Benaventura de Salinn*, in his 'Memorial de la Historia del Nuevo 

 Mmid'V chapter ii., fays "that he was much esteemed by the Catholic 

 kings for the talents he displayed in writing his historical works ; that 

 he lived piously, and bequeathed by will his property, which was 

 moderate, to the souls in purgatory." He was buried in the cathedral 

 idova, in a chapel which has been called in consequence 

 ' Garcilaso's Chapel.' (See the Introduction to Garcilaso's ' History 

 of Florida,' Madrid, 1723.) Garcihuo wrote a history of Peru : 

 'Comentarioa Realea que tratan del Origen de los Incas, de BUS 

 Leyes y Gobierno,' &c., fol., Lisbon, 1609. Oarcilaso's history has 

 been much praised for its impartiality, but its merits have been 

 exaggerated from the supposition that the author, in consequence of 

 hi* Peruvian connection!", had peculiar sources of information. This 

 however seems not to have been the case. One advantage he had, 

 that of understanding well his maternal language ; and he says in his 

 introduction that he wag able to correct the misinterpretations of 

 i m words by Spanish writers. His style is reckoned inelegant 

 and diffuse. He wrote an account of the conquest of Florida by 

 Fernando de Soto : La Florida del Ynca,' Lisbon, 1605. Both 

 Garcilaso'g ' History of the Inca-,' and his ' History of Florida,' were 

 translated and published in French,' 2 vols. 4 to, Amsterdam, 1727. 



i;.\l;i /YX'SKI, STF.PHEN, Palatine of Poznania, died in 1755, 

 at an advanced age. He spent all his life in public employments, 

 which gave him the opportunity of acquiring a thorough knowledge 

 of the affairs of his country. He published in Polish a political work 

 on Poland, entitled 'The Anatomy of the Republic of Poland.' Warsaw. 

 1761, and Berlin, 1764. 



GARCZYN'SKI, a young man of the same family, who died in 

 1832, in consequence of the fatigues of the Polish war of 1831, left 

 behind him several poems, which are characterised by great beauties. 



GARDINER, STEPHEN, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chan- 

 cellor of England, although he was called by another name, was 

 believed to be the illegitimate son of Dr. Woodvil, bishop of Salisbury, 

 who being brother to Elizabeth, Edward IVth's queen, was also 

 related to Henry VIII. He was born at Bury St. Edmunds in 1483. 

 His studies at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, were directed not only to 

 Latin and Greek, but also to civil and canon law, and it was partly 

 his skill in this latter branch of learning that led to his future great- 

 ness. When master of Trinity Hall, through his intimacy with the 

 Duke of Norfolk, he became acquainted with Wolsey, who afterwards 

 made him his secretary, and in this capacity he was brought under the 

 notice of the king, with whom he rapidly ingratiated himself. An 

 office of trust was soon committed to his charge. Dr. Stephens (as 

 Gardiner at this time was usually called) was sent to Italy in 1527, to 

 procure the pope's consent to the divorce of Catherine of Aragon, and 

 no better proof can be given of hia high favour with Henry than the 

 fact that from Rome he wrote a letter to the king so private that even 

 Cardinal Wolsey was not to see it (Burnet's ' Reformation,' where the 

 letter is given). Though he failed in the object for which he was 

 sent to Rome, he rendered services at this court both to the bishop of 

 Norwich (who afterwards rewarded him with the archdeaconry of 

 Norfolk), and to Wolsey by promoting his interests as a candidate for 

 the papal throne. He was recalled from Rome to manage the process 

 for the divorce in England ; and because he was esteemed the greatest 

 canonist of his time, the king would commence no proceedings until 

 he returned. After his arrival he was made secretary of state, and 

 having in the spring of 1531 been further advanced to the arch- 

 deacoury of Leicester, was installed bishop of Winchester in the 

 following November. We pass over his embassies to France and 

 Germany in order to speak more fully of hia opposition to all such 

 measures as were intended to procure a religious reformation in 

 England. Gardiner was attached to the doctrines and forms of the 

 Roman Catholic church ; he was believed to hSve already reconciled 

 himself to the pope, with whom he had had differences while urging 

 the divorce ; and he had no sooner returned to England than he urged 

 the king to punish the sacramentaries (persons who denied the cor- 

 poral presence of Christ in the eucharist) and to turn a deaf ear to 

 the proposals of the reformers. It was impolitic, he said, to ofl'end 

 the pope, not only on account of the power of the holy see itself, but 

 because the emperor would break off all commerce with him if he 

 went to extremities against the Roman Catholic religion. 



His advice was partially taken, the innovations of the reformers 

 were obstructed, and Lambert and others were condemned and exe- 

 cuted for their heretical opinions. " He was opposed," says Burnet, 

 " to all reformation : " both the free use of the Scriptures and their 

 translation into English he considered to be highly objectionable ; to 

 the disuse of confession and the omission of certain sacraments he was 

 equally averse ; and he was altogether opposed to the measures of 

 Cranmer and his associates. He had certainly endeavoured to dis- 

 suade the king from listening to Cranmer's proposals for furthering 

 the Reformation. In the promotion of the act of the six articles 

 (1538), and in the subsequent enforcement of its provisions, the extent 

 of his hostility to the reformation was most evidently displayed. The 

 decline of Cromwell's power tended greatly to increase his authority 

 and influence. Both these crafty statesmen bad at the same time 

 been servants to Cardinal Wolsey, the one as his secretary, the other 

 as his solicitor; and both had risen through Wolsey's patrouage : but 

 as they had espoused opposite parties, their friendship was at an end, 

 and Gardiner's jealousy of the vicar-general was without bounds. 

 When circumstances [CROMWELL, THOMAS] weakened the king's con- 

 fidence in the bishop's unpopular rival, he craftily assisted in his 

 downfall, and prepared to occupy his place in the good graces of the 

 king : the fate of Cromwell was soon scaled ; a fallen favourite has 

 few friends, and crimes were soon proved which ensured his execution 

 (1540). It now became Gardiner's object to use all means to obtain 

 the favour of the king. The disgust of Henry at his new queen, 

 Anne of Cleves, was so rapidly conceived that he had scarcely married 

 her before he began to talk of a divorce. There was no just ground 

 whatsoever for such a separation ; nevertheless Gardiner, though an 

 accurate lawyer, promoted the king's suit. The divorce was pro- 

 cured, but Henry, though well aware of the assistance that Gardiner 

 had rendered to his cause, did not wholly trust him. A perception 

 of his excessive cunning appears to have estranged his confidence. 

 The abilities of Gardiner were undeniable ; he had also a powerful 

 party at his side : nevertheless he could only obstruct and hinder, 

 not wholly set aside, the measures of his opponents. The king 

 befriended Gardiner, but he never ceased to befriend Cranmer also. 



An evidence of his friendship for Cranmor is shown by his conduct 

 to the archbishop on an occasion in which his life was in danger. The 

 Roman Catholic party, with the bishop of Winchester at their head, 

 attempted to attach the crime of heresy to Cranmer; but the king 

 himself delivered a message to him to prepare him for the threatened 

 attack, taking care afterwards to appoint such a tribunal to investigate 

 the charges as should defeat the object of his accusers. The popularity 

 of Gardiner indeed was not injured by the failure of this conspiracy 



