280. See his "Vocacyon."
281. Mr A. Chalmers gives the date of Bale's consecration, February 2, 1553, and not the 20th of March. The former is correct.—Collier.
282. Five centuries of writers seem to have been printed at Wesel in 1549, under the following title: "Illustrium Majoris Britaniae Scriptorum, hoc est Angliae, Cambriae, et Scotiae, Summarium." The most complete and enlarged edition was printed at Basil by Oporinus in 1559.— Collier.
283. Not including his "King Johan," printed by Collier, 1838. Of these and his other works, see a very copious list in Cooper's "Athenae," i. 227-30. See also Hazlitt's "Handbook," v. Bale. The list given in the former edition of Dodsley was so imperfect and unsatisfactory as not to appear worth retention.
284. But in Dodsley's own edition, 1744, occurs the following interesting notice omitted in that of 1825: "This antient piece I found in the Harleian Collection of Old Plays, consisting of between 600 and 700, which are now in my possession." Very probably, Garrick was partly indebted to Dodsley for his dramatic rarities.
285. It will be seen that the design of the author necessarily divided itself into seven ages or periods, for the seven promises by the Creator to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Esaias, and John the Baptist.— Collier.
286. This list of characters is not in the old copy, but was made out from the mention of persons in the progress of the piece.—Collier.
287. The old copy from which this dramatic piece was first reprinted by Dodsley, and subsequently by Mr Reed, having been damaged, and a part of the leaf lost, it was not possible to ascertain exactly the last word of this line: it was therefore supplied by conjecture, and not very happily: the line has till now stood—
"Without whose knowledge no man to the truth can come."
But the form of the stanza, and the rhyme in the next line, shows decidedly that this is wrong. In Davenport's "City Night Cap," Act 3, we meet with a not very dissimilar use of the word fall.