orchards, played truant, and generally raised the devil in his early
days (_Forewords to Babees Book_, p. xliv.), retained in later years
many of the qualities that draw to a man the boy's bright heart, the
disciple's fond regret. We too will therefore hope that old Lydgate's

sowle be gon
(To) the sterred paleys above the dappled skye,
Ther to syng _Sanctus_ insessavntly
Emonge the mvses nyne celestyall,
Before the hyeste Iubyter of all. (l. 381-5.)

In old age the present poem was composed (st. 60, p. 42-3); 'a lytill
newe Instruccion' to a lytle childe, to remove him from vice & make him
follow virtue. At his riper age our author promises his boy the
surplusage of the treatise (st. 74, p. 50-1); and if a copy of it
exists, I hope it will soon fall in our way and get into type, for 'the
more the merrier' of these peeps into old boy-life.

On one of the grammatical forms of the Oriel MS., Mr Skeat writes:

"It is curious to observe the forms of the imperative mood plural which
occur so frequently throughout the poem in the Oriel copy. The forms
ending in _-eth_ are about 31 in number, of which 17 are of French, and
14 of A.S. origin. The words in which the ending _-eth_ is dropped are
42, of which 18 are of French, and 24 of A.S. origin. The three
following French words take _both_ forms; _avyse_ or _avyseth_, _awayte_
or _awayteth_, _wayte_ or _wayteth_; and the five following A.S. words,
_be_ or _beth_, _kepe_ or _kepeth_, _knele_ or _knelyth_, _loke_ or
_loketh_, _make_ or _maketh_. Thus the poet makes use, on the whole, of
one form almost as often as the other (that is, supposing the scribe to