Q'en laissasse, por aver, en preison.
      Ge n'el di pas por nulla retraison;
      Mas anquar soi ge pris!

This verse has been translated:

      Full well they know, my lords and nobles all,
      Of England, Normandy, Guienne, Poictou,
      Ne'er did I slight my poorest vassal's call,
      But all whom wealth could buy from chains withdrew.
      Not in reproach I speak, nor idly vain,
      But I alone unpitied bear the chain.

Here is another gallant appeal:

      Mi compagnon cui j'amoi, e cui j'am,
      Cil de Chaïll e cil de Persarain,
      Di lor, chanzon (q'il non sont pas certain)
      Unca vers els non oi cor fals ni vain!
      S'il me guerroient, il feron qe vilain,
      Tan com ge soie pris.

And its translation:

      To those my friends long loved and ever dear,
      To gentle Chaïll and kind Persarain,
      Go forth, my song, and say, whate'er they hear,
      To them my heart was never false or vain.
      Should they rebel—but no; their souls disdain
      With added weight to load a captive's chain.

Richard was fond of the society of the poets
and troubadours of his time. It has been said
of him that " he drew over singers and jesters
from France to chant panegyrics of him about
the streets," and also, that " he could make
stanzas on the eyes of gentle ladies." Perhaps
the troubadours whom he " drew over," used to
help him with his poems; at all events, we
know that on one occasion he worked with a
collaborateur—the celebrated Blondel, of whom
the reader does not hear now for the first time.

The next of our royal authors, chronologically,
is but slenderly represented by a single
poem of doubtful authenticity. This is a
sort of penitential dirge, said to have been
written by Edward the Second, while he was
a prisoner in Carnarvon Castle. Authorities
differ about the genuineness of this
poem. It is written in Latin, and would
certainly not repay quotation. No prose writings
are attributed to this unhappy prince, nor to his
predecessor, Coeur de Lion. Indeed, the royal
authors of this remote time seem, unlike those
of more modern days, to have all aimed at the
attainment of poetic fame. Rumour says that
Richard the Second made " ballads and songs,
rondeaus and poems," and there is a similar
legend extant concerning Henry the Fifth.
This sovereign, it is said " whilst Prince of
Wales, admiring the courage and conduct of
a famous virago, named Elphletda, is reported
to have made certain Latin verses in commendation
of her." There appears to be more
ground for believing in certain verses which
are assigned by tradition to the next Henry,
and which seem to accord well with the nature
of the man of whom Granger said that " a
monk's cowl would have fitted this prince's
head much better than a crown." The poem is
a short one, at any rate.

      Kingdomes are but cares,
         State ys devoid of staie,
      Ryches are redy snares,
         And hastene to decaie.

      Pleasure ys a pryvie prycke
         Wich vice doth styll provoke;
      Pompe, unprompt; and fame, a flame;
         Powre, a smouldrying smoke.

      Who meenethe to remoofe the rocke
         Owte of the slyraie mudde,
      Shall myre hymselfe, and hardlie scape
         The swellynge of the flodde.

Horace Walpole says of these lines that they
are " melancholy and simple as we should
expect, and not better than a saint might compose."

We come now to a literary monarch of a
very different type. Henry the Eighth,
"Defender of the Faith," showed himself worthy
of this proud title bestowed on him by Leo the
Tenth, in devoting his pen chiefly to subjects of
a polemical nature. The title-page of his great
work runs thus: " Assertion of the Seven
Sacraments against Martin Luther, edited by the
most invincible King of England, France, and
Ireland, Henry the Eighth of that name."
All sorts of reports and arguments have
been used to disprove the genuineness of this
"Defence." One of them, that the style of it
is different from Henry's love-letters to Anne
Boleyn, which are acknowledged to be
authentic, seems of but little value, the love-letter
of most literary characters being generally
rather unlike their more serious efforts. An
argument, however, of greater force is to be
found in the fact that this " Defence" is
contained in full (as well as the second letter,
which was called forth by Luther's reply to the
first) among the collected works of Bishop
Fisher. However this may be, it is certain
that Henry the Eighth had a distinct taste
for polemical discussion, proved by his epistles
to the Dukes of Saxony, to Erasmus, and other
of his authentic published works. His arguments
were always hot and strong and pungent.
One of his supposed works teaches such
Christianity " as Henry chose to compound out of
his old religion and his new." It is an
exposition of the creed, as he chose it should be
believed, of the seven sacraments (all which
"he was pleased" to retain), " of the Ten
Commandments; of the Paternoster; of the angel's
salutation to Mary; of the doctrines of free will,
justification and good works; and concludes
with an authorised prayer for departed souls."
The alacrity with which our bluff King Hal
turned to subjects of a theological character
may be accounted for by the nature of the
education which his father gave him; for it
was intended, while his brother lived, that he
should be the future Archbishop of Canterbury.

The list of literary productions attributed
to Henry is a full one, he being the reputed
author, in addition to the " Assertion of the
Seven Sacraments," and many other official
letters on kindred subjects, of the following:
"An Introduction to Grammar;" " A Book of
Prayers;" " Preface by the King to his Primer;"
"De Potestate regiâ contra Papam;" " De
Christiani Hominis Institutione, lib. 1;" "De
Instituendâ Pube, lib. 1;" " Sententiam de
Mantuano Consilio, lib. 1;" and " De justo in