2411. betawht To Aristotle, ‘delivered over to Aristotle’: ‘betawht’ is the past partic. of ‘beteche,’ which occurs afterwards, vii. 4234, and in Chaucer, Cant. Tales, B 2114, ‘Now such a rym the devel I beteche.’
2418. Yit for a time: to be taken as one phrase; cp. ‘for a while yit,’ &c., ll. 311, 738, 893.
LIB. VII.
The account given in the earlier part of this book of the parts of Philosophy, that is, of the objects of human knowledge, represents in its essentials the Aristotelian system. The division into ‘Theorique,’ ‘Rethorique,’ and ‘Practique’ is in effect the same as Aristotle’s classification of knowledge as Theoretical, Poetical, and Practical, and the further division of ‘Theorique’ into Theology, Physics, and Mathematics, and of ‘Practique’ into Ethics, Economics, and Politics, is that which is made by Aristotle. The statement of Pauli and others that this part of Gower’s work is ‘very likely borrowed’ from the Secretum Secretorum is absolutely unfounded. This treatise is not in any sense an exposition of the Aristotelian philosophy, indeed it is largely made up of rules for diet and regimen with medical prescriptions. Gower is indebted to it only in a slight degree, and principally in two places, vii. 2014-2057, the discussion of Liberality in a king, and 3207*-3360*, the tale of the Jew and the Pagan.
The most important authority, however, for the earlier part of the seventh book has hitherto been overlooked. It is the Trésor of Brunetto Latini. This book is very largely based upon Aristotle, with whose works Latini was exceptionally well acquainted, and it is from this that Gower takes his classification of the sciences, though in regard to the place of Rhetoric he does not quite agree with Latini, who brings it in under the head of ‘Politique,’ making Logic the third main branch of philosophy. Gower takes from the Trésor also many of his physical and geographical statements and his reference to the debate on the conspiracy of Catiline. On the other hand his astronomy is for the most part independent of the Trésor, and so also is his method of dealing with the principles of Government, under the five points of Policy. Brunetto Latini does not treat of politics generally so much as of the practical rules to be observed by the Podestà of an Italian republic. It may be observed that Gower has drawn on the Trésor also in the sketch of general history given in the Prologue (ll. 727-820). I refer to pages of the edition of Chabaille, 1863.
26 ff. ‘As to which Aristotle ... declares the “intelligences” under three heads especially.’ The meaning of ‘intelligences’ here and in l. 176, and of ‘intelligencias’ in the margin, l. 149, seems to be nearly the same as ‘sciences,’ that is to say, divisions or provinces of knowledge.
155. Algorisme. This stands properly for the decimal system of numeration, but the use of the word in the plural, l. 158, shows that Gower did not use it in this sense only. The association of the word ‘Algorismes’ below with the letters a, b, c (‘Abece’) seems to suggest some kind of algebraical expression, but this is perhaps due to a misunderstanding by Gower of the word ‘abaque’ (or ‘abake’) in the Trésor, p. 6: ‘Et de ce sont li enseignement de l’abaque et de l’augorisme.’
183 ff. ‘Ce est la science par laquele li vii sage s’esforcierent par soutillece de geometrie de trover la grandeur dou ciel et de la terre, et la hautesce entre l’un et l’autre.’ Trésor, pp. 6, 7.
207 ff. Cp. Trésor, p. 15, ‘Cele matiere de quoi ces choses furent formées les desvance de naissance, non mie de tens, autressi comme li sons est devant le chant, ... et neporquant andui sont ensemble.’ Cp. pp. 104, 105.
216. Ylem, this is ‘hyle’ (Gr. ὕλη), the Aristotelian term for matter. For what follows cp. Trésor, p. 105.