bury
(1486-1500), is also singled out for compliment, in which allusion is made
to his troubles, his servants' faithfulness, and his restoration to favour
under Richard III. and Henry VII. (Eclogue III.):--

"And shepheard Morton, when he durst not appeare,
Howe his olde seruauntes were carefull of his chere;
In payne and pleasour they kept fidelitie
Till grace agayne gaue him aucthoritie
Then his olde fauour did them agayne restore
To greater pleasour then they had payne before.
Though for a season this shepheard bode a blast,
The greatest winde yet slaketh at the last,
And at conclusion he and his flocke certayne
Eche true to other did quietly remayne."

And again in Eclogue IV.:--

"Micene and Morton be dead and gone certayne."

The "Dean of Powles" (Colet), with whom Barclay seems to have been
personally acquainted, and to whom the reference alludes as to one still
living (his death occurred in 1519), is celebrated as a preacher in the
same Eclogue:--

"For this I learned of the Dean of Powles
I tell thee, Codrus this man hath won some soules."

as is "the olde friar that wonned in Greenwich" in Eclogue V.

The first three Eclogues are paraphrases or adaptations from the Miseriae
Curialium, the most popular of the works of one of the most successful
literary adventurers of the middle ages, AEneas Sylvius (Pope Pius II., who
died in 1464). It appears to have been written with the view of relieving
his feelings of disappointment and disgust at his reception at the court of
the Emperor, whither he had repaired, in the hope of political advancement.
The tone and nature of the work may be gathered from this candid exposure
of the adventurer's morale: "Many things there are which compel us to
persevere, but nothing more powerfully than ambition which, rivalling
charity, truly beareth all things however grievous, that it may attain to
the honours of this world and the praise of men. If we were humble and
laboured to gain our own souls rather than hunt after vain glory, few of
us, indeed, would endure such annoyances." He details, with querulous
humour, all the grievances of his position, from the ingratitude of the
prince to the sordour of the table-cloths, and the hardness of the black
bread. But hardest of all to bear is the contempt shown towards literature.
"In the courts of princes literary knowledge is held a crime; and great is
the grief of men of letters when they find themselves un