3. Those marked (3) are in the Five Centuries of the English Language and Literature," published by Tauchnitz, a good and useful selection of longer pieces.

Robert of Gloucester-Reign

of William the Con- Hereford's Version of the

queror. 1a

Robert Mannyng-The Tale

of Pers the Usurer. 1a

Psalms. 1a

1a. Those marked (1) are in Morris & Skeat's Specimens of Early English (Clarendon Press). Second volume, 1298–1393.

5. Those marked (5) are in the Globe Series (Macmillan & Co.)

LIST OF POETS-LAUREATE.

THE Poet-Laureate is an officer of the Royal Household. The first seems to have been John Kay, in the reign of Edward IV. The office became a patent office in 1630, and a salary of £100 a year and a tierce of canary was attached to it. In Charles II.'s time the office of Poet-Laureate and Royal Historiographer were generally united in one person.

So Dryden. From Shadwell down to Pye, there is no "poet" of even a respectable standing, except Cibber, who had natural vigour, and Warton, who had cultivated taste. The rest are below critical appreciation and are now never heard of.