poem obscure and perplexed, exclusive of its obsolete style; for, to introduce his alliteration, he must have been often necessarily compelled to depart from the natural and obvious way of expressing himself. Dr. Hickes observes, that this alliterative versification was drawn by Langelande from the practice of the Saxon poets, and that these visions abound with many Saxonisms. As he did not follow the example of Gower and Chaucer, who sought to reform the roughness of their native tongue, by naturalizing many new words from the Latin, French, and Italian, and who introduced the seven-lined stanza from Petrarch and Dante into our poetry, the inquirer into the original of our language will find in him a greater fund of materials. to elucidate the progress of the Saxon tongue.

In the introduction to the vision, the poet (shadowed by the name and character of Peter or Pierse, a plowman) represents himself as weary of wandering, on a May-morning, and at last laid down to sleep by the side of a brook; where, in a vision, he sees a stately tower upon a hill, with a dungeon, and dark dismal ditches belonging to it, and a very deep dale under the hill. Before the tower a large field or plain is supposed, filled with men of every rank or occupation, all being respectively engaged in their several pursuits; when suddenly a beautiful lady appears to him, and unravels to him the mystery of what he had seen. Before every vision the manner and circumstances of his falling asleep are distinctly described; before one of them in particular, P. Plowman is supposed, with equal humour and satire, to fall asleep while he is bidding his beads. In the course of the poem, the satire is carried on by means of several allegorical personages, such as Avarice, Simony, Conscience, Sloth, &c. Selden mentions this author with honour; and by Hickes he is frequently styled, "Celeberrimus ille Satyrographus, morum vindex acerrimus," &c. Chaucer, in the "Plowman's Tale," seems to have copied from our author. Spenser, in his Pastorals, seems to have attempted an imitation of his visions; and Milton is considered as under some obligations to him. The memory of this satire has been of late years revived by Percy, Warton, and Ellis, in whose works more ample information may be found than it is necessary to admit in a work professedly biographical. Perhaps indeed it does not belong to our department, since some of the most profound of our poetical critics have considered it as anony

mous; Mr Tyrwhitt remarks that in the best MSS. the author is called William, without any surname, and the name of Robert Longland, or Langlande, rests upon the authority only of Crowley, its earliest editor. Three of Crowley's editions were published in 1550, doubtless owing to its justifying the Reformation then begun under king Edward, by exposing the abuses of the Romish church. There is also an edition printed in 1561, by Owen Rogers, to which is sometimes annexed a poem of nearly the same tendency, and written in the same metre, called "Pierce the Plowman's Crede," the first edition of which, however, was printed by Wolfe in 1553. Of both these works, new editions have recently been announced.'

LONGOLIUS. See LONGUEIL.

LONGOMONTANUS (CHRISTIAN), an eminent astronomer, was born at Longomontum, a town in Denmark, whence he took his name, in 1562. Vossius, by mistake, calls him Christopher. He was the son of Severinus, a poor labourer, and was obliged to divide his time between following the plow and attending to the lessons which the minister of the parish gave him, by which he profited so much as to acquire considerable knowledge, especially in the mathematics. At length, when he was fifteen, he stole from his family, and went to Wiburg, where there was a college, in which he spent eleven years, supporting himself by his talents: and on his removing thence to Copenhagen, the professors of this university soon conceived a high esteem for him, and recommended him to Tycho Brahe, who received him very kindly. He lived eight years with this eminent astronomer, and assisted him so much in his observations and calculations, that Tycho conceived a very particular affection for him, and having left his native country to settle in Germany, he was desirous of having the company of Longomontanus, who accordingly attended him. Afterwards being, in 1600, desirous of a professor's chair in Denmark, Tycho generously consented to give up his assistant and friend, with the highest testimonies of his merit, and supplied him plentifully with money for his journey. On his return to Denmark, he deviated from his road, in order to view the places whence Copernicus had made his astronomical ob

1 Warton's Hist. of Poetry.-Percy's Reliques.-Ellis's Specimens.—Cooper's Muses' Library, &c.

In

servations; and passed so much time in this journey, that it was not till 1605 that he was nominated to the professorship of mathematics in the university of Copenhagen. this situation he continued till his death, in 1647, when he was eighty-five years old. He married, and had children; but the whole of his family died before him. He was the author of several works, in mathematics and astronomy. His "Astronomia Danica," first printed in 1611, 4to, and afterwards at Amsterdam, 1640, in folio, is the most distinguished. He amused himself with endeavouring to square the circle, and pretended that he had made the discovery of it; but our countryman Dr. John Pell attacked him warmly on the subject, and proved that he was mistaken. It is remarkable, that, obscure as his village and father might be, he dignified and perpetuated both; for he took his name from his village, and, in the title-page of his works, wrote himself "Christianus Longomontanus Severini filius." 1

LONGUEIL (CHRISTOPHER DE) or LONGOLIUS, a very elegant scholar, was born in 1490, at Mechlin, although some have called him a Parisian, and Erasmus makes him a native of Schoonhoven in Holland. He was the natural son of Antony de Longueil, bishop of Leon, who being on some occasion in the Netherlands, had an intrigue with a female of Mechlin, of which this son was the issue. He remained with his mother until eight or pine years old; when he was brought to Paris for education, in the course of which he far exceeded his fellowscholars, and was able at a very early age to read and understand the most difficult authors. He had also an extraordinary memory, although he did not trust entirely to it, but made extracts from whatever he read, and showed great discrimination in the selection of these. His taste led him chiefly to the study of the belles lettres, but his friends wished to direct his attention to the bar, and accordingly he went to Valence in Dauphiny, where he studied civil law under professor Philip Decius, for six years, and returning then to Paris, made so distinguished a figure at the bar, that in less than two years, he was appointed counsellor of the parliament of Paris, according to his biographer, cardinal Pole, but this has been questioned on account of its never having been customary to appoint

1 Gen. Dict.-Hutton's Dictionary.-Martin's Biog. Philosophica.-Moreri.

persons so young to that office; Pole has likewise made another mistake, about which there can be less doubt, in asserting that the king of Spain, Philip, appointed Longueil his secretary of state, for Philip died in 1506, when our author was only sixteen years of age.

In the mean time, it is certain that his attachment to other studies soon diverted him from his law practice. He appears in particular to have considered Pliny as an author meriting his most assiduous application, and whose works would furnish him with employment for many years. With this view he not only studied Pliny's "Natural History," with the greatest care, as well as every author who had treated on the same subject, but determined also to travel in pursuit of farther information, as well as to inspect the productions of nature, wherever found. But before this it became necessary for him to learn Greek, with which he had hitherto been unacquainted, and he is said to have made such progress, as to be able, within a year, to read the best Greek authors, on whom he found employment for about five years. Besides selecting from these works whatever might serve to illustrate his favourite Pliny, he now determined to commence his travels, and accordingly went to England, Germany, and Italy, and would have travelled to the East had not the war with the Turks prevented him. In England, in which he appears to have been in 1518, he became very intimate with Pace and Linacre. He encountered many dangers, however, in his continental tour. As he was travelling, with two friends, through Switzerland, the natives of that country, who, after the battle of Marignan, regarded the French with horror, conceived that Longueil and his party were spies, and pursued them as far as the banks of the Rhone. One was killed, the other made his escape by swimming; but Longueil, being wounded in the arm, was taken prisoner, and treated with great severity for about a month, at the end of which he was released by the interposition of the bishop of Sion, who furnished him with money and a horse, to convey him to France. At Rome he was afterwards honoured with the rank of citizen, and received with kindness by Leo X. who had a great opinion of his talents and eloquence, made him his secretary, and employed him to write against Luther. He visited France once more after this, but the reception he met with in Italy determined him to settle there, at Padua, where he resided, first with

Stephen Sauli, a noble Genoese, and on his departure, with Reginald Pole, afterwards the celebrated cardinal, to whom we are indebted for a life of Longueil. Here he died Sept. 11, 1522, in the thirty-third year of his age, and was interred in the church of the Franciscans, in the habit of that order, as he had desired. He was honoured with a Latin epitaph by Bembo, who was one of his principal friends, and recommended to him the writings of Cicero, as a model of style. Longueil became so captivated with Cicero, as to be justly censured by Erasmus on this account. Longueil, however, was not to be diverted by this, but declared himself so dissatisfied with what he had written before he knew the beauties of Cicero's style, as to order all his MSS. written previous to that period, to be destroyed. We have, therefore, but little of Longueil left. Among the MSS. destroyed was probably his commentary on Pliny, which some think was published, but this is very doubtful. We can with more certainty attribute to him, 1. "Oratio de laudibus D. Ludovici Franco-' rum regis, &c." Paris, 1510, 4to. Some remarks on the court of Rome in this harangue occasioned its being omitted in the collection of his works, but Du Chesne printed it in the fifth volume of his collection of French historians. 2. "Christ. Longolii, civis Romanæ perduellionis rei defensiones duæ," Venice, 8vo. This is a vindication of himself against a charge preferred against him, when at Rome, that he had advanced sentiments dishonourable to the character of the Romans in the preceding oration. 3. "Ad Lutheranos jam damnatos Oratio," Cologn, 1529, 8vo. It appears from his letters that he had been requested both to write for and against Luther, that he was long in great perplexity on the subject, but that at length Leo X. prevailed with him to write the above. These last two pieces with his letters, &c. have been often reprinted, under the title of "Christ, Longolii Orationes, Epistolæ, et Vita, necnon Bembi et Sadoleti epistolæ," the first edition, at Paris, 1533, 8vo. There are many curious particulars of literary history and character scattered through this correspondence. The life prefixed is now known to have been written by Pole, who was his most intimate friend and admirer, and to whom he bequeathed his library.'

1 Life prefixed to his works.-Niceron, vol. XVII.-Bullart's Academie des Sciences, vol. II.-Philips's Life of Cardinal Pole.-Pole's Life of Longueil is nserted in Bates's Vitæ selectorum.-Erasmi Ciceronianus.