[21.] "The Joyous Science, as the profession of minstrelsy was termed, had its various ranks, like the degrees in the Church and in chivalry."—Sir Walter Scott, (The Betrothed.)
[22.] 1st, the real presence; 2d, celibacy; 3d, monastic vows; 4th, low mass; 5th, auricular confession; 6th, withholding the cup from the laity.
[23.] "The Earl of Surrey is said to have translated one of Virgil's books without rhyme, and, besides our tragedies, a few short poems had appeared in blank verse.... These petty performances cannot be supposed to have much influenced Milton; ... finding blank verse easier than rhyme, he was desirous of persuading himself that it is better."—Lives of the Poets—Milton.
[24.] From this dishonor Mr. Froude's researches among the statute books have not been able to lift him, for he gives system to horrors which were before believed to be eccentric; and, while he fails to justify the monarch, implicates a trembling parliament and a servile ministry, as if their sharing the crime made it less odious.
[25.] The reader's attention is called—or recalled—to the masterly etching of Sir Philip Sidney, in Motley's History of the United Netherlands. The low chant of the cuisse rompue is especially pathetic.
[26.] This last claim of title was based upon the voyages of the Cabots, and the unsuccessful colonial efforts of Raleigh and Gilbert.
[27.] Froude, i. 65.
[28.] Introduction to fifth canto of Marmion.
[29.] Froude, i. 73.
[30.] Opening scene of The Merry Wives of Windsor.